Stop your wasting time right now!

Well not really, you have to know where you are and where you want to be in order to improve anything. So deciding that your time management skills are poor, and learning how to get better and where you want to be is time well spent. How ever in saying that if you've been searching for time management information for days now, and are still looking for a perfect solution there's a chance you’re procrastinating. Just one trait of someone with poor time management.

So what can you do to start improving your time management right away?

Make lists and prioritize

Often it's not that people aren't effective with their time rather they just don't spend the time they have doing the right things. We're all guilty of this at one time or another, but some of us are habitual with it. The easiest way to determine if you do this is to make a list each morning, or the night before of the things you need/want to accomplish
the following or that day. Once you have your list prioritize the items from greatest to least importance. Now spend a day and perform the tasks in the order you prioritized them. This does two things.

a.) It shows you what you need to accomplish in a day so you now have some urgency because you know there are other tasks to get done not just the one your currently working on.

b.) It ensures that the most important items are being taken care of first.

There are times when we can't finish every item on our list but at least we took care of the most important issues first.


Learn to say no

You can't do everything for everyone. Following our list exercise above it's obvious that if you have a list of 20 things and only time for 10 of them in a day then it's hard to accept additional activities from others. Of course there are trade offs that a more important task could come along and you exchange it for another task you were going to do that day. This gets into another discussion on life priorities such as friends, family, career, remember balance is also important. But you can't do everything so if the boss wants you to work late that night, but your supposed to see your son’s hockey game
you have to be able to say no somewhere.

Don't book every moment of your day

Now while we've preached lists, daily organization, and learning to say no you do need to leave some room for flexibility. Booking up every moment of your day so that you're on a minute-by-minute schedule can be a big problem if a mini crisis occurs in the day that wasn't accounted for.

Use other tools

Using day planners, or PDA's to keep track of appointments and to do lists will save time and promote organization on all levels. Also keeping good contact information whether it be in a contact database on your computer or in an address book will save time when you need to contact people.

Car Insurance Estimate

Shopping around for a car insurance estimate is not something most people look forward to. It is one of the least exciting chores that is required in order to have a car on the road, but it is worth seeking out the most competitive car insurance estimate available. Although getting a car insurance estimate from a number of companies isn’t a desirable task; many people spend far more than they absolutely have to each year on their auto insurance because they simply haven’t taken the time to compare rates and policies with other auto insurance companies. It would be hard to find someone who would walk into an appliance store and decide to spend $200.00 more on a washer that offers the same exact quality and features as the one next to it that costs far less. It doesn’t make too much sense to do the same thing with car insurance.

Most of the time, a car insurance estimate will include collision, liability and comprehensive coverage on a vehicle. Most households have two or more vehicles and every car should be included when seeking out a car insurance estimate. There are a few things that can be done to make getting a car insurance estimate easier and more accurate especially when dealing with more than one car insurance company.

One of the best things to do before looking for a car insurance estimate is to see exactly what the state requirements are as far as what the necessary minimum coverage is in order to have adequate coverage. This is something that might be better to do without the assistance of an insurance agency if possible because their job is to sell insurance and they make more money with the more coverage they are able to sell.

In order to spend less time on the phone when looking for a car insurance estimate, it is a good idea to have a number of items handy including a driver’s license, vehicle identification numbers, make, model and year of each car and even the name and contact information for the company that is financing all vehicles if applicable. There are also a number of factors that can be taken into consideration when seeking a car insurance estimate that may mean additional savings per year. Features on each auto including airbags, auto alarms, anti-lock brakes and other things may mean discounts on auto insurance. Some insurance companies will even offer discounts for having more than one policy with their company as well as insuring multiple cars through with their coverage. Additional discounts may be found through other things like accident-free driving record, defensive driving course incentives and other discounts.

Other circumstances may cost a driver more with certain companies when looking for a car insurance estimate. Men under the age of 25, single drivers, younger drivers under the age of 21, the number of miles driven per day and even the kind of car that is driven can cost a person more money on car insurance when shopping around. The best part about this is that not one car insurance will probably charge the same amount of money for the same coverage so shopping around will prove that there are better choices available.

What is Lead Generation?

Lead Generation is vital to all businesses. All companies try to attract new customers, and this is a kind of lead generation.

Lead generation includes anything that a business does to gather a list of new or potential clients and involves a number of techniques used to create interest in potential customers. Some techniques commonly used for lead generation are direct mail, telemarketing, requests for proposals, requests for quotes, referrals, trade show demonstrations, seminars, and advertising. If done correctly, each of these methods will generate a list of interested potential clients for the business.

Advertising is perhaps the most obvious way to generate leads. People who respond to a company’s advertisements often become customers. Requests for proposals involve potential clients asking the business to come up with solutions and price ranges for particular problems or issues the customer may have. For example, if a city asks for a bid on a project from a construction contracting firm, then the contracting firm has generated a lead.

