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A Healthy Body Needs a Healthy Mind

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Health and Fitness

Leadership

Personal Development

Business

Career

Human Relations

E-book

Selling

Internet

Work from Home

Parenting 

Advertising 

Goal Setting

Marriage 

Marketing

Family Life

Stress Management

Psychology

Weight Loss

Copyright

Entertainment




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Entertainment

Sadly, very few people, from the lowest workers to the top executives, know the ins and outs of etiquette for business lunches. Simple things that their mom probably taught them when they were growing up at home have been forgotten, and business universities are apparently not teaching business etiquette. Here are some tips to give you confidence, and help you avoid the typical blunders.

Remember that a business lunch is just that, business. It's not a time to flirt, drink heavily, joke or ask a girl for a date. The last thing you want to do is embarrass your boss in front of his business guest so that he has to call and apologize for your actions later.

Don't talk with food in your mouth. Many times when you are eating, someone will ask you a question. Wait to answer until your mouth is empty. Learn to take small bites so you can quickly swallow what's in your mouth if necessary.

Don't take for granted that the client is interested in a social encounter with you. Even though you may enjoy each other's company over a business lunch, it is not the time to ask for a date.

When you are going out to lunch with a new client or someone you don't know well, offer to meet him at his office. You can go together to the restaurant. This will prevent you from being embarrassed if you don't recognize your client at the restaurant.

Be kind to the waitress and the other people where you eat. If you are kind to the client and rude to the restaurant workers, it will leave a bad impression with your client. No matter what happens, even if the waitress spills something on your new suit, respond in a kind manner.

Never talk bad about your competition. Do business in such a way that your company will outshine all of the others. If your client does business with the other company and you bad mouth them, he may feel that you are bad mouthing him, as well. Allow your business to speak for itself.

Be a good conversationalist. When there is a lull in the conversation, ask a question about the other person or bring up a topic you think he might be interested in. People enjoy talking about things they enjoy. The entire meal doesn't have to be about business.

Find out everything about your client's type of work before you go to lunch. With the internet at your fingertips, you can do a 15-minute search before you leave. It will make him feel more at ease if you have some knowledge about his type of work.

Even if you don't have your glasses with you, and you can't read the bill, don't ask your client to help you figure out the tip. There is nothing worse than letting him know how much you spent to take him out to lunch. He can figure it out pretty well for himself if he wants to know.

Business lunches are a great way to promote your business and pick up new clients. Avoiding common blunders will set the stage for a future business venture, and help you build your company on a firm foundation.

Copyright

Designing a small business Logo is a critical step in a business' image and brand identity. An effective logo communicates the focus of the business and targets its market. The logo should be clear, easy to print on letterheads and other promotional items, and recognizable to your company.

Before finalizing your business logo, it's important to understand who will own the copyright to it because it's that person who is granted exclusive rights to the art. "Exclusive rights" means the owner of the copyright has the sole right to produce and reproduce the art. In other words, if you don't own your logo's art, you cannot take the image to print it on promotional items such as pens, pads of paper, or on advertisements.

When we discuss logos in terms of copyright, it is not the actual name of the small business that is being protected, but rather, the artistic element within the logo that is protected. In other words, two businesses could have the name 'Rock Your Soul' but each one would own the copyrights to their individual logo designs. Should another small business use your logo design, they would be infringing. A Trademark, on the other hand, could be used to protect the actual name of the Small business because it is associated with the identity of the small business.

As a general rule, the person or people who create the small business logo are the owners of the copyright. However, there are a number of exceptions where the creator of the work is not the owner of the copyright. These include a commissioned work, a work made in the context of employment, transfer of copyrights, and licensing of copyrights.

If you hire someone to make your small business' logo, then you, as the commissioning party, own the copyrights to the logo. When you are hiring someone for the purpose of making your logo, it is definitely advisable to have a contract that states you own the copyright.

Another instance where the logo might not belong to the artist who created it is if the small business logo was created during the course of employment. In this case, if it was part of the scope of your job to create the art (i.e. you work at a design firm that creates logos for businesses), you do not own the copyrights – the company that employs you does. To add another layer to this, if the company was commissioned by the small business to make the logo, then the small business would own the copyright to the logo, as discussed above.

In some cases, the owner of the small business logo may actually choose to transfer all or some of the rights afforded by copyright law. This would require a written agreement detailing which copyrights are being transferred for the logo.

Lastly, the copyright owner for the small business logo could be licensed out if the business chooses. This means you grant permission to someone else to use your logo for a specified cost. In this case, you would still retain all the copyrights (unlike when you transfer the rights to someone else) and can specify the terms of the license.

Disclaimer
The above information is meant as a general guide to further your copyright knowledge and does not constitute legal advice. For questions about your specific small business logo, you should consult a copyright lawyer in your country.

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Justine Shoolman is a Founder of Copyright Creators (CC), a service inspired by the shortfalls of "poor man's copyright". CC protects copyright for life with no membership or renewal fees. Visit CC today to receive 4 free registrations to protect copyright online.

Weight Loss

Do you want to learn how to lose weight fast without taking synthetic diet pills and fat burners? Some try strict dieting while others enroll in a gym to pump some irons. A good alternative that you can try is conservative fasting.

Some people start fasting to jumpstart their weight loss programs while others fast in order to detoxify their body. But you can try fasting to enjoy quick weight loss.

The key to learning how to lose weight fast is to understand the importance of creating caloric deficiency. Through fasting, you are effectively creating this deficiency so you can push your body to burn more fats at an accelerated pace.

There are two methods of fasting. The first one is extended fasting where you will subsist only on water for a few days. The other method is conservative fasting. It involves intermittent short burst fasting, usually lasting for one day only. What you should learn is conservative fasting.

