When Envy Gets the Best of You

Nowadays, people divulge tons of private life details. But, too much information can create covetous feelings that wreak havoc on self-esteem. Telling people how much money you make or the recent purchases you had from expensive shops used to be considered inappropriate. But, in today’s confessional society, people are encouraged to spill about all the good things that happen to them.

Trouble is, this over-sharing has given rise to a new level of envy. Status is much more important than it used to be and everyone is now more competitive. People want others to know that they’re living well, and since there’s more pressure than ever to keep up, hearing intimate details of someone’s life can make you feel a tad bit envious. Adding to the problem is your heightened level of brand awareness. When people wear their financial prosperity on their sleeve, you know how much their wardrobe costs even without them telling you. And since no one should ever feel inferior, you need to cope with envy so it won’t be toxic for you.

Nearly everybody has the ability to conjure up covetous feelings. It may not bother you that some acquaintance or someone older than you has something you don’t. But, when it’s a friend or a person you feel who’s in the same level as you are, it can be harder to take because you feel you deserve the same things. More often than not, envy stems from insecurity. And everyone has an Achilles’ heel, whether physical, psychological, or financial. So, when another guy or gal offers up stories of success, it magnifies feelings of intense inadequacy. Some just tend to compare themselves to others and how they stack up can affect their self-esteem.

Rather than sitting around and listening to a friend ramble on and on about something they’ve recently scored, reroute the conversation in a non-aggressive way. If someone’s bragging, change the subject to something neutral and just as interesting. If that person doesn’t take the hint, try the more direct approach. Tell them the topic makes you uncomfortable as most people will respect your boundaries. But no matter how adept you become at defusing envy-inducing situations, you’re still bound to get green-eyed every so often. The trick is to allow envy to motivate you to improve your life. If you’re sick of listening to people gush about the things you’re still striving for, make a pact with yourself to do something about it.

Finally, since you know that jealousy is a very lousy feeling, don’t subject others to it. You can share private details with close friends, but tell people things based on their own situations. Call someone who knows what you’re going through so that they’re happy for you when you divulge all the juicy details. When someone feels secure about the subject matter, they won’t feel envious. Also, try using a humble tone and complimenting the person you’re talking to. That way, it’s so much easier for the other person to be genuinely happy for you.

Today’s online market is competitive. Couple that with the fact that consumers are no longer satisfied to buy from just anyone but instead are looking to make some type of connection, and it’s become almost imperative for business owners to have something of themselves on their website – a personal touch.

Let’s take a look at just a few of the personal touches you might want to consider adding to your website, and how they can benefit your business.

* Photo. When you read a book, do you ever flip to the inside back cover to see if there’s a picture of the author? There’s a reason the author’s photo is often back there – it’s because people want to know what the author looks like. Who is this person who wrote this book? It doesn’t have any effect on whether they buy the book or like the story, but they want to make a personal connection and a face seems to tell us a lot about someone.

Adding a photo to your website is a very simple thing and it can have tremendous power. Now all of a sudden your website visitors can make a connection. It demonstrates that you’re a real person, not just a nameless, faceless entity.

* Audio and video. These two mediums take the photo and go several steps further. The video specifically does because people can see you and hear you. When you’re speaking, the way you speak, the things you say and your personality all come across much differently than they do in print. Audio and video create a very personal connection. And it doesn’t have to be anything complicated – a simple welcome message can set the foundation for your personal connection.

* Content. Sometimes it’s tough for business owners to share their personality in their written word, particularly if they’re talking about a subject that is dry or very fact based. However, sharing personal stories is not only a great way to make a personal connection with your readers, it’s also a wonderful selling tool. Share hardships, triumphs and even humorous events with your readers to let them feel as if they’re part of your community. Community builds loyalty and loyalty builds profits.

* One easy way to begin forging a personal relationship with your website visitors is to have a blog. The blog-style format is much more adaptable to sharing personal experiences.

* Network socially and include your posts in a feed on your website. There are tools which let you share your social networking posts and conversations right on your business website. Visitors can see your latest post and subsequent comments or conversations. It’s a little thing, but it engages your visitor and may even prompt them to connect with you via social networking.

Adding a personal touch to your website not only engages your visitors and invites them into your community, it gives them a sense of who you are as a person. This connection can foster loyalty, repeat visits and purchases, which all result in profits.

Eventually, if it hasn’t happened already, your business is going to reach a point where you’ll want to make a decision. Stay the size you are and manage your business, or grow your business. If you’ve decided that you want to grow your business, then one key area to look at is building your sales team.

Here are five reasons why an effective sales team is important for the success of a business.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Preisschild_Modernes_Antiquariat.png/75px-Preisschild_Modernes_Antiquariat.png

1. A sales team will multiply your business exposure and awareness. When you have a team of people representing your products or services they have their own audience and website traffic. Whether they’re an affiliate or a direct sales team member, a team member can help you multiply your audience.

2. A sales team can bring in sales and profits while you focus on other things. A business owner needs time to plan and grow their business. Your role as the owner is to create strategies and procedures to make your business profitable. If you like to do sales, then by all means continue to do so while you’re also planning your business. However, if you’d rather spend your time on other things – new businesses, new ventures, new products and services for example, then a sales team can be your next best business decision.

