A MILLION DOLLAR CASH ADVANTAGE is exactly what a captive might mean to a surgeon at the beginning of a career. For a doctor well into a life's work, the savings that might be achieved by use of a captive could well determine the quality and point of retirement. How much? Without the loss of one penny set aside in loss reserves for the risk of professional liability, captive owners save at least one third or more of their cost for liability insurance.
JUST WHAT IS A CAPTIVE?
A Captive is a privately held insurance company formed for the sole purpose of providing insurance to that company's owners. A captive is a corporation qualified by governmental authority to operate as an insurance company for limited purposes. A captive is administered in the same manner as any other corporation in the conduct of business.
It is important to note that although insurance affairs are usually contracted to experienced trades people for the day to day operations, the captive's owners should always maintain total control of all business decisions as well as the captive's money accounts.
HOW DO CAPTIVES SAVE MONEY?
An insurance company reserve account is money set aside from premium dollars to pay future claims. Yet, this money is only a portion of the premium dollars you pay. Added to funds for loss reserves are sales commissions, advertising and marketing expense and the cost of the company's administration overhead as well as an allowance for profit. Therefore as little as 55 or 60% of the premium dollars you pay are actually set aside for the purpose you pay them, to pay for future liability claims. A Captive will set aside the same amount of money into reserves as a commercial insurance company. However, the captive will eliminate most, though not all of the commercial insurance company's expenses.
OTHER REASONS FOR FORMING A CAPTIVE:
The advantages of owning a Captive are well known to American industry and not for profit institutions. Only recently, due to legislative reforms, have captives become available to individuals and small groups. The various reasons for forming captives include:
Over a period of time, loss reserves become a sizable asset. The income from the investment of those assets directly benefits the shareholders of commercial companies. Owning the company yourself means you benefit from the investment of loss reserves.
If you cannot afford to bear the loss of your own risk, owning a captive means you can access the reinsurance market, which is effectively buying insurance wholesale. Owning a captive means you may determine how much risk you can afford each year and how much you wish to pass of to reinsurance companies.
Buying insurance from the commercial companies means you are subject to the vicissitudes of the market place. Your rates are affected by both man made and natural disasters. Owning your own company means you have a reliable place to insure yourself each year.
Control is a central issue. Captive owners control their companies. They control how claims are handled, how investments are made and they control rates and underwriting so long as the company comports itself in a financially responsible manner.
Asset protection has become an increasingly important factor in the establishment of captive insurance companies in recent years. To learn just how captives are used for asset protection, you should talk to a captive consultant.
THE ROLE OF THE CAPTIVE CONSULTANT:
The captive consultant is an adviser, who after understanding your requirements will draft a Plan of Business offering a practical solution designed to save you money by undertaking the development of a captive. The captive consultant will help you decide on a jurisdiction for your captive. He will assist you in locating a reliable third party administrator who will provide an office and staff to perform routine business matters for your company. He will draft all necessary documents for the application of you company charter. He will provide support services and be your eyes and ears after your captive is operational. The captive consultant works on a fee for services basis.
THE REAL BENEFITS OF OWNING A CAPTIVE INSURANCE COMPANY FOR YOUR OWN PRACTICE!
As a form of “self-insurance", the captive approach may provide the following benefits to its shareholders and owners:
SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY EXPENDITURES (Typically 30% below standard rates)
Stable assurance of CONTINUOUS COVERAGE
EFFECTIVE RISK SHARING through re-insurance or wholesale arrangements
EQUITY ACCUMULATION on the captives capital and reserve accounts
REDUCED EXPOSURE i.e. the captives claim records vs. the industry and regional averages
FULL ACCESS to competitive, worldwide, wholesale re-insurance markets
BENEFICIAL SELF-DIRECTION of the captive's corporate resources
Enhanced capital investment LATITUDE
MINIMAL INVOLVEMENT in day-to-day operations of the captive
All accounting, reporting and actuarial requirements FULLY AND PROFESSIONALLY OUTSOURCED
To sign up for an online seminar, or to request that a consultant call you or visit your practice and carry out a presentation to you and/or your colleaguesComputer Technology Articles, visit us at http://captivatinginsurance.exceptiona.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Johnston Sollicito is an Ebusiness expert with 15 years experience.
She built the website http://captivatinginsurance.exceptiona.com
Her site, Exceptiona.com, details her professional experience in IT.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Transitioning Affiliate Marketing Into the Small Business Mentality
Making money online, to many people, can be a fun hobby, a little side project or even a potential career. One thing that seems to be forgotten is the fact that online money making programs are truly small businesses, by definition. It was not until I realized this fact that I really started to make any money online.
I began affiliate marketing about 6 months. When I first started, my motives were simple: To Make Money! I spent hours reading about all of the different programs and opportunities available to me both online as well as offline. I attended a few franchise shows as well and spoke to some investment specialists. At this point in my life, I was not ready to fork out the tens of thousands of dollars to start my own business. That is when I discovered online money making opportunities. It sounded great at first! It made a lot of sense, too. You market someone else's product and you get a commission for every sale. It is distribution in its simplest form! The sales pitch: "If you make 3 sales per day at $20 per sale that is $60 per day or $1800 per month." So I tried it and did not initially make anything!So let us get real! If it was this easy to make $1800 per month, everyone would be doing it, right? Are people actually making money doing this? Yes! I am one of them! But the difference now is that I approach affiliate marketing like a business! Without a business or marketing background, I started to research how small business works by consulting the Small Business Association website (http://www.sba.gov). Things began to improve as soon as I confronted their CHECKLIST FOR STARTING A BUSINESS:
1) Identify Your ReasonsWhy Am I doing this? At this time in my life, I was not looking for a new career nor fork out the cash for a bigger investment. Rather, I needed to supplement my income. So I created the goal of making $1000 per month.