The objective of conservative fasting is to trick your brain so it can detect a caloric deficiency. The brain controls the fat burning function. If it detects a deficiency of calories, it will start accelerating its fat burning function in order to supply your body with enough energy. So this will lead to faster weight loss.

Learning how to lose weight fast is not really difficult if you can grasp the essentials of the conservative fasting method. The key to successful fasting is discipline. You need to strictly follow your fasting program in order to get the best results.

It is best if you cleanse your colon first before you start a serious fasting program. If you have a cleaner digestive tract, then you can minimize the production of unhealthy enzymes during your fasting periods.

You have to ensure that your body is capable of fasting. Consult a health professional first, so you can determine if fasting is suitable for you. A professional dietician can also help you especially in creating suitable pre and post fasting meal plans.

Start your fasting program during times that it will not disrupt your major activities. So it is best if you can fast during weekends or during your rest days. This way, you will not be tempted to eat fast foods and snacks.

After a short fasting period, never eat a heavy meal. Allow your digestive system to adjust by introducing small amounts of food or easy to digest a liquid diet. You can eat a full meal later once your digestive system achieves equilibrium.

When you start a conservative fasting program, you will surely enjoy faster weight loss. There is no need to hire a weight training coach or buy expensive programs just to learn how to lose weight fast.

Psychology

Experiencing grief is a normal part of life. And as normal as it is, it doesn`t make it any easier. Grief can make you feel so many terrible emotions at once that you might feel like you want to climb into bed and never come out. There are stages that someone who is grieving will go through on their journey to recovery. These stages might help someone who is going through grief to understand where they are at and what stages might come next.

The first normal part of grieving is the denial stage. Usually, you are grieving because of the loss of something or someone is so tragic that it seems almost unreal. Sometimes things happen so fast that it is hard to process the information so quickly. It can often seem surreal to think about someone being gone; it is such an unusual concept to have a loved one gone forever.

It may be hard for you to accept it and so you may deny that it has even happened. It will take lots of support from loved ones and time to realize that it has happened. When you have felt the impact of time, realizing that a loss has occurred may feel just as painful as it did when you first found out.

These emotions might trigger the next stage which is feelings of anger. Your rage might be so built up after lying dormant inside of your denying stage that you might let it all out. Sometimes this anger just stays inside of you and nobody even knows that you are angry. But it is important during this stage to talk to loved ones and get support.

Just talking about it and letting it off your mind might help you work through your emotions. When you feel angry you will also feel helpless because there is nothing you can do to change the situation in the case of a loss.

The next stage in grief is feelings of depression. This is a brutal feeling that can make your entire being feel miserable and drenched in sadness. Your insides and outsides might hurt even as your mind copes with grief.

Often when sadness is so strong that it turns into depression, the whole situation can make a person not want to get out of bed or function at all. They may not want to eat, sleep, drink or even talk to anyone. Some people who are very depressed just stare ahead of them and tune the world out. Or someone can be depressed and their loved ones do not even know anything about it.

Feeling depressed can make you not want to take care of yourself. You may not feel the need to shower or brush your teeth because you feel that the grief your feeling is too over-powering and nothing else matters. Feeling depressed is normal, however, there has to be a restricted amount of time of feeling this way. If it goes on too long it can ultimately change the life you have led forever. Depression time slots can vary from person to person, but the time it lasts should not make the person feel uncomfortable with it.

The last stage is accepting it. It is a long and lengthy process to get to this stage and it can leave a feeling of peace within yourself. Sometimes receiving grief counseling can encourage special things that you can do, to help you stay connected with the person lost and things to keep their memories alive.

Stress Management

It's easy to forget the importance of everything we put into our bodies. While you can't always eat a completely balanced diet, you can reduce your stress levels simply by choosing stress-fighting foods.

Since everyone is different, some stress-relieving foods might work for you while others may not. Your best bet will be to try them all and then incorporate the ones that work for you into your regular diet.

Here are some foods that can help alleviate your stress:

1. Green Leafy Vegetables
Leafy greens contain a lot of magnesium. Magnesium is an important mineral that has the power to relax muscles.

2. Fish Oil
Fish oil contains essential fatty acids that help with serotonin uptake in the brain. Serotonin makes you feel good mentally and enables your brain to better cope with stress. You can get your fish oil from certain kinds of fish, such as salmon, or from supplements.

3. Milk
There is a reason that milk is sometimes referred to as a "wind down" food. The proteins in milk can help reduce anxiety while the calcium is another mineral that can help with muscle relaxation.

4. Chocolate
A small piece of dark chocolate each day can actually provide you with many health benefits. Chocolate has a stimulating effect. The caffeine also helps to increase serotonin. It's okay to indulge in chocolate in small amounts!

5. Red Wine
Many experts believe that a glass of red wine each day provides health benefits. The only drawback is that it's easy to overdo it when drinking alcoholic beverages. Wine is packed with beneficial antioxidants and can temporarily lower blood pressure and help you relax.

6. Oatmeal
Oatmeal and other carbohydrates also help increase serotonin levels in the brain. In fact, your brain needs carbohydrates in order to function normally. This is why it's essential to include good carbohydrates like oatmeal in your regular diet.

7. Lean Meats
Lean meats can help you combat stress by providing a good source of protein. Turkey, eggs, chicken, and fish are all good choices because they contain necessary amino acids for healthy brain function. Remember not to eat fatty meats because the fat can interfere with the proper digestion of the amino acids.

8. Coffee
Yes, caffeine is a stimulant and there is also a risk of developing an unhealthy habit. However, moderation is the key. Coffee can help stimulate the brain into working with more energy and efficiency, helping you feel more motivated and less stressed.

9. Nuts
Nuts help you maintain your proper blood sugar. They also contain plenty of the vitamin B complex, which combats fatigue.

10. Spinach
Spinach is one of the world's super foods. It contains many vitamins, antioxidants and omega 3's. This means it would be hard to eat spinach and not feel good!

