Phloosh Phloosh Phloosh

Treadmills can bring the outside into your own living room. Sounds ideal doesn’t it. You can run 10 miles withour leaving your house. But can treadmill running deliver the same benefits as training outdoors?

Treadmill running differs from road running in a number of ways and this should be considered when training. The first obvious difference is the lack of wind resistance when running indoors. Another difference is the surface. Although experts differ on this issue a smooth moving surface underneath your feet is not the same as an uneven stationary road. Most runners agree that running on a treadmill feels different to road. This should be taken into consideration when training.

Is running on a treadmill better than the road? This comes down to preference. Many prefer being outdoors whereas others have environmental, climatic or personal safety concerns making treadmill running an ideal choice.

Firstly let’s look at the psychological factors of running on a treadmill compared to the road. Unless you have a large room for your machine you will most likely to be facing a wall or window within a few meters. Research has shown that runners on treadmills take shorter paces that may be due to the proximity of a barrier or fear of falling off. It does take time to learn how to run on a moving surface and even when confident many runners will tighten their lower backs, again possibly a psychological reaction to staying on the machine.

When comparing physical technique, research has found that when the foot lands on the belt the foot, ankle and shin, become temporarily part of the belt and move backwards from the centre and mass of the body at the same speed. This means the shinbone of the leg landing is not as upright as with normal running and has a greater range of motion.

Treadmill running can be useful for injured athletes, using a mirror can be a good way to observe your technique (although it must be recognised that it is not the same as training on the road).

Whether using a treadmill or road you will need to vary your running program for two reasons. Firstly, if you continue doing the same distance and the same speed you will get less and less benefit as your body adapts. Secondly, you can soon become de-motivated by the same thing week in, week out. Alternating between shorter faster runs and longer distances at a slower pace will help to condition your body and improve endurance, muscle strength and cardio-vascular function. It will also provide you with variety and a different challenge for each session.

I usually recommend runners to use one or the other exclusively, because I see them as different activities.

Roy Palmer is a teacher of The Alexander Technique and has studied performance enhancement in sport for the last 10 years. In 2001 he published a book called ‘The Performance Paradox: Challenging the conventional methods of sports training and exercise’ and is currently working on a new project about The Zone. More information about his unique approach to training can be found at http://www.fitness-programs-for-life.com

1. Do whatever it takes to get teens to heaven. Paul wrote that he became all things to all people so that some might be saved (II Corinthians 9:19-23). How well does this relate to your ministry? What could you be doing that might reach more teens in your schools and community?

Ministry has its own set of pressures. We have to worry about what the leaders, parents, and members will think about a program or event. By doing whatever it takes to get teens to heaven, you will endure your share of criticism about your approaches, but keep the goal in focus. Keep everyone involved aware that you are not using a certain technique just to be different, but to bring teens to Jesus.

2. Help teens develop a personal relationship with God. While second-hand faith is better than no faith, there’s no doubt that first-hand faith wins the prize. Help teens develop a faith that says, “I believe in God, not because my parents say so, or because my youth minister or preacher says so, but because I have experienced and know God in my life.”

3. Involve teens in daily Bible study and prayer. Instead of simply asking your group to read the Bible and pray daily, provide the opportunity and tools to make it possible. Develop a daily Bible reading schedule for your teens. Supply information on Bibles designed for youth so they can get a grip on the Word in a way relevant to them.

Form prayer groups of three that meet at school, or that call each other daily for prayer requests. Challenge your group to pray before getting out of bed and before going to sleep. Have teens set their watch alarms for a certain time each day to signal prayer time. Create as many tools as needed to get them into the Bible and prayer on a daily basis.

4. Build a Christ-like attitude and spirit into the youth group. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,” Philippians 2:5. This means more than just asking, “What would Jesus do?” It calls for a clear-cut lifestyle of surrender. What is the attitude of Jesus?

Attitude of a Servant (v. 7)

Attitude of Humility (v.

Attitude of Obedience (v.

