Best Motivation

The Gifts And Special Power Of The Holy Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:06:00 +0000

By James Massa

"When He ascended up on high, He lead captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." (Ephesians 4:8)

When Jesus ascended up into Heaven He gave us spiritual gifts to help us continue His work, He gave us the power to do mighty signs and wonders to glorify and exalt His holy name. In the gospel Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." (John 14:12). Jesus said He would give us the power to do greater works than He did. In the gospel Jesus raised the dead to life, healed the crippled and He made the blind see, cast out devils and commanded the sea to be still, we not only have the power to do these signs to confirm the preaching of the word, but we also have the power to do greater things than these because Jesus has gone to the Father and sits at His right hand. "Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."(Luke 22:69)

One of the greatest works we can do is to save a lost soul and bring it into Heaven, that's one of the greater works that Jesus gave us the power to do. When we receive Jesus into our lives and receive the Holy spirit, the Holy spirit can use us to bring people out of the Kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of light, the greatest miracle we can ever be used to perform, is the miracle of bringing a person into the Kingdom of light so that when they pass away, death is swallowed up in victory and they live on in the Kingdom of Heaven after death. We can bring someone into the Kingdom of Heaven by sharing Jesus Christ with them and leading them to Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When someone is lead to Jesus and salvation, it is truly a remarkable transformation and miracle, I believe it is the greatest work we can ever be used to do and it is a manifestation of the "gift of miracles". When someone is lead to Jesus Christ and receives His spirit into their hearts, they are given a new heart and a new spirit, and the change in them is miraculous and remarkable. Some of the most dark and wicked men have been completely transformed into God's servants of light through the power of salvation; "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."(John 1:12-13). When someone receives Jesus as their personal savior, old things pass away and all things become new, God actually puts a new heart and new spirit within them. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." (Ezek 36:26). So this is the greatest gift the Lord actually gives us, and the greatest miracle we can ever be used to perform, and that is the gift of being used to lead people to salvation. We have the power to lead people to Jesus and totally transform their hearts and spirits, and that is an eternal miracle that lasts after death and goes on for eternity as they dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

It is good for Gods people to desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and it says in the Bible that's it's a good thing to desire all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are multiple manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these works that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."(1 Corinthians 12:7-11). There are many different manifestations and gifts of the spirit as you can see, and all these gifts are to be exercised according to our proportion of faith (Rom 12:3, 6). When Jesus healed a man who was blind he said, "according to your faith be it unto you", we need to have the faith to move a mountain if we want to move a mountain, and we need to listen to the Lord and believe what He tells us. If the Lord tells you to tell a man in a wheelchair, to get up and walk as today is the day of his salvation and healing, you need to listen to the Lord and trust in Him that He can do miracles. If we have the faith of a mustard seed, we can tell a mountain to move and it will move through the power of God that flows through us.

When Jesus was walking on the water when the disciples were on a boat out our sea, when he got back into the boat, the boat arrived at its destination immediately. When Jesus climbed into the boat, the whole boat actually teleported to its destination immediately! Most Christians do not allow Jesus to get into their boat; they do not travel with Jesus in their boat as they sail through life. If we are sailing by ourselves and with mere mortals we are not going to get far, but if we let Jesus completely into our lives and let Him sail with us through life, we will get to where God wants to take us very quickly. Unless we have Jesus in the boat with us, we can never get to where God wants to take us, and God really wants to take us into the realms of impossibility that defy logic and the understanding of science, but we can not be taken to this ultimate destination, unless we allow Jesus to sail with us in our boats; as we sail through life.

When we receive the Holy Spirit that is just the beginning, we receive power as the Holy Spirit comes upon us and we receive the Holy Spirit by asking God for it, or getting someone to lay hands on us and praying that the Holy Ghost come upon us. Even if you are saved and have Jesus in your heart, you need to pray for the Holy Spirit, in Acts 19:6 Paul lays hands on saved Christians so they can receive the Holy Spirit, so we see here how after one receives Jesus Christ as their savior, it is good to lay hands on that person, and pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost the full spirit of God came upon the disciples with all signs following, a great sound from Heaven erupted like a rushing wind and came into the house the disciples were dwelling in, and fire like cloven tongues rested upon each disciple and they began to speak in new tongues and various tongues they didn't know; all this happened in the beginning of the book of Acts, and throughout the book of Acts the disciples had great and mighty signs following them, which confirmed the word they preached. The Pentecost experience empowered the apostles to great things as the water of life was poured into them, and God commissioned them to go out and give life to a dying and fallen world with His living and miraculous water of life. The water of life is Gods Holy Spirit and it can bring life to anything and everything.

If someone believes Jesus Christ is their personal savior and Lord; is convicted from scripture that they too can have their own Pentecostal experience; and has a deep sense of need to experience this and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to glorify God, they can also receive the same Pentecostal experience as the apostles, if they obey Jesus and are in His will.

The Holy Spirit actually takes control of us and uses us to manifest its power and perform exploits, "the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."(Daniel 11:32). The signs and wonders done through us that confirm the word that's being preached are manifested by the Holy Spirit, and it's purely the Holy Spirit that is performing the exploits through us. Jesus said "without Me you can do nothing", its only through the power of Jesus and His Holy Spirit that we can do anything, and we must show that its only God working through us when He does might deeds through us, and that it is through no power of our own.

The greatest sign and wonder that can ever be done to confirm the preaching of the word, is the saving of a soul, when someone is saved and their life is transformed, nothing can beat that miracle. Another sign that confirms the preaching of the word which comes second to salvation (spiritual healing) is the healing of ones physical body. In the New Testament Jesus healed the physical sicknesses and afflictions that had afflicted many men and women throughout their lives; he also healed people from death and raised them from the dead as they lay dead in their tombs. The Apostles throughout the book of Acts had the Holy Spirit and Jesus work through them, as they were used to make the crippled walk, make the blind see and heal all manner of sicknesses and diseases, the power of the Holy Spirit was like dynamite throughout the ministry of the Apostles in the book of Acts, as they lived by faith and were obedient to the Lord.

In probably the most brilliant and accurate demonstration of how the spirit of God works through mere mortals to do miracles, we read in the book of Acts 3:6 how a lame and crippled man was sitting at the gate of the temple asking people for money. When the crippled man saw the two apostles John and Peter walk past he asked them for money, Peter and John then stared directly at the crippled man and they said to him, "look at us", and when the crippled man looked at them they told him to get up and walk, the crippled man obeyed Peter after he was miraculously healed and got up and walked, as he jumped up and down praising God for the miracle he had given him through these two apostles. Its interesting how we see here how the two apostles asked the crippled man to look at them, I believe they got the crippled man to look directly into their eyes so he could see the glory and light of Jesus in their eyes, so the man would have faith in the spirit of Jesus that radiated from their eyes instead of having faith in these mere men. Jesus said, "The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light." The eye is the lamp of our body, so if our eyes are full of goodness and light that means our eyes are full of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, so when this crippled man looked into the eyes of the apostles he must have seen the power of Jesus in their eyes, and he had faith in that power and light that emanated from their eyes and he was healed by that power. As followers of Christ we too have that power flowing through us and radiating from our eyes, the more we obey the Lord and follow Him, the more power that flows and radiates through us. If we have Gods power flowing through us like electricity our mere shadow will heal the sick, because God is walking with us and God is a God that's heals thee.

God does not always heal people of their spiritual or physical afflictions for reasons the natural man does not understand, Gods ways are not our ways, so his actions are not always fully understood by a mere mortal. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9). Sometimes a person's affliction and sickness is left with that person even if they are a servant of God or in His will. Paul himself had a messenger of Satan that afflicted him like a thorn in the flesh through his whole ministry, and when he prayed to the Lord to take it away, the Lord told him that His grace was sufficient for him, so Paul never had that thorn in his flesh which was a messenger of Satan ever healed or taken away from him. It was Gods will that this thorn in Paul's flesh remain even though Paul prayed to be healed from it, this incident is one that illustrates the mystery that surrounds the purpose ways and will of our great God.

I once saw a preacher by the name of Nick Vujicic who was severely handicapped preaching a very inspiring sermon as he related the word of God to his own life, and preached on how God had given him the strength to overcome his disability and great obstacles in life, and this man was an inspiration to me and still is. This preacher was a man who was born with no arms or legs; as he was born without any limbs at all. As I watched a man with no arms or legs placed upon a table, which he stood upon with his buttocks as he had no legs, I was taken by his passion and love for God, as He preached on how God had given him the strength to overcome his disability, and had raised him up as a mighty apostle who changed lives and inspired the world. The fact that this man was able to praise God and inspire an audience to be better people, and that they could do anything they wanted with Gods help despite any shortcomings they had is one of the greatest miracles I've ever seen. If people are told they are not good enough to serve God, or are not smart enough or cannot speak properly or are told they are worthless, when they see Nick Vujicic preach their whole lives change, and they are given a miraculous motivation and supernatural fire that makes them believe nothing is impossible with God. They look upon Nick Vujicic who has no limbs, and they think to themselves, "if God can use a severely handicapped man like Nick to be his representative on earth, he can use me too!" Nick is a true example of a man who praises God in the storm, he is a man who shows how God can inspire and use anyone despite what shortcomings the world sees on them. God sometimes allows the breaks in a clay jar to not be repaired, so his glory and life giving water can flow through those breaks and cracks, and I really see the glory and inspiration of God flow through the breaks of the clay jar called Nick Vujicic.