Vitamins & Supplements

Of course, it's always best to get your nutrients from the natural source. If this isn't possible, or if you can't stomach a certain food, it's best to look for vitamin supplements, so you can still derive some benefits from it.

Vitamin supplements help your body get the nutrients it might be missing. Once you start consuming these necessary nutrients, you'll be on your way to feeling healthier and stress-free.

Family Life

Does this picture describe your happy home? The baby's crying while you hurriedly put the fast food on the table, the dog is throwing up on the floor, the hubby's got the TV on full-blast, and your teenager just angrily slammed the door on his way out.

Unfortunately, it's a typical scene for many of us. However, the good news is that it doesn't have to be this way. There are, in fact, things you can do to ease this stress and create a more harmonious environment so that you and your family can look forward to coming home!

Although some degree of stress is inherent as you deal with the varying phases of your family members, if you strive to uphold a core set of values and go with the flow, you can maintain a happy and healthy home.

Here are some specific ways you can reduce stress at home:

1. Get organized
Life can quickly become chaotic when you don't maintain an organization. An organized home runs smoothly, while an unorganized home leads to stress and lost time.

* A good tip is to start small with your organization efforts. Start with one room or even a portion of a room. The idea is to think of it as a series of small projects instead of one overwhelmingly huge one.

2. Communicate
Your family will certainly benefit from actively working on communication skills. When you fail to communicate effectively, you may not get what you want and can even cause upsetting misunderstandings. Working on communication will allow all family members to feel loved and appreciated and help the household run efficiently.

3. Eat dinner together
Everyone in your family likely has a busy life of their own. It's easy to suddenly realize that you have no idea what's going on with your spouse or child. When you make it a point to eat dinner together every night, you make time to connect with your family. You'll learn how to work as one even with busy lifestyles.

4. Have fun together
It's important to schedule time to have fun together as a family, even if these times can't be as often as you'd like. Schedule family nights in advance and allow each family member a chance to pick that evening's activity.

5. Show unconditional love
Be sure to practice the art of unconditional love with your family. This leads to secure attachments and will ultimately keep everyone in your family happy and stress-free.

* Children and parents alike need to know that, when they make mistakes, they have a loving family that will back them up and forgives them.

6. Give support
Go out of your way for your family members. It might not be an ideal Friday night to go to your daughter's art show, but just think of how they'll feel when they see that they have your love and support. Actively express your support by really being there for your family - no matter what. Just thinking about how much you love them is not enough!

7. Family rules
Having a set of family rules will help with organization and allow everyone to know what's expected of them.

* Schedule a family meeting to establish the house rules. Make sure everyone has a chance to participate and share his or her concerns. You'll likely find a compromise that allows everyone to be happy.

A happy and stress-free home is one built on love. Don't be too hard on yourself and others, and you'll have the basis for creating an excellent home life.

Marketing

Whether you are a business owner or a job seeker, you have probably been told to network. Networking is often an important part of a marketing plan. Frequently people resist networking because it seems overwhelming and they are not sure how to do it. Others try it once with little success and decide that it is not worth the effort.

Networking is one way to start to build relationships with people who can help you. Building relationships takes time. Going to a networking meeting is just the first step. Here are some tips to make going to a networking event easier and more productive.

1. Decide on the networking groups that make sense for you. Does the group attract your potential customers? Does it put you in contact with your strategic partners? Does it help you stay current in your field? Could you learn new skills that will help you find work or business?

Meetings that involve potential customers or strategic partners get you in touch with your target market. Meetings that teach you new skills or keep you up to date can get you in touch with mentors and peers.

2. Once you decide on a group to join, become an active member so others will get to know you. Meeting someone once is just the beginning. You want to cultivate deeper relationships.

3. Arrive early to each meeting and leave time to talk to people after the meeting has concluded. Networking occurs before and after the meeting.

4. Be prepared to help others if you want help from others. Your openness is felt and will be appreciated.

5. Listen more and talk less. Ask people questions and get them talking about themselves and their business. Find out what they are struggling with or what they are celebrating.

6. If you exchange business cards with someone, write down the date of the meeting and what the event was on the back of the card. Jot down a couple of notes about what you talked about, so you can refer to your conversation when you contact that person again.

7. Write a personal note to those you meet and add them to your mailing list or contact management system or spreadsheet. To keep the connection, mail them an update, tip, or article once in a while.

8. Set some goals for the networking event. Who do you want to meet? How many contacts would you like to make? What did you want to learn?

9. Identify the movers and the shakers in the group. These are the people who know everyone else and can introduce you to others.

10. People are not really part of your network until you have a relationship with them. Some of those you meet, you will want to stay connected with through email or regular mail. Others you will want to make an appointment with and talk to them via phone or in person.

Marriage

Are you going on a honeymoon and planning your romantic anniversary trip soon? Here are tips for you to make sure that you enjoy the romantic quality time together, whether it's your honeymoon or just a romantic getaway.

Make time to relax in each other's company. A romantic anniversary trip need not include every single historical site and tourist destination wherever it is that you are going. Trying to go to every popular place in the area in just one day may just stress both of you out.

Limit your activity in a day. If you want to visit every nook and cranny of your destination, then allow at least a week in your travel itinerary. A romantic getaway should not be stressful and should not be spent catching plane rides or bus rides. More than seeing the sights, it should be enjoying the sights together.

Plan your itinerary

You do not want to waste your time thinking about where to go and how, when you're already there. Decide in advance which places you want to visit. Your travel assistant should have already informed you of the best places to go to and how to get there.

Take into consideration the travel time, traffic and distance when planning trips and make sure to make enough allowance to avoid having to rush from one destination to another. This will keep you from relaxing and make your romantic vacation and getaway a very stressful one.

If possible, you can book a car rental service ahead of time. Make sure that you have at least one day to just laze around. Touring does not always mean having to go around on tours every single day. You do not need to see all the sights.