Requests for quotes are similar—for example, car insurance companies offer free rate quotes. When the potential client asks for the quote, they give the insurance company information about themselves that the company can then save for future use. Direct mail is when a business sends out fliers or brochures to a large number of people in the hope of attaining new customers. When a business has employees make cold calls to a list of people, they are telemarketing. The business hopes that some people will listen to the callers and become interested in the business. Trade show demonstrations and seminars are designed to appeal to people who are already interested in the business’s product.

The business always tries to present itself as better than its competitors. Referrals are common in many types of business. Some firms use personal information to make lists of potential customers to be sold to interested businesses.

Generating leads is a vital part of any sales related operation. Without knowing who may be interested in their products, companies would have no idea how to generate revenue and would have to rely solely on repeat business from existing customers.

Are You Wealthy Yet?

Here's a real simple way to become wealthy.

Marty and his wife live at home with their 2 children. They own
a 3 bedroom house in a middle class neighborhood and try to live
within their means. Marty works full time in the Printing
Industry, while his wife is in charge of the home and looking
after the children.

They've accumulated some credit card debt and have 2 years left
on a car loan. They try to stay out of debt as much as possible
and together they've managed to contribute a total of $32,000 to
their own Retirement Fund. It is kept in term deposits receiving
5% interest annually.

Two years prior, the couple bought an older house that they
fixed-up and rent out for $850 a month. After paying the
mortgage and taxes $300 is left over each month. This goes into
their savings account each month.

At Christmas, the family bought themselves a new computer and
decided to start a home-based business. Things started out
fairly slowly but after 8 months they were receiving a steady
check of $400 a month which also goes into their savings
account. This part-time business will continue to grow with the
effort they dedicate to it.

This business also offers them some very lucrative tax savings.
By taking advantage of these Tax Strategies they are able to
save an additional $300 a month on tax that was normally
deducted from Marty's paycheck at work. This monthly income is
also added to the couple's savings.

Marty has just begun writing an E-book about his "production
expertise" at work. His plan is to market this book on the
internet for profit

Every Sunday the couple takes a drive to stay familiar with the
Real Estate market in their area. They're looking for another
property, a "handyman's special" to fix-up and rent out. They
have saved enough for a down payment and their credit with the
bank is well established.

The family's total monthly expenses are $2000. Now, here's the
question:

Does Marty's family have Wealth yet?

To answer this question properly you first have to understand
exactly what "wealth" means.You achieve wealth when: *Your
Passive Income is the same or greater than your Expenses.* So
what does this mean?

First, what is Passive Income?

Passive Income is money that you are paid over and over again
for work that you only do once. (This excludes using a gun or
finding cash on the street) Some examples of this would be
royalties for writing a book or a song, commissions that you
receive for sales that others make and interest from bank
savings or dividends on stocks/options that you own.

Second, what Expenses are we talking about? This one's a little
easier to understand. Expenses are the total amount it takes to
run your household and your life. This includes, rent, mortgage
payments, car insurance, food, credit card and loan payments,
etc………

Let's look at Marty's family a little closer…………. Does Marty
have any Passive Income? Yes he does. Marty's salary is not
considered Passive Income. That's because he has to work 40
hours a week just to get the basic amount. If Marty doesn't go
to work then he doesn't get paid. His overtime also doesn't
count as Passive Income.

The interest from their Retirement Fund does though. It's paid
to him month after month as long as it's left in that account.
So, $32,000 at 5% is $1600 a year. Divided by 12 months equals
$133 a month in interest. Ok…..what else?

After the mortgage and expenses are paid with the rent money
they receive on their rental property they are left with $300
every month. This is Passive Income. Just as long as the tenant
stays and pays his monthly rent.

How bout that $400 from the home-based business and the Tax
savings. Is this Passive Income? Well, Marty's wife made sure
that she chose a company where she could sign new business
accounts and get paid commissions on those accounts over and
over again. They've made a 5 year commitment to build this
business part-time. So yes, both the $400 and the $300 in Tax
Savings would apply as Passive Income. Let's add up Marty's
total Passive Income.

Interest $166.00 Rental Income $300.00 Home Based
Business$400.00 Tax Savings $300.00 Total $1166.00

Not including Marty's salary from work, his family's Passive
Income is $1166.00. Not bad. Every month this amount flows into
the family's bank account, regardless of anything else they do.

We said that Marty's monthly expenses total $2000.00 a month.
And we also said………… You have Wealth when: *Your Passive Income
is the same or greater than your Expenses.*

$2000 Expenses subtract $1166 Passive Income = $834 monthly
balance needed to have Wealth.

Marty's Expenses are still more than their Passive Income so
they're not wealthy just yet. But they're well over half-way
there. With this kind of knowledge a family can know exactly
where to focus their financial attention.