Jesus Christ has the power over all sicknesses and powers that be, so its not up to us if someone gets healed or not, its up to the Lord and we need to listen to the Lord, as He is the one who heals and it is Him who has the power to heal and not us. "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."(Matt 28:18). Jesus has the authority over all sicknesses and diseases and he works out everything to fulfill His will, people are Gods vessels and sometimes more of Gods glory can shine through a break in a vessel, so God sometimes leaves those breaks without restoring them so His glory can shine through the breaks in that vessel. When I saw preacher "Nick Vujicic" who has no limbs preach, although I saw that he had no arms or legs and from a worldly perspective he looked unhealthy, I saw the healthiest spirit I had even seen a man possess as he shone and radiated with Gods power. I've known some people, who have very healthy bodies with all their limbs, but their spirits were the: unhealthiest, hurting and oppressed spirits I'd ever seen. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing." (John 6:63). In the end the condition of the flesh profits nothing, it's the condition of a spirit that brings life, but if its God will to heal someone's flesh and its in align with his purposes He will heal a persons flesh, and one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is to not only be able to heal souls but to be able to heal the flesh and all manner of diseases.

In the book of Exodus, the Lord tells the Israelites "I am the Lord that healeth thee." The Lord is a Lord who heals us and wants to heal us, and because the Lord loves us and wants us to live up to our greatest potential he knows what's best for us, and the best healing we can ever receive is the healing of our spirit, and the Lord will often heal our flesh and sicknesses as well. One of the main signs that follow the preaching of the word, is when an apostle lays their hands on a person with a disease, then that person recovers as a sign to confirm the preaching of the word, "they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."(Mark 16:18).

By the stripes of the Lord we are healed. Jesus was whipped and left to die on the cross, he had to go through pain and suffering, but after the suffering He rose to glory three days later. As disciples and follows of Christ we are called to suffer with Him, "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him."(2 Tim 2:12). If a person is suffering and God doesn't heal or deliver them immediately, they will eventually be healed and rise to glory and reign with Jesus Christ. Jesus suffered on the cross and lay in a tomb for three days, but His Father raised Him to glory after a time, those who are suffering shall reign with Christ, and the Lord will deliver those who suffer, because He is the Lord that healeth thee.

Another gift of the Holy Spirit is the gift of Prophecy. Prophecy is the voice of God speaking through a human being, "I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him."( Deuteronomy 18:18). The gift of prophecy is having a direct phone line to God, so you can receive messages from God and His very spirit speaks through you, and then when the Lord speaks through us, it is not we that speak but the spirit of our Father that speaks through us.

Often a Prophet actually hears a voice speak to them, the only way to confirm as to whether the spirit the Prophet is speaking to is of God is to test the spirit. We can test the spirit by asking the voice if it confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, if the voice denies Jesus Christ came in the flesh, remains silent or curses you, this means the spirit is a spirit of Satan. However if the spirit confesses Jesus Christ came in the flesh, it's a spirit of God and it can be trusted to obtain prophecy from, "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God."(I John 4:2-3). Most of the time when a person receives prophecy, the prophecy is coming from the Holy Spirit; prophecies can also come directly from Jesus Christ or the Father. Sometimes Jesus Christ can actually visit a person and give them a direct prophecy; this happened to me sometime ago when Jesus visited me in park and gave me prophecies and revelations of the future. Jesus also has appeared to me in visions in my home and told me to write certain things, however when He visited me in the park, it was the most visible and tangible experience I had ever experienced in relation to Him visiting me.

Prophecy is a powerful gift to have, and prophecy is basically direct messages from God. Often in the Old Testament a Prophet would say, "Thus says the Lord", then the Prophet would speak Gods exact words that He was speaking through them. The Prophetic messages can vary in their type; sometimes they are prophetic warnings, prophetic predictions of things to come, prophetic messages of doom and sometimes an edifying prophecy of exhortation filled with love. Whenever God wants to share something with the world or a particular person or group of people, he will often employ a Prophet to deliver the message to them, and when the Prophet speaks it is God speaking through him or her.

Words of knowledge are another gift of the spirit and can often be a very powerful tool in evangelizing. Jesus used words of knowledge when he spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, when He met her at the well, He told her everything about her life, He told her about the men she had married and about the current man she was having a relationship with; Jesus had never met this woman before so it was clear to this woman he was receiving this knowledge about her supernaturally. Having the gift of words of knowledge is the ability to receive knowledge or facts about someone or something in a supernatural way.

Words of wisdom work in conjunction with a word of knowledge. An example of someone using a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge in conjunction with each other; is when Ananias received a word of knowledge in a vision he received from God regarding Saul and then acted upon that vision of facts. God showed Ananias in a vision that he would lay hands on Saul and heal him from his blindness; this vision was the word of knowledge. Ananias then applied a word of wisdom when he went to visit Saul and told him that he was there to heal him in the name of Jesus; Ananias then laid hands on Saul and healed him. A word of wisdom is basically when you express the words of knowledge you receive from God, just like Ananias was able to express and manifest the vision he received from God, when he acted upon the word of knowledge or facts he received from God.

Discernment of spirits is a very important gift that is needed in ministry, disciples of Jesus Christ need to use discernment to recognize wicked spirits and spiritual strongholds the enemy is using against them, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."( Ephesians 6:12). Christians are at war with spirits, and most of these spirits are made up of rebelling angels who have followed Satan out of Heaven in defiance against God. These fallen angels often use men and women as vehicles to fulfill their purposes, or they can often hover around people and influence and attack them spiritually. In the Bible it says that Satan seeks to dwell within humans (Matt 12:10), so satanic spirits often dwell in the body of a person, especially people involved in the occult, the occult basically opens up a spiritual doorway for satan and his followers to enter into. The Bible also tells us that Satan is a seducing spirit who often seduces us through our pride, self righteousness, greed and other temptations; Satan is also the accuser of Gods people (Rev 12:10). Other attributes that we know about Satan is that he is a liar and a murderer, and any spirit in a person that manifests any of these characteristics is a spirit of Satan.

In Acts 16, Paul discerns that a woman has a spirit of divination; divination is an occult spirit which is basically a demon that can help a person tell the future, divination is practiced today in psychic readings and through clairvoyance. Anyone practicing divination or any other occult activity with spirits that do not confess Jesus Christ came in the flesh, is defiling themselves with a demonic spirit of Satan. Discernment of spirit is also used when God uses somebody to heal somebody, sometimes a person's sickness can be the result of an affliction by a spirit or demon. In Luke 13, Jesus discerns a spirit of infirmity had caused a woman to be sick, so we can see here how discernment of spirits is important, when he go about to help people and deliver them from the strongholds of Satan. Asking God in prayer, listening intently to the Holy spirit and testing the spirits in accordance with 1 John 4:1, is the best way to discern the type of spirit you are dealing with. God has given us a spirit of love, peace and of a sound mind, and he is also more powerful than Satan, the spirit and power of God is monumental, so when the enemy comes in like a flood you will see Gods spirit lifts a standard against it, so the enemy goes running. God gives us a spirit of love and peace, but he also gives us a tremendous amount of POWER if we obey Him and are in His will.

The working of miracles is another gift we receive from the Lord. Miracles similar to when: Joshua commanded the sun and moon to be still, Moses struck a rock and caused water to come out and when the red sea was parted, Elijah called fire down from the sky, Jesus fed the 5000 and when the Hebrews survived when Nebuchadnezzar put them in the furnace. Jesus said that if we have the faith of a mustard seed we can move mountains, if we have faith anything is possible. Nothing is impossible with God. Miracles are easy to perform, you just need to have faith in God and know that it's Him that's doing it all. God is the God of miracles who created the heavens, the stars, the planets and the universe, he can do anything he wishes and there's no limit to what he can do.

Speaking in tongues and interpreting are other gifts of the spirit that can be used to edify and speak to God. If speaking in tongues are done in front of a congregation there should be an interpreter there to interpret the tongues, so the message received in tongues can be interpreted and shared with the body of believers for the edification of the body of Christ. Often believers speak in tongues in front of a congregation to edify themselves and to signify they are special; however the gifts of the spirit are given to profit the whole body of Christ and not just one person, so if the tongues are not being interpreted it does not profit the body of Christ. If nobody is interpreting a person's tongues then the person should remain silent in the church, "If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church." (1 Corinthians 14:27-28). Another aspect of speaking in tongues is when a person is able to speak in another language known to man, that he himself has never spoken before. Examples of this is when Christian missionaries from western countries have gone to Japan and met a Japanese person on the street, and wanted to speak to them about the gospel but could not speak the language, and then all of a sudden they are given the ability to speak Japanese so they can communicate the gospel with them.

The gift of faith is another gift of the spirit, and this is a special type of faith. The gift of faith can only come through hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). Faith without works is dead, so the special type of faith which is a gift from God is put into action. An example of special faith is when Elijah had the faith to pray for rain after three and a half years of drought with persistent faith. By faith Peter told Aeneas who had been sick of the palsy and in bed for eight years to rise up and walk and he did! Peter had a special faith that Jesus had given him to move mountains and do the impossible; we can have that faith to if we ask!

James preaches on various occasions at churches and other events, he has also had many religious and spiritual articles published in various publications. James was saved by the grace of God from a life of: drugs, crime and occultism. James believes his greatest testimony is that he was brought into God's Kingdom and his life was saved through the grace of Jesus Christ. You can contact James by emailing him at: James_m183@hotmail.com

How to Stop Bullying Others in 4 Simple Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:13:00 +0000

By Raz Chan

Most of the articles that you read in regards to bullying deal with how to stop a bully from victimizing you. However, there is a need for those which deal with teaching an individual how to stop bullying others. If you have made the decision to turn away from a life of bullying others, then the information within this article can help you do just that. The four simple steps below can help you turn away from a life of violence and make up for the things that you have done in your past.

1. Let Others Know You Are Done

The first thing that you must do if you want to stop bullying is to let others around you know that you are done harming others. Chances are that if you have been a bully for any length of time, others around you know you by your reputation for being mean. In order to move forward with a new way of life, it is important to ensure that everyone around you knows of your new intentions. Often your actions can speak louder than words. Try doing something nice for others, and people will begin to see the truth.

2. Find a New Set of Friends

It is a pretty safe bet that once you turn away from your previous actions and stop bullying, your so called friends will begin to drift away. These same friends may even turn on you and begin bullying you in return. Even if your friends stick by your side, it may be best to look for a new set of friends who do not have violence and humiliation in mind. By associating with those who are kind and peaceful in nature, you ensure that you are not tempted to turn back to your old ways.