If it's a vacation, then make it a vacation. Leave your work behind and tell your officemates not to call you at all for any work-related business. The key to enjoying a romantic vacation is to make sure that you are able to focus on the special company that you currently have.

Avoid thinking of the work that's starting to pile up in your desk. Enjoy your romantic anniversary trip together without having to worry about work. Make sure that you are able to properly delegate your assignments before leaving.

The same goes with your other responsibilities such as your kids if you already have them and your house and pets if any. Make sure that you have a reliable person, preferably a really close relative watching over them.

Avoid stress and relax on this special getaway. Always remember that the primary objective of going on a romantic anniversary trip is to be able to enjoy time with the person you love.

Goal Setting

Many people want to know how to better set goals. They might have ideas in mind but can never get to the point where goals are set forth and achieved. There are many reasons why goals may be hard to plan out and pursue and ways to help. Finding solutions to battle poor goal setting might help you to achieve the goals and dreams you have always wanted.

For some, the concept of setting goals sounds impossible because there are just too many steps along the way. It is often hard to imagine getting somewhere when it sounds like an impossible task to achieve. For example; a singer who has always dreamed of becoming famous, might not even consider pursuing that option because it just seems like a wacky idea. However, if the singer thought about baby steps toward getting there, she or he might think more successfully.

Setting goals involves breaking an idea down into small steps. A great example of this is for someone who is trying to lose weight. They might want to lose a hundred pounds, but this goal might sound like a far one away to have. It can often be hard to stay motivated toward something that doesn`t happen right away. That means that the person who wants to lose weight would be more successful if he/she begins with a lower weight goal. So perhaps they can have a goal that is something like losing two pounds. It doesn`t sound like much, but reaching it can happen fast and create a sense of hope, and a group of two pounds loses will soon add up to something much bigger.

Goal setting also involves planning and writing things down. It is fine for someone to say that they would like to plan a wedding, or lose weight, or become the boss of a company in the future. But without a solid plan on how to get there, it might never happen. It is best to sit down and make up a plan. A plan should include lots of goals. And those goals should be small ones and large ones. The small goals are things that can happen quickly and are more insight. That may mean that your baby goals might include things like; getting to work on time every day or to find a wedding planner book to get started.

Planning your goals and dreams might take a while. So don`t plan on it being down in five minutes while you eat breakfast. Have a notebook out with some solid goals and have it sit around for a few days or weeks and play around with the ideas you have in there. Some goals might require some research, for example, if you`re thinking about returning to school, or some goals might need help from family and friends. Set yourself up for success and have a plan that takes time to build and expand on.

A great motto to live by is that if you fail to plan... you plan to fail. That means that a well thought out plan with small and big goals is the way to achieve your dreams. Great planning is the key to success and successful planning begins with positive goals. Goals that are reachable and attainable. Once all of your attainable goals are reached you will be moving closer to your bigger goals and showing you the power of being successful.

Advertising

When it comes to promoting your business, think outside the box. You can be proactive about advertising your company without spending gobs of money on marketing campaigns. Here are a few ideas.

What do you do to relax? If you like going to the gym or rock climbing, why not wear a shirt that has your business information on it? If you travel, take a backpack or suitcase with your company's name on it. If you sing at a karaoke bar, give a shout out to your business. And if anyone asks you about it, have business cards on hand to give him or her. Speaking of business cards, these can go a long way to promote your company. If someone offers you a flier, take it and give him or her a card in return.

Attach the business card to the bill at a restaurant or leave it with your tip. Give business cards to people you meet in casual circumstances. Think of how many people you see in a day: at the grocery store, in the waiting room at the doctor's or dentist's, in the elevator. Take advantage of these opportunities. Magnetic business cards are another good thing to carry around. People love free magnets to hold things on their fridge.

Handsome out to all of your friends and family members and give them extras in case someone visiting their home sees your business and asks about it. Put a giant version on your car. Magnetic signs usually run for under a hundred dollars, and promo plates are only thirty. Hundreds of people see your car every day – in the parking lot, in traffic, in your driveway. It's an easy way to advertise.

In your conversation with other people, let them know what you do. Don't be a boor and talk only about your business — that will probably have the opposite effect of what you want — but don't be shy about your company either. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to establish a clientele. One way people will pass the word along is if you are involved with your kids' activities. Maybe your business can help sponsor a sports team or activity. This not only tells the other parents about your company, but it also sends a good message about your family priorities.

Effective advertising starts with a shift in your own mentality. Begin by seeing every moment as an opportunity to share your business with others. Be tasteful about how you do it, but be bold. Your business won't grow if you don't do anything to help it.

Parenting

The choice to be a stay at home mom often occurs during pregnancy, when your child is born or when they're young. It's a time you know that you're needed by them as a mom. But what about as they get older? Will it then be time to head back into the workforce.

Maybe. Maybe not.

There's much to be said for continuing to be a stay at home mom even through the teen years, as I hope to do. Kids don't need you in the same way when they're teens as they did as babies and young children, but they do need you.

Being at home with them means that you have the chance to get to know all their friends. You get to know what they enjoy doing. You get to continue guiding them in their choices.

You can do all of that as a working mom, of course. It takes more effort, especially if your schedule isn't cooperating, but it can be done. The stay at home mom merely has a simpler way to manage all of that.

Even so, there are a lot of factors to consider.

How Are You Feeling About Staying at Home Longer?

I've always said being a stay at home mom isn't for everyone. Neither is being a long term stay at home mom. It's a lot of work and despite how some feel, there's nothing wrong with wanting to do other things with your life as well.

A mom who is miserable staying at home may not be as good for her kids as one who is happy working outside the home. You don't really want to be showing your kids that it's okay for mom to be miserable in her lifestyle. I feel that you can still make your children a solid priority even if you aren't a stay at home mom.