Maybe when Marty writes that ebook he could get some sales and
royalties from it. Also the new Real Estate and more work on
their Home-based business would certainly help them to attain
more Passive Income. Once Marty's Passive Income is more than
the family's Expenses then Marty could start to have much more
freedom. He may even choose to quit his job and continue
developing his Passive Income streams.

Take a look at your own finances. What are your monthly
expenses? Do you have more Passive Income than your Expenses? If
you do Congratulations. You're Wealthy!!! If you don't. It's
time to get started and start adding Passive Income from other
areas as soon as possible.

When you truly understand this principle, you'll be well on your
way to becoming wealthy

eBay Drop Shipping is the Future

We all pretty much know that Ebay is this Internet phenomenon that is making billions of dollars by hosting online auctions. Basically, people post things they want to sell and buyers browse the site for the things they want to purchase. Eventually, buyers and sellers meet up and the bidding process begins. But, the Ebay business website is also a place where drop shippers come to unload their wares as well.

Drop Shipping Basics

The term has started to catch on in the mainstream but there are still a lot of people out there that don't know exactly what drop shipping actually is. Basically, drop shipping is sales. Let's say that company A sells product X. Now company A does not sell directly to the public but you can buy their products at stores around the country.

But stores, like the Ebay business machine, operate to make a profit. Therefore, they must charge more than they paid for the product in order to make their profit. So, they either buy the product X directly from the manufacturer or from a distributor at wholesale price and then turn around and sell the product at retail price. The difference between those two prices is their profit.

In drop shipping, you become the retailer. The interesting thing about drop shipping is you do not need a store or even an inventory to sell your products. With the help of the Ebay business machine, you actually don't even need a website either.

Drop Shipping Mechanics

So how exactly does drop shipping work? First of all, you find a wholesaler that is selling products you are interested in reselling to the public. After setting up an account with them, they send you product descriptions of all their products or at least those you are interested in selling. If you do not have a website, you can post these product descriptions on the Ebay business website.

When a customer decides to buy one of your great products, they place an order and send their payment (including shipping costs) to you via credit card. You pass this order along to the wholesaler along with your payment.

The great thing about being a drop shipper is that this is where your involvement ends! The wholesaler then processes the order and then ships the product directly to your customer-but with your company name on the packaging! The customer never knows that they are actually receiving the product from a wholesaler and you are pocketing the difference between the wholesale and retail price! Could it possibly be any simpler?

By using Ebay to advertise your products and benefiting from their incredible traffic flow, you are really reaping the whirlwind at almost no cost and with very little effort. And since retail price is roughly double that of wholesale, just imagine the profits you can make drop shipping! No store to maintain, no inventory to worry about, and no large investment of money-this, friends, is the miracle of drop shipping and why it is definitely the future! There are literally thousands of companies looking for people to sell their products so there are opportunities everywhere right now! By using Ebay, you could literally be selling products within a day and making huge profits so don't delay-start your drop shipping business today!

Don't Shoot the Sales Team

Revenue is down. Sales are slowing. The CEO looks up from the business plan and realizes that the company won’t meet analysts’ expectations. Focusing on the organization’s sales leader, the stage is set for sacrificing a scapegoat.

Upon who else should the axe fall when the sales organization misses revenue targets? After all, aren’t sales and revenue the responsibility of the sales leader? The answer may be as easily forgotten as it is obvious.

To one degree or another everyone in an organization impacts the revenue generating process. The strategic plan of the board of directors and the CEO provides the overall strategy for revenue generation. The marketing department provides crucial demographic and psychographic customer or client information on which the sales department relies in formulating industry and account strategies. Manufacturing, finance, legal, customer service and all other departments facilitate or constrain the process of generating revenue, each in their own peculiar way.

The sales organization’s influence in enterprise revenue generation is con-centrated in the sales pipeline. Identifying bona fide sales opportunities, managing those opportunities through the sales pipeline until they produce revenue, and then managing customer or client relationships are the primary responsibilities of the sales and sales management teams. Rarely, if ever, does the sales organization control the resources of manufacturing, marketing, finance, legal and customer service.

The picture most companies present to the world show the sales organization “out there,” in front of customers and clients and in front of the rest of the company’s departments. Even marketing, the first cousin of sales, is more often than not as disconnected from sales as are the other departments. The sales group leads the company charge, and the other departments take up rear support positions, providing tangible and intangible support.

Revenue generation is a cross functional, company-wide process that involves every department and all employees in the organization. The CEO and the Board of Directors set corporate strategy and everyone else in the organization executes that strategy. We have never observed a situation where the sales organization is in disarray while all the other business segments are humming along with little or no friction. In those rare cases where the failure or underperformance of an enterprise’s revenue generation process lies within the sales organization, the appropriate sales executives, managers and sales professionals should be held accountable and should suffer the requisite consequences. Before CEO’s shoot their sales teams, however, they might want to take a critical look at the entire revenue generation process and how each business segment contributes to or detracts from the success of the process. Like America’s favorite psychologist, Dr. Phil, would advise: Every department in an organization either contributes to the company’s revenue generation process or contaminates it.