3. Earn Respect Don't Command It

Now that you have stopped bullying others, you have lost your way of making others respect you. You will find that in order to get respect now, you will have to earn it. This is done by doing things that command respect through actions, kind words, or accomplishments; you can quickly regain the respect that you lost when you stopped bullying it out of others. It may even surprise you that respect that is earned is much more rewarding than that which is forced.

4. Make Amends

One of the hardest things you will have to do when you decide to stop bullying others is to make amends for all of the mean things that you have done. If you were a bully for any length of time, you probably hurt a lot of people in a variety of different ways. To truly turn over a new leaf and start over, you must ask forgiveness from these individuals, and try to make up for the pain that you caused.

If you have decided that you want to stop bullying and become a better person, there are several steps that will need to be taken. The four steps above can set you on the right path to making amends for your past and moving towards a new and peaceful life.

Raz Chan is a professional martial arts instructor specializing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, civilian self-defense, and women's cardio kickboxing, . To find out more tips on how to stop bullying you can follow his blog at: How To Stop Bullying Today For a limited time you can get a FREE copy of his report "Stop Bullying & Build Child Confidence: Perspectives of a Bullying Victim" by visiting Stop Bullying Report

The Japanese Writing System

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:10:00 +0000

Of the writing systems in use in the world today, the Japanese writing
system is among the most complex. It consists of Chinese characters as well
as two phonetic alphabets. This is how the system evolved and works.

At its core, Japanese uses Chinese characters called kanji in Japanese.
Because of this, it is a common misconception that the Japanese and Chinese
languages are closely related. In fact, they are quite different and not
even of the same language family. However, Chinese had an influence on
Japanese somewhat like the influence Latin and French had on English.

The first writing in Japan was in Chinese since Japanese did not have a
written form when Chinese characters were first introduced to Japan.
Gradually though, different steps were taken to create a Japanese writing
system built upon the Chinese model.

In many cases, both the Chinese characters and words were introduced into
Japanese. These kanji were read with a Japanese approximation of the Chinese
sounds called the on-yomi or on-reading.

Other kanji were assigned to Japanese words so they had purely Japanese
readings. These kanji, and those kanji invented in Japan, are read with what
is called the kun-yomi or kun-reading.

Unfortunately for those studying Japanese, many kanji have both types of
readings and more than one of each. All together, roughly 2000 kanji
characters are in use in Japanese today.

In addition, two syllable based writing systems, each containing 46 basic
syllable characters, were also developed. These are called hiragana and
katakana.

Hiragana is used to write native Japanese words that have not been assigned
kanji, particles, auxiliary verbs as well as inflected parts of nouns,
verbs, and adjectives.

The other, katakana, is used to write foreign-derived words and names that
do not come from Chinese (these are usually written in kanji). It is also
used to bring attention to certain words such as in advertising.

While it is possible to write Japanese entirely in hiragana, katakana or
even the Latin alphabet, tradition and culture keep written Japanese the
more complex system it has evolved into.

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The Baby High Chair Buying Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:11:00 +0000

By Theodore Satou

Once your little one starts to sit up, you may consider to choose on what
type of high chair you would like to have. You can wait until the baby
starts eating solid foods, around eight months. The high chair is a place to
park baby when he enjoy his meals. A comfortable chair seems like a simple
piece of equipment, but the options could be confusing. Today, they come in
a variety of different designs, materials, and colors. Tips below can help
you to learn about what to look for when buying one for your baby.

The high chairs usually come with two removable trays, which each has a cup
holder. The convertible high chairs can be used as baby chair and toddler
seat. They usually cost more, but their features presents a great value to
the parents. For those who live in limited spaces, the folding chair
provides compact storage, and saves on storage space. The adjustable chair
ensures maximum comfort as the baby grows and gets bigger. Currently many
providers selling adjustable chairs that can be converted to toddler booster
chairs, and then convert to youth seats.

Another practical tip is to buy a reclining high chair if the baby falls
asleep after meal times. Some high chair can be converted as booster seats,
which can be set on your dining room chair. Some high chair could be
fastened onto the table.

There are a wide variety of both wood and plastic convertible high chairs.
Currently plastic high chairs are available in the same style as wooden high
chairs. Wooden high chairs are heavier than plastic models, and they blend
well with a home interior. The wooden high chairs require a bit more effort
to clean. When you are deciding to buy wooden high chair, consider to add
pads to make sitting more comfortably and versatile. You could then buy
cushions with your favorite pattern and color.

Always keep the safety tips on this guide in mind. It should have a waist
strap and a strap that runs between the legs. If it does not have adequate
safety straps, contact the manufacturer soon for replacement. Buckle the
baby into his chair using both the waist strap, and the strap that runs
between his legs. For a folding chair, make sure the locking device is
locked each time you set it up. The locking mechanism on a chair that folds
must be locked in place before you place your baby inside. The high chair
should have a post between his legs to prevent him from slipping down and
becoming trapped under the tray. If you currently have an old model or if
you receive the chair as a gift, make sure it is safe for your baby.

Keep an eye on your baby while she is in the high chair. Do not let the
older kids to stand near the chair while the baby is sitting in it, to
prevent them from pushing it over. Keep it far enough away from a table,
wall, or other surface so that your little one can not use them to push off.
Never allow the kids play around, and climb into it, or hang onto the high
chair. Do not let a baby to stand up in a high chair. Always keep your eyes
from the chair, especially if the baby has shown an ability to unfasten
safety straps.

Theodore Satou is a family man. He is a husband and dad, who works
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passionate about reading and blogging. You can also check out his latest
website on Baby Bedding Crib Sets which reviews the best pink and brown baby
bedding.

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The Playpen Question - To Use Or Not to Use?

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:19:00 +0000

By Ursula Ansbach

The Playpen Question: to use or not to use?

There is a pro and con to everything and the playpen is being re-considered
as a handy tool to help out struggling and very busy parents. Easy solution:
pop the toddler into the pen, provide a few toys, stay nearby and you can do
your laundry, write your article, or chat with visiting friends.

So what's not to like about the playpen? Baby is safe, and learning to be
independent by entertaining herself. She can practice pulling herself up and
crawl about and, really what's all this nonsense about it delaying motor
development or stunting creativity?

Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of parenting and/or child care of
any sort whether it be babysitting, grandchild sitting, professional child
care, et al, is to really understand that the decision of what to do with
baby should be based primarily on what is in the best interests of the
child. Yes, the adults needs must be considered as well, because child care
is a partnership between the two of us. What's important to understand ,
however, is that our part of that partnership is to facilitate the baby's
needs. And, I'm sure we would all agree that those needs go beyond safety
and feeding to include providing an environment that is interesting so that
baby will be happy and will develop to the best of her ability.

Having established this , let's look at the playpen from the child's point
of view. To gain a clear perspective let me suggest that you think of your
favorite hobby or pastime and then place it in an eighth of the space
usually allotted to it with a small percentage of the usual materials
involved. My favorite pastime happens to be hiking. Now let me imagine that
instead of being able to hike the five to ten or so miles through a beloved
state park, I am forced to "hike" around a quarter mile track, with nothing
to look at but some snow fences and a couple trees.

Or, to make matters worse, I'm forced to "hike" in a racquetball court.
Wouldn't make me happy. Wouldn't give me the workout I'm used to. Would bore
me to tears. And even if I were only restricted to this horrid alternative
one out of every three hikes, I would still be miserable each time it was
forced on me. So, too, the child in the playpen.

Let's consider the argument that playpens make children independent. I
counter with the question: what choice do they have? They are plopped into a
confining space with no-one else in it and one or two toys. Baby can either
cry and scream (which does happen often) or compromise and become placid.
It's really much better when that independence is baby's choice - when baby
sits quietly on a soft pillow "reading a book by himself while having the
option to crawl about and roll balls, etc. Then he is showing me he's truly
enjoying his independence rather than being co-erced into playing alone.

Once baby is crawling and/or walking, the playpen is downright depressing
because of its limitations. At that point it truly can cause physical and
emotional damage, much as we don't want to admit it.

In answer to the argument that playpens support creativity let's look at the
advantages of letting baby explore a safe area freely. We will see that
there is no contest between which approach allows the most creativity to
develop. In a playpen there may be one, two or several toys. The amount must
be limited due to safety and not overcrowding the small space. Once those
are explored and the baby has pulled herself up and/or crawled around a
while, it's over.
In a safe environment baby can crawl as much as she wants. There is a
variety of materials to play with and a variety of ways to practice pulling
up. There are also people in that environment. YOU are part of that
environment and you are what makes baby feel safe enough to explore the
world.

The question seems to become one of how to set up a safe and stimulating
environment, where table lamps will not fall on baby's head, etc. I will
discuss how to set up a safe and stimulating environment in my next article.

As for the time element...the argument that we do not have time to always be
with baby and to entertain him or her, let me go out on a limb and say that
when this safe area is well planned you will not need to interact and
entertain every moment. Your baby will be so interested in her environment
that you may not need to supply much more supervision than you would if she
were in a playpen that was used responsibly.

I didn't use a playpen when my boys were little. I did my "important" adult
things when they were napping or so focused on their play that I could keep
a watchful eye and still make that phone call.

Having said all this I may agree that there may be a time when a playpen
could be handy. Definitely for napping while travelling or for short
"emergency" times. Perhaps an older child has a nose bleed that needs
attending and you are the only adult available. At times like this the
playpen would be most appreciated.

But let's be careful to advise them too quickly. It is all too easy to
overuse them without even realizing how long baby has been in there! It is
also too easy to choose them with our needs rather than our baby's needs in
mind.

Ursula Ansbach, owner My Baby Furniture Plus, baby furniture;
Educator, Teacher, Parent. http://www.mybabyfurnitureplus.com

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A Man Who Changed the World

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:06:00 +0000

By Rich Bordner

Albert McMakin, a 24 year old farmer, had just given his life to Christ the year before. He heard Dr. Mordecai Ham was coming to speak at a tent meeting. He was so exited that he invited countless friends and family members. Many of them agreed to come...except Billy.