3. An effective sales team can drive profits. As a business owner it’s likely that you spend a good chunk of time devoted to profit-generating tasks. If for example you are an information marketer, then chances are you spend a lot of time creating these information products. However, if you have a sales team increasing your profits, you have more in your budget to outsource some of these tasks. You can take time off and still have money coming into your business.

4. A sales team can and will drive more traffic to your website, thus opening up more revenue opportunities. If you have 1000 visitors a day to your website that’s great; if you have an effective sales team each sending hundreds of visitors to your website, then your traffic increases exponentially. Now you can charge more for advertising, make more from PPC campaigns, make more from affiliate commissions and of course sell more products and services.

5. Finally, a sales team can enhance your credibility. A one person sales team is fine but a ten, twenty or one hundred person sales team is a whole new ballgame.

If you’re looking to grow your business and are skilled at managing people and creating marketing strategies and promotions, a sales team is the next big step.

Twitter is a social networking tool that’s helped many people launch their business, and of course grow their business connections. That being said, Twitter can also hurt your business if you make a faux pas.

Here are seventeen Twitter do’s and don’ts.

1. Do create a profile that reflects how you want your business to be perceived.

2. Do participate in conversations.

3. Don’t be a posting hog. Some people log onto their Twitter account during their lunchtime or when they get home in the evening and post twenty consecutive posts. It takes up the entire viewable space for everyone else and you’re not participating – you’re just posting.

4. Do post relevant and interesting news about your business and link to it when it’s appropriate.

5. Don’t abbreviate or use text chat too much. Sure, you only have 140 characters. However, omglolwthbbq is just too darned confusing.

6. Do use hashtags, #, to tag posts. Hashtags were developed as a means to create ”groupings” on Twitter, without having to change the basic service.

7. Don’t automate your direct messages. To your recipients, it feels like junk mail. If you’re going to send someone a direct message, make it personal.

8. Do thank folks for following you, privately. Posting a series of thank yous to every new person who follows you takes up space and annoys many people.

9. Don’t steal tweets. If someone posts something interesting, RT (retweet and give them credit). And if you’re quoting someone, give credit by at least including their name if not their website address.

10. Do keep your personal conversations personal. DM (direct message) is available for a reason. If you want to have a conversation with one specific person, send them a direct message.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/de/Failwhale.png/75px-Failwhale.png

11. Don’t drag a post on for several consecutive tweets. With millions of people posting they’ll get scattered and it’s just too difficult to follow your train of thought.

12. Do know that you don’t have to autofollow. Some people do autofollow and that’s fine, but you’re not expected to. It’s very difficult to form a connection with 5000 people.

13. Do know that you can block anyone you don’t want to connect with, and that goes for unfollowing people too. Sometimes there are people we just don’t want to associate with.

14. Do realize people can and will unfollow and block you. It’s okay.

15. Don’t ask people to RT your posts all the time. It’s probably okay to ask from time to time; however, constantly asking people to spread your message is silly. If it’s worthy of retweeting, people will naturally do so.

16. Don’t SPAM.

17. Do minimize URLs. There are a number of tools you can use to shrink your URL into a few characters. It saves space and makes it easier to RT your post.

As Twitter evolves, there will surely be changes in etiquette and changes in the way we do things. Determine your purpose for using Twitter and be true to that purpose. Be considerate, professional and by all means always remember that what you put online doesn’t go away. Represent yourself the way you want to be perceived. If you’re not sure whether you should post something, don’t post it.

Article marketing, if you’ve yet to try it, is one of the best marketing tools available to beginner, intermediate and experienced business owners. Internet article marketing, the process of writing articles and publishing them on article directories and websites, can give your website the boost it needs to start turning a profit. As you grow, article marketing will continue to establish you as an expert and drive much needed traffic to your website. Still not convinced? Here’s why article marketing works.

Article marketing is a superior traffic-generating strategy. Each article you write will have a bio box. Your bio will include a link to your website. As website owners republish your content on their website, they’ll of course keep the links to your website. People who read your content on these websites and on the article directory itself, will click through to your website to learn more. Additionally, the incoming links that article marketing creates will help boost your search engine results, which drives traffic to your website.

Article marketing helps build your credibility as an expert in your niche industry. Provided the articles you write and publish offer valuable information and benefit to your target audience, as they’re published on relevant websites with your signature box and biography you’ll begin to establish yourself as an authority.

Article marketing helps to increase exposure and brand awareness. Article directories have a broad reach and extend to people all around the world. Each website your article is published on has their own target market and visitors who will, once they have read your article, be aware of you and your business.

Article marketing increases your recognition. Advertising experts agree that it takes three to seven exposures for a person to develop recognition, meaning they think of your business when they have a need, see a logo, hear a slogan and so on. As your content and name become prevalent online, your prospects will start to develop recognition. Article marketing helps you reach your customers and prospects repeatedly.

Article marketing gives you the opportunity, sometimes, to promote your products or services. Some article marketing sites allow you to have internal text links. That means that within your content you can link to product pages, sales pages, or promotions. They generally limit the number of links you can have, but this can be a great way to simply drive profits. Note that it’s important to make sure your content provides value, and is more than a sales page wearing an article costume.

You can also accomplish these results by submitting articles to relevant websites for publication. However, because most article directories are free and writing content is fairly easy, particularly if you already have content ready to go, article marketing is a strategy that provides tremendous returns.