One of the wonderful things about kids getting older is that you can think about if you really need to be home all the time. When they're in school, you certainly have the choice to do something other than wait for them to come home. It might be a hobby, it might be a part-time job, it might be a business, it might be saying "wow, the house is quiet..." although you'll probably get over that last one.

How Are the Finances?

Most families make a big financial sacrifice when a parent decides to stay at home. It's not cheap. As the kids get older it might be time to rethink the finances and decide if the sacrifices are really worth it.

You still have the choices of a stay at home job or a home business, but if you're doing one or both and not bringing in enough money, you may be considering something outside the home. Or you may be saying "I can finally get enough hours in now that the kids are in school!"

You should be paying attention to your finances even if you aren't struggling, of course. You don't need to be bringing in enough money to pay for huge family vacations every year, but you should be doing well enough that you don't struggle with debt.

How Will the do Kids feel About You Returning to Work?

You'll naturally be concerned about how your kids feel about you returning to work. They'll often be a little concerned, especially if you've always been there for them.

Sometimes you'll have to return to work even if the kids don't like the idea. If your family needs the money to get by, that's the most important part. If you're going back to work more for your own satisfaction, you can talk to your kids about that. Be honest with them. Kids love having happy parents.

Some children have more need of their parents than others. If there are genuine problems that mean you need to stay home, that's a big factor to consider. There are times that it is necessary to sacrifice your personal goals. That's not going to be true for many families, but if there's more of a need for you to be home, don't forget about it even as the kids get older.

Don't be at all surprised if your feelings about whether you should continue on as a stay at home mom become mixed as your kids get older. That's normal. There's so much of an expectation that moms will go back to work that it's hard to go another path. But if continuing to stay at home is right for you and your family, do it and be proud. If going back to work is the right choice, do it and be proud.

Keep doing what's best for yourself and your family as a whole, and it's probably going to be the right decision.

Work from Home

These days, more and more people are becoming open to the idea of starting their own home based online business. Besides being more affordable compared to actually owning a brick and mortar store which would require them to pay for rent, doing your business right at home also has plenty of other benefits.

Working right from home would allow you to spend more time with your family, which is great for those who still have younger kids to take care of. For people who want more flexibility with their time, a home-based business should be a great source of income and it could be very lucrative too if you do it properly.

So, how does one get started with creating their home-based online business? Well, it is highly suggested that you look into your own skills and interests.

Most people often make the mistake of jumping into the bandwagon and going for the businesses that are the "hottest" at that particular moment. The thing with these "trends" is that they change quickly. A certain product could be in demand right now but give it a few weeks and another one would have taken its place.

If you really are looking for something more long term, it is advisable that you focus on what you're good at because there would always be a niche for everything. Even the oddest of businesses have their own market.

Now, once you've figured out what kind of business you want to have, it's time to plan your "battle strategy". How do you intend to get the word out about your home based online business?

Well, these days, most businesses have online versions that could be accessed by pretty much anyone who owns a computer and has a connection to the internet. It would be a good move to create one for your business as well because it would allow you to broaden your reach.

All you need to do is learn more about how internet marketing works and different forms it can take. Some can cost you quite a bit of money whilst there are those that can be done for free and still be effective.

If you really want your small home based online business to prosper, you would need to devote some of your time towards studying and learning more about your market and how they think. The bottom line is that the more you know about your market, the better it would be for your business.

The same rule applies to home-based businesses as well. So go on, think about what kind of business you want to have and try to learn more about how it works.

Internet

A person who uses the Internet has surely used a browser which is the computer software that retrieves, represents, and traverses digital information resources found on the worldwide web.

The information resource is classified by a uniform resource identifier or URI and these could be an image, video, web page or any piece of digital content. The hyperlinks found in these information resources allow users to navigate easily the browsers to the communicated resources.

The browser starts functioning once the user types in a URI. The prefix of the URI defines how the given URI is interpreted. The most common prefix used for a URI is "HTTP" which determines that the information resource is to be regained through the hypertext transfer protocol.

There are other prefixes that are supported by browsers such as "https" (hypertext transfer protocol secure), "ftp" (file transfer protocol) and "file" (local files).

If a prefix cannot be handled directly by a browser, the request is sent off entirely to another application. An example is the "mail to:" prefix where the URI is often passed to the default email application of the user and the "news:" prefix where the URI is often passed to the default newsgroup reader of the user.

The first browser to be launched successfully was called Mosaic which was programmed by Eric Bina and Marc Andreessen in 1992 and released by 1993. During these years, the graphical services found online which are popular and dominating were from America Online (AOL), Prodigy and Compuserve. These online servicing companies do not provide Internet access.

Through Mosaic, the Internet was opened for use of the common people. It gives easier ways to navigate and explore the WWW and it is free. By the mid-'90s, Andreessen made a partnership with the former initiator of Silicon Graphics, Jim Clark and Netscape was born.

Netscape became the number one browser for a while until Microsoft started pre-packaging its Internet Explorer into its Windows operating systems. Microsoft's Internet Explorer or IE was way behind Netscape in a lot of ways.

I had been criticized because of its abundant bugs, security problems and lack of conventionality to the standard protocols of the Internet. However, since a lot of new computer and internet users are unaware and unconcern of these risks, I became the top choice for the browser by 1998.

Netscape allowed the release of the source code of its browser the very same year. Because of this, the browser was rewritten with substantial changes over the years that followed. Afterward, Mozilla, an open source type of browser, was born under Mozilla Organization.

Mozilla Organization, which was owned by AOL until it gave up its power to supervise, was renamed to Mozilla Foundation and also renamed to Phoenix the browser and later on to FireFox which is now known famously.

Aside from IE and FireFox, other famous browsers at present are Opera, Apple Safari and Google Chrome.