Billy was the handsome, big-man-on-campus at the local high school. He didn't have much interest or time for Jesus. Albert, though, was smarter than your average bear. He borrowed a truck from a friend and asked Billy to drive it. "You don't even need to stay for the meeting," said Albert, "just drive me to and from." Since Billy didn't have a vehicle of his own and desperately wanted to drive, he agreed to Albert's proposition.

Billy stayed outside in the truck during the whole time, but he listened to Ham's words. By the end of the tent meeting, though, Jesus had his hooks in him; young Billy Graham walked forward during the alter call and gave his life to Jesus Christ.

Yes, Billy Graham is a man who has changed the world; but that's not who I'm referring to in the title of this post.

You've probably heard of Billy Graham, but have any of you heard of Albert McMakin? Chances are, the answer is no. However, his is no obscure name in the ledgers of heaven, for his enthusiasm and willingness to share the Good News of Christ to anyone willing to listen (and some, like Billy, who weren't willing to listen) has rippled through eternity in a grandiose way.

How different would the world be had McMakin kept the Good News to himself?

Do you have an Albert McMakin in your life? I do. I actually have several, and if you take even one of them out of my life, the trajectory of my steps goes in a very different direction. I am eternally grateful for each one of them: Mr. Wenger, Travis, Steve, Matt, Yohan, and Darwin (Isn't that ironic that one of the men who helped lead me to Christ is named "Darwin"! Ha! Take that, Richard Dawkins.).

Though sometimes fear and apathy get the best of me, It is men like these and stories like McMakin's that keep me intent on speaking of Jesus whenever I can. May you be encouraged by his story in the same direction.

Rich Bordner authors "The Pugnacious Irishman," a blog on the intersection of spirituality, ethics, and politics in the public square of ideas. He holds a B.A in English and Philosophy from THE Ohio State University (go Bucks!), and is in the process of earning a M.A in Philosophy from Biola University. Check out his blog at http://pugnaciousirishman.wordpress.com

Seeking A New Normal

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:27:00 +0000

By Tim Tuohy

This is the foundation, a foreword if you will, for a series of articles that I have written. I've compiled these into a book and submitted them to a publisher. I hope you will find them encouraging and helpful in your life.

"In the beginning God" ... so begins the greatest book in the history of the world. Writers universally hope to begin their book as well as this book's beginning. Charles Dickens also had a great beginning that most writers envy. He began one of the greatest works of English literature, "A Tale of Two Cities", with "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times". Truly, every time, in every era, in every life, is the best of times and is the worst of times. As you read through this gospel it's my hope you will learn to see the best of times all around you and learn to believe in spite of the fact that the worst of times are occurring simultaneously.

I'm Timothy these articles contain my gospel:

I'm Timothy. Not the one from the Bible. The articles you are about to read are written not because I want to win you over to some religion or get you to understand the concept of "the Christ." I have written them that I may introduce you to the Jesus that I have come to know and having made that introduction he will draw you to himself if that is what is to be.

I was raised in a cult called "The Move" that was founded by a man who fraudulently used the name of God to prosper himself and provide for his own wealth. It is said that he died when his small plane was flown into a mountain side in Honduras, but I suspect he lived among the population until he reached a fine old age. It was he who, in the upheaval and fear of the American 1960's, perpetrated the myth on countless believers that God Himself had called them to sell everything they had and move to wilderness communes.

My parents moved to one of these 'farms' where we lived in a three room slab wood shack. The entire building was less than two hundred square feet. My parents, my three sisters, one of my two brothers and I all lived in that tiny hovel. We had neither electricity nor running water. A shared access to the outhouse served as the restroom for all the two hundred plus residents of the commune. To the exterior of the shack a ladder of scrap wood was nailed. This provided access through an opening covered by a blanket fragment to a space the size of a pup tent that served as my 'bed room'. The commune (one of many located all over North America) was located on an eight hundred acre farm outside a small town named Governor, near Macomb, straddling Hurst Road, in upstate New York.

To further complicate my escape from this life, I was involuntarily relocated a few months before my eighteenth birthday. The founder's sister took me to another commune near Grand Marais, Minnesota. So it was that on the morning of my eighteenth birthday, I walked down the hill from the commune into the town of Grand Marais and purchased a bus ticket to Dallas, Texas. After the purchase I was left with only five dollars and the clothes on my back for possessions. I waited all day for the bus to finally arrive. With only five dollars to my name and no home to return to, I climbed on board a bus and was on my way.

In my life I've been hungry, wet, and cold. I've gone days without food. I've been outside with nowhere to go when it was freezing cold. I've slept under bridges in the winter rain, under the stars and in alleys. I've hitch-hiked around the country and traveled to all fifty states. I have been discouraged to the point of contemplating suicide and been frightened so badly that I couldn't move. Through it all God was with me to help me to get where I am today so that I could share what is in these articles with you.

The purpose of these articles:

These articles are not intended to be a treatise on the religion of Christianity nor a version of Christology; it's intended to be a glimpse of Jesus. Who is this man, this God, this singularity in history whom we call 'King of Kings' and 'Lord of Lords'?

I am writing to introduce you to Jesus, as I know him. Maybe you too can experience his friendship as I have. In writing this book it is my objective to fulfill the commission given by Jesus when He said, "tell this gospel to the whole world." It's my hope that this book will reach others who have found themselves awakened in the darkness and are searching for a light to lead them out.

Do know that more detailed literature is written and published on the subject of Jesus and Christianity than I can read or quote in this book. Many works have been written and published by learned theologians. Many lives have been committed to the study of the religious and spiritual concepts of theology. If you are so inclined, I encourage you to search for the answers as I have. There are many things to be learned by reading the myriad inspired and encouraging works of these talented authors.

Foundations of these articles:

Before I begin allow me to lay a foundation of fundamentals that are 'key' to all the things I will write herein. These three 'keys' that follow are essential to all understanding of success in life.

First: God is not a technology. You can't learn to push the right button that will control his actions. There is no code that changes his program. Nor is there a program to run that will cause Him to process your will.

Second: Love God with all that you are. What is love but the act of consecrating one's self and committing one's self to something or someone outside one's self? In this context love is both desire and commitment. To love God with all that you are is to be committed to bringing your will in complete alignment with his.

Third: Love others as you love yourself. They too are God's creatures and though you may detest their actions, remember they too are bound to evil.

Spiritual salvation and the carnal harvest:

Salvation is being returned to full communication with God. The only way to acquire this is the way God provided. Only the sacrifice of Jesus can pay for your salvation. You can't behave well enough to deserve it. It's not compensation for your efforts. Once received, you can't hold onto it securely enough to keep it from slipping away. The only way to succeed in having a relationship with God is the grace provided through the blood of the lamb. You can't get to God without it and you can't get it without God drawing you to it. It's all God, we contribute only belief, and that too is a gift provided by God. Eternal life is found only in knowing God.

I'm not saying there is no consequence for our actions. There are consequences for everything we do. In an extreme example I may have committed murder, been tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Accepting the gracious gift of God that is salvation for my spirit must not be confused with the harvest I must necessarily reap for the seeds I sowed with murder. This was illustrated in Arkansas after (then) Governor Huckabee commuted sentences of prisoners who appeared 'converted'. At least one of these was released back into the population only to return to his heinous ways and commit the same types of crimes he had been convicted of earlier. Had he truly been converted? I think not.

We may not judge the spirit, for that is the domain of God. We may only judge the actions of the individual. If the actions of the individual have been judged under the law then the consequences of the law must never be waived until the full portion of the judgment is met.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Don't be distracted that I write as if it is wrong to seek a more blessed and fulfilled life. It isn't. I'm not saying that you must endure pain, suffering, discomfort, or mental anguish either. You will not become righteous by virtue of your suffering. People will speak poorly about you whether you are rich or poor; whether you are successful and a lesson in failure.

Don't be afraid! God won't lose a single one of his elect. None will be lost. None will be left behind.

Summary:

By way of summarization, I'm going to close each of these articles with three things; a promise from God, a key to success and a lyric from a song. The promise and the key should be incorporated into your soul and kept in your memory. The lyric may be substituted for any lyric of any song you find encouraging, what's important is to keep a song in your heart, because songs bring joy and joy is the ultimate success.

So if you've been looking for the messiah to deliver you from the mess you're in; you've found him! The gospel will reveal him to you.

God's promise: God loves you and has great plans for you. "For I know the plans I have for you," Declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Success Key: God has plans for you and they are good plans!

Sing out! "God is good, all the time ..." Don Moen

###

Fearless - Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:02:00 +0000

By Gail Pruszkowski

Fear begins in infancy with separation anxiety. A few years later and we are afraid of the dark and the monster under the bed. When we become teenagers, our biggest fears are rejection, being different and doing poorly in school. As adults, we fear responsibility, unsatisfied ambitions and death. Unfettered these fears can paralyze us.

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear is a Christian self-help manual by Max Lucado, best-selling Christian author and minister of writing and preaching at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. He helps you come to terms with the fact that fear is an inescapable part of life but it does not have to limit you.

I've been tossed about by life a few times, enough to leave me with a healthy dose of fear. I was ready to embrace a fearless life or at least one that is less fearsome. I am a skeptic but I opened my mind before I opened this book and I was pleasantly surprised. I read it straight through and then went back and reread the chapters that spoke to me.

Max has a wonderful voice. He writes in a conversational style that makes you feel like you know him. It's an easy read. He peppers his prose with humorous anecdotes, uplifting stories, parables and scripture but underneath it all is an uplifting message. I think Max has put his finger on the crux of the problem - we need to trust more and we will fear less. We can conquer our fear through the power of faith and it will help us live our lives to the fullest.