Ideas are all around us, and nothing feels more exciting than coming up with a fantastic idea that you know will absolutely work. The difficult part for most, however, is taking those ideas and turning them into an actionable plan.

Here are a few tips to help you get started:

#1 – Write out a plan of attack. You have an idea – fantastic! Now is a good time to write out a fail-proof plan of how you will act on that idea. Detail in writing how your idea will work and break down the process into small steps. Having an action plan to follow makes the process of action much easier.

#2 – Ditch the fear. So many people have wonderful ideas that never come into fruition because of fear. Fear can really be a dirty word for many of us. It can stop us from following our dreams and acting on our ideas. Don’t let fear of failure stop you from making your ideas a success.

Remind yourself that in the big scheme of things you really don’t have a lot to loose. What is the worst that could happen? And don’t worry about the fear of what people will say. People will always have something to say. Take pride in the fact that you have the strength to follow through on your dreams. The reality is you get bonus points for even trying in the first instance, so you really can’t go wrong.

#3 – Take small steps. There is nothing more frightening than looking into all the little niggling details of a business idea. So many successful entrepreneurs have said that had they really thought through their business they wouldn’t have taken action.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t plan or research your idea, but be careful not to get hung up on all the small details. Remember all the niggling details can easily be taken care of. You can research all the information you need when the time comes. And anything you can’t do, you can hire others to do.

The trick here is to proceed with small steps. Take each part of your business plan and idea and take a small action step each day. Don’t get too hung up on the big picture and simply keep moving forwards one step at a time.

Turning ideas into action can be difficult and even scary for some, but the rewards can be immense. Start slowly and work your way up, and you’ll soon be on your way to success.

If you’re looking to start your own business, first things first. Congratulations! Starting your own business is a huge step and a great way to live your life – in control of your finances, future and freedom. The next step, once you’ve done your planning, figured out what type of business you’re going to open and how you’re going to do, is to make sure you have all of the licenses and permits aligned so you stay safe and out of trouble with local, state, and federal agencies.

Essentially, you can divide your required licenses and permits into two categories:

* Must have
* Might need to have.

Must Have

# EIN. You must have an EIN or a tax identification number. This is acquired by visiting the IRS website and filling out a form. If you’re going to be reporting income under your social security number, then you don’t necessarily need an EIN; however, most of the time it pays to have one and report your business income separately.

# Register with the state. You will also need to register your business with your state. Each state has their own process for this, but you can likely find all the information you need if you visit your local state government website.

But what about all those “might need to haves?”

Might Need To Have

This depends in large part on what your business is, where you live and where you’re doing business. If you’re a massage therapist for example, and you’re doing business in your home, you may need different permits than you need if you were working in a clinic with other therapists. If you’re selling a product, you’ll need to obtain a sales tax license. And if you’re manufacturing anything, you may need zoning permits to do this – whether you’re in your home or in an office.

Here are some of the business licenses and permits you might need to have:

# Occupational and professional licenses. These are issued by the state and are specific to certain industries. For example, if you’re offering tax services, legal services, medical care or some consulting services you may need an occupational or professional license. Nutritionists for example, are required by some states to be licensed while other states don’t require it. Other industries like barbers, real estate agents, auctioneers, private investigators, private security guards, funeral directors, bill collectors, and cosmetologists also require licensing.

# Federal licenses. Certain industries require federal licensing. For example, investment advisors need to be licensed by the SEC. And if you’re selling tobacco, alcohol or guns you need to be licensed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

# Employer Registration. If you’re planning on hiring anyone, you’ll need to contact your state Department of Revenue because you’ll need to pay unemployment insurance.

Most of the time, obtaining the proper licenses, registrations and permits is a straightforward process and the majority of it, if not all of it, can be accomplished online. To find out what licenses and permits your business needs, visit your local small business association and/or your local government website.

Selling products online is a satisfying and potentially lucrative way to make a living. And it can certainly be a fun business to own. However, it’s definitely more fun and more lucrative if your online store is successful. Here are seven tips to make your online store successful.

#1 It’s about more than your products. In fact, if your visitors are turned off by your website or cannot quickly and easily find what they’re looking for on your online store, they’re going to click away and will never get close to becoming a customer. So the first and perhaps most important consideration for online success is to make sure your website is user friendly.

This means it’s easy to navigate and visually appealing. Know that visually appealing doesn’t necessarily mean fancy. In fact some of the most successful online stores appear quite simple. Don’t believe it? Visit amazon.com. That is not a fancy storefront and it’s probably the most successful online store ever. Make sure that:

- Your customers can easily search for the items they want
- Items aren’t more than two clicks away
- Placing items in a shopping cart is simple and intuitive
- The page isn’t visually cluttered

#2 Make sure the purchasing process is seamless. Abandoned shopping carts are the bane of an online store owner’s existence. One of the reasons people abandon their shopping cart is because they weren’t able to find information they needed before they clicked “submit”. For example, the shipping fees and taxes aren’t readily available.

Another reason people abandon shopping carts is because they don’t feel their information is safe. Take every precaution to keep your customer’s information safe. Use VeriSign and other encoding tools and confidently publish your customer’s safety on your website.

Make sure the shopping cart is easy to find, easy to use and the checkout process is safe.