If every teen becomes a servant, how many things will get done? If every teen becomes humble, how much arguing will take place? If every teen becomes obedient to God, how much better could the youth conventions be? Of course, developing a Christ-like attitude in your group begins by displaying a Christ-like attitude in your life.

5. Develop quality leadership among the group. Jesus called His followers with, “Follow me.” By the end of His ministry He had trained them to lead. Paul even said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). Give your teens the responsibility and let them lead. Dust them off when they fall down and encourage them to keep going.

Here are a few ways you can let teens lead: Devotionals, teaching class, heading up a service project, forming prayer groups, etc.

6. Parental support and participation. Believe it or not, There are some in your congregation who see youth ministry as a divider of parents and their children. Prevent this by creating a high level of parental involvement.

Have your parents teach for a quarter, host devotionals in their homes, chaperone trips, etc. Check out Group Publishing’s 130 Ways to Involve Parents in Your Ministry for more great ideas.

7. Develop evangelistic teens. Redirect the vision of your group by training them to see each classmate, each neighbor, each family member, each clerk, each waiter, just fill in the blank, each ____________ as an opportunity to share the Lord.

Jesus left the message in our mouths and lives. Help your group become evangelistic by creating an atmosphere that makes guests want to return. Go out to the school campus and meet kids on their turf. Be available, open and loving.

8. Establish positive relationships with other youth groups in the area. If we are not careful ministry can become a competition where the leader with the most teens wins. Because of that, we may be afraid to do things with other groups for fear that our teens might spot something “cooler” than what we provide. Don’t forget #4 and build a Christ-like attitude by doing things with other groups like retreats or prayer nights. One of the easiest ways to establish positive relationships is by participating together in community events such as the March for Jesus, or collecting food and toys for needy families during the holidays.

9. Include teens as part of the congregation. Have you ever felt the perception that there is the church, and then there is the youth group? Integrate the group into the congregation by getting the teens involved in praying, scripture reading, or whatever format your church follows. Most churches let teens participate on youth days. But encourage your leadership to include teens on a regular basis, not just special days.

10. Equip teens to go into all the world and teach the Gospel. While every teen has the responsibility to evangelize around them, a few feel the call to literally go into all the world. Prepare them for that future by encouraging and praying for him or her. Help sponsor teens on a yearly mission trip to gain experience. Provide contacts through special mission organizations to get teens involved. Who knows how many will come to know the Lord as a result of your ministry.

Al Millergren, Ph.D. is the co-founder of Teen Life Ministries a resource
site for youth ministry.

This issue’s topic on sales prospects comes in response to a question I received from a reader.

Question:

Five weeks ago, I had a good conversation on the phone with an important prospect in my territory. They have a need for our product and the prospect seems to acknowledge this as well. Every time I have talked to him, he has been very interested and seemingly aware of the problem in his company that our product can help solve. I sell print management and print tracking software and the prospect acknowledged that the cost of printing is an issue for his organization.

Last time we talked, he indicated he needed to gather some information regarding his current operating cost (which we most likely would be able to cut) before coming in for a demo. But when I called back at the time we had agreed upon, I kept getting voicemail. I have not been able to get him on the phone and he doesn’t respond to the voicemails I left either. What do you recommend I do?”

When Sales Prospects Won’t Take Your Calls

When sales prospects stop taking your calls, it’s never a good sign. It means one of three things:

1. Your prospect cannot get any budget money.
   
2. Your prospect is too busy with higher priority projects.
   
3. They are working on this project with a competitor.

You said that this is a very important sales prospect for you. I assume that your print management and print tracking software are high ticket items for which there are a limited number of companies in your territory who can afford them. If this is true, then you should pursue it further. If on the other hand you have many sales prospects in your territory, then you should probably move on.

If you choose to pursue, you need to get to someone who can make something happen. I recommend that you get your management to go over your contact’s head to the executive who would be most impacted by this decision.