Max talks about his own fears. He begins the book with a story about his brother, a troubled man who faced his fears and was able to live an alcohol free life for two years before God took him. The book is divided into chapters that focus on different types of fear. It is simple, it is straightforward and it is inspirational. I highly recommend it.

Table of Contents:

Why are we afraid?
Fear of not mattering
Fear of disappointing God
Fear of running out
Fear of not protecting my kids
Fear of overwhelming challenges
Fear of worst-case scenarios
Fear of violence
Fear of the coming winter
Fear of life's final moments
Fear of what's next
Fear that God is not real
Fear of global calamity
Fear of God getting out of my box
Conclusion: William's Psalm
Discussion Guide

Notes

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (September 8, 2009)
ISBN: 978-0849921391
Hardcover: 224 Pages
Price: $24.99

Gail Pruszkowski reviews for "Romantic Times BOOKreviews" magazine and her work has been published in the "Cup of Comfort" Anthologies.

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Not Becoming a Starving Freelancer - Time Management Helps

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:56:00 +0000

What makes you money in your job, doesn't necessarily make you money, when freelancing. Many freelancers have to learn that the hard way.

* Are you exceptionally good in your job?
* Do you believe that your boss is not paying you enough?
* Are you tired of working for someone else?

Then you are probably thinking about working as freelancer. Beware that almost everything will change once you have "fired your boss".

* Who will give you the paycheck?
* Who will tell you what to do?
* Who will make you to work harder?
* etc.

Knowing the correct answer to those questions is one key ingredient to your success as freelancer. The freedom, which comes from having no boss, is dangerous to those with no plan and little or no discipline.

Becoming a successful freelancer is not about doing what you have been used doing eight (8) hours a day while you had your job. You need to develop new skills in many areas and deal with all of the business stuff yourself. Most importantly you need to get clients of your own and keep them.

All of a sudden you see yourself having to do "marketing for yourself", which turns out to be more difficult for many new freelancers or business owners as they originally have thought it will be. Yes, it is more involved than just running a couple of small ads, and calling some business contacts that you might already have.

It is tough

Your first "friend" should be good time management. That will help you to feel stronger. It kind of lets you lay out a road that you simply have to follow. This post does not focus on time management, but I give a a few hints anyway.

Time Management in its shortest possible form

* Most important tasks in the morning.

* No more than 6 tasks a day. You should be able to complete those in 6 or 6 1/2 hours. Work from your daily list and you actually feel that you have something accomplished, when you check off the last task for the day. No more endless lists.

* When planning your day, make a real schedule, but allow one or two times, when you want to deal with the daily interruptions.

* Master your phone, mobile, email! You decide, when you pick up the phone or deal with email. There is absolutely no need to be available on demand all day long. If so, then there is something substantially wrong with your setup.

Especially, when you start a new business, it is essential that you spend a dedicated amount of time each day for prospecting new clients or driving more and better qualified prospects to your Web site. The absolute minimum should be 2.5 hours a day. Make it 4 hours in the beginning and you will benefit much from it later.

How to attract potential clients? That depends heavily on the market, the industry you are in. You could buy advertising, write articles, do SEO on your Web site, improve the conversion ratio, partner up with professional or social networks, do cold calling,...

I have learned a lot about effective time management from other entrepreneurs, who faced the same problem after quitting their day job. How can I guarantee a steady and growing stream of revenue?

Should being a freelancer be your final goal?

I say, "Most likely not." Unless you want to share the destiny of more than 80% of small business owners and become a prisoner of your own business. Actually you do not even have a business as long as it depends on your personal skills. Your goal should be to build a business that allows you to enjoy the fruits of it and live your life to the fullest extent.

That means you are working on growing your business and you pay someone else -- freelancers or employees -- to do the day to day -- the busy -- work.

Many entrepreneurs shared with me the insight that your first hire is the most important one. I will explain the details and the reasoning in another article, but for now I just want to say, "Your first hire should be a generalist, who can assist you with every task at hand. The more you advance and grow the more specialists you will employ in the future. But don't forget generalists first and always keep track of your time and use it in a most productive way.

The author John W. Furst provides first class articles and information about every aspect of Internet business and personal development on his Blog. His writings are the essence of 15+ years of experience with business in general and Internet in particular. Recently Mr. Furst shifted his focus towards Email Marketing. Read more at his E-Biz Booster Blog at http://blog.fcon21.biz and check out the Email Marketing Tips Blog Carnival.

Internet Data Entry Jobs - Employee Or Freelancer?

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:51:00 +0000

One of the fastest growing work at home opportunities is the field of Internet data entry jobs. With more and more companies looking for people to handle their advertising, rebates, customer information, and more, it's easy to earn a decent - and often times more then decent - income without leaving your house. But there is one thing you should know before getting started, and that's the different types of relationship you can have with your employer.

While many of the positions available are more or less the same, there are two very different ways of approaching them. One is as an employee, and the other is as a freelancer. While both have high earning potential, you will want to know a little bit about what they are, how they work, and who is looking for whom before you start searching for companies to hire you.

An employee works for a single company, perhaps two, either full or part time. They are paid by the hour and given daily or weekly quotas that they are required to fill. The benefits of working as an employee are a steady paycheck, reliable work, and the ability to move up to higher paying positions as a supervisor or manager over time.

A freelancer is someone who will take on small projects on a temporary or long term basis with a client, but work for themselves. They usually work for a great number of people at any given time, and are paid an amount per project, or by the batches they complete as part of their overall contract. The benefits of working as a freelancer are the possibilities of higher earning potential with a higher volume of contracts, and owning their own business.

Whatever option you choose will be based on your personality, time constraints, and whether or not you feel more comfortable working with others, or on your own. But whatever you decide, Internet data entry jobs are a great way to earn income from home.

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Bidding and Winning Projects as a Freelancer

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:50:00 +0000

When you're a freelancer, you cannot escape the task of bidding for projects and hoping to win the projects. Losing out more times than you'd actually care to admit, understand that it's part and parcel of being a freelancer. You're pitched against many other people who are cheaper (not necessarily better) and who are willing to go really low to do McDonald's rate work for reasonable quality stuff. Most of the freelancers bidding for projects are either fresh graduates who are trying to make a quick buck or students earning some pocket money or building their portfolio.

As a professional freelancer, it's unfair to be pitched against these people because they don't really MAKE A LIVING out of freelancing. There are millions and millions of other freelance graphic designers and copywriters I am pitching against every single day and sometimes I find myself cursing at them for offering such low prices! Unbelievable. They're really spoiling the market.

Should you lower your price and integrity just to win the bid for the project?

Some freelancers succumb to the need to win projects after they bid on it. Hawking over a less than worthwhile project is a complete waste of time. What freelancers should do is to simply keep their integrity. If you've established yourself in the market, have a relatively large (and impressive portfolio) and think you deserve to be paid whatever you think you should be paid, why lower yourself?

Keep your head up high and dictate the price. Lowering it means that you're somewhat desperate for business – and that's not the kind of message you want to convey to your potential customers. Being desperate mean that you're not doing business and one of the many reasons why you're looking for business is because….perhaps…you're not as good as you think you are?

No way! If you think you're good enough to charge whatever you want to charge, don't bend lower that you're willing to.

But of course, even after winning a bid or not bidding at all, you should still keep the door open for reasonable haggling of price

In business, there's always some haggling involved. Therefore, make it a point to quote a price right about 5% higher than what you would normally charge others. If the client/customer negotiates for a lower price, bring it down by 5% and you'll get whatever you thought you deserved to start with.

What if the client wants you to bring the price even lower?

It depends on the client and your relationship with the client. As a freelancer, we are dependant on a virtual relationship we have built with our clients. They are merely faceless people you're working for and trust is very, very, very important. If you feel that you can trust the client and knows that he/she will be giving you business many years down the road, by way of showing your appreciation for their business, lower down your price. But if this is what you're doing, make sure you point out the fact that the price is exclusive and you don't charge everyone else the same price.

Not only will this make the client feel special but he/she will recommend other people your freelancing services. And if they do, they will also make a special note not to mention the pricing.

Happy freelancing!

Marsha Maung is a freelance graphic designer and copy writer who works from home. She designs apparel and premium items at http://www.allmomstuff.com and is the author of "Raising little magicians", and the popular "The Lance in freelancing". More information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com

Jobs Available For Teens - Top Jobs For Teens to Earn Good Handsome Money As Well As Learn

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:15:00 +0000

By Sani Orman

There are lots of jobs available for teens. They can easily earn some extra cash during their summer breaks now. The availability of part time jobs for teens is increasing with each passing day. They are no more boring as you can enjoy while doing these works and get highly paid for their efforts. Most teenagers are becoming rich while they are working and also enjoy like adults.

They are making down payments for cars, buying gifts for their girlfriends or boyfriends and even they are helping their family financially. This may sound little weird but the importance of kids is certainly growing fast. Most teens are playing with money with loads of disposal income in hand through these summer jobs. They don't have to depend upon their family for their pocket money. Their life is becoming more independent as well as they are also learning some wealth management tips that are certainly the need of an hour.

Top Jobs For Teens To Earn Good Handsome Money As Well As Learn

- Advertising jobs : Most ad agencies need fresh ideas, so they appoint kids as summer trainees. These summer jobs are full of learning experience. You need to do surveys on a brand that will improve a company's marketing campaign.

- Cheerleaders : If you are a great sport fan than you can watch matches free by cheer leading your favorite team. It can be fun while you make some decent cash from this type of summer jobs.

- Online jobs : Nowadays with advent of Internet culture, there are works available for teens where they can earn handsome money by filling survey forms over the net.

- Flower Selling : Part time jobs for teens like flower selling can be a suitable option for earning some extra cash.

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Why Become a Teenage Entrepreneur?

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:37:00 +0000

There are many compelling reasons why someone should become a business person or entrepreneur before they finish school, or in there teenage years. More so today as we watch tens of thousands per month lose their jobs in the worst recession since the 1930's. This testifies to the fact that there is no security anymore in just having a job, or even the noble notion of having a career path within an industry or an organisation. This is not saying that this is an unworthy path just that it is not secure anymore. To verify this we have all seen massive stalwart company's that have been household names for many years, just keel over and collapse with the loss of all the jobs that they provided. You know many of these.