2) Self AnalysisWas I really going to do this? Was I really ready to put time into this. Yes! I decided that I would set aside 2 hours per day, 5 days per week to focus on my affiliate marketing. I am still committed to this schedule to this day.
3) Personal Skills and ExperienceCan I do this? I would not consider myself a computer guru, but I can find my way around a computer. I do not have any degree in marketing or economics, either. I realized at this point that I needed to educate myself a little bit on how to both market products as well as create websites. I bought an eBook on how to do affiliate marketing and the brought me three-quarters of the way there. I also spent about a week focusing on website design, domains and hosting. Over the last few months, all of these skills have improved ten-fold which has resulted in more sales and more confidence in my ability to market products online.
4) Finding a NicheWhat is going to make you stand out above the rest? Affiliate marketing, during its infancy, was an easy way to sell almost anything to anyone. There was little marketing competition. Now, the competition is so tough that just getting exposure of your product, website or blog either requires a lot of skill or a lot of money. Just like any small business, you need to give buyers a reason to buy your product over everyone else's product. Finding your niche in the marketplace can be very critical to success!
5) Market AnalysisWhile finding your online making money niche on the internet, you need to do your research. It is quite simple. Type your "niche" or idea into a google or yahoo search engine and see how many people are sponsoring it. Less than 10-20 sponsors may be doable. Over 20, you may have a long, uphill and costly battle! Also know and find out who are the people that are buying this product.
6) Planning Your StartupThis is very critical! My biggest mistake when I was initially starting my affiliate marketing venture was my lack of planning. I would focus my time building blogs and websites as fast as I can and marketing them as soon as possible without any thought. I did not research my products and my websites and blogs were mediocre at best (both in appearance and content). I promoted them with Pay-Per-Click campaigns without planning a budget. Further, I would get distracted with "bigger and better" ideas and would find myself flopping around from product to product. Focus, planning and setting up goals are crucial to making money online. They do not have to be long and drawn out. You just need to develop a plan and stick with it!7) FinancesDespite what you may read in some glorified "online money making" or "get rich" ads, you will need to invest money into affiliate marketing. Fortunately, it is initially not very much. Investing in an eBook or two on how to do it is important. You must be prepared to pay for some type of advertising to be successful (like Pay-Per-Clicks, classifieds, etc.). If things continue to increase, you may have website, hosting, and domain costs, too. Again, this is not much and for a small business, this is virtually nothing, but if you think you are going to rely purely on free blogs and Search Engine Optimization, your odds of success are quite minimum.
As you can see, we can clearly fit affiliate marketing into every category of the small business checklist. Once you discover this fact, you will find that as your outlook on making money online changes into more of a business mentality. Then your affiliate marketing venture will start to come together and you will begin making more money by promoting products online.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I began affiliate marketing about 6 months. When I first started, my motives were simple: To Make Money! I spent hours reading about all of the different programs and opportunities available to me both online as well as offline. I attended a few franchise shows as well and spoke to some investment specialists. At this point in my life, I was not ready to fork out the tens of thousands of dollars to start my own business. That is when I discovered online money making opportunities. It sounded great at first! It made a lot of sense, too. You market someone else's product and you get a commission for every sale. It is distribution in its simplest form! The sales pitch: "If you make 3 sales per day at $20 per sale that is $60 per day or $1800 per month." So I tried it and did not initially make anything!So let us get real! If it was this easy to make $1800 per month, everyone would be doing it, right? Are people actually making money doing this? Yes! I am one of them! But the difference now is that I approach affiliate marketing like a business! Without a business or marketing background, I started to research how small business works by consulting the Small Business Association website (http://www.sba.gov). Things began to improve as soon as I confronted their CHECKLIST FOR STARTING A BUSINESS:
1) Identify Your ReasonsWhy Am I doing this? At this time in my life, I was not looking for a new career nor fork out the cash for a bigger investment. Rather, I needed to supplement my income. So I created the goal of making $1000 per month.
2) Self AnalysisWas I really going to do this? Was I really ready to put time into this. Yes! I decided that I would set aside 2 hours per day, 5 days per week to focus on my affiliate marketing. I am still committed to this schedule to this day.
3) Personal Skills and ExperienceCan I do this? I would not consider myself a computer guru, but I can find my way around a computer. I do not have any degree in marketing or economics, either. I realized at this point that I needed to educate myself a little bit on how to both market products as well as create websites. I bought an eBook on how to do affiliate marketing and the brought me three-quarters of the way there. I also spent about a week focusing on website design, domains and hosting. Over the last few months, all of these skills have improved ten-fold which has resulted in more sales and more confidence in my ability to market products online.
4) Finding a NicheWhat is going to make you stand out above the rest? Affiliate marketing, during its infancy, was an easy way to sell almost anything to anyone. There was little marketing competition. Now, the competition is so tough that just getting exposure of your product, website or blog either requires a lot of skill or a lot of money. Just like any small business, you need to give buyers a reason to buy your product over everyone else's product. Finding your niche in the marketplace can be very critical to success!