A web browser is primarily used to gain access to the world wide web. A browser can also be used to gain information access given by the web servers of private networks or files found in file systems.

Selling

So you might be a salesman for an immense Fortune 500 company, a door-to-door salesman, or someone that has just started a home-based business and needs to have the edge in order to have success. Whatever situation you are in, you need to have the tools to be a successful salesman.

Even if you are charismatic and work great with people, every seller can fall into easy pitfalls that can lose a business deal in a matter of minutes. Here are some of the biggest mistakes people make that can prevent them from becoming a powerhouse salesman.

The first mistake to avoid is a lack of desire to sell the product. There is a big difference in wanting to sell a product and needing to sell a product.

If you are selling merchandise in order to get that paycheck every week and support your family, your passion for the product may not be top-notch. Customers can see that and it can hurt your chances for a sale.

A smart customer will glance right through any fancy words or business jargon that you might throw at them to impress them and see that you really don't care about the product that you are trying to sell.

If you don't have a deep love for the thing you are trying to promote, then try to have one! If you try and you just can't find anything good about it, you might want to find something different to promote!

The second mistake is simply talking too much during a business deal or a sales pitch. Don't deliver a deep monologue about the ins and outs of your trade and everything that encompasses it!

If you do, you will quickly lose the interest of your customer and it will be even more difficult to make them purchase whatever you're offering. A good rule of thumb to live by is to not talk more than 20-30% of the time that you are with the potential buyer.

This will give you enough time to deliver the basics about whatever you are offering, and give the rest of the time to the client to ask questions and absorb the information that they most need.

The third mistake is being too forward and pushing the client farther than they want to go. Many salespeople will push and push the client into going farther into the deal even though they might have said they are not interested many times over.

It might also include not appropriately responding to the concerns that the potential buyer has by skimming over them and going on to different aspects of the product that you think will make them change their mind. By stopping and responding to their concerns, you can more aptly gain their trust so that they will be more willing to listen to you.

When it all comes down to it if the client says "No", it means "No". You don't have to hassle them any further. It is best to just to drop it and move on to another promising opportunity.

The next mistake comes when a salesperson doesn't have a plan or business approach when they walk into that office or business room. Those who have no set way of selling to each customer will find that they are disorganized and ill-prepared when those tough questions come.

On the other hand, a salesperson that approaches each opportunity with the same system of selling the product can be confident because they know what they are saying, how to answer certain questions, and what each business deal should consist of.

The last mistake can come when a potential sale has fallen through. You might walk out of that office blaming the failure on everything else except you. You can blame it on the client or the company, but most of the time the sour sale comes from you.

Having the ability to recognize weaknesses and change them can be a great asset for a salesperson. By knowing your faults, you can avoid them in every other situation until you master them and use them as strengths.

You might suffer from all or just one of these problems, but it is important to recognize them and change them. If you do, you will see more success when meeting with customers and thus see more sales!

E-book

In today's world of advanced technology, it is so easy to go into ebook publishing of your ebooks. If you are an aspiring author, it is much easier to self-publish your own book and it is almost much cheaper to do so. You can now create and market your book for a very low price because you can do this by yourself.

One of the most important things that you would need is an ebook compiler that will allow having an entire inventory of your ebook and you can also have it on stock so that you can have some on hand all the time. The best thing about self-publishing your ebook is that you will be able to pocket almost all of the profits because you do not have to split it with any publisher or agent.

The first thing that you need to do before you go into ebook publishing is that you need to have a very interesting topic that you can write about. In today's day and age, it is very easy to find books about almost every topic there is, so you need to find one that is very interesting yet there is a lack of books out there about your topic.

You have to find out what your potential customers want. You can do this by going to online discussion boards about a similar topic and see if there is some sort of information gap about your topic. Remember, it has to be interesting enough for your customers to want to buy it and also specific enough that there is not much written about it.

Today's world of information is very easy because you can found out virtually anything on the internet and there are a lot of websites that will help you develop your topic.

In writing your ebook, you need to first find a broad topic and then you have to break it down so that you will have a lot of chapters of your ebook. Once the writing is done, now, you can think about the design of your ebook. You may want to add images, subject dividers and maybe a colorful border so that your readers will not get easily bored.

Ebook publishing is now very easy because there are a lot of tools that you can use so that your ebook will be a lot easier to read and also that you can keep your readers wanting for more.

The format of your ebook is also very important so that it can easily read on different computers. The most popular format for ebooks is the portable document format that will enable you to preserve the original formatting of your book and so that no one can just simply edit it.

Human Relations

It sure feeds the male ego to know that you have a natural flair for making women fall in love with you. The question is do you know how to? What if you are falling for her and she does not even bother?

Making women fall in love is an art form, although this may come naturally to some lucky guys. You must have heard that men are from Mars and girls are from Venus, so they might as well be another species because girls seem to be very complicated that trying to master them seems impossible for most guys.

Now, if I may say so, the point here is not to master them. Your aim is to try and understand them, then do certain things and know when to back off to keep them guessing.

Now, it is a big common mistake to think that you can buy your way to a woman's heart by buying her expensive gifts all the time and bringing her to classy restaurants in flashy cars. Most guys think being rich will land you the girls. You know what, most of the time, these guys will be landing girls who will make them broke. If your woman loves it when you buy them expensive gifts and even asking you to do so blatantly, these are the materialistic girls and really, who wants women like that to be their girlfriends, much less as a potential spouse.

The number one key to attract the attention of women and to make them fall for you is confidence. A lack of confidence shows you are not at ease with yourself and this signals to that girls subconsciously that you are not reliable when the crunch comes and she will feel a lack of security. Although that may not be the case, it will usually be the perception they have. Look, if you are not comfortable with yourself, then how can she ever be at ease with you?

Do understand that women want to find their soul mate. That one guy who she can relate too, enjoy being with, have a loving relationship and ultimately bearing his children. So if you are nervous with her, then how can you project an image that can make her feel that you can fulfill her desires?

