Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

Is The Traditional Press Review Still A Business Tool Of ...

Press reviews are a common and basic feature for surveying the market situtation, your company’s public image and the coverage of your competitor’s business. Only if you are well-informed about theses topics, you can make sound business decisions. But can the traditional press review – also called press clipping - with cut-out and pasted articles really retain its relevance in the age of intern. . .

All Successful Entrepreneurs Do This

Everyone wants to make money! Some want to make money by owning their own business. All successful entrepreneurs have the self discipline to build their business. Most of us have heard the saying "you need money to make money". Basically what this means is you must invest money in your business if it's to make money. Some 24% of all startup small businesses fail within two years. That's. . .

Online Forex

Q1: When you consider that the foreign exchange market has become the world's largest financial market, with over $1.5 trillion USD traded daily, where does it go from here? A1:The FX market is unique, in the UK there is no central exchange, we trade via the inter bank market. With more and more private individuals taking up margin trading and new forex brokers setting up, I can only see the m. . .

Self Promotion Is Easy and Fun

Stop thinking of marketing in the traditional sense of advertising – the thousands of ads interrupting your day via mail, spam, television, radio and now even movie theatre advertising. These messages seedily creep into our lives and personal space and we resent it. Your self promotion activities will look nothing like this! This is not the kind of marketing I recommend, teach or want you to be. . .

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)

If your down payment on a home is less than 20 percent of the appraised value or sale price, you must obtain private mortgage insurance, known as PMI, with your lender. This will enable you to obtain a mortgage with a lower down payment because your lender is now protected against any default on the loan. PMI charges vary depending on the size of the down payment and the loan, but they typicall. . .

Persuasive Communication

Is all communication persuasive? Sometimes, it seems it is. At the least, we can say much of our communication includes a persuasion component.Consider this article, which takes an editorial rather than an overtly persuasive approach. Yet, the underlying premise is that strategic communication works more effectively than communication without a conscious purpose. So, I'm trying to persuade you . . .

Speak With E's Part 3

“Educate, Energize, Entertain, and provide an experience for your audience” 1. Use direct eye contact. You can focus on one person when making a point… and everyone else in the audience will think you are speaking to them, too. 2. Don’t just stand behind the lectern move around, gesture. Be animated. (Fifty-five percent of how people perceive you is by body language; 38 percent by your v. . .

Dating Tool: Confidence 101

I’m over it. “There’s plenty of fish in the sea,” they say. Well, apparently I have been using the wrong bait. Nobody said dating would be easy, but Hollywood sure likes to paint it that way, doesn’t it? “There’s someone for everyone,” they say. Maybe that ought to translate to, “There’s someone for everyone….as long as you’re a muscled pretty boy with washboard abs, and at least 6 feet tall.” . . .

The Advantages of Credit Cards

There are many evils associated with credit cards, but there are benefits that are hard to ignore. One benefit is having the credit card company act in your behalf to recover funds from a disputed transaction. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act the credit card company has to investigate the dispute and either take the charge off your bill or explain why it is correct. Even better, you don't ha. . .

From An Insider’s View These Items Are A Must Before Maki...

1. What determines the software price? Is it Per Seat or Per User or Per Processor? The cost of software is determined in many ways. The two most popular ways are Per Seat or Per Concurrent User. Per Seat is determined by how many seats in your business will be using the software at any given time. On the other hand, Per Concurrent User is based on a set amount of users that can access the sof. . .

Making Transitions

Ever notice how smoothly some speakers or writers move you through their speech or memo? It seems they effortlessly take you from start to finish without making you strain to follow.Yet, while the reading may be effortless, the writing probably took some extra work and attention to detail. In fact, some writers would say you should work as hard on the transitions between ideas as you do on the . . .

5 Things In Selecting The Best Mortgage - You Should Know

Your goal is not only to find the best rates and programs, by searching through a huge number of lenders products, and save yourself thousands of dollars on mortgage payments every year, but also, to save time and hassle by simplifying the loan process and reducing the paperwork. Here are some things you can keep in mind when selecting a mortgage provider.1. Shop For RatesYou should get instant. . .

Avoiding Credit Card Traps

The next time you open your credit card statement, take a closer look at the small insert titled “changes to your credit card agreement”. You know the one I’m speaking about. It’s that small, folded paper written in legalese that you promise to read some other time (but of course that time never comes) or you just discard it with the other “junk” inserts. First and foremost you must understan. . .