So it would be a useful time to promote financial and occupational independence through setting up and having your own business. And there is no better person to promote this too than today's teenagers. The following will detail 3 reasons why teenagers today should be looking at getting into business and decide to become a successful teenage entrepreneur.

The first reason is there is no better time. While most organisations are shoring up their business models and battening hatches, many opportunities exist for competitors to enter their markets. Surprisingly some industries grow during recession, and a prime example is cosmetics. So if you you're looking for an opportunity try getting into cosmetics. It would be useful to even just market somebody else products, and start of locally, even amongst friends. But you will find willing women keen to buy anything to make themselves feel good while they are watching all the other pennies they are spending.

Another excellent industry that is bustling at present is the internet industry. Understanding that the internet has become as much about information as about anything else, people all over the world are scrambling to get answers to their woes, whether it is health, wealth, or just making money from the internet. There is insatiable demand for info products across this dynamic, as well as traditional items that people buy and sell. If you do not believe me check out all the auction sites and see what is happening. This is a growth market - even during a recession!

And so here is the second reason. Teenagers today have grown up with the internet. In most cases they are more internet savvy than their parents, and know where to source items, data, and contacts better than anyone in the 20 year history of the internet. It is second nature to them, so the progression to a useful online commercial activity is relatively small. And what does it cost to do something on the internet. Virtually nothing - there are no premises to worry about, no staff to learn how to manage, and no financial funding to deal with - at least of any consequence.

The third reason is the personal development that starting and running your own business provides. Especially if it become profitable in a short space of time. This is an extra dimension that they can accommodate early in life just as if they are working a job for extra money. Instead they are leveraging their time more effectively, getting their own resources to produce for them and create the flexibility we know they all need as they approach or engage in tertiary education. Understand what this does for their outlook on life and their belief systems. You will witness growth occurring before your eyes.

So here are 3 very important reasons for teenagers to start in business for themselves now. I can not encourage this more. If you are wondering about this today I recommend that you get started today as there is no better time for a teenager to start his or her own business.

Discover the secrets to becoming a teenage millionaire and read about real teenagers making millions right now! I invite you to further your knowledge with what is possible at http://www.successfulteenageentrepreneur.com/

Stuart G Harris
http://www.findmylifepurpose.com/

Work From Home Career As a Freelancer to Make Money

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:38:00 +0000

By Alan Lim

One of the best ways to earn income for work from home career is to contract to do freelance work from your home office. Freelance writing or other freelance work can take many forms, depending upon your experience and training. You can certainly structure the freelance work to emphasize the work you enjoy the most and minimize the work you dislike. Freelance work may be contracted that requires almost no investment. It allows you to work at your own pace and for a fee that will meet your needs. These are just two of the benefits of doing freelance work.

Finding a site

There are several top quality sites where you can post freelance jobs or where you can bid on jobs that fall within your experience and training. The types of jobs are stated on the site and the bidder specifies how much of the work requirements will be completed, the time frame in which it will be completed and the cost for doing the job. The buyer then can choose the bidder that is preferred and the deal is then finalized. The buyer and the service provider both benefit with work from home jobs.

Article Directories

Many buyers contract with service providers to write articles that will be placed in article directories. These directories provide valuable information on a variety of subjects. Since they contain information about URL or web site of the author, articles placed in directories are an easy way to beef up your page ranking through search engine optimization. Linking these articles to the web site brings traffic to the referenced site. Completing the articles that will be placed in the directories is a great way to break into work from home career freelance activities. If you can write informative articles in a fresh and lively way, this type of home based work will be ideal for you.

Search Engine Optimization

Another way to take advantage of the work from home career opportunities of freelance work is to do search engine optimization for web sites. This can be done by planning and implementing techniques on the web site directly, such as in the way the site is designed and implemented. It can also done by adding content through articles written with rich keyword presence. Keywords are an important part of search engine optimization and are often part of the contract work to be found on freelance project sites.

Article Content

Freelance work at home career might also consist of writing articles directly to be added to a particular web site. This process is also a part of search engine optimization, because informative articles written in a fresh and engaging style will attract traffic from the search engine results page and will keep visitors at the site because they are reviewing the information. The articles should be prepared on a subject that relates to the web site content in order to appeal to the niche audience. Such articles are often posted as projects on freelance sites. Home workers can bid on these projects.

Freelance work is just one of the great Work from Home opportunities that are displayed at http://www.goodinternetmoney.com. Look for information about resources you can use when you make your home office your only office.

Top 5 Tips to Become a Successful Freelance Writer

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:37:00 +0000

By Jitesh Arora

The financial melt down has taken its toll on the career dreams of many. Pay cuts and termination of jobs have become the order of the day. At this juncture Freelance writing can be opted as an exciting opportunity by people with excellent writing skills. The advantages of Freelancing are wide and varied. The most important advantage is that it allows you to enjoy a diversity of assignments, which is impossible with normal jobs. Also, once established you can earn even more income than regular jobs. Here working hours are flexible and the only factor to be considered is that dead lines have to be met.

You have to go through some pre requisites to become a successful freelancer. Let us consider some of them.

Flair for writing:- This is the prime requirement of a freelancer. Only a person who has got excellent writing skills can become successful as a freelancer. Without love of writing you can not continue the work in an efficient manner.

Self motivation:- A freelancer does not have a boss to supervise his work. Hence it becomes indispensable to be self motivated and organised to handle the work pressure. Personal life should not be allowed to interfere with writing hours.

Rhythm:- Freelance writing should not be considered as a burden by trying too hard. Rather a momentum and natural rhythm have to be built up. Once the rhythm and momentum are achieved you should not get distracted before meeting the target.

Occasional breaks:- It is always better to take breaks occasionally to get refreshed and revitalized. Continuous writing will take a toll on creativity. New ideas and added vigour would be there once you resume work after the break.

Customer satisfaction:- Customer is the king in any business. Here also the freelancer should pay utmost care in making the customers happy and satisfied. Meeting dead lines, giving the customers what they want exactly, constantly improving writing skills etc are means to make customers happy.

Are you really looking for Freelance Copywriting jobs? Do you want to earn six figure income through Online Writing Jobs?If yes then I would recommend you to visit 6 Figure Freelancer.

Freelance Writing For Absolute Beginners - How To Get Started As A Freelancer; Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:57:00 +0000

You're an aspiring writer. You have some writing skill and talent, and want to develop a writing career. Congratulations! I've been writing for money since the 1970s, and 2006 is a wonderful year to be a writer. You've truly got unlimited options and ways to make money writing.

In Part One of this article, I'll cover the fundamentals of freelance writing. Few writers give these fundamentals much consideration, and that leads to unnecessary hiccups in their writing career. Other writers breeze along quite happily, then suddenly smash up against one of the fundamentals, and because they're blissfully unaware, they proceed to destroy their career.

If you understand the fundamentals, these fundamentals form a basis for creativity, money, and confidence, because you will KNOW how freelance writing works, and you will understand how and why you get paid, and how to set your rates.

Next week, I'll cover "modelling" which is an easy way write as a freelancer. When you learn how to model, you'll be able to write anything, for anybody.

When You Write For Money, People Make Money From Your Words

Freelance writing is writing for money. And, when you write for money, your buyer makes money from your words. A book publisher publishes your book, and makes money from the book's sales. A magazine editor buys an article, and makes money from the advertising in the magazine. A creative director at an advertising agency hires you to write the copy for a brochure, and gets paid by the client, who uses the brochure to make sales and build his business.

The More Money Other People Make, The More You Make

The second fundamental is "the more other people make from your words, the more you make". (You'll need to negotiate for the higher pay, however.)

As a freelancer, you will soon learn that some markets are not markets for you, because they can't afford to pay you. You won't get upset that some magazines don't pay except in copies, and some business owners expect writers to write for $5 an article. You will understand that these people are not making a lot of money, so they can't afford you. This is not a problem, because there's no point in putting lipstick on a pig. You need to go where the money is, not where it isn't.

Money-Potential Check - Do It First

Therefore, before you consider writing for a venue, check to see where THEIR funding is coming from, because if they're not making money, neither will you. If you don't know, ask on a writer's forum. When you're writing for a magazine, for example, check the circulation, and the advertisers in the magazine. If it's a national magazine with a large circulation (over a million copies) and international companies advertise in the magazine, they should pay well.

If you're writing for your local newspaper, check the circulation figures, and the number and size of advertisements. Find out how much the newspaper charges for a half-page display ad. If the newspaper is making money from advertising, they can afford to pay you.

As a quick rule of thumb: if there are advertisements, the publisher can afford to pay writers. This applies to print media, and online - any Web site with advertising can and should pay their writers.

Follow The Money - Consider The Money FIRST

If you remember that "writing for money equals other people making money from your words", this will guide you in choosing markets to write for. For the first few years of my freelance career (admittedly this was the 1980s, long before the Web existed), I didn't make this connection. This meant that I signed contracts that weren't in my best interest.

If you remember this simple point, it puts you in a strong position. You can now assess markets so you know whether a publication is worth spending time on, and you can also negotiate from a strong position. For example, if a publication offers you a $50 all-rights deal, and you see advertisements from airlines and high-end clothing companies in the magazine, you can feel quite secure asking for $500 for First North American Serial Rights (FNSR) only. You may not get it, but you WILL get four and five times the original offer.

Negotiate: Get Assertive

Your ability to negotiate is a vital freelancing skill. If you're shy about negotiating, don't be. Editors expect you to haggle. The first offer you get is only a first offer. "Standard pay rate" is so much nonsense - I'll repeat what I just said, you're EXPECTED to haggle. Professional writers negotiate; new writers slave for low pay until they have a light-bulb moment, and then they negotiate.