Salespeople often get nervous about going over someone’s head. We think of this as a high-risk maneuver. The risk of going over someone’s head at this point is actually lower than continuing what you are doing. Right now, the prospect is not treating you as a partner – he is treating you as a salesperson that he can dump on.

By going over his head, you can speed up getting to either a yes or no. Continuing to leave voicemails is only going to drag out what will then probably be a no.

Call your contact first and let him know that a call will be coming in. Leave a voicemail and say something like this: “The President of my company wants to speak to all of our best new prospective customers. He’ll be calling your VP on Wednesday. I thought that you would like to know before he calls. Please call me.”

This move alone may get you a call-back from your contact. If so, tell him that your President wants to speak to their VP because he knows that you can save their company money. Tell your contact that your President will be calling, unless you two can come up with a reason why he shouldn’t at this time.

This call and your President’s subsequent call should shake things up and either get the deal moving forward or off your forecast altogether.

Look at this way. If your sales prospects cannot get any budget money or are too busy with higher priority projects, then going to an executive gives your management the opportunity to make your case. If they are working with a competitor, then your management can position why the prospect should look at you also. If neither you nor your management can get through or get callbacks, then it’s a pretty clear sign that they aren’t going to do business with you.

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown’s sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

Many people advise that when cold calling potential customers to be weary of their time and their schedules. For instance most marketing consultants say not to call on restaurants during lunch or dinner times if you want to sell them something.

Best to make a personal visit or call for an appointment prior to lunch at 10:30 Am or at 2:30 Pm when the business is slow and the manager or owner/manager actually has time to talk, as this makes the most sense to get a meaningful visit, discuss doing business or phone call in.

When calling on different industries or small businesses you need to consider this time factor; for instance do not call on Hair Salons on Tuesdays, because Monday is a holiday for them and they are busy on Tuesday. Thursdays are busy and so are Fridays and Saturdays, Sundays closed generally, so it is best to call on Wednesdays.

If you will consider your customer when calling you can generally set up a meeting thru a sales call without them giving you the cold shoulder or simply saying; We are not interested, do not call back.

Many businesses have peak hours and days and you need to be cognizant of the customer’s business model as not to disrupt their cash flow or operations. Always remember if you are selling something that you are an expense and their job to increase profits is to cut down on expenses and unless you have something to deliver which helps them make more money they will not be interested.

By the same token if you are cutting into their busy time, well then you are costing them money, so obviously they already don’t like you. Not a good start to a sales presentation or sale is it? Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

If there is one thing that I could pass along to you to aid you in reaching your potential, it would be for you to take decisive, massive action. Do that which you have been saying for weeks or months, or even years, that you need to do, but have been putting off for whatever reason. They are not really reasons…they are excuses…and excuses are below the line. Excuses will ultimately cost you hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars over the course of a your life. Stop them now and start reaping the financial benefits that you were meant to enjoy.

This is the end of the fourth and final quarter of the year. We are about to enter a new calendar year. What plans do you have in place to make this your best year ever? Let me be clear. There is no waiting now. Today is the day to make your move forward. The time for excuses, the time for waiting is over. It’s now or never. If not today, then when?

“Procrastination robs you of opportunity. It is a significant fact that no great leader was ever known to procrastinate. You are fortunate if AMBITION drives you into action, never permitting you to falter or turn back, once you have rendered a DECISION to go forward. Second by second, as the clock ticks off the distance, TIME is running a race with YOU. Delay means defeat, because no man may ever make up a second of lost TIME. TIME is a master worker which heals the wounds of failure and disappointment and rights all wrongs and turns all mistakes into capital, but, it favors only those who kill off procrastination and remain in ACTION when decisions are to be made.”—Napoleon Hill

Has this year been all that it could have been? Have you left some on the table because you lacked certain skills or the energy, courage and persistence you needed to practice those skills?

Are you getting the results that you really believe that you are capable of? Have you done all the things you need to do to reach the level of success that you dream of?

There are valuable lessons to be learned with each and every setback or temporary challenge we encounter. Are you getting all you can from these challenges? Are you learning and taking steps to benefit from those learnings? Are you taking action?