#3 Think about the products themselves. Now, every product isn’t necessarily going to be a five-star winner. However, you want to make sure you’re selling products you’re proud to sell and feel comfortable standing behind. Additionally, when it comes to an online store, people want to know what the product is and how it benefits them, and they want to see a picture. High-quality pictures go a long way and so too does an accurate and thorough description.

#4 Shipping and fulfillment – This is a two-sided coin. You want your customers to be completely over-the-moon happy with the shipping and fulfillment process and you want it to be simple and cost-effective for you. If you’re using a drop shipper, this takes much of the burden off of you. However, you still need to make sure your customer is satisfied with the process.

#5 Management – Make sure you have systems, policies and procedures in place that not only make running an online store almost automated, but also that protect you and your customers. The more efficient your business, the easier it is on everyone and the less likely it is that there will be mistakes.

#6 Market your business. Marketing an online store embraces online marketing techniques like PPC and article marketing. However, it can also take advantage of offline marketing tactics like radio, print and even local television. Create goals, a budget and a plan and then execute that plan with an eye toward the data. Find systems and strategies that work and fine-tune them.

#7 Always remember your customers. Your customers are your biggest asset and to that end they should always be at the forefront of your mind. Are they satisfied? Are they thinking of you when they need your product? Are they recommending you? How can you make your business better meet their needs? Follow up, offer them incentives and make your customer feel like they’re the most important person in the world.

Owning an online store takes planning, time and energy. However, once it’s up and running and your systems are fine-tuned, you can have a business to be proud of. To your success!

You’ve heard the saying that it costs more to earn a new customer than to keep the ones you have, right? We’ll it’s true. Customers are your number one asset as a business owner. This means it’s imperative to spend time planning a strategy to keep your regular customers happy and coming back. Here are a few sure-fire ways to get the job done.

#1 Say thank you. It sounds simple, but a thank you is so important. We as a culture have become so accustomed to not being appreciated that a simple thank you feels profound. When someone makes a purchase, send them a thank you. Autoresponders can get the job done for you.

#2 Send them an unexpected bonus. In addition to a thank you, an unexpected bonus is a nice way to let them know how much you appreciate them. This could be for example a free report, a video or audio or even a coupon.

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#3 Offer amazing customer service. This is accomplished by making sure your customers can get a hold of you, or someone, when they need to. Ticket systems, 24-hour phone support or an autoresponder that lets your customers know you’ve received their email and will respond to them as soon as possible, all make your customer feel valued and respected.

#4 Consider loyalty programs. Loyalty programs make your regular customers feel as if they belong to the inner circle. You can offer gift certificates or discounts or even freebies once they’ve spent a certain amount with you.

#5 Host a customer appreciation day. Invite customers to your office or storefront online or off and provide refreshments, activities and prizes.

#6 Make sure you continue to provide valuable information to your customers. This requires a content strategy. It also requires you to stay in communication with your customers so you understand their needs, wants and desires, as well as how you can provide them with the best and most valuable information. Then make the effort to follow through. Stay on top of industry trends and how you can best meet your customer’s needs.

#7 Become more than a retailer or service provider. Become a valuable asset to your customers by going the extra mile. If you’re a service provider, become an advisor and/or consultant and position yourself to solve your client’s problems. If you sell a product, you can do the same thing; you can also become a consultant and advise people on their purchases or you can offer extra like free gift wrapping.

Taking good care of your existing customers is one of the best ways to spend your time, energy and money. Take good care of them and they’ll take great care of you.

An affiliate team can mean the difference between hundreds of dollars in profits and thousands of dollars in profits. The trick to earning the thousands of dollars in profits is to find the right ways to motivate your team. Here are key ways to motivate your affiliates:

Pay them well. Money motivates – no doubt about it. Make sure you’re paying your affiliates a commission rate that motivates them. You may want to test various commission rates to see which ones are the most motivating, or try a variety of promotions and incentives to boost sales. Make sure your pay scale is easy to understand. No one wants to have to have a degree in finance to figure out their commissions.

Let them know they’re important to you. It’s easy for affiliates to forget about you. Sad but true. If they have a handful, or more, products and companies they’re promoting they are more likely to focus on the products and programs that communicate effectively, and often. Promotions, bonuses, prizes, contests, and commission increases all motivate and inspire affiliates. Constant communication, like sending a weekly or monthly email, reminds affiliates you’re invested in their success.

Make sure your sales copy works. It’s the job of your affiliates to presell your products or services and it’s your job to convert visitors into customers. If your sales copy doesn’t convert and affiliates know they’re sending tons of traffic your direction, then they’re going to drop you and your affiliate program like a hot potato. On the other hand, if you have a high conversion sales page then your affiliates will be motivated to work hard for you.

Make sure to have good customer service. It’s important as an affiliate manager to deal with disputes in a timely manner and always attempt to be fair and reasonable as far as possible. It’s also important to pay on time and to be available to answer questions in a timely manner. One good solution is to have a membership site and a ticket system. Then you can automate much of the process and you can outsource it to a virtual assistant.

Update your marketing efforts often. Make sure to provide your affiliates with new banner ads, text ads, promotional copy, articles, reports, etc on a regular basis. The more materials they have to promote your products or services, the easier it’ll be for them. If they have to create their own ads, ad copy, content and promotions, then they’re less likely to work hard for you.