So haggle. Always. Essentially haggling is just asking for more. When you start haggling with editors, you may feel like Oliver Twist, with a begging bowl and a "please, Sir", attitude. However, the more you do it, the more fun it will be. After a few years, you'll enjoy haggling.

So there you have it - the absolute fundamentals of freelance writing. You now know how to get started - how to find markets which will PAY you, and that you must NEGOTIATE a higher rate to get paid well. You can now write and sell with confidence.

Angela Booth is a veteran freelance writer and copywriter. She also teaches writing. Visit her blogs - Angela Booth's Writing Blog at http://copywriter.typepad.com/ and Fab Freelance Writing at http://fabfreelancewriting.com/blog/ for daily writing inspiration and motivation. Subscribe to the Fab Freelance Writing Ezine at http://fabfreelancewriting.com/ezine/fab-freelance-writing-ezine.html to receive "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report" free. It's 21 pages packed with information to help you to develop a six-figure writing career.

7 Principles of Freelance Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:32:00 +0000

By Jitesh Arora

These are the days when more and more people are lured into the career of freelancing. Flexible working hours, being your own boss, saving the time earlier taken for travelling etc attract many towards choosing freelancing as a career option. In most cases people are interested in making fast money, which is prompting them to take up freelancing. But you should understand that it is also a business and as such certain business principles can be applied to make it a successful venture.

Allow time to get off the ground :- Like any business, freelance writing career takes time to get established. Of course, i9nternet writing market has made it easier to freelance. But it takes time to build up a large client base, to identify your strengths as a writer and get established.
Time is money:- The money you earn in freelancing depends on your experience, efficiency in sales and marketing and other factors. In the initial stages of your writing career you have to spend much time in honing your skills and establishing networks, that is a strong client base. You have to decide judiciously how to spend time and shoot for rates accordingly.
Loyal customers :- It is important to have loyal customers for a successful freelancing career. One loyal client is always better than a dozen one shot buyers. Once you are able to give hundred percent satisfaction to a customer there is the possibility of retaining him for ever. There is every possibility that whenever they have work, they will contact you first. If you have a dozen such clients you are heading towards the path of a secured future.
Crush competition creatively :- Competition is there in every field. In order to crush competition there is no need to lower the charges as a novice. Rather it would be better to add value to the product by giving something unique. It can be providing some extra information or anything that will make you stand apart from the crowd.
Provide quality work :- Quality work comes with good writing skills. In fact it is a learned art, which has to be constantly improved upon. Whichever level you reach, always remember that there would be still scope for improvement.
Perseverance :- Many small business end with in six months of their opening. Tenacity is needed to guarantee success in freelancing. If you quit soon, you will be a loser.
Marketing skills :- Better marketing skill are needed along with writing skill to be successful in freelancing. Creating website is the most appropriate strategy in the present scenario.

Are you really looking for Freelance Copywriting jobs? Do you want to earn six figure income through Online Writing Jobs?If yes then I would recommend you to visit 6 Figure Freelancer.

5 Cool Ways Teens Make Money Online

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:30:00 +0000

By Kevin Ihrig

The ideas below all work for teens to make money online, most without having your own website. Several companies have set up revenue sharing lately, and you can benefit. Without ever learning Java, HTML, or Flash, you can set up your own little kingdom or queendom of money earning sites.

Take a look at these:

1. Studentoffortune.com

This is a paid research site, where a student can post a question with a bounty, then you can answer and win the bounty. Do you have a cool hobby? Read a bunch of books on one subject? Maybe you work in your parents' business. You can earn money from this site. Everybody knows about something.

2. Treasuretrooper.com

You fill out surveys that pay or offer free goodies. In case you think this won't work well, think about this. Companies pay people to try their stuff, to comment on it, and to give the company their opinion. You could be one of those people, getting paid for your opinion. You only have to be a teen, 13 or over, to do it. Pretty sweet, right?

3. Cashcrate.com

Works similar to #2, but some like it better. Either way, you make money for college. Teens are fine here, too, 13 years of age and up. Get your parents' permission if you are between 13 and 18, and earn money online.

4. Squidoo.com

Lets you build a lens (to focus on a topic) for free, then you can add in affiliate links, adsense and so on to earn some money from it. The key here: think broad, and update often. Hubpages.com has an approach similar to Squidoo, but offers a one-time payment for doing serious work on a page. You have to meet their guidelines, but then you get $25 for building a resource page.

5. Build your own Website

When you do it right, you can build a great website, even if you have no programming or web design skills. Seriously, you can make money in a ton of ways, too. And if you build your own site, you can keep it forever. Be careful what host you pick - find one with a great block builder and the right formula for success.

I'll throw in an extra: be an affiliate.

This works best if you have a site or on Squidoo - like I said above, but you can also use your Myspace or Facebook page, too. You earn with this by first affiliating with an online seller. They can sell anything, you just need to be their affiliate.

Then, you tell people about it. Careful - you don't want to spam yourself off of Myspace or Twitter. But you can help people find answers and refer them to the company you represent. Just do a little search for affiliate programs on a search engine, you'll be swamped with good offers. Many teens have already made money online with this method.

Better yet, pick a product, and then add affiliate program to it, then search.

You can find tons more ways for that teens make money online if you look. It only takes effort. You can do it!

Get started!

Want a free e-book on how to be a master affiliate? Come and get a Free Ebook & E-course by email to help you get started.

Where to Find Freelance Writer Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:55:00 +0000

By David Fraser

Freelance writer jobs are all over the Internet. Although there are a wide variety of jobs available online, it isn't always easy to locate the right one for you. There are many different places that you can look in order to locate a freelance job that best suits your skill set.

Online Job Boards

Job boards are a great place to locate freelance writer jobs. There are major job boards that everyone is aware of, which focus on every type of job out there. In addition, there are also smaller job boards available that focus only on writing jobs. These boards are generally free to join, and can be a great resource for those looking for steady online work.

Bidding Sites

There are bidding sites online for freelance writer jobs that allow you to place bids against other writers for client's orders. These sites are a great resource for writers, as the company does all of the work of driving in potential employers. All you have to do is create an account and bid for a job. These sites do charge either a monthly fee or take a percentage of your profits, but there is a lot of money to be made there if you play your cards right.

Direct Marketing

One of the best ways to find online freelance writer jobs is to market your services directly to companies. You can choose to contact larger websites that offer businesses writing services, or you can choose a website that is based on a topic you are familiar with and market directly to them too.

The benefit of marketing directly to websites without a middle man is that you get to keep all of the profits for yourself, and you have no one constantly looking over your shoulder. However, working through a middle man can provide the promise of more steady work. If you choose to market your own work to websites, then you need to be sure to have a writing website of your own or at the very least a resume and some samples.

More people are turning to the Internet to find work now that economic hard times have hit. Luckily there are a wide variety of freelance writer jobs available online if you search around and know where to look. If you write good quality content and look in the proper places, then you should not have any trouble finding work as a writer online.

Discover the Insider Secrets to Content Writing Riches - FREE Case Study Report + FREE Video: '5 Steps To Immediate Success'. DOWNLOAD NOW from ContentWritingRiches.com

Can Anyone Become a Freelance Photographer?

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:10:00 +0000

By Michael J Kryzer

Anyone can become a freelance photographer. But you will need to have a good digital camera, the skills to take very good photographs, and a strong determination to work hard in order to build up a successful freelance photography business.

If you decide to work as a freelance digital photographer you will get to be your own boss and will spend your time taking and selling digital photos - both online and offline. Sometimes you might work on assignment for large organizations or even for popular magazines. You might even get some all expenses paid trips. Freelance photography is certainly never a boring career choice.

If you don't already have good photography skills then you can still acquire the knowledge and skills required to be a good photographer.

You will probably need to read some good photography books, or study further at web sites that cover professional photography techniques. And you should consider taking a photography class in your local area. Many community colleges offer digital photography courses at very reasonable rates.

Don't forget that nothing is better for improving your photography than actually getting out there, taking some photos, experimenting with different camera and composition techniques, and gaining valuable experience shooting behind the camera lens.

These days, thanks to the World Wide Web, there are so many freelance digital photography opportunities that are predominantly digital and online. You can take your pictures with a digital camera and then upload your photos directly to the Internet where you can sell them!

To find out more about how to sell your photos visit CameraCareer. We have a great Freelance Photography FAQ and you can learn exactly how to get started as a freelance photographer. http://www.CameraCareer.com

Freelance Writers - Claim High Rewards For Precious Little Effort

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:09:00 +0000

By Avril Harper

Writers specialising in fillers and readers' letters receive much high fees, word for word, than virtually any other writing genre. Fillers are small pieces, often just 100 words or so, and they can generate hundreds or even thousands of dollars in writing awards or for what editors pick as the week's best letter or filler. But writers have to be constantly on the lookout for unusual subjects for their fillers and they must always be hot on market research. These tips will help grow your income from filler writing:

* Keep your eyes and ears open for anything remotely interesting to use in your letters and fillers. Look for unusual household tips, try your hand at writing poems, look for press errors and other popular filler types.

* Study other published fillers, especially those in magazines you'd like to write for. You can't, of course, copy other people's work but there is no copyright on ideas, so what you see in one magazine can be borrowed to form the basis of a filler you write for another. Other things to watch out for include recipes, jokes you can change a little, recipes you might alter slightly, crossword and puzzle grids you can adapt to use in your work.

* Study at least a dozen or so publications of the type you would like to write for. Rank these in order of preference, according to filler types, payment, subject matter. Start writing and submitting material for those highest on your list.

* Think pictures. Think illustrations. Instead of sending just words to your target publication, include a photograph, maybe a cartoon or line drawing. As always, careful study of your target magazine will establish editorial preferences.

* Search your own experiences for material ready to be written up as it stands or amended to suit.

* Always have a notepad and pen at hand, and preferably a pocket camera and mini recorder. It's amazing where inspiration and ideas strike and how often there is nothing handy to record the incident. My best ideas come when I'm in the bath, ironing, gardening, or walking the dog! Those notepads pinned to every wall and popped into my handbag have repaid their cost many times over!