5) Market AnalysisWhile finding your online making money niche on the internet, you need to do your research. It is quite simple. Type your "niche" or idea into a google or yahoo search engine and see how many people are sponsoring it. Less than 10-20 sponsors may be doable. Over 20, you may have a long, uphill and costly battle! Also know and find out who are the people that are buying this product.
6) Planning Your StartupThis is very critical! My biggest mistake when I was initially starting my affiliate marketing venture was my lack of planning. I would focus my time building blogs and websites as fast as I can and marketing them as soon as possible without any thought. I did not research my products and my websites and blogs were mediocre at best (both in appearance and content). I promoted them with Pay-Per-Click campaigns without planning a budget. Further, I would get distracted with "bigger and better" ideas and would find myself flopping around from product to product. Focus, planning and setting up goals are crucial to making money online. They do not have to be long and drawn out. You just need to develop a plan and stick with it!7) FinancesDespite what you may read in some glorified "online money making" or "get rich" ads, you will need to invest money into affiliate marketing. Fortunately, it is initially not very much. Investing in an eBook or two on how to do it is important. You must be prepared to pay for some type of advertising to be successful (like Pay-Per-Clicks, classifieds, etc.). If things continue to increase, you may have website, hosting, and domain costs, too. Again, this is not much and for a small business, this is virtually nothing, but if you think you are going to rely purely on free blogs and Search Engine Optimization, your odds of success are quite minimum.
As you can see, we can clearly fit affiliate marketing into every category of the small business checklist. Once you discover this fact, you will find that as your outlook on making money online changes into more of a business mentality. Then your affiliate marketing venture will start to come together and you will begin making more money by promoting products online.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew is a 31 year old online entrepreneur and engineer currently living in San Diego, CA.Visit http://www.thewebreviewer.com for more money making articles, resources and reviews on today’s hottest online money making ventures.
A Tragic and Brutal End for our American Horses.
Each time I write or pass along this information, my whole intention is to save at least one more horse. Alone I know I cannot save them all, although I whole heartedly want to, but to reach one more person's eyes, heart and conscious and they respond in kind then I suppose that is just as good. I purposely want these articles to strike a nerve and open the American public’s eyes to the senseless practice of horse slaughter.
Our American horses of all types are being slaughtered as would any domesticated food animal. Our Founding Fathers designated the horse a "favored" animal which means they are not bred or raised for food, not eaten in our culture. Why? Because the horse is part of American heritage, having played a major role in our historical growth and development. Extensive independent polling shows that voters think it is illegal to slaughter a horse for human consumption; however when informed that it is not, 88%-93% think that it should be. Now taking that in consideration here are the alarming facts: Over 3 million American recreational horses have been secretly purchased and slaughtered for the foreign markets in the last two decades. And because of the lack of disclosure on the part of the agents for the foreign owned horsemeat industry, people's horses can and have been stolen and their pets purchased under false pretenses. This practice has contributed to crime and consumer fraud. In the United States there are currently two horse slaughter plants in operation, both foreign-owned, both in Texas and a third in Illinois. In addition to the horses killed in the two US-based plants, thousands more are transported under deplorable conditions across our borders into Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered. Horses are often transported for more than 24 hours without rest, water, or food, while unprotected from weather extremes in thin metal-walled trailers. Sick and/or injured horses frequently are forced onto double-deck trailers that were designed for short-necked animals including cattle and sheep. Once at the slaughterhouse, the suffering and abuse continue unabated. Often, horses are left on tightly packed double-deck trailers for long periods of time while a few are forcibly moved off. Callous workers, using long, thick fiberglass rods, poke and beat the horses' faces, necks, backs, and legs as they are shoved through the facility into the kill box. Due to extreme overcrowding, abuse, deafening sounds, and the smell of blood, the horses exhibit fear typical of "flight" behavior pacing in prance-like movements with their ears pinned back against their heads and eyes wide open. The horses are then herded into shoots which lead to the stun box. Horses have a very keen since of smell so while they are being driven down this shute they can smell the death in front of them. They are shaking and very frightened and know the fate that awaits them. This is a cruel fate for a pet and any horse that has been be-friended by a human and they should not ever end up with this type of fate. What you do have to realize from this time on is that there are very devious buyers out there looking to buy any horse they can get their hands on. They very willing to lie by saying the horse they purchase from you will be taken to a great place to live out it's days with constant good care. These people are only driven by GREED and have BLOOD on their hands from the many horses they manipulated from good loving owners and taken them straight to the Slaughter House! The purpose of this article to open the American publics eyes to the senseless practice of horse slaughter. Our American horses of all types are being slaughtered as would any domesticated food animal. Our Founding Fathers designated the horse a "favored" animal which means they are not bred or raised for food, not eaten in our culture. Why? Because the horse is part of American heritage, having played a major role in our historical growth and development. Extensive independent polling shows that voters think it is illegal to slaughter a horse for human consumption; however when informed that it is not, 88%-93% think that it should be. Now taking that in consideration here are the alarming facts: Over 3 million American recreational horses have been secretly purchased and slaughtered for the foreign markets in the last two decades. And because of the lack of disclosure on the part of the agents for the foreign owned horsemeat industry, people's horses can and have been stolen and their pets purchased under false pretenses. This practice has contributed to crime and consumer fraud. In the United States there are currently two horse slaughter plants in operation, both foreign-owned, both in Texas and a third in IIinois. In addition to the horses killed in the two US-based plants, thousands more are transported under deplorable conditions across our borders into Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered. Horses are often transported for more than 24 hours without rest, water, or food, while unprotected from weather extremes in thin metal-walled trailers. Sick and/or injured horses frequently are forced onto double-deck trailers that were designed for short-necked animals including cattle and sheep. Once at the slaughterhouse, the suffering and abuse continue unabated. Often, horses are left on tightly packed double-deck trailers for long periods of time while a few are forcibly moved off. Callous workers, using long, thick fiberglass rods, poke and beat the horses' faces, necks, backs, and legs as they are shoved through the facility into the kill box. Due to extreme overcrowding, abuse, deafening