Employee Evaluations: Four Tips to Help Managers with Performance Review Conversations

Managers talk with the people on their teams every day. Whatever the topic, most of these conversations happen with no stress, little anxiety, and minimal tension. But when the conversation is about an employee’s performance, anxieties often abound. Here are four ways to reduce the tension and defensiveness that too often surround performance evaluations.

1. Don’t wait for the meeting to deliver the performance appraisal form.

I worked for large corporations for fifteen years before beginning my consulting career. Every one of those companies — GE, United Airlines, PepsiCo — took performance appraisal very seriously. And my bosses at those companies also took their responsibilities for performance evaluation seriously as well. But all of my bosses kicked off the appraisal discussion in a way that was guaranteed to get it off to a bad start. How did they begin? They set up the time for the meeting and then waited until I was sitting across the desk to hand me their completed appraisal form.

At the start of the meeting my boss would give me his appraisal form and I would engage all of my speed-reading skills, whipping through the document as fast as I could to see what he had said about my performance. While I was reading the evaluation (and probably missing some key points in my haste to take everything in) my boss would be behind his desk, pretending to work, but in truth trying to gauge how I was reacting to the evaluation he had written.

What a terrible way to begin! Don’t wait until the meeting starts to give the employee your performance appraisal document. It’s far more effective to go up to the employee an hour or so in advance of the meeting, and say something like this: “Mary, you know we’re getting together at two o’clock to go over your performance appraisal. Here it is. Why don’t you take some time between now and then to review it? Read it carefully and jot down any questions that you’d like to ask.”

Giving the person the appraisal to review in advance of the meeting can lessen defensiveness. It allows her time to think about what you’ve written and prevents spur-of-the-moment reactions. You’ll usually find that giving the person a chance to read what you’ve written in advance produces much more effective business discussions.

2. Set a time frame (and give yourself an extra fifteen minutes).

Your discussion of a person’s performance evaluation may be one of the most important interactions you'll ever have with that individual; make sure you’ve allowed enough time. In most cases, an hour should be sufficient to review the appraisal document itself as well as discuss many of the other subjects that often pop up during performance reviews — development activities, career plans, and future goals and projects. Make certain that the very next activity you’ve scheduled after finishing the review isn't one that must begin at a set time. If you provide yourself with a little flexibility at the end, you can take the time to wrap up the discussion comfortably.

3. Don’t start by discussing the form itself.

Yes, the form is important, but the form simply serves as the formal record of your assessment of how well the individual has done over the past year. Rather than beginning with the first entry on the appraisal form and moving lockstep through the document item-by-item, it’s more effective to start by asking a general question that requires the employee’s thoughtful consideration: “Tim, you’ve had a chance to read the appraisal. Why don’t you start by telling me how you feel the past year has gone?” Then listen as the individual responds and continue the discussion from there.

4. Don’t fixate on getting the employee to agree with your performance appraisal.

One of the most common questions managers ask me during training sessions involves how they can gain an employee’s agreement with what they’ve written in the performance appraisal, particularly when what they’ve written isn't entirely favorable. “Don’t try!” is my advice to them.

What is a performance appraisal? It is a formal record of the supervisor’s opinion of the quality of the employee’s work. Pay attention to the key phrase, “. . . the supervisor’s opinion . . .”

Of course the employee is going to have a different opinion — all of us believe we’re above average. The goal in the performance review discussion is not to gain the employee’s agreement, although it is nice if that happens, the goal is to gain the employee’s understanding. As long as the employee understands how you came up with the evaluation, you’ve done your job. Of course, he may disagree (particularly if you’ve set the bar high and have tough, demanding standards). But don’t waste time trying to convince a person that you’re right and she’s wrong. The important thing is that she understands your expectations and how her performance was assessed.

There’s a lot more to conducting good appraisal discussions, of course. But these four tips should make a tough job just a little bit easier.

7 No Cost Tips to Market Your Business

7 No Cost and Low Cost Tips to Market Your Business
by Kathleen Gage

Marketing a business can be fun, exciting and creative. It can also be very frustrating and expensive if one doesn’t know what outcome they are looking for or how to evaluate cost effective methods of marketing.

Over the years people have come to know me for my unique ability to develop low cost and no cost strategies to market and promote a business, product or service. Strategies that have realized incredible returns.

Some of my successes have included:

- Before my last book was published I pre-sold over $8,000 in books
- Over 250 people registered for a recent seminar in less than 2 weeks and the cost to promote was under $25
- One company used my strategies for a career expo and made over $180,000 in consulting fees
- One speaker sold over $23,000 in product sales back of the room at a two hour seminar with strategies outlined in my program

I don’t share this to impress anyone, rather to impress upon you when using the right strategies for your market, you can realize some incredible results.