Once that's done you can look forward to regular high rewards for just a few minutes' easy work.

Avril Harper is a highly successful freelance writer and the author of HOW TO BE A FIVE MINUTE WRITER

Follow These Steps For Productive, Worthwhile Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:12:00 +0000

You've just received notice of an upcoming meeting. "Ugh," you cry. "Not another meeting!" You roll your eyes and wonder how you'll survive yet another hour of useless babble.

Why are meetings so detested? Simple. Many are so poorly planned and executed they are a waste of time. That's a shame. Done properly, a meeting is a very effective way to disseminate information to a group. Follow these steps so that your next meeting is a success.

Review need for meeting Do you even need to call a meeting? A memo or an e-mail can be just as effective, and doesn't pull your employees away from their desks. Don't call a meeting out of habit. Have a purpose in mind.

Consider who should attend Invite only those who can either contribute to or gain from the discussion. Don't include every Tom, Dick, and Harry merely because they regularly attend meetings. Those with just a passing need for the information can be informed via e-mail or other form of communication.

Select appropriate person to lead Choose the person with the most experience or knowledge. Meetings do not have to be lead by a manager or supervisor. Junior personnel can gain valuable experience by leading a discussion. Doing so will free up your supervisor (or, perhaps, you).

Limit your topics Keep to at most three subjects. Any more, and you may overload your audience. Consider calling another meeting for the other topics. Review your audience again. It may be different for those topics.

Keep it short Thirty minutes is good; twenty minutes is better. Use more time only if it's necessary. Remember that time is valuable. Your employees are more productive when they're at their desks and work-stations.

Review your material, and practiceEdit your text so you get right to the point. Review to ensure you cover your topics thoroughly. That will minimize misunderstandings and questions. Rehearse so you cover the material smoothly and confidently. Make certain any equipment you use works flawlessly.

Be punctual Lead by example. If you say you'll start at 2:00, do so. Don't stand around waiting for the stragglers to arrive. Be courteous to those who are there on time. The others will learn soon enough that you mean business.

End with conviction When you're done, you're done. Don't drag out the meeting just to fill the time. And don't open the floor for general questions. You'll never get out of there.

Meetings have their place in any business. Make the effort to ensure yours are a meaningful use of time.

Word Tip

Irregardless/Regardless

Irregardless is one of those non-existent words that pops up in usage from time to time. The less in regardless indicates a negating action. The proper word is regardless.

The project will be finished regardless of cost.

You may find it helpful to use the word whether in your sentence.

Regardless of whether we renew their contract....

The team approach works best regardless of whether....

Essential Information About a Career in Banking

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:31:00 +0000

Careers in banking and related fields are hot careers today, but before you decide on your career path, you may want to learn a bit more about the banking field and what it has to offer you. This particular field offers a great deal of diversity and is well paid as well, but the field is not for everyone. Read on to find out the essential information about careers in banking and decide whether or not a career in banking is the right choice for you. Career Choices in the Banking Industry

While you may only think of bank tellers when you think of the banking industry, there are actually a variety of different career choices available within the banking world. Of course, probably the most obvious is the bank teller, who deals with cash and customers. You may also want to consider a career as a customer service representative or a new accounts clerk in a bank as well, which involves opening and closing accounts, answering customer questions, and dealing with any customer concerns.

Another side of the banking industry includes those who deal with the loan process. There are loan clerks, loan officers, and loan processors that deal with various parts of loan processes within a bank. There are also banking jobs available in collections, accounting, and support areas like office managers, secretaries, and data entry.

The careers that many people have in their sights when they think about banking are management positions. There are many different management careers in the banking industry, including bank managers, financial managers, investment managers, and trust officers. While these types of positions may be better paying, they also require a great deal more work as well.

Education Needed

The education that you will need for a career in banking will highly depend on which particular career you are planning on pursuing. Some jobs, such as bank tellers or customer service managers only require that you have a high school diploma or a GED. Other jobs, such as loan officers, and investment officers, will require that you become certified within your state to sell special products such as IRA's and Annuities. Some careers in this field may require that you have a degree in business or another similar type degree as well. The great thing about a career in banking, is that once you start out in this field, many times the bank you work with will help you get the education you need to advance in your career, which can save you a great deal of money and make you an extremely valuable employee.

What You Can Expect to Earn

The earnings that you can expect in this field are quite diverse, and depend on your specific job within the field. Tellers are generally the lowest paid people in the banking industry, but still they usually will make between $8-11 per hour, and sometimes more if they have been with the same company for a long time. Clerks and secretaries can expect to make between $10-12 an hour, while customer service reps and bookkeepers will make $11-13 per hour. If you are able to climb the ladder to become an executive secretary or even an administrative assistant, you will see a significant rise in pay and will probably make between $15-17 per hour. Loan officers and financial managers usually make the most in this field, with loan officers making around $20 per hour and financial managers making about $30 per hour.

Quality Companies

If you decide that you would like to pursue a career in the banking industry, you will want to be sure that you find a job with a quality company that will pay you a competitive salary and offer you quality benefits, such as health insurance, vacation days, and 401K as well. If you are looking for jobs in banking in the United States, several companies to consider are Wachovia, SunTrust, Chase Bank, Morgan and Stanly, and Bank of America. In the event that you are looking for a banking job in Canada, some companies you may want to check into include The People Bank, Bank of Canada, and the National Bank. Once you find a quality company to work for, you can start working on advancing your career in banking and working your way up towards success.

Fei Lim is the manager of Flizard Technologies web hosting and owns Seek4Jobs.net job search and jobs informations site.

How to Know If You're a Successful Leader Using the Leader Scorecard

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:11:00 +0000

By Sam Miller

Being a good leader does not happen by accident, nor does it happen overnight. It is a series of concerted efforts on your art and the cooperation of the people working with you. How sure are you of your abilities to lead your organization or company? How will you know how effective you are as a leader without resorting to the awkward task of asking your colleagues' opinions? You can create your own leader scorecard for this endeavor.

This type of scorecard is not your ordinary scorecard at all. It zeroes in on certain areas that would measure your performance. And everything is done step by step. It is important that you observe closely your ability to affect changes. You have to start with small scale changes then go up to large-scale improvement in your organization. Rate yourself from a scale of 1 to 10 for this.

First, observe how effective you are in convincing a certain subordinate to do new things that would improve the organization. Second, try influencing a colleague to act or think differently. You can do experimentation with at least three subordinates and another three colleagues. Then, rate your success and make notes. Then, you can proceed to the next step, albeit a bigger one.

Now, try experimenting with someone who holds a higher position than you. Your boss would make a good choice here. You can try selling a new idea to him perhaps. Observe how he reacts and try to convince him that your idea is beneficial to your company or organization. Then, score your success and take note of how fast you are at convincing your boss.

After experimenting with your subordinates, colleagues, and your boss, it is time to see how well you are with convincing your whole department to affect changes. This time, you will be convincing a considerably larger number of people. Initiate a change in one small but significant procedure in the department. And if they agree, see if you can convince them to do some changes in a larger scale. Again, make notes and rate yourself.

Now, for the ultimate test in your scorecard, convince the whole organization to undergo a major shift in direction. But first, you have to do a lot of consulting and brainstorming before you propose such change. If you can get through this test in a breeze, then you are a very effective leader. Evaluate the whole process you went through and browse over your notes. It is time to identify your weak points and decide on how you could improve your leadership. Remember, the scorecard is not merely intended for checking your performance, but for improving it as well. And besides, your bosses could be creating their own scorecard and evaluating you, too.

There has been enough evidence to show that people tend to change easily if they measure their own success. This is one of the most important purposes of the leader scorecard: changing the leader so he could lead the organization towards a better direction over a period of time.

If you are interested in leader scorecard, check this web-site to learn more about leader dashboard

Career Concerns - Selling Points For Overcoming Changing Jobs Too Often

noreply@blogger.com (Yen Yen) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:39:00 +0000

If you're like many people you may have had a period of time in your Career where you had too many job changes. You feel that you may be perceived as chronic job hopper, a negative to many companies who perceive a stable job history with a dependable, quality employee.

Selling Point number one is to consider your job hopping as paid training for this new position, paid for by past employers.

Selling Point number two is that with your diverse experience you will bring many other Skills, Knowledge and Abilities to the table none of their other candidates could possibly bring.

Selling Point number three is that by being new you have no preset habits and you can update your training by participating in all of the newest courses which will benefit the Team immediately.

Selling Point number four is that you bring new and fresh insights from a diverse set of employers and industries.

It is important that you begin with understanding the Selling points, often those who have been job hoppers tend to feel inadequate. They tend to look upon their Career as having some problems, due to the lack of stability. When in fact your job hopping is your value, however you need to believe in yourself, and you need to know how to sell yourself, because if you don't believe in yourself no one else will either.

When discussing your previous positions observe how you describe that experience. When asked about it do you complain, or criticize your former employer? Do you defend yourself? Did you get hurt by the experience and feel disgruntled enough to complain about them? If you do any of these you need to stop IMMEDIATELY because your doing yourself great harm. Even if you were fired you still have immense value to thousands of employers, employers who are hungry to higher people just like you.

Again you have to believe this fact yourself, if you are ever going to sell it to someone else. Begin by collecting stories of experiences that you enjoyed and times when you actually contributed significantly to your employer. Stories that would have them ask you 'How did you do that' that's when you will get employers and yourself to look past your job hopping and see your value. Tell them stories about the many programs you worked on, and the machines you helped build and the software you worked with. This gets you focused on what you can do for your next prospective employer and steers you away from your hurt and disgruntled feelings.

Look inside yourself and find the excitement when you consider all the opportunity ahead of you. When you find it share it with others, friends, family and prospective employers, that's what they want a hungry and highly motivated employee, someone like you.

Paul Godines from Adapt on a Dime Consulting http://www.adaptonadime.com wants to ask you if you have career goals? If so tell me about them I'm interested to here how I might be able to help.