Success comes to those that are ready. They have learned all the valuable lessons. But, there will be resistance all along the way. Resistance from others who will belittle your ideas. There will also be resistance from within yourself. Hopefully, we have all learned to ignore those who love to critique while taking no action themselves. The most dangerous of these two forms of resistance is without a doubt the resistance that comes from within. “I need to wait until I am ready.” “I need to wait until I have more time.” “I need to wait until things settle down.” “I need to wait until I get things in order.” To know all you need to know about these excuses, simply read the first four words and then you can stop…because you know all you have to know…”I need to wait…” If I had a dollar for every time I have heard the phrase, “I know I need to change some things, but I need to wait until…” I would be writing to you from my private island in the Caribbean. The only logical response to that question, is “So…how long have you known and how long have you been waiting?”

With resistance must come persistence. No matter what the difficulty you must decide that you are bigger than this challenge and you will overcome it. Sometimes…no many times that means overcoming yourself.

If you are struggling with mediocrity or worse, the first place to start is with yourself, with your mindset and your beliefs. Without the proper mindset, without the commitment to succeed, without the willingness to step outside your comfort zone, all the tools and strategies in the world will only lead to mediocrity.

Now is a fantastic time to really focus and put your foot on the accelerator. Finish up tasks that you have been putting on the back burner and persist in getting them done.

TAKE ACTION.

What do you know you should be doing? What skills do you need to develop or improve? How can you change your mindset for success, re-charge your desire and create new revenue and profit streams?

Persist. Make it a habit over the next couple of days to finish what you start. Be committed to finishing this year where you belong…on top.

Get serious. Get focused. Stop with the excuses. Start living the life you were meant to live.

Here’s to your best year yet.

I KNOW you can do it.

Greg Beverly, CPA, MBA, has more than 21 years of experience working with sales and business professionals to help them achieve their financial and life’s dreams. To receive a free 10 day sales success tips ecourse, visit http://www.salessuccess.yougethelp.com

online sport betting and texas holdem

Many bettors have encountered the term “offshore sports betting” recently, though very many aren’t wholly certain what that signifies. A foreign gambling site inherently acts exterior to the administration of a distinct country instead it can also mean a net based sports betting site which bases their central computers in a state in which networked sports betting isn’t at this time unlawful. So the concise story is then, it can be defined as a betting facility active outside the land of the gambler. On-line gaming sites are today modulated by means of three organisations. These are OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and finally the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association (the FTGA).

The Offshore Gaming Association is a self governing body that currently keeps tabs on the modern overseas sports betting business, they are trying to provide gamblers an avenue to locate honest enterprises to play betting games with. The association strives to champion consumer’s rights, and also they don’t charge any enrollment dues. The OSGA is a highly professional and neutral third party company that expresses non-biased impressions, suggested by your observations, impartial examination, phone chats, tips and in addition to supply inside news.

The IGC is a non commercially influenced organization. The agency was set up to furnish a platform for curious participants to address issues and in addition to advance mutual interests in the global web-based gambling business, in an effort to establish impartial and stable industry standard procedures and practices which heighten customer trust in world wide web based sports gaming merchandise and functions, also to function as the trade’s inclusive procedure representative and the IGC also offers an info base.

The IGC has built a distinction for developing dependability, integrity also believability via the exacting industry ethics it displays, and in addition its appeal for moral business enterprises. The IGC governs offshore gambling by utilizing a specific 10 point code of practise not to mention bills sports betting websites fees to display their logo. Discontented bettors may, if they like, air any of their conflicts to the IGC.

The Fidelity Trust Gaming Association was set up in a venture to present a benchmark which will upgrade the procedures of computer accessible betting operations. The council proposerealize that by associating with businesses of honorable standing, they are able to cultivate an affiliation of the most sportsmanlike and most expert internet gaming businesses all over the globe.