People have also come to know me as someone who is a stickler when it comes to putting systems in place. My marketing successes are a direct result of the systems I have implemented.

With a bit of forethought, planning and desire, you can successfully market your business in a very effective manner. Below are seven proven strategies sure to increase visibility, leads and sales.

1. Business Cards
Business cards are often one of the most underutilized tools in one’s marketing.
Use the front and back of your business card to gain full benefit. Depending on your market you can put some very valuable information on the back such as a sports schedule, emergency numbers, or special dates people want to remember.

Keep some in your wallet, your automobile, on your desk, and some at home. Be sure to carry them with you wherever you go and be willing to hand them out as opportunity presents itself.

Creatively distribute your card. When you eat out you can leave one with the tip.
If you borrow a library book, use one as a book mark. Hand them to clerks in stores who may know other people who could use your product or service.

When someone gives you their business card be sure to enter their information in your database. Send them a short note or email within 48 hours of meeting them to keep your name fresh in their mind.

2. Send a picture
A great way to keep your name fresh in a customer’s mind is to send them a picture of when they purchased a product or service from you.

Put a picture of a buyer’s auto purchase in a beautiful calendar. Likely, the proud owner of the vehicle will display the calendar for the next 365 days.

For specialty gift shops, when a customer makes a substantial purchase, have a picture taken with the shop owner. Frame the picture and send it to the customer.
Chances are very good the picture will be displayed proudly for friends and family to see.

A dentist who specializes in smile makeovers can easily arrange to have a professional makeup artist and photographer capture the patient’s beautiful new smile. No doubt the patient will be more than happy to show others their new look.

3. Associations
Associations particular to your market are a great resource for marketing. There are associations specific to virtually any industry, job type or business. A quick web search will likely show you how much is available.

A major opportunity within many organizations is the chance to network. Additionally, to make presentations. Along with presentations come publications.
Often, when you do a presentation, you will get a mention in the association newsletter, their Ezine and/or on their website.

In many cases, when an organization has a newsletter or Ezine, they welcome the presenter writing a press announcement for them. It saves them time and often assures you have a better chance of the information making it into the publication.

They may also welcome you writing an article for their publication or website.
This lends itself to pre-presentation visibility. Additionally, you will position yourself as an expert and increase credibility.

Most organizations have the following opportunities that can help you to gain visibility and do some very effective marketing:

-Newsletters
-Internet listings
-Links to you website
-Discounted advertising rates
-Networking opportunities
-Business referral services
-Special recognition events
-Education seminars
-Business and membership directories

In many cases you will need to be a member of the association to take advantage of the multiple marketing opportunities. In other cases membership is not necessary.

4. Committee Involvement
Committee involvement is a great way to give back to the association or community while building visibility for you and your business. In some cases, you may even want to get involved in a committee where you have little experience or knowledge. This will give you an opportunity to stretch yourself and meet and network with individuals you may not have otherwise had the chance to meet.

5. Contests and drawings
Contests are a favorite for many businesses such as restaurants or those that have high foot traffic. Contests are a great way to build your database quickly.
You are generating very hot leads when you have a contest with people who have already frequented your place of business. The key though is to do back -end marketing. Far too many businesses hold contests, get lots of names and do nothing with them. In this case, it is a complete waste of time to hold a contest.
You can advertise a contest to gain new foot traffic in your place of business.
Trade show booths are a great place to hold a contest. Pre-show marketing helps to generate traffic at your booth. Invite people to stop by booth # _____ (whatever your booth is) to enter to win. Creative contests can also generate free publicity.

6. Cross-promoting
Join with other companies who have products or services that compliment yours and promote each other. Let’s say you have a massage business. You could partner with a candle company to sell their candles to your massage clients. They can give out coupons for your massage business. Or the candle company can partner with a gift basket company. Cross-promoting is only limited by your imagination.

This can considerably cut down the cost of business promotion and allow each business to use promotion techniques that might be too expensive to implement alone.

7. Bonuses
Secure special offers from various businesses who want to share a similar market as you. When a customer buys a minimum amount they receive a bonus packet with the various offers from the other vendors. This is a win/win all the way around. The other vendors gain visibility, you have something extra to offer you customers and the customers get incredible value for their purchase.

Be aware of who you cross-promote and joint venture with. You want someone who will be equally committed to a campaign.

A Home Based Business That Works

Everyone seems to be trying to work from home today. With the success most people are having from running a home base business everyone wants to get in on it. I myself have started up a home based business, but I keep my full time job. I have the time and freedom to do what I want to my business when I want.

Starting a home business is not that easy though. You have to be willing to work hard to get it up and running to the point where it almost makes you money with out you doing anything. Once you have reached that part of your business that is when most people will start another home business. That is how they make even more money by running more then just one home business. It took me a good two months before my home business got off the ground and into gear.