Motivating affiliates starts with appreciating them and making their job easy. From there, you’ll likely find that most affiliates are motivated by the ability to make more money. Give them that ability, provide them with the resources and treat them well and you’ll have a happy, healthy, motivated affiliate team.

AdWords can be a wonderful way to drive traffic to your website and to generate profits. However, it doesn’t always work and it doesn’t always work well. In addition to some planning and attention, here are seven sure-fire ways to improve your Google Adwords Campaign.

#1 Go in with a plan. It’s imperative to have goals when it comes to Adwords. If you don’t have goals, then measuring success becomes extremely difficult. So what do you want to accomplish with your Adwords campaign? Do you want to increase your click-through rate? Do you want to boost your return on investment? What are your goals, specifically?

#2 Create a system for monitoring your account and testing and tracking your results. This is actually a two-part process. The monitoring your account aspect will be something along the lines of scheduling time to look at your information. This could be on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis; however, it is essential that you monitor your results. With Google you can also set up custom alerts based on parameters you’ve established in advance.

The testing and tracking is the second aspect of staying on top of your Adwords campaign, and it involves a bit of planning. Split testing requires you to run two different ads testing a single variable on each.

For example, you can change the call to action in the ad to determine which one has a better response. And you need to track that information. That part is easy because Google provides all of the click-through information for you. However, if your goal is a better ROI, then you’re going to want to send each ad to a different landing page so you can test conversion rates on those pages and compare sales.

#3 Do your keyword research. Honestly, this is still where many people drop the ball. They don’t spend the time and effort to find good keywords and keyword phrases.

#4 Keep your prospect in mind when writing your ad. You have a limited word count and you have to make it compelling. Offer a benefit to the reader!

#5 Don’t forget a call to action. What do you want the reader to do? Learn more? Buy Now? Grab your free copy? Register quickly?

#6 Make sure you’re sending folks who click through to a good landing page. It may not be your advertisement that’s hurting your results, it may be your landing page that’s holding you back. Re-evaluate your landing page to make sure it’s accomplishing all you need it to accomplish. Test it.

#7 Reassess and modify your Adwords campaign until you’re getting the results you desire. Once you have the process fine-tuned, your campaign can run profitably for quite a while before you have to mix it up again and create something fresh.

Adwords is still a wonderful way to reach your audience and it can be extremely cost effective if you do your keyword research, have a sales page that converts, and spend the time and energy to plan, test and track.

If you’ve been struggling to find an affordable phone plan with all the amenities, Google voice may be exactly what you’ve been waiting for. Google Voice is Google’s answer to phones and can be used for business and personal needs alike. Here’s what Google Voice is and what it offers.

Google Voice gives you a phone number in your area code and it’s free. When you receive your Google Voice account, you’re able to choose from a long list of available phone numbers. That means you can choose your local area code and any number that fits your needs. And if you’d rather not search through hundreds of phone numbers, you can use their search function to see if the number you want is available. This is great if you want your phone number to spell something.

Your Google voice number allows you to send and receive text messages too. And you can send and receive them right from your computer if it’s easier than finding your phone and responding. You can also:

* Screen calls – you can require callers to announce themselves before you determine if you want to take the call.

* Listen to calls before deciding to take it. For example, if you don’t recognize a number you can pick up the phone and listen to the voicemail being left. If you realize it’s your sister and not a sales person you can push a button to take the call.

* Block calls. This is a great feature to keep those political or telemarketing calls at bay.

* You can also turn your calls off, with exceptions. If you’re not interested in taking calls but need to be available to family members you can set your phone to temporarily allow only certain calls to come through. This is also great if you’re anticipating a call from a client.

* Forward to any phone. One of the reasons Google Voice is so affordable, besides the fact that the number and the majority of your calling and texting is free, is that you can forward your calls to any phone. That means one number can be forwarded to your home landline, your trac phone, your Blackberry – whatever you choose, and you can forward to multiple phones if you just don’t know where you’re going to be and you don’t want to miss a call.

This forwarding option means you can have a separate business number that forwards to your home or cell phone and you can have a separate business voicemail without having to purchase another phone, phone number and contract.

* Receive transcripts of your voicemails. You can set your voicemails to be transcribed and delivered to your email or via text message, or both. This is great if you spend a lot of time on the computer. And you can respond to transcribed voicemails via email or text message.

* You can check voicemail on line.

* Greetings can be personalized depending on the caller.

* Voicemail messages can be shared with others. You can forward voicemail messages to other people and download them too.

* Google Voice lets you record calls, make conference calls, and switch phones during a call.

Google Voice is a fantastic solution to all your phone plan woes. However, it’s presently in Beta and not available unless you have an invitation. To secure an invitation, visit Google Voice and request one. It may take several weeks to months to obtain your number; however; it’s well worth the wait.

Have you ever wanted to find a way to connect with other companies, advertisers or publishers and make a difference while at the same time boost your business? adCause may be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

What Is adCause?

adCause is an advertising system that enables users to make money on Twitter and share that money with your charity of choice.

When you sign up for adCause either as an advertiser or a publisher, you fill out a profile including your goals and preferences. Publishers get paid to show ads in their Twitter feed, which means if you have a large following and are an influential Tweeter then you can make a good amount of money.

Advertisers pay to advertise on Twitter. Once you’re registered, you can then browse to find like-minded members to connect with. You can be an advertiser, publisher or sign up as both to take full advantage of the system. adCause is not affiliated with Twitter and while it uses Twitter as its platform, it is not owned by or connected to the folks who own Twitter.