So, in summary these are agencies that review the procedures of internet betting and which should hopefully function to take the sting out of most if not all of the apprehensions felt by skeptics. On-line sports gaming sites are today actually free from danger, since private details aren’t demanded also the returns and the gambling odds are equivalent to a normal Vegas-type sports wager. They eradicate travel time, but nonetheless maintain of a gambling casino, only nowadays you may bet at your own pace.

Flegere is one of the premier snowboarding towns for much fun and relaxation. Flegere is paradise which offers the holiday maker golf, canoeing, cycling, fairs and other activities for all the family to delight in.

However when the snow starts to settle on the woods and summits, and the rivers begin to ice over, Flegere switches its feel from summer reds to a blanket of white. Flegere abounds sports and fun ” huski rides, ice climbing and monoskiing.

Flegere has been called the number one ski mountain in Europe for many years by snowboarding journals and eager snowboarders. A lofty 3000 m into the air, it with 94 runs, the best being 9 kilometres, and there’s 455 acres of ski able ground. There are slopes for beginners and intermediates, and 50 pistes for expert skiers.

Flegere’s ski lifts can cope with 26000 holiday makers an hour and so theres no wasting of fun time queuing to get snowboarding. You can opt for the gondola for a fine panorama of the mountains and surrounding area. For the ravenous visitor, there are many cafeterias who provide vin chaud and broths, baguettes or complete meals. What are you hesitating for? Book your chalet holiday now.

In the current complex and competitive market, managing the sales process is an important factor for most businesses. By automating a company’s sales process and efforts, one can increase its productivity.

Sales Force Automation, or SFA, is a technique used in marketing and business that automates the business tasks of sales. Sales tasks that can be automated might include contact management, order taking and fulfillment, information sharing, inventory monitoring, sales forecast analysis, and employees’ performance evaluations. Using SFA improves the efficiency and effectiveness of a sales team by streamlining and speeding up processes and eliminating errors. Through this technology, a sales force can have access to the latest information regarding customers’ accounts and pricing.

SFA is almost like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) which covers a vast array of topics, including areas of sales effectiveness, customer service, and marketing management. Certainly in business, each second is valuable and you can’t waste it searching for information. You can save time and money as Sales Force Automation provides optimized communication services. You also get complete management capabilities for applications and users. SFA helps you in improving customer satisfaction and it also increases sales force productivity.

Currently there are a number of SFA software solutions on the market. These software solutions help sales people take better care of their customers. They change routine aspects of sales and marketing functions such as lead assignment, contact follow-up, and opportunity reporting. Good SFA electronically manages all sales activities within a company. It is a methodology that enables sales personnel to concentrate on selling by providing tools to obtain very efficient information exchange in the sales cycle. Earlier sales force automation software installations were designed for the desktop or laptop and were not easily accessible by hand held devices. With the advancement in web based SFA technology, sales representatives can use Pocket PCs to record orders on the spot. These order details can be sent back to the system in real time over a network such as GPRS.

SFA can help sales people to manage customer interaction throughout the sales cycle, from primary contact through post-sale service. SFA applications serve two different users within a company, sales managers and sales representatives, who have changeable requirements. Sale force automation is essential in those industries where the direct field sales force tends to be high and account management is important. Pharmaceutical companies and manufacturing industries have obtained significant returns on sales force automation investments.

Before opting for any SFA software, research your options. A good sales force automation solution should have features such as multiple sales processing options and the ability to use multiple information sources. It should help in providing automation of customer assignments and field accessed decision support.

A sales force automation solution that is web enabled is at a huge advantage to those that are not. Web capability allows access to information and forms anywhere, anytime and also tools for accurate sales and demand forecasting. There must be strong security and flexibility to support new data and functionality without a large scale redesign of the system.

When choosing a sales force automation solution, keep in mind your clients and your sales force. Without flexibility to meet their needs precisely, you are likely to lose efficiency in the sales process. Choosing a flexible option will ensure your system will grow with your company.