I have the found the perfect work from home business that anyone can do. With my hard work I put into my home business I started to see results a few months after I started. What is this business? It’s working with the e-currency exchange program. It is simple to start but hard at first because there is a learning curve. I bought a simple guide that showed me step by step how to start off in this amazing business. Once I was done I invested $400 and applied the steps that I learned, and watched my money grow to $4,000 in under Two months.

The more you put in the more you will make. My little brother (21 years old) didn’t think it worked but gave it a shot and only invested $100 into it. Before he knew it his money turned into $700 in under 32 days. You can see just that little more put in will make a big difference. The great thing about the e-currency exchange program is that your money grows everyday by 1.5% - 4.0%. There is nothing better then watching my money grow day after day. This is the easiest home business that I found that really does work.

Have You Done Your Cultivating Today?

I grew up on a farm, moved to the big city, if there is such a thing in Nebraska, only to come home and marry the farmer 13 miles up the road from where I grew up. I know a thing or to about cultivating. To the non-agriculture readers cultivate on the farm means to go out into the field and run a machine through it to remove all the weeds and debris from the corn rows. This allows the corn to get all the nutrients that it needs to grow, so that when harvest comes around we have the best yield we can get.

Today was a cultivating day. My office was so stacked with crap, I could barely find the keyboard. I finally had to sit down and clear it out so that I could focus on the work that needed to be done.

Then I proceeded to look out the office door only to realize that the rest of the house was nearly as bad. I needed a machete to cut through the clutter just to find the kids.

Once the house was clean I noticed my 3 kids needed some extra tending so I shut off the phone and heaven forbid hit the power button on the computer. We played some games and even watched a movie.

Then I laid down for a long over due nap.

Work at home moms and dads need to take some time to cultivate something other than their work if they plan to be productive. Going 9 - 0 on the business, the house and the kids all at the same time will eventually take over your productivity. Your focus will be come skewed and you will begin to work more with less output. I bet that the moms and dads that are reading this can relate to these words.

We need to be reminded to stand back and cultivate the important things in life every so often and you will see a greater yield. Do you need to cultivate today?

Auto Insurance Rates

will vary depending on the insurance agency, your driving record, and the type of insurance you are looking to purchase. I you are looking for affordable car insurance or truck insurance then read on.

There are ways to reduce your premiums without giving up coverage. One of the easiest things to do is get auto insurance rate quotes online. This will allow you to comparative shop stress free.

Raising your deductibles is the easiest way to reduce your rates. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium will be. The deductible is the portion you will have to pay in the event of accident, before your insurance coverage steps in. It’s important not to carry a deductible that’s more than what you are able to pay. Your insurance company will not honor its portion of the claim until you’ve paid your deductible. However, the higher your deductible the lower your premium cost will be, so you need to find a

Always remember to ask your insurance broker for any available discounts. Quite often we forget to ask and they don’t seem to volunteer the information. A clean record on the current policy for a certain period of time, having your homeowner's coverage with the same insurer, taking a defensive driving course, having an accident free driving record, and having an approved anti-theft device will reduce your auto insurance rates.

The type of car you drive can also reduce your rates. Stay away from cars that have a high class rating. Rates vary among the different makes and models of vehicles. The different rates are based on the risk of accident, cost to repair, higher theft rates for a particular model and replacement costs such as with a new vehicle. So be sure your vehicle isn’t going to be in a category that increases your rates too much.

A safe driving record consisting of no accidents and no traffic violations will get you the most substantial discount. Most insurance companies are very good at recognizing good driving habits. These are the drivers they want to insure because their risk is much lower.

If the car is old and not very valuable, comprehensive insurance is probably not worth buying as it can quickly add up to more than you’d ever receive in the event of an accident. You can save up to 20% by eliminating collision insurance. You may want to opt not to carry collision insurance as well which can save you and additional 20%.

Check around to make sure you are getting the best auto rates you can. Online auto insurance shopping has taken the guess work out of buying insurance and you can very quickly see if you are being hosed. So if your insurance is coming due now is the time to start shopping!.

Car Insurance - How Can You Lower Your Premiums?

Many factors influence the premium for your Motor insurance policy. Your insurer will have asked you many questions whilst producing your quote - some of which will affect your premium and some will not. Below we discuss the key variables that are within the policyholder's control.

Consolidating policies

By insuring a number of vehicles with the same insurer, or by trying to take out home and life insurance through your car insurer, you may be able to secure a ‘bulk buy’ discount.

Location

A big influence on the cost of your car insurance is where you live. The chance of your car being broken into or stolen is a key concern for the insurer. More urban areas traditionally facing greater risk of theft and therefore tend to be more expensive than countryside locations.