Long Distance and Phone Systems for Small Business

Telecommunication cost is always an obstacle for small business owners, especially if you need to call domestic or international long distance. The long distance cost factor alone, depending on the type of business you're in, can make the difference in the success of any small business. The telecommunication market today is one of the most competitive. Rates for both local, domestic long d. . .

Speak With E’s Part 2

“Educate, Energize, Entertain, and provide an experience for your audience” 1. Use the “Rule of 3.” The most successful speakers limit their remarks to three major points. Here is where you use your signature stories (your own personal stories) to support your points and help people visualize what you are saying. 2. Every five to seven minutes, back up your facts with signature stories . . .

Write and Speak for the Ear

You and I may not aspire to write great books or make great speeches. But almost all of us want something to happen when we write or speak. And, the more we direct our words to the ears of readers and listeners, the greater our chances of getting the results we want.By writing or speaking for the ear, I mean that spoken words can have more power than written words. After all, when we have impor. . .

The Network Within

When you hear the word “networking”, what comes to your mind first?You probably think about going to a job fair or asking all of your friends, family members and acquaintances for jobs.But if you are currently employed, you might very well have easy access to one of the best networks you can have.Let me introduce you to a different networking concept – that of “inside” networking, “inside” mean. . .

Overcoming Resistance

Virtually any type of organizational change involves role transitions of some type. In light of role transitions, it is almost natural for employees to resist major changes in the workplace environment. Some contend that resistance to change is “natural”; they contend that this resistance is instinctive; that humans have a desire for perpetual stability. Many processes recognize that resist. . .

Once Upon a Conflict

Once upon a time there lived an innocent, hardworking manager. One day he dared to wander from the safety of his open-concept office to speak out at a team meeting. He was immediately challenged, nay attacked, by another team member and his senior manager, embarrassing him in front of his peers. Plagued by downsizing, this noble manager feared for his job. A senior human resource profession. . .

It's Not What You Think

My work in organizations involves dropping habitual ways of perceiving in order to contact a fresh and subtle perceiving “under the surface” of what is going on. That deeper sense of perceiving allows the emergence of what I call the Engaging Leader, or the genuine expression of myself and the collective.If we want to develop a deeper, subtler, way of perceiving situations, we need to be relaxe. . .

The Millionaire's Favorite Author

YOU WON'T FIND W.G. HILL ON ANY BEST SELLER LISTS, BUT IT'S HARD TO FIND A MILLIONAIRE WHO HASN'T READ MOST OF HIS $100 "SPECIAL REPORTS".Hill's Low Profile -- The name W.G. Hill isn't bandied around much in the book-publishing world. No literary society has ever discussed any of the two dozen or so volumes this author has produced. But over the last thirty years, in the world of bankers, accou. . .

Firing Underperforming Employees in Your Small Business

Here are a few tips on how to hand out pink slips when it comes time to terminate an employee.As a small business owner with employees, you will likely find it necessary one day to terminate an underperforming employee – if you haven’t already. In an ideal world, that wouldn’t be so. We would hire the right people from the start, and then train and motivate them to do the job.But, that’s not . . .

Cross-Cultural Communication:Grin and Jump In!

Multiculturalism is a reality in North America and for those of us who do business globally. The US has more legal immigrants yearly than all the other countries in the world combined. Also there are vast cultural differences among "native" North Americans living in the US and Canada for several generations, as you know if you've done business with a New Yorker (better be quick!) or with a Texa. . .

Calling Cards and Prepaid Phone Cards To Help You Save Money

You can now save quite a bit of money on your long distance calling simply by using prepaid phone cards. It wasn't too many years ago that making a call overseas or even to an old friend in a neighboring state would be very expensive and even prohibitive. Not anymore! The rates have dropped and now anyone can buy prepaid calling cards that allow access from anywhere. You can be on a vacation, o. . .

Insurance For The Self Employed And Those Seeking Health ...

First of all, congratulations on deciding to go out and make it on your own. The rewards and excitement of making it on your own can not be found anywhere else. Now, when looking for insurance for the self employed for a person like yourself, it's important to remember that generally you'll find better rates if you deal directly with the insuring company. There are many confusing options availa. . .