Halstatt Pires is with the Internet marketing firm – www.marketingtitan.com – a San Diego Internet marketing and advertising company offering automated web site systems – www.businesscreatorpro.com – create web databases, e-commerce sites, business lead management systems and more.

Do you distribute, re-sell or sell wholesale products? If you do, you will soon encounter what may be your biggest opportunity for success… or failure. A large order from your best customer. A large order that exceeds your current financing capabilities. If you deliver it successfully, you can count on taking your company to the next level. If you don’t, your competitors will be the ones that eat your lunch and take their business to the next level

So, how do you handle an order that is too large for your business? You finance it. How? Using purchase order financing.

Let’s look at how things work in your business right now. Every time you get a purchase order from a client you go ahead and order the product from your suppliers. You either pay your supplier upfront or using bank financing. The supplier delivers the product and then your client pays you 30 or 60 days later.

However if you don’t have enough money to pay your supplier, the whole transaction falls through. Purchase order financing can provide you with up to 100% of the funds needed to pay your suppliers and make the sale.

There are only three major requirements to qualify for purchase order financing:

1. You must have a purchase order from a large credit worthy commercial customer

2. Your supplier must drop ship items directly to your customer

3. Your sales must be final (e.g. no guaranteed sales or consignment)

If you meet these three criteria, you have a very good chance of qualifying for purchase order financing. Purchase order financing works as follows:

1. You get a large purchase order from a client

2. The purchase order financing company issues a payment guarantee to your suppliers (usually through a letter of credit)

3. Your supplier drop ships the order and you issue an invoice

4. Once your client pays the invoice, the transaction is settled

With purchase order financing, your sales capabilities will no longer be limited by your financial strength. You can sell as much as you can finance. And – if your clients are credit worthy and good payers -you can finance as much as you want, the sky will be the limit.

About Commercial Capital LLC

We can help you get a purchase order financing, factoring or invoice factoring quote. Please call Marco Terry at (866) 730 1922 for more information.

Is your site converting well ? Are you making 3 sales out of every 100 visitors to your site ?

If not, here are 12 tips that can get you started improving your website conversion ratio.

This 12 step system will help you to increase your website profitability, increase your credibility and get your visitors to trust you.

Check it out…

1. Create a simple professional fast-loading minisite. Make sure that your minisite is not loaded with flash and bright attractive colors that will just confuse your visitors.

2. Your minisite must be loaded with high quality eye-catching graphics. Then plug a benefit laden text on your graphics.

3. Navigation system of your minisite must be absolutely simple. Put your main keywords in the links in your navigation bar.

4. Write a benefit laden headline. Your headline must include the biggest benefit that your product offers.

Other tactic is to stuff your headline with the biggest problem your target market is facing. And then hook them to check out the solution in your minisite.

5. Make sure you are providing your visitors what they want. Check out your site statistics to see how much time a visitor stays on your site.

6. Check out the keywords from where your website is receiving traffic. And optimize your site to perform better in the search engines.

7. Create a sitemap where you will link each and every page of your site. A search engine spider should index your entire site as soon as he visits your sitemap.

8. If you are selling an affiliate product, provide your honest review about the affiliate product. Sell them on the benefits that the product has given you.

9. Mask your affiliate links to get proper credit for the affiliate sale.

10. Redirect your error pages to your minisite. You can do this easily from your hosting account control panel such as cpanel. With this you will ensure that your traffic landing on the error pages are not wasted.

11. Create a ‘contact us’ or an ‘about us’ page on your site. Include your contact details out there including your phone number, fax number, email address, contact form, office address and your pic on the page.

With these details your visitors will trust you and can get their queries solved before purchasing your product.

12. Focus on collecting testimonials. Bribe your customers by giving them a free product if at all they send you an honest from the heart testimonial about your product. You will be amazed to see the number of testimonials you receive using this tactic.

Testimonials are power tools that will boost up conversion rates of your site as it increases your credibility and gets your visitors to trust you.

Once you apply these 12 simple steps you can watch your sales counter collecting more cash than it did before. But you’ve to start applying this system right NOW.