sounds, and the smell of bloodFeature Articles, the horse’s exhibit fear typical of "flight" behavior pacing in prance-like movements with their ears pinned back against their heads and eyes wide open. The horses are then herded into shoots which lead to the stun box. Horses have a very keen since of smell so while they are being driven down this shute they can smell the death in front of them. They are shaking and very frightened and know the fate that awaits them. This is a cruel fate for a pet and any horse that has been be-friended by a human and they should not ever end up with this type of fate. What you do have to realize from this time on is that there are very devious buyers out there looking to buy any horse they can get their hands on. They very willing to lie by saying the horse they purchase from you will be taken to a great place to live out its days with constant good care. These people are only driven by GREED and have BLOOD on their hands from the many horses they manipulated from good loving owners and taken them straight to the Slaughter House! Please BEWARE and do all you can to insure that your friends and companions are going to be out of harms way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Murphy is a Horse lover and owner and the Operations Manager of Fairbanks Horse Rescue. You can read and keep up to date on his family’s efforts and see how you can get involved at http://wavisp.com/horse5050.html.
Email: saviors@wavisp.com
Our American horses of all types are being slaughtered as would any domesticated food animal. Our Founding Fathers designated the horse a "favored" animal which means they are not bred or raised for food, not eaten in our culture. Why? Because the horse is part of American heritage, having played a major role in our historical growth and development. Extensive independent polling shows that voters think it is illegal to slaughter a horse for human consumption; however when informed that it is not, 88%-93% think that it should be. Now taking that in consideration here are the alarming facts: Over 3 million American recreational horses have been secretly purchased and slaughtered for the foreign markets in the last two decades. And because of the lack of disclosure on the part of the agents for the foreign owned horsemeat industry, people's horses can and have been stolen and their pets purchased under false pretenses. This practice has contributed to crime and consumer fraud. In the United States there are currently two horse slaughter plants in operation, both foreign-owned, both in Texas and a third in Illinois. In addition to the horses killed in the two US-based plants, thousands more are transported under deplorable conditions across our borders into Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered. Horses are often transported for more than 24 hours without rest, water, or food, while unprotected from weather extremes in thin metal-walled trailers. Sick and/or injured horses frequently are forced onto double-deck trailers that were designed for short-necked animals including cattle and sheep. Once at the slaughterhouse, the suffering and abuse continue unabated. Often, horses are left on tightly packed double-deck trailers for long periods of time while a few are forcibly moved off. Callous workers, using long, thick fiberglass rods, poke and beat the horses' faces, necks, backs, and legs as they are shoved through the facility into the kill box. Due to extreme overcrowding, abuse, deafening sounds, and the smell of blood, the horses exhibit fear typical of "flight" behavior pacing in prance-like movements with their ears pinned back against their heads and eyes wide open. The horses are then herded into shoots which lead to the stun box. Horses have a very keen since of smell so while they are being driven down this shute they can smell the death in front of them. They are shaking and very frightened and know the fate that awaits them. This is a cruel fate for a pet and any horse that has been be-friended by a human and they should not ever end up with this type of fate. What you do have to realize from this time on is that there are very devious buyers out there looking to buy any horse they can get their hands on. They very willing to lie by saying the horse they purchase from you will be taken to a great place to live out it's days with constant good care. These people are only driven by GREED and have BLOOD on their hands from the many horses they manipulated from good loving owners and taken them straight to the Slaughter House! The purpose of this article to open the American publics eyes to the senseless practice of horse slaughter. Our American horses of all types are being slaughtered as would any domesticated food animal. Our Founding Fathers designated the horse a "favored" animal which means they are not bred or raised for food, not eaten in our culture. Why? Because the horse is part of American heritage, having played a major role in our historical growth and development. Extensive independent polling shows that voters think it is illegal to slaughter a horse for human consumption; however when informed that it is not, 88%-93% think that it should be. Now taking that in consideration here are the alarming facts: Over 3 million American recreational horses have been secretly purchased and slaughtered for the foreign markets in the last two decades. And because of the lack of disclosure on the part of the agents for the foreign owned horsemeat industry, people's horses can and have been stolen and their pets purchased under false pretenses. This practice has contributed to crime and consumer fraud. In the United States there are currently two horse slaughter plants in operation, both foreign-owned, both in Texas and a third in IIinois. In addition to the horses killed in the two US-based plants, thousands more are transported under deplorable conditions across our borders into Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered. Horses are often transported for more than 24 hours without rest, water, or food, while unprotected from weather extremes in thin metal-walled trailers. Sick and/or injured horses frequently are forced onto double-deck trailers that were designed for short-necked animals including cattle and sheep. Once at the slaughterhouse, the suffering and abuse continue unabated. Often, horses are left on tightly packed double-deck trailers for long periods of time while a few are forcibly moved off. Callous workers, using long, thick fiberglass rods, poke and beat the horses' faces, necks, backs, and legs as they are shoved through the facility into the kill box. Due to extreme overcrowding, abuse, deafening sounds, and the smell of bloodFeature Articles, the horse’s exhibit fear typical of "flight" behavior pacing in prance-like movements with their ears pinned back against their heads and eyes wide open. The horses are then herded into shoots which lead to the stun box. Horses have a very keen since of smell so while they are being driven down this shute they can smell the death in front of them. They are shaking and very frightened and know the fate that awaits them. This is a cruel fate for a pet and any horse that has been be-friended by a human and they should not ever end up with this type of fate. What you do have to realize from this time on is that there are very devious buyers out there looking to buy any horse they can get their hands on. They very willing to lie by saying the horse they purchase from you will be taken to a great place to live out its days with constant good care. These people are only driven by GREED and have BLOOD on their hands from the many horses they manipulated from good loving owners and taken them straight to the Slaughter House! Please BEWARE and do all you can to insure that your friends and companions are going to be out of harms way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Murphy is a Horse lover and owner and the Operations Manager of Fairbanks Horse Rescue. You can read and keep up to date on his family’s efforts and see how you can get involved at http://wavisp.com/horse5050.html.