Individual Health Insurance Plans

When looking for individual health insurance plans it's important to remember that generally you'll find better rates if you deal directly with the insuring company. The internet now allows individuals the chance to plug in a few personal details and obtain individual health insurance plans quotes. Some questions to consider when choosing your coverage are the following:1) Is it important that . . .

Finding and using Prepaid International Calling Cards for...

Prepaid international calling cards for your long distance phone service have many advantages and perks over simply dialing long distance from your home. For one thing, you'll find that prepaid international calling cards will save you a ton of money over regular international long distance rates. You simply buy the card in advance and you can use it anytime from anywhere. Calling cards are eas. . .

How To Save Money On Long Distance Calling Cards And Chea...

In the old days (7-10 years ago) there were no long distance calling cards and cheap phone cards so it could cost you a ton of money to make long distance calls. Calling your grandparents in another state or calling home from college on the weekends was very expensive and prohibitive. Those days have gone forever and now it's more convenient and inexpensive than ever to stay in touch with frien. . .

Prepaid Phone Cards Will Save You Money On All Your Long ...

If you make a lot of long distance phone calls, you may find that you can save money by doing what many people are doing: taking advantage of prepaid phone cards. Prepaid phone cards can be used to call just about any country in the world. Prepaid phone cards are plastic cards that allow you to pay for your long distance needs in advance. The cost per minute is much less than calling from a: ho. . .

Strategic Checklists

I've been through a couple of checklists in the past few days, and it's reaffirmed my faith in their effectiveness as a communication tool.Now, there are at least a couple of ways we can look at checklists in a communication context. First, in the strategic sense, and second in the tactical sense. You'll probably recognize the tactical advantages of using checklists: a clear and logical, as wel. . .

A Singles Game of Real Estate

This discussion leans toward answering questions asked most often by our youthful men and women in there early twenties. They often begin to ask themselves the question, “Should I consider buying a home, condo/town-home or some other type of real estate that I can call my own?” Due to the fact that housing has up to this point always been provided for or lived in on a rented basis we tend to fi. . .

Lies, Damn Lies and Mutual Fund Returns

How many times has this happened to you? You're at a social function and the conversation turns to investing. Pretty soon, people are comparing how well their investments are doing. As you might imagine, being an investment advisor this happens to me a lot. However, I recently had an experience with it that startled me.Bob, one of the guys I was chatting with at a party, asked what kind of retu. . .

Choosing Affordable Health Insurance For Children

In most cases, private health insurance comes through a person's employer, who picks up the majority of the cost of premiums. However, today many people, who are either self-employed or who work for a company that doesn't offer health insurance, find it necessary to obtain quality affordable health insurance for children. There are a wide range of plans and offerings of affordable health insura. . .

Cheap Health Insurance rates and personal health insurance.

If you've been out of school for a couple of years or perhaps just graduated from college, you're probably a candidate for cheap health insurance. Once a person reaches a certain age they're no longer covered by their parents health insurance plan. If you're just starting out it's important to find cheap health insurance coverage. If you've just graduated from school or just started work and yo. . .

Health Insurance, medical insurance and individual health...

Health insurance is something that everyone needs today. The rising cost of visiting a health care provider or a hospital stay makes it imperative that everyone have some type of health care coverage. Government statistics estimate that over 40 million people in America are not covered by any type of health insurance on any given day. That's an enormous number of people who really are taking a . . .

11 Moments of Truth

These moments come when a customer or client… 1. Hears someone else praise you or your work. 2. Likes your physical presentation (appearance, voice, and smile). 3. Is touched intellectually and emotionally by what you say. 4. Recognizes you as a model of who or what the person would like to become. 5. Hears that you care. 6. Thinks he/she will be challenged and get what he/she needs . . .

Temp Gretta and the Great Seattle Race

They met at the very edge of Queen Anne Hill, in the parking lot of a defunct Safeway store. In the dead of night they gathered, this gang for sly and sneaky temps, to fight for the longest and best temporary employee assignment in Seattle. Make no mistake about it, they would fight to the death if need be, and the losers had already pledged to turn the job down. It was Gretta who called this. . .

Costing At No Cost

Cost estimation is always a crucial topic in many industries. For converters, it may be one of the keys to success… or to failure.The estimation comes into play for several reasons: to prepare production budgets, for cost management and to define the prices and to make offers to customers.Here we want to concentrate our attention on the problem of cost estimation in the cutting business.We must. . .