Your initial approach when first meeting a woman everything. Make sure you walk and talk with confidence and keep that eye contact. Women like to have fun, who does not. So if you want her to like your company and fall for you, you must project that you are a fun guy to be with and if she ends up being your significant another half, she will have fun with you forever instead of a dull, mundane and boring marriage life.

Always find yourself asking questions when in conversations with her. This shows that you have an interest in her well being. Most guys are caught not paying attention and every girl hates a man who doesn't listen to her.

However, if this is your first time talking with her, your questions should not be too personal or intrusive. Also, questions that have sexual innuendos should be a no-no unless your intention is just to flirt with her. If that is your plan, then the game is entirely different. So do you want to make women fall in love with you? If you do, then stick to this game plan.

Career

It is a well-known fact that Google has invested heavily to breach the language divide through technology and computer-aided translations. The company considers its computer translation tool as one of the key components of its global business strategy. The reason is quite simple: machine translation will open large markets for Google and it is a key element for their content monetization strategy.

The Company now has expanded its language translation offerings to 41 languages including Turkish, Estonian, Galician and other languages.

Beyond the business goals of Google, this new technology will certainly impact the way the world communicates. It is one step on the road to eliminating language as a barrier to communication.

At the same time, the advent of machine translation technology has many translation service buyers asking: Will this technology render human translators irrelevant?

The short answer to this question is no. At least for the foreseeable future machine translations are grossly inadequate to translate sensitive or complex texts. The reason is that the very nature of language is highly idiosyncratic and context driven. Computers are not well equipped to decipher meaning.

Google's approach is to compare huge databases of known translations to construct an approximate translation. This works reasonably well for some applications, but it is unreliable at best.

As a language translation provider, we have tested translations done by Google's translation tool in a few language combinations. Richard Ramos, President of LanguageTran, said "Google has achieved a remarkable level of accuracy in some of the language combinations. It is a great way of translating content to have a general idea of the original text. However, the intricate nuances of language are still trumping the ultimate goal of near perfect translations. I can see the day when we use tools like Google to improve productivity, but we don't see that happening anytime soon. In some of the language combinations that we tested some sentences were perfectly translated. However, errors in terminology, grammatical constructions and subtle interpretations in large parts of the text make the tool unusable for applications that require accurate and well-written translations."

He added, "The time needed by a human editor to proof-read, edit and correct errors is still greater than the time required for direct human translation".

Can we program a computer to write a new Shakespearean play? Don't bet on it. We can use computers to write data-driven text using mechanistic constructions, but writing is an art and translation is no different.

Some translators are using machine translations to increase their work productivity. In our experience, it takes longer to edit a poor machine translation than to translate it from scratch.

Computers have a long way to go before they will render human translators useless, if ever.

Business

What is innovation? How can companies encourage innovation in order to increase productivity? When most people hear the word innovation, they think of gadgets like iPhone or smart cars. If employees were encouraged to be innovative, what could they produce?

A study from the Boston Consulting Group confirms that 92 percent of Chinese firms consider innovation to be a top priority. However, only 61 percent of U.S. firms say that innovation is a top priority. Other studies reveal that Americans are worried about their ability to stay ahead of the innovation curve. What does this mean for businesses?

Unfortunately, American's fears may be a reality because of the fear most organizations have of the concept of innovation. Organizations need to realize that when employees are free to make new suggestions and openly discuss ideas, positive change is more likely to occur.

Change is scary for most business owners, but without it, businesses will be stuck in a previous era while the rest of the world advances. For instance, doctor's offices used to keep their patient files as hard copies. Everything was either typed or handwritten and saved in filing cabinets. Over time, innovation and technological advancements enabled health care providers to store the files digitally, as well as a hard copy.

Some doctors have embraced this method, while others refuse to adopt new methods of information management. What can innovation provide for businesses? More productivity, new and improved business practices, improved employee morale and more revenue.

When innovation finds its way into a business, the opportunities for increased productivity are endless. Employees will feel the ability to discuss their ideas for improvements and changes freely, which will then enable the ideas to develop into something truly innovative. This free-flow of data and ideas encourages employees to find ways to make their existing jobs more efficient and effective. When the business is running like a well-oiled machine, productivity will soon follow.

Improved business practices may offend some business leaders, but they need to remember that productivity trumps pride. Allowing employees to generate new ideas may eventually lead to a new way of conducting business transactions. This does not mean that the old way business was conducted was wrong, it simply means that with new technology and ideas, a business can be better, faster and stronger.

Encouraging innovation amongst employees will boost morale. When employees feel like they are being heard, and that communication channels are open, they are more likely to stay positive about their jobs. Innovation is a way for employees to express themselves and their ideas without going over the top, or breaking concentration away from the organization.

In organizations where the executives are the only ones calling the shots, employee morale is probably low and turnover is high. When employees feel encouraged and acknowledged, they will remain in their positions longer and produce more to prove that they really are as valuable as they feel.

Only one company could have created the iPhone or iPad, but that doesn't mean that other companies have to lose sight of the benefits of innovation. There is no quantifier to determine what innovation is, or what makes it meaningful. Even small ideas that could improve existing practices are innovative and can make a big difference over time.

Encourage your employees to be innovative. Create clear and open communication practices between executives, managers and employees to unify the organization. Innovation can come in any number of shapes and sizes, the key is to ensure that it is allowed, encouraged and accepted. The most innovative ideas started as something small, but with encouragement and additional input, they became meaningful ideas that changed the course of history.

Personal Development

Whether you are in school or working, it is always important to have a sharper memory. Of course, that helps a lot in everything. Even from the simple tasks of being able to remember the people you meet can be a very good skill that will truly benefit you. If you are looking for tips to improve memory, yes, you can find a lot of them. Memory can indeed be trained and practiced.