Email: saviors@wavisp.com
Keys To Discovering Your Personal Mission
If you’ve ever wondered what your purpose is and what to do about it, you’re no different than most of us. In part 2 of four articles, we’ll take a closer look at how to begin the process of discovering your Purpose and your Mission. If you’re overwhelmed at the thought, we’ll begin by looking at the clues you’ve been giving yourself all along. You’re closer than you think to walking out your life’s Mission!
Purpose is what you’re created for. Mission is what you’re meant to do about it.
Do I Have A Purpose?You’re not alone if you’re facing the question of why you are here and what you are supposed to do about it. In order to begin the process of unwrapping yourself and realizing some answers, you must begin with the assumption that you are here for a purpose, that you are not a result of happenstance.
If you are concerned about stepping out on the uncertainty of an assumption, I invite you to try an exercise. For the next 24 hours, take note of all the assumptions you act upon each day – without certain knowledge or proof that they are dependable.
For instance, you assume the alarm will go off just because you set it and it went off yesterday and the day before – assumption. You assume the train will arrive on the platform at the same time today as yesterday, though you surely have experienced interruptions in the schedule. Yet you plan your morning around the assumption.
These assumptions and many more like them are at the base of countless plans you make each day. So just suppose that you’re not here for a purpose and you’re not part of a greater plan, but you have based your actions toward others and your plans for the future on your belief that there was a plan. How fruitful and fulfilling would your life have become, based on this assumption, true or not? How much value would you have added to the lives of those around you, having lived your life based on this assumption?Millions, perhaps billions of people struggle through life with no thought what to do with themselves, no design. Decisions concerning education, career, vocation, marriage, and family are a source of constant stress and confusion – and all because they have never been able to perceive of themselves as part of a plan, as a gift to their world.
Though definitely not immune, people of faith have less trouble with the basics in this area. But you needn’t wait for all the answers; you can begin to be a gift to those who occupy your corner of the world right now - today. Assuming that the sheer number of earth’s inhabitants is a clue to your purpose, make a conscious decision to focus less on yourself and your questions, your uncertainties, your desires and begin to notice those around you in a way unrelated to you and your perceived needs. Begin to interact with them on the basis of their needs, not your own.
The word mission comes from the Latin mittere, to send, and it is the beginning of the adventure. Once we have accepted that we have a purpose, that we are not an accident, then we can begin the process of discovering what we’re to do about it. If that’s a daunting exercise, let’s begin with a few questions:
What are Your Gifts and Talents?Everyone is born with talent. You may be unaware of your unique talents, simply because talents are so much a part of us that they often seem hardly worth mentioning. Begin the process by asking yourself what you have always been able to do with little effort? What do friends and family continually ask you to do over everyone else? What activities are you consistently drawn to? Write these down and begin to actively pursue opportunities to exercise them. Just as you were born with muscle, but you need to work each muscle for it to reach maximum efficiency, so it is with talents.
Gifts on the other hand can be viewed as equipment, often not appearing until later in life as our direction begins to unfold. For this reason, we are generally very aware of our gifts. Once identified, begin to think of these as tools. Look at each area in which you are gifted and see how you can combine your gifts with your talents.
What Fascinates You?What do you never tire of discussing? Your ears perk up when someone across the room begins to discuss it; you stop your channel surfing when you come across it on television. You may have a shelf full of books on the subject. Whether you have ever actively pursued it or not, the subject is of perennial interest.
What’s Your Passion?Finally, each person has a fire burning in them, though for some the fires have been allowed only to smolder. What is it that would flare up and burn brightly if you gave it the slightest opportunity? Is it a cause, a vocation, or perhaps there’s a book or a painting, just waiting for you to give it some time to appear. Whatever it is that you find yourself daydreaming about, consider giving it an opportunity to come to front of your life.
Begin by keeping a journal, because as soon as you begin to ask yourself these questions, the answers will start to emerge – be prepared to record them. Answering these questions, putting the pieces together as they appear is the beginning of the process of uncovering your personal missionArticle Search, what you’re here to do – your destiny.