Hidden Traps for Life Partners Who Work Together

You may think that it would be wonderful to be in business with your spouse, but the truth is that when life partners become business partners unspoken assumptions can cause significant problems.Neither couple I describe knows the other couple, but their stories are strikingly similar. Craig and Warren are both recently retired executives. Craig’s wife, Marcy, owns and operates a website design. . .

Make Money

If you learn how other people make money online, I mean really study how it’s done and ask a lot of questions, there is no reason in the world you cannot make money on the internet as well.How do people make money with websites? There are literally tens of thousands of things people make money on from the net. From hard goods of all kinds (anything that can be shipped, including cars and boat. . .

Alternative Legal Billing -- Win Win Strategies

In the old days of legal billing, lawyer's invoices — usually a single page of elegant letterhead—contained only the phrase, "legal services rendered," and a hefty dollar amount. No time breakdowns, no list of activities performed or equipment and supplies used—just a final, usually shocking, charge. But client demands and the evolution of sophisticated billing software have led to more detaile. . .

Top 7 Tips for Speakers

Public Speaking is the number one way to advance your business career. Do you get nervous when speaking to a group? Do you feel butterflies in your stomach? The following tips will help you get your butterflies to fly in formation. 1. Everyone feels some nerves before a presentation. Try to do a quiet meditation, visualization, or exercise before you speak. Breathe deeply. Memorize th. . .

Managers: Why PR is SO Key

When outside audiences important to your operation do not understand what you are all about or, worse, harbor misconceptions, inaccuracies, untruths and false assumptions about you, you are likely to suffer negative, key audience behaviors that can prevent you from achieving your operating objectives. As a business, non-profit or association manager, you simply cannot avoid such consequen. . .

New Book Demystifies How To Protect and Grow Wealth With ...

Ask investors what their primary financial concern is and most will respond with how to protect and grow their wealth properly. There is an easy solution; the answers are in Optimal Investing: How to Protect and Grow Your Wealth With Asset Allocation (Marshall Rand Publishing; available by calling 1-800-247-6553). Written by CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and asset allocation expert, Scott Frush, . . .

Top 7 Steps to Better Public Speaking

Whether you want to be a part time, full time or BIG time speaker you must speak, speak, speak. At first, deliver 25-30 minute free talks to service clubs and community organizations. Consider it to be your off-Broadway tryout. A great opportunity to fine-tune your program…and maybe get some future paid business! Do the following to put at ease when delivering a speech: 1. Your speech ne. . .

3 Tips for a Great Summer- Developing Life & Business Whi...

As the last day of school arrives I feel the same tendency I had as a child... to drop everything and scream “let’s go play!” After all, extreme self-care is so important. I also wonder if we tend to use the summer as an excuse to procrastinate. So here are a few tips to integrate personal and business growth with a whole lot of fun.1- What do you want to achieve by Labor Day- While staying in . . .

Working at Home - The One Thing You MUST Know

You will spend more time, effort, money, and headaches in the beginning of starting a home business than with practically anything else in your life. However, when it all comes together, the hard times will seem like a distant memory because it will all have been worth it. DO NOT GIVE UP! DO NOT GIVE UP! DO NOT GIVE UP! I could repeat that phrase 1,000,000 times and it wouldn't be enough. . .

Winning The Fight Between You And The Clock

"Slaves to the clock" was the cover story in the March issue of CEO magazine."You can never out work a problem, you have to out think it." said A.G. Lafley, Proctor & Gamble's CEO."Too much to do. Too little time. It's a universal problem. From the CEO to the newest hire.We're bombarded with information. E-mail, faxes, voice mail, overnight deliveries and old-fashioned snail mail. Unexpected ph. . .

Resolving Workplace Conflict: 4 Ways to a Win-Win Solution

The effects of conflict in the workplace are widespread and costly. Its prevalence, as indicated by three serious studies, shows that 24-60% of management time and energy is spent dealing with anger. This leads to decreased productivity, increased stress among employees, hampered performance, high turnover rate, absenteeism and at its worst, violence and death. Conflict in the workplace i. . .

Top 7 Ways to Succeed in the Business of Speaking

How attractive are you as a speaker? No, your looks, but your consistent ability to provide a quality presentation, attract clients, and be irresistibly attractive to meeting planners and speaker bureaus? Below are some useful tips that I learned while owning a national, professional speakers bureau for 13 years. 1. Presentation – do you have something interesting, inspiring, and usefu. . .