As a publisher you don’t have to give money to a charity and can keep all the profits. However, if you’re making money by placing ads on your Twitter feed you may have a better reception from your followers if you’re giving some of the profits to charity. We tend to be more forgiving of advertisements if they’re for a good cause.

As an advertiser, the benefit is that you can ultimately choose who posts your ads. This isn’t the case with a PPC-type campaign. You can choose people by reputation, posting frequency, online reputation, number of followers and industry.

As an advertiser the normal rules apply: It’s important to spend time and energy creating advertisements that get results. It’s important to create a budget and stick to it. It’s important to find the right publishers for your ads. And as always, it’s important to test and track your results.

adCause is a fairly new business and advertising tool and as Twitter and other social networking sites grow, it will be fine-tuned to offer the best service and results. As it stands right now it’s definitely worth considering if your audience is present on Twitter. Take a look at your present advertising strategy and budget. Is it working? If there’s room for improvement and you have an audience on Twitter, consider signing up with adCause and taking it for a spin.

The world of social networking and marketing is only going to continue growing. It makes good sense to become familiar with strategies and tactics that can help you boost your business.

While the ability to achieve happiness and fulfillment may seem elusive at best, the truth is it is actually quite possible to find both. Here are five tips to achieve happiness and fulfillment in your life and work.

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Tip #1 – Know what you want, and write it down

What do you truly want? Visualize yourself feeling happy and fulfilled. What do you see? Are you sitting on a beach? Is your debt gone? Are you painting? Running? Playing with your children? Write down what will make you feel happy and fulfilled – consider it your life vision statement. Post it in a place where you have access to it and can refer back to it often.

From this vision statement, create small steps to make your vision a reality. For example, if you find fulfillment from being with your friends, then what can you do to make that a reality?

Tip #2 – Be grateful for what you have

Gratitude is a powerful emotion. It reminds you of how important the small things really are. Each breath, ray of sunshine, plate of food and roof over our head is something to be grateful for. Make a practice of writing down what you’re grateful for each day. A nice practice is to wake in the morning and think about what you have to look forward to and end the day thinking about or journaling what you are grateful for.

Tip #3 – Help others

We’re not saying you have to donate your life savings or volunteer 40 hours a week, what we are saying is that small acts of kindness boost your mood incredibly. And they have the effect of improving the lives of others. Small things, like holding a door for someone in need, saying “thank you” and “have a nice day” when you’re talking to strangers and helping to pay for someone’s coffee when they’re short changed, brings happiness to everyone around you.

Tip #4 – Understand that you have the power

You’re ultimately responsible for everything you think and do. While that may seem depressing at first, when you consider the unfortunate decisions you’ve made (and we’ve all made decisions we wished we could take back) the truth is that this is an amazing power. You can choose to learn from mistakes, take advantage of opportunities, look on the bright side and control your life.

Tip #5 – What is your purpose in life?

Is your purpose to help others, to learn, to lead, to unite? We all have a direction we want to take our lives in. Finding your purpose may not be easy. However, it can be a fun process in and of itself. For example, if you love learning new things then your ultimate purpose in life might be to learn. Regardless of what your work and lifestyle are, you can make time to embrace your purpose. Read books, take online courses, enroll in college courses, participate in community education.

You deserve to feel happy and fulfilled, whatever that means to you. Take the time to celebrate who you are and all that you have in your life. Understand what makes you ultimately feel happy and fulfilled and create strategies to make it happen.

Momentum is a great thing. At its height, it makes you unstoppable. It’s the times when everything seems to come together effortlessly and your business just gets better and better.

Unfortunately, keeping momentum isn’t always easy. A lot of us find that coming up with ideas or getting stuck into a project are great fun, but staying dedicated once the going gets tough isn’t always so much fun. So how do you kick-start your momentum when things slow down?

Here are a few ideas:

1 – Remind yourself why. This may seem obvious but sometimes just taking a step back and remembering why you’re doing this is a great starting place for kick-starting momentum. Focus on how you felt when you started the project or business, and remind yourself of your goals and desires.

2 – Keep track of your goals. If you haven’t done so already, writing your goals down will help you focus and stay energized about your business. We all need something to work towards and having clear goals will help make it easier to stay focused.

You may want to update your goals regularly and make adjustments as necessary.

3 – Take a break. This may seem like a contradiction, but taking time off to recharge your batteries can make a big difference to your energy levels. A little time off completely away from work (even if it’s just a few hours) can help you refocus and come back energized and refocused once again.

Taking a little time off may also help you organize your thoughts and you may even find solutions and new ideas you hadn’t thought of previously. At the very least it will give you a nice break and help you recharge your batteries.

4 – Create visuals. Decorate your office with visuals that keep you inspired. You may want to add a few pictures of your family members or perhaps a few inspirational quotes and pictures. Creating a goals board with your written goals and pictures to represent those goals may also be very helpful.

Staying focused isn’t always easy, especially when you work from home, but it is possible. These ideas will help you get the creative juices flowing and kick-start the momentum once again.

Negotiation can be one of the most intimidating processes people experience. However, when it comes to owning your own business, learning how to negotiate with confidence is essential to managing your cash flow and boosting your bottom line. One of the first opportunities to practice negotiating is with your business lease. Success means extra cash in your bank account each month and more money to spend on building and growing your business. Here are a few tips to help you get the lease price you want.