Excess

By agreeing to pay a greater excess on each claim you can reduce your car insurance premiums. This is because you are reducing the liability of the insurer and therefore in return they are able to offer you a lower premium.

Your Vehicle

The cheaper and slower your vehicle the lower your premiums are likely to be. If you are looking to buy a new vehicle make sure you fully consider the cost of insurance – you may be able to buy the car but can you afford to run it?

Mileage

You can control your insurance premiums by restricting your annual mileage. However, be aware that if you exceed the restricted number of miles you'll then become uninsured!

Parking

Where you park your vehicle overnight is also very important to the insurers. If it is kept in a locked garage, you should be offered a lower premium than if you leave it unattended in the street.

Security

Security devices that prevent or hinder theft may also reduce your premium. Common examples include alarms and immobilisers, however, be aware that as we improve the quality of our security devices the thieves just become better at bypassing them.

No Claims Discount

Save up your no claims discount by avoiding making small claims upon your policy. After a set number of years, 4 or 5 typically, you'll often be offered the option to pay an additional small premium to protect your no claims bonus. This can prove very helpful if you subsequently end up having an accident.

Advanced driving skills

By taking an advanced driving course you may also be able to reduce your premiums. The Institute for Advanced Motorists and the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents each offer membership which provides you with discounts for both the cost of driving courses and your car insurance premiums. Two key variables NOT within the policyholder's control.

Your Sex.

Women are statistically less likely to have an accident and, if they do, it's less likely to be serious. Because of these statistics women benefit from lower premiums. It is also worth noting that if you represent one half of a couple you should consider having the female as the primary driver with the male as the second driver.

Your Age

The older you are, the less likely you are to make a claim. As a result insurance companies charge lower premiums for more mature drivers.

One final piece of advice.

A large percentage of car insurance is now sold on the Internet. That's because it's convenient and cheap. Many insurers now give a further 10%-15% discount if you buy online.

Boosting Employee Morale With Employee Surveys

Do you know exactly how your employees feel when Monday morning approaches?

Are they eager to get back to a satisfying workplace and to perform important tasks?

Or, do they sit home Sunday night dreading another week of unimportant work performed for an ogre of a boss?

The truth is probably somewhere in between; but without actual knowledge of the facts, it’s hard to improve anything.

The ideal workplace provides employees with empowerment and direction when needed, but shies away from unnecessary micro-management. Employees feel they are contributing to meaningful goals in a significant way. The ideal workplace offers compensation and benefits that meet the needs of employees and cause them to remain loyal to an organization for the long term.

If you don't know where your employees’ morale level stands, you can't make life better or productivity higher. Better morale means greater productivity which translates into an improved bottom line. Unhappy employees miss more work and produce inferior work.

By measuring your employee morale level through an Employee Satisfaction Survey, you can learn how your employees feel – provided your employees believe that their honest input will result in appropriate change where needed. The danger of conducting Employee Satisfaction Surveys, of course, is that if you do not allow change where change is needed, you may well cause employee morale to drop even lower.

Suppose, for instance, that one result of a survey is that your employees feel your management style inhibits effective production of quality work. Would you be willing to alter your management style and more proactively empower employees?

If you’re not willing to change, you will likely be wasting time and money by performing surveys. If you’re willing to keep an open mind, surveys can lead your organization to greater heights and result in decisive morale increases.

Some questions that can reveal a great deal about employee satisfaction include:

(1) Do you feel that management listens to your ideas on how to best accomplish tasks?

(2) Is there a recognizable tie between how well you perform your job and your monetary compensation?

(3) Do you often feel you could do a better job if management would only get out of the way?

(4) Do you feel, once assigned a task, that you are empowered to perform that task?

(5) Do you feel that innovative thinking or "outside the box" thinking is encouraged and rewarded?

(6) Are there enough recognition programs for recognizing outstanding accomplishments on the part of employees?

An effective Employee Satisfaction Survey should not be too lengthy; 20 to 40 questions ought to reveal what you need to know about your employees. Whether you select yes/no questions or choose a 1 to 5 scale (where 5 means complete agreement and 1 means complete disagreement with a survey statement), you should, upon survey completion, compile the results using a database that will let you to analyze the results and convert them into bar charts or other graphics which make them easier to understand.

Once you’ve analyzed the survey results, feedback to the employees is crucial. Otherwise, they will likely conclude that what they have to say doesn't matter, resulting in an additional hit to morale.

Hopefully, some of your survey results will indicate areas of high employee morale. Those areas are not likely to need significant attention. The areas where employee morale gets low scores offer the greatest potential for improvement. Develop an action plan and implement that plan with full knowledge of employees. Better yet, involve employees directly. Employee involvement in the development of the action plan and its implementation can lead to positive outcomes and creative solutions to identified challenges.

Most importantly, be aware that you can only fix what you know is broken. Once you’ve identified areas of low employee morale, you can zero in on those weak spots and achieve measurable increases in employee morale, productivity, attendance and loyalty on the part of your employees.