So make the decision to move away from the familiar and into your adventure as only you were equipped to.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karin is a certified Life Coach specializing in the EffectivenessCoaching process. She has helped leaders at all levels to increase their personal and professional effectiveness by guiding them through the process of learning to do less and be more. Gain, regain and maintain control of your life direction and sign up for the FREE introductory DISCOVERING YOUR PURPOSE & WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT teleclass, at http://www.Solushunz.com Classes/Workshops.
Purpose is what you’re created for. Mission is what you’re meant to do about it.
Do I Have A Purpose?You’re not alone if you’re facing the question of why you are here and what you are supposed to do about it. In order to begin the process of unwrapping yourself and realizing some answers, you must begin with the assumption that you are here for a purpose, that you are not a result of happenstance.
If you are concerned about stepping out on the uncertainty of an assumption, I invite you to try an exercise. For the next 24 hours, take note of all the assumptions you act upon each day – without certain knowledge or proof that they are dependable.
For instance, you assume the alarm will go off just because you set it and it went off yesterday and the day before – assumption. You assume the train will arrive on the platform at the same time today as yesterday, though you surely have experienced interruptions in the schedule. Yet you plan your morning around the assumption.
These assumptions and many more like them are at the base of countless plans you make each day. So just suppose that you’re not here for a purpose and you’re not part of a greater plan, but you have based your actions toward others and your plans for the future on your belief that there was a plan. How fruitful and fulfilling would your life have become, based on this assumption, true or not? How much value would you have added to the lives of those around you, having lived your life based on this assumption?Millions, perhaps billions of people struggle through life with no thought what to do with themselves, no design. Decisions concerning education, career, vocation, marriage, and family are a source of constant stress and confusion – and all because they have never been able to perceive of themselves as part of a plan, as a gift to their world.
Though definitely not immune, people of faith have less trouble with the basics in this area. But you needn’t wait for all the answers; you can begin to be a gift to those who occupy your corner of the world right now - today. Assuming that the sheer number of earth’s inhabitants is a clue to your purpose, make a conscious decision to focus less on yourself and your questions, your uncertainties, your desires and begin to notice those around you in a way unrelated to you and your perceived needs. Begin to interact with them on the basis of their needs, not your own.
The word mission comes from the Latin mittere, to send, and it is the beginning of the adventure. Once we have accepted that we have a purpose, that we are not an accident, then we can begin the process of discovering what we’re to do about it. If that’s a daunting exercise, let’s begin with a few questions:
What are Your Gifts and Talents?Everyone is born with talent. You may be unaware of your unique talents, simply because talents are so much a part of us that they often seem hardly worth mentioning. Begin the process by asking yourself what you have always been able to do with little effort? What do friends and family continually ask you to do over everyone else? What activities are you consistently drawn to? Write these down and begin to actively pursue opportunities to exercise them. Just as you were born with muscle, but you need to work each muscle for it to reach maximum efficiency, so it is with talents.
Gifts on the other hand can be viewed as equipment, often not appearing until later in life as our direction begins to unfold. For this reason, we are generally very aware of our gifts. Once identified, begin to think of these as tools. Look at each area in which you are gifted and see how you can combine your gifts with your talents.
What Fascinates You?What do you never tire of discussing? Your ears perk up when someone across the room begins to discuss it; you stop your channel surfing when you come across it on television. You may have a shelf full of books on the subject. Whether you have ever actively pursued it or not, the subject is of perennial interest.
What’s Your Passion?Finally, each person has a fire burning in them, though for some the fires have been allowed only to smolder. What is it that would flare up and burn brightly if you gave it the slightest opportunity? Is it a cause, a vocation, or perhaps there’s a book or a painting, just waiting for you to give it some time to appear. Whatever it is that you find yourself daydreaming about, consider giving it an opportunity to come to front of your life.
Begin by keeping a journal, because as soon as you begin to ask yourself these questions, the answers will start to emerge – be prepared to record them. Answering these questions, putting the pieces together as they appear is the beginning of the process of uncovering your personal missionArticle Search, what you’re here to do – your destiny.
So make the decision to move away from the familiar and into your adventure as only you were equipped to.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karin is a certified Life Coach specializing in the EffectivenessCoaching process. She has helped leaders at all levels to increase their personal and professional effectiveness by guiding them through the process of learning to do less and be more. Gain, regain and maintain control of your life direction and sign up for the FREE introductory DISCOVERING YOUR PURPOSE & WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT teleclass, at http://www.Solushunz.com Classes/Workshops.
Writing Articles for Publication - 3 Fatal Mistakes
Viral marketing in the form of article writing and submission is one of the hottest forms of marketing today. Avoid these three fatal mistakes in article marketing and watch your traffic - and profits - soar.
As one of the hottest forms of viral marketing today, article writing and submission must be part of your marketing effort whether your business is online, brick-and-mortar, or both. To get the most out of your article marketing campaign, you must avoid these three fatal mistakes.
* Not writing articles for publication
* Not writing enough articles for publication
* Giving up too soon
The first fatal mistake in article marketing is choosing not to write articles. Yes, I said, "choosing not to write articles," because it is a choice. You can choose to continue to read about all the benefits of article marketing and not do anything to further your own campaign, or you can choose today, right now, to write your first article for publication and drive targeted traffic to your site. Whatever it takes to move you to action, you must do it today. If you choose not to write articles for publication, this powerful marketing strategy will be lost to you along with the hundreds or thousands of new visitors who could increase your sales daily.