#1 Prepare in advance. Know how much you can afford to pay, how much the property manager is asking and how much your neighbors are paying for their leases. Arm yourself with as much information as possible. For example, if the property you’re looking at is half empty, you may have more leeway to negotiate than if people are banging down the door to lease the last available office.

#2 Be patient. Patience is more than a virtue; it’s a negotiation tactic that usually pays off. If you’re in a rush to get into an office, then you’re not going to be willing to sit back and wait until the right property comes down to the right price. During negotiations, the one with the more urgent need usually concedes more.

#3 Listen more, talk less. Most negotiations falter because people talk too much rather than listening. If you go into the negotiations knowing what you can afford or are willing to pay and are willing to listen to the property manager rather than do all the talking, you’re more likely to find out key information that may help you in the negotiation process. Talk too much and you’re going to give away information the property manager may be able to use to sway or influence you.

#4 Don’t argue. Negotiation isn’t an argument, it’s a process of give and take. For example, perhaps the property manager could be swayed to lower the monthly rent if you agree to make bi-monthly payments. It’s about influencing and finding a need rather than winning an argument. 

#5 Learn to read body language. One of the easiest ways to understand what type of negotiator you’re working with and how they’re feeling about the process is to understand non-verbal communication or body language. For example, arms crossed during a negotiation might mean a defensive attitude.

#6 Understand various negotiation tactics including:

The Nibble – The nibbler often pulls this tactic out at the end of a negotiation and attempts to add on to the agreement. The best counter-tactic for this approach is the counter nibble, and the negotiations continue until both parties have come to a complete agreement.

The Red Herring – Designed to throw you off, the person that uses this tactic will introduce an old problem that is not related to the current discussion or negotiation. An easy way to avert this tactic is to simply acknowledge their comment and ask to come back to it once you’ve finished your current discussion.

The Appeal to Higher Authority – This is a common tactic with middle-level decision makers. It is the “Let me run this by my boss,” tactic. To counter this tactic you can mirror it by acknowledging their new proposal and saying that you need to run it by your team.

The Squeeze – What do you do when the buyer announces that you’ve reached an impasse? Buyers use this tactic to encourage a concession. To determine if you’re really at an impasse or if they are simply using a tactic, list the areas of agreement and the impasse points and attempt to collaborate to overcome the impasse points.

#7 Be willing to walk away. Knowing what your limits are before you enter negotiation is essential for success.

Successfully negotiating your lease can be an extremely powerful and gratifying process. Know what you want, be prepared, and be patient. The right solution can be found. 

Can self-discipline really be learned? Absolutely! In fact, most of us are not born self-disciplined. It is a skill that we develop through time if faced with the right situation.

If you’re a new entrepreneur and are struggling to stay disciplined, don’t despair. You are not alone. Staying disciplined requires hard work and a lot of planning.

Here are a few tips to help you develop self-discipline:

#1 – Know what it is you want. The first step to building discipline is to know what you are aiming for. Accept that you may have to work hard and long for the things you want. This way you know what you’re getting into and accept that you’ll have to remain disciplined to achieve your goals.

#2 – Be strict with yourself. Nothing worth anything ever really comes easy. We have to work for the things that really mean something in life. Prepare yourself for this by being strict with yourself. Set a work schedule and break your tasks down into manageable steps. Work at each step daily until you achieve your goals.

#3 – Do what you say you’re going to do. For many of us, it’s all too easy to make excuses or get out of doing what we said we would do. Make a contract with yourself to always follow through on what you say. If you say you will meet a deadline, move heaven and earth to meet it. Don’t make excuses, and follow through. This is a sure first step to becoming a highly disciplined individual.

#4 – Make it manageable. Be realistic in your goals and ensure they are doable and manageable. If necessary, break down your goals into small action steps so they don’t seem so daunting. Doing a little often and steadily is often better than doing too much at once and loosing all your momentum to do any more.

#5 – Be kind to yourself. It’s not easy to start a business or work from home. Realize that you will have days when your motivation and discipline lag a little. That’s okay, as long as you have a clear view of your end goals in sight and know that you can realistically make small steps towards those goals on a daily basis.

Niche marketing is far and away one of the best ways to reach a targeted market looking for specialty products and services. When you can market to a highly targeted group of people and offer them the information, products or services they’re looking for, you’re going to do well. The key, therefore, is to find those niche markets which are looking for answers.

Keyword Research

Most often keyword research is the best place to start. However, keyword research doesn’t have to be a systematic non-creative process. Rather, keyword research can be a brainstorming tool.

The first step is to start with potential keywords or phrases you’re interested in. Use the keyword tools to generate a list of viable keywords and keyword phrases. In addition, research the viability, supply and demand for your topic keywords.

Start by taking your main topic and finding its most popular version. Which related keywords receive the most searches? Once you have your main keyword, then spend some time researching the lower competition keywords and keyword phrases. People are becoming savvier with their searching and instead of typing in generic keywords like “pet care,” they’ll be very specific and type in “Golden Retriever puppy nutrition.” These are they keywords and keyword phrases you’re searching for and the results from your keyword tools will help you find phrases with high demand and low supply. Here are a few keyword tools to use when doing this type of research:

* Google AdWords – Visit adwords.Google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. Enter your keyword/keyword phrase here and you’ll see a different list of results. You’ll see advertiser competition and approximate search volume.