What's the .382 Fibonacci Ratio in Forex Trading?

It was mentioned in a past article that Fibonacci forex trading is the basis of many forex trading systems used around the world by profitable forex traders. These systems are all based on the famous Fibonacci ratios (.236, .50, .382, .618, etc.) and each of them can specialize in a particular ratio along with other minor indicators in order to make the pinpointing of the entry and exit levels as accurate and profitable as possible.

One of the widely used Fibonacci ratios is the 0.382 ratio. As it can be easily seen on any forex chart, currency prices are continually changing and they follow an oscillatory pattern with peaks and valleys. The limit of the peak is usually called a resistance level while the valley is usually called a support.

In order to find the 0.382 ratio level what you do is, first; measure the size of the drop or rise over your time of interest. Once you have that value you multiply this by 0.382. Now depending on what you are looking at, a rise or a drop on the price of the particular “currency pair” you are trading, you will add the last value you calculated to the total drop or subtract the value from the total rise.

These operations will give you the 0.382 Fibonacci ratio level, either for a rise or a drop on the chart you are analyzing. Once you have the value you can then start planning the strategy you will follow in order to make a high probability profit from this valuable information. For the 0.382 ratio level calculated for a recent rise in the “currency pair” exchange price, your calculated level will be a highly probable support and for the case of a level calculated for a recent drop of the prices your level will be a highly probable resistance.

Knowing this ahead of the market and having the proper secondary indicators, will give you a huge advantage over most forex traders, and that’s something any trader would like they could count on. That’s why Fibonacci trading is so widely accepted over the world, and of course, why it’s so profitable and successful.

Trends and Profitable Trading In The Forex Markets.

The basis behind using technical analysis is to find trends when looking at the forex charts and be aware of when they first develop so you can ride the trend until it ends. The foreign exchange market is a very strong trending market, lots of ups and downs in short periods of time, and is, therefore, a place where technical analysis can be very effective.


But even considering the great amount of indicators available, there are still many traders every week who still end up buying (being "long") while the currency pair is in a basic downtrend, or selling short when a market is in a uptrend. This is, they end doing things backwards.


If you want to become a profitable forex trader you will need to use as many technical indicators as you want, or create a personalized trading strategy based off a combination of indicators, to recognize the trend. In other words, professional Forex traders try to identify the major trend, the intermediate trend, and the short-term trend and then construct their trades in that direction, based on how long their rules allow them to hold a position.

If the action of the market shows your judgment to be correct, the successful trader 'stays with the market' and endeavors to make the maximum profit on each trade, according to his/her risk-to-reward / equity management rules. If and when the market goes against him/her, the smart trader will take profits and get out. In a narrow market, when prices are not going anywhere to speak of, but move within a narrow range, there is no sense in trying to anticipate when the next BIG movement is going to be - up or down.

In short, if you want to be in good profitable terms with the forex markets you must follow this words of wisdom: “Never argue with the market, or ask it for reasons or explanations”.

What MACD & RSI Mean in Forex Trading?

As a forex trader your main objective must be to become a profitable trader. In order to achieve this goal, it is vital that you learn how to use the widely known technical indicators. These are very useful parameters that will tell you with a high probability what the forex markets are more likely to do in their apparently disordered behavior as observed on the forex charts.

Among these indicators you will find the MACD and RSI; but what’s the meaning of these letters?, you may be asking yourself. Well, here is the answer:

Moving Average Convergence Divergence: MACD is a more detailed method of using moving averages to find trading signals from price charts. Developed by Gerald Appel, the MACD plots the difference between a 26-day exponential moving average and a 12-day exponential moving average. A 9-day moving average is generally used as a trigger line, meaning when the MACD crosses below this trigger it is a bearish signal (time to sell) and when it crosses above it, it's a bullish signal (time to buy).

As with other studies, traders will look to MACD studies to provide early signals or divergences between market prices and a technical indicator. If the MACD turns positive and makes higher lows while prices are still tanking, this could be a strong_buy signal. Conversely, if the MACD makes lower highs while prices are making new highs, this could be a strong bearish divergence and a sell signal.

RSI stands for Relative Strength Index. The RSI measures the markets activity as to whether it is over bought or over sold. It gives a trader an indication as to which way the Market is moving. It is important to note, that this is a leading indicator and thus allows one to see what the market is about to do and then act accordingly. The higher the RSI number, the more over bought it is and conversely the lower the RSI number, the more over sold it is. It is a great leading indicator for the micro and macro reversals in the forex market. By using an RSI on the 1 minute chart set at a period of 18 and overlaid on the bottom of your charts tend to give the best entry signals. This can also be applied to the 5-minute chart as well. The two significant entry numbers are 25 and 75.

About the author:
Adrian Pablo; Forex trader and freelance writer.