It's as simple as this: You must choose to write articles for publication and submit them to the myriad free article directories on the web. There is no other way to market your business this powerfully and effectively for free.
The second fatal mistake is not writing enough articles. While it is not necessary to write an article every day or even every other day, the more articles you write the more potential you have for exposure. One man I read said that he writes 100 articles a month; another man writes 30 a month. If writing just one article sounds overwhelming to you, start with one article with a plan to write another one next week, another the following week, and so on. Once you start writing, you will be surprised at the knowledge you have and find that you enjoy writing. If you write one article each and every week, you will have 52 articles spread throughout the world in a year. Keep in mind that writing just one article probably won't increase your exposure enough that you will notice, but a number of articles written over time will bring a stream of traffic to your door.
If you absolutely cannot write an article, take advantage of article writing companies that are available. These can be found by doing a quick search in one of the major search engines. These articles won't be free, but they could still provide advertising through article marketing cheaper than advertising through other means.
The third fatal mistake in article marketing is giving up too soon. As I wrote previously, writing just one article probably won't increase your exposure enough for you to see much difference in traffic to your site immediately. However, repeated articles spread throughout the web by others who pick up your article have the potential of putting hundreds or thousands of dollars in your pocket. Your first article might not get much attention right away, but imagine that, as your writing skills and knowledge improve over time, subsequent articles receive attention and are picked up by more and more bloggers and ezine publishers. As your name becomes recognized, people who have enjoyed and learned from your articles will return to the internet and search for more articles that you have written. Even if your first article isn't widely distributed at first, it could receive exposure months later when you are seen as an expert in your field.
Think of some of today's best-selling authors. Do you suppose that every one of them made it to the New York Times Bestsellers list with their first book? By all means, "no!" Most of these authors worked and toiled for years, writing book after book before making it on the list. If John Grisham spent three years writing his first book, which was rejected repeatedly by publishers before writing a bestseller, should you expect that your first article will create such a stir in the industry that your name will be in the headlines tomorrow? Probably not. But remember that, even though his first book was rejected repeatedly before being made into a measly 5000 copies, Grisham immediately started working on his second novel, one made into a movie and ranked #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers list during its 47 week tenure. After that he had two more hits, one of which debuted at the top spot on the New York Times list. And it gets better, and makes my point. After three books made John Grisham famous, do you know what happened? His first book, the one that was repeatedly rejected and had a small printing of only 5000 copies, was reprinted and this time it was a bestseller. What changed? Certainly not the plot or the characters. What changed was the reputation of the author and the desire of his audience to read books that he penned.
This is exactly what could happen to you, too. But in order to get to that point, to the point where your work is sought after by people who want to hear what you have to say, you must avoid these three fatal mistakes in article marketing: choosing not to write articles for publication, not writing enough articles for publication, and giving up too soon.
Start writing articles today and consistently submit your original work for publication. You'll be glad you did.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As one of the hottest forms of viral marketing today, article writing and submission must be part of your marketing effort whether your business is online, brick-and-mortar, or both. To get the most out of your article marketing campaign, you must avoid these three fatal mistakes.
* Not writing articles for publication
* Not writing enough articles for publication
* Giving up too soon
The first fatal mistake in article marketing is choosing not to write articles. Yes, I said, "choosing not to write articles," because it is a choice. You can choose to continue to read about all the benefits of article marketing and not do anything to further your own campaign, or you can choose today, right now, to write your first article for publication and drive targeted traffic to your site. Whatever it takes to move you to action, you must do it today. If you choose not to write articles for publication, this powerful marketing strategy will be lost to you along with the hundreds or thousands of new visitors who could increase your sales daily.
It's as simple as this: You must choose to write articles for publication and submit them to the myriad free article directories on the web. There is no other way to market your business this powerfully and effectively for free.
The second fatal mistake is not writing enough articles. While it is not necessary to write an article every day or even every other day, the more articles you write the more potential you have for exposure. One man I read said that he writes 100 articles a month; another man writes 30 a month. If writing just one article sounds overwhelming to you, start with one article with a plan to write another one next week, another the following week, and so on. Once you start writing, you will be surprised at the knowledge you have and find that you enjoy writing. If you write one article each and every week, you will have 52 articles spread throughout the world in a year. Keep in mind that writing just one article probably won't increase your exposure enough that you will notice, but a number of articles written over time will bring a stream of traffic to your door.
If you absolutely cannot write an article, take advantage of article writing companies that are available. These can be found by doing a quick search in one of the major search engines. These articles won't be free, but they could still provide advertising through article marketing cheaper than advertising through other means.
The third fatal mistake in article marketing is giving up too soon. As I wrote previously, writing just one article probably won't increase your exposure enough for you to see much difference in traffic to your site immediately. However, repeated articles spread throughout the web by others who pick up your article have the potential of putting hundreds or thousands of dollars in your pocket. Your first article might not get much attention right away, but imagine that, as your writing skills and knowledge improve over time, subsequent articles receive attention and are picked up by more and more bloggers and ezine publishers. As your name becomes recognized, people who have enjoyed and learned from your articles will return to the internet and search for more articles that you have written. Even if your first article isn't widely distributed at first, it could receive exposure months later when you are seen as an expert in your field.