Here are some of the tips to improve memory and help you enhance your learning skills.

1. Manage stress. Stress does not only add years to your age, but it will also take a toll on your health as well as your memory. Of course, stress is part of life, but learning how to manage it can be a good start in improving your memory and learning skills.

2. Improve your memory by association. One of the techniques that you can use to improve your memory and learning is to associate the thing you want to remember something that you are familiar with. You can remember people's names by associating it with something that sounds-alike, or by associating it with something that you are already familiar with - that way, you can easily memorize that particular thing because you associated with something that you can always remember.

3. Use repetition. One of the techniques to help enhance the working of your brain is by repetition. When you hear something often, you also tend to remember it easily. When you do something repeatedly, your body tends to be put on autopilot the next time around. Thus, if you want to remember something, repeat it to yourself and you will eventually remember them easily.

4. Use visualization. Indeed, you can easily remember things if you can 'see' it in your mind. Thus, learning how to visualize that information that you want to learn is one of the powerful tips to improve memory. Create pictures in your mind that can make you remember one thing. The power of visualization even spans out more than your memory. It can also help guide you towards achieving your goals as well.

5. Use mnemonics. If you can still remember Roy G. Biv in your science class, you will surely know the colors of the rainbow pretty easily. Mnemonic is a great tool that can help you remember things easily. Aside from name mnemonics, you can also use rhymes, music mnemonics, expression mnemonics, and even model mnemonics. Learn how to create your own mnemonics and you will surely make a breeze when it comes to recalling things.

Learn these 5 tips to improve memory and for sure, you will see a difference in how you can easily memorize things. Of course, having a sharp memory is not just good for those attending school, it is also a very helpful skill that you want to have until you grow old.

Leadership

Consistently showing strong leadership characteristics in the workplace is an essential part of standing out at your office, and can lead to you being entrusted with additional responsibility and promotions. Some people are naturally designed to lead, while others have to work at cultivating their leadership abilities. It is possible for nearly anybody to hone their leadership skills with time and practice.

There are two primary roles for a leader. Leaders need to be able to instruct others, and they also need to be able to distribute tasks based on capability. The strong leader must not only teach, but also counsel his charges, empowering them to take on new tasks and responsibilities.

Provided are 3 points to keep in mind as you develop your leadership skills.

1. Strong leaders must know their teammates and employees, and understand their skills and abilities before they can use each person to the company's best advantage. Getting to know employees on an individual level helps a leader identify how to motivate, encourage, and train his charges. It is also important to identify the weaknesses your team faces, and do what you can to mitigate those challenges.

In order to effectively lead others, you should consistently provide guidance and encouragement. If the team is confident that you are there to encourage them and lead them to success, they will work hard to achieve goals and feel comfortable coming to you for help.

2. Strong leaders must set benchmarks, and be dedicated to reaching them. The head of a group must set the vision for the group, and then use his or her understanding of the group's abilities to formulate a plan to reach that goal. A team leader does not have to identify the team's vision alone, and you may find that by involving the team in creating your group goals, they may be more excited about working toward and achieving the goals.

Being accountable to someone outside of the group may increase your likelihood of reaching group goals. It is a good idea to share your goals with people outside of your team unit in order to increase dedication to the benchmarks at hand.

3. Embrace who you are: know your own weaknesses and strengths. Be decisive when necessary, compassionate where appropriate, and consistent in all you do. Being identified as a genuine individual, and being seen as being comfortable with your leadership role sends a strong message to your team. They learn they can count on you, and their trust in your leadership will multiply.

In order to become a great leader, it is necessary to continuously aim for self-improvement. You can do this by assessing your progress periodically, and also take worthwhile chances that can lead to teambuilding experiences. Seize new opportunities for leadership, and be receptive to comments or criticism from your teammates, your superiors, and your competition in order to achieve success.

Health and Fitness

Parkinson's disease affects the nervous system and belongs to a group called movement disorders.

The most obvious symptoms of Parkinson's are rigid muscles, tremoring in the arms and legs, trouble walking and slow movement. The cause of this occurs when the nerve cells begin to degenerate and the brain reacts by producing dopamine.

Dopamine is very important because it is responsible for stimulating the motor neurons which are important when we try to think about something. If there is a sudden decrease then the nerves are not able to control movement as efficiently as they used to be able to. As time passes, more loss of movement control is experienced.

Many scientists are convinced that these symptoms result from the combination of genes and environmental conditions. The initial symptoms are barely noticeable then, as time goes by, it starts to become more severe.

In the US, alone, more than one and a half million people have been diagnosed with this disease. Nobody is immune to it but it is more often seen in whites. It also usually appears late in life around the age of sixty.

Before you are diagnosed you will need to go through a complete physical and neurological exam to make sure that something else isn't causing the symptoms. To confirm a diagnosis you are likely to receive either a CT scan or MRI.

Sadly, doctors often mistake the symptoms of Parkinson's in Senior Citizens as age-related. Younger patients are not much better off because doctors do not expect symptoms and often fail to see them.

Scientists have not yet found a cure but there are a lot of ways to go about treating the symptoms. Many medicines are available for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Levodopa and Carbidopa are effective at helping you to be able to move and walk easier. They also treat tremors.

Surgery is often an option at later stages of the disease. There are risks, as always, with surgery and there is no guarantee that it will help the symptoms to disappear. Depending on the severity of the symptoms that you are experiencing you might have any of the following surgeries: Ablative surgery, Pallidotomy, Thalamotomy, Transplantation, Deep Brain Stimulation or Restorative surgery.

If you are into alternative medicine then there are a good many options for you to try including Physical therapy, herbal remedies, occupational therapy, homeopathic remedies, massage, support groups, music therapy, Tai Chi, Alexander technique and Yoga. You can try one, or combine several of these, to fit your schedule!