* KeywordSpy.com – This is a great tool to research your competition. It’s also an excellent tool for generating profitable keyword ideas.

* WordTracker – This will show you how many searches have been conducted for your keyword phrase, how many they predict, how many pages Google lists for that search term and a number called KEI or Keyword effectiveness indicator.

* KeywordDiscovery – This site works in a similar way to WordTracker and also requires a monthly subscription.

Trend Analysis

Being on the leading end of trends is also a great way to find niche markets. Imagine if you had been able to predict the Balloon boy phenomenon – this would have been a couple of very profitable days.

There are a few great tools to analyze trends including:

* Google.com/trends – This shows the most popular trends for the day.

* Pulse.ebay – Here you can analyze the most popular searches for the day. You can also see the most popular stores and the most watched items.

* Buzz.yahoo – This works similarly to Google in that it highlights the most popular search terms. However, it seems to tend toward gossip and entertainment topics rather than products and industry trends.

* Springwise – A newsletter, which you can subscribe to, that highlights current and possible trends.

* Trendwatching – Emailed to thousands globally to spot and report on upcoming trends. They produce an annual report as well as monthly “trend briefings.”

* Entrepreneur – Annually predicts the upcoming trends for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Social Networking

Finally, social networking can be a great way to recognize trends and niche markets. Pay attention to hot topics, frequent questions and controversy stirred up on mainstream sites. Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are all great places to observe, research and brainstorm.

Finding niche markets is an ongoing process and it can be a fun and interesting process as well. Think outside of the box, analyze trends and pay attention to what’s going on online. The next big niche could be right around the corner.

If you find you’ve strayed from your business goals slightly or are simply looking for a way to refocus and recharge, then these tips will help you get back on track.

1 – Write it down. You may have written your goals down previously, but perhaps your situation has changed or you simply need reminding. This is a good time to write your goals down and start focusing on what it really is you want.

2 – Plan for success. It’s been said that if you fail to plan you plan to fail – a statement that many entrepreneurs have found to be very true. Start planning your success by creating a clear outline of what you would like to achieve on a day-to-day basis. This step, along with a clear list of goals, will help you really narrow in on what you’re working towards.

3 – Set up a dedicated space. Laptops are very convenient but sometimes it’s really worth setting up a dedicated space to work in. This will help you keep all your files and important documents in one place and may also help you set up a clear work routine. In other words, you know that when you sit at that space it’s work time.

This can be extremely helpful, particularly if you’re struggling to stay motivated and focused during work hours.

4 – Create a goals board. Goal boards can be very inspiring. This is simply a board that reminds you of all your important goals and desires. For example, you can print out your written goals and stick them to your goals board. You can then cut out items from a magazine or print visuals that represent those goals. If your goal is to move into your dream home, then cut out a picture of your dream home and place it on your goals board.

You may also want to include pictures of your family and friends and other important reminders that will help you stay focused and inspired. Have fun with it and decorate the board however you choose – it is after all your goals board and should be unique to you.

Staying focused on your goals isn’t always easy, but with a few small steps it’s certainly possible. These tips will help get you started and keep you motivated and focused.

As an entrepreneur, your systems are the processes and procedures by which everything in your business runs. When your systems work, everything runs smoothly, or as smoothly as possible when running a business!

Systems are essentially a step-by-step process written out for each aspect of your business. They help you stay on track, they make you more efficient, they streamline your business and they help you see where you can improve and where your business is excelling. When your systems work, everything runs smoothly. When they don’t work, however, all heck can break loose.

Some potential systems include:

* Customer service
* Marketing
* Sales
* Product creation
* Product development
* Purchasing
* Production
* Producing a newsletter
* Billing
* Invoicing
* Outsourcing

Systems are particularly useful when you’re outsourcing a task or if you’ve hired an intern or an employee. Then, you’ll have everything written down from the very first step to the very last step, and your contractor or employee will know exactly what is expected of them.

Creating your systems

The first step to creating systems is to realize what processes your business uses. Simply make a list of the processes you go through on a daily or weekly basis. Once you have your list, it’s time to actually create your systems. They’re created initially by simply writing down the steps to accomplish a task. As new processes are added to your business, you’ll simply create a new system for that process. For example, if you add on an affiliate program then you’ll have several new system like a payment system, a communication system, a recruiting system and so on.

Once your systems are created, the processes can be fine-tuned by using several steps. Firstly, you may want to simply evaluate the process you’ve written to see if it works and if there are any loopholes or steps you’ve missed. Secondly, you may want to include goals and measurements to determine whether the system is a success.

For example, if you have a customer service system and your goal is to have 100% customer satisfaction, and you end up losing 20% of your customers due to an inadequate customer service policy, then you know the system needs to be tweaked.

Storing your systems

Because you’re an internet marketer, you’re probably on your computer at least 50% of the working day, and more than likely you’re on it 100% of the working day. This means it makes sense to organize your systems on your computer. A simple file with the date and the name of the system will make them easy to access. You’ll also want to organize your goals and how you’re going to measure the goals.

Systems are a business owner’s best friend. They’ll help keep you on track and running smoothly today, tomorrow and for years to come.