Think of some of today's best-selling authors. Do you suppose that every one of them made it to the New York Times Bestsellers list with their first book? By all means, "no!" Most of these authors worked and toiled for years, writing book after book before making it on the list. If John Grisham spent three years writing his first book, which was rejected repeatedly by publishers before writing a bestseller, should you expect that your first article will create such a stir in the industry that your name will be in the headlines tomorrow? Probably not. But remember that, even though his first book was rejected repeatedly before being made into a measly 5000 copies, Grisham immediately started working on his second novel, one made into a movie and ranked #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers list during its 47 week tenure. After that he had two more hits, one of which debuted at the top spot on the New York Times list. And it gets better, and makes my point. After three books made John Grisham famous, do you know what happened? His first book, the one that was repeatedly rejected and had a small printing of only 5000 copies, was reprinted and this time it was a bestseller. What changed? Certainly not the plot or the characters. What changed was the reputation of the author and the desire of his audience to read books that he penned.
This is exactly what could happen to you, too. But in order to get to that point, to the point where your work is sought after by people who want to hear what you have to say, you must avoid these three fatal mistakes in article marketing: choosing not to write articles for publication, not writing enough articles for publication, and giving up too soon.
Start writing articles today and consistently submit your original work for publication. You'll be glad you did.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claudia Pate is the owner of The Anniversary Shop, an online store for all your gift-giving needs.
Learn more about article writing and starting your own internet business at Common Sense Ebiz Blog.
Sign up for my free internet business newsletter at Common Sense Ebiz and start writing your own internet success story with Plug-in Profits, a 3-Step Plan that includes a free website and a 30 Day Guide to Success.
Work at Home Mom Series – Part 5: Start Thinking Rich
This series of articles are written specifically for work at home moms. In this article, we will discuss how the mindset of thinking rich can have a dramatic impact on whether or not you will be successful in a home-based business.
You have often heard, money makes money or success breeds success. So what is it about successful and wealthy people that makes them tick? Is there a magic formula or something special that we all do not know about? Is it really that far fetched that many of us who were not born rich could be rich and therefore successful? I think the answer to this question is, absolutely!
Let me tell you why the rich are rich and how the rich stay rich. First thing is that rich is not a matter of wealth in of itself. If that were the case, there would be many people who would be rich one day and dirt poor the next. We actually see this happening with sports stars who obtain riches very quickly only to loose it all in a matter of a few years.
Rich people are rich because they have the mindset to be rich, they think rich, they act rich, they smell rich. Rich is not money, rich is confidence and attitude.
So how do you change your mindset from what it already is to one that thinks and acts rich and successful? The first thing to do is to have a goal or a target that will define your success. For some that may be money, while others it may be getting a certain number of sales in a quarter or a year. Whatever your goal, break that goal into segments, first achieve the segments, win some small victories. Gain confidence by being successful with the smaller, easier obtainable goals. Once you have achieved your short-term goals you will be setting yourself up for reaching the big goal, whatever that may be.
Do you know that Mount Everest can only be climbed by first reaching smaller goals? Nobody can reach the top of the summit by climbing straight up, it is impossible. The same is true if you have never been rich and successful. You have to first taste success by climbing to the intermediate goals before reaching the ultimate point.
The point is this, success and riches can be obtained by anyone. First, decide that you will be successful, then set a goal, make smaller goals and then resolve to reach those goals before raising the flag of success at the top of your mountain.
I hope that you have enjoyed this article, and that it will help you make your business more successful. If you wantComputer Technology Articles, please send me an email and let me know what you think of this article and as always good luck.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
You have often heard, money makes money or success breeds success. So what is it about successful and wealthy people that makes them tick? Is there a magic formula or something special that we all do not know about? Is it really that far fetched that many of us who were not born rich could be rich and therefore successful? I think the answer to this question is, absolutely!
Let me tell you why the rich are rich and how the rich stay rich. First thing is that rich is not a matter of wealth in of itself. If that were the case, there would be many people who would be rich one day and dirt poor the next. We actually see this happening with sports stars who obtain riches very quickly only to loose it all in a matter of a few years.
Rich people are rich because they have the mindset to be rich, they think rich, they act rich, they smell rich. Rich is not money, rich is confidence and attitude.
So how do you change your mindset from what it already is to one that thinks and acts rich and successful? The first thing to do is to have a goal or a target that will define your success. For some that may be money, while others it may be getting a certain number of sales in a quarter or a year. Whatever your goal, break that goal into segments, first achieve the segments, win some small victories. Gain confidence by being successful with the smaller, easier obtainable goals. Once you have achieved your short-term goals you will be setting yourself up for reaching the big goal, whatever that may be.
Do you know that Mount Everest can only be climbed by first reaching smaller goals? Nobody can reach the top of the summit by climbing straight up, it is impossible. The same is true if you have never been rich and successful. You have to first taste success by climbing to the intermediate goals before reaching the ultimate point.
The point is this, success and riches can be obtained by anyone. First, decide that you will be successful, then set a goal, make smaller goals and then resolve to reach those goals before raising the flag of success at the top of your mountain.
I hope that you have enjoyed this article, and that it will help you make your business more successful. If you wantComputer Technology Articles, please send me an email and let me know what you think of this article and as always good luck.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For more home business ideas and information visit us at www.workathomepeople.com
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