Business Highlights - Disney Buy Marvel

Disney to buy comic book powerhouse Marvel for $4B

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Walt Disney Co. is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.

Under the deal, which was announced Monday and is expected to close by the end of the year, Disney will acquire the rights to 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.

Stocks end strong month with a bout of selling

NEW YORK (AP) - After giving the stock market solid gains during August, investors still worried about the economy backtracked a bit during the final day of the month.

Stocks fell in light trading Monday after a plunge in China's main stock market sent a wave of selling around the world and added to concerns that stocks have rocketed too high, too fast. The Dow fell 47.92, or 0.5 percent, to 9,496.28.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index, which is the basis for many mutual funds, ended August higher to post its sixth straight monthly gain. It is up 50.9 percent since early March, the best run since 1938.

Baker Hughes to buy BJ Services in $5.5B deal

HOUSTON (AP) - Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Monday that it will buy BJ Services Co. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $5.5 billion to diversify the services it offers and compete better with industry leaders.

Baker Hughes customers will get a one-stop shop for a variety of services. Notably BJ Services' pressure pumping business will go to Baker Hughes, which will help clients with unconventional gas and deepwater fields, said Chad Deaton, Baker Hughes Chairman, President and CEO.

Southwest faces Tuesday deadline to replace parts

DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines Co., facing a deadline of Tuesday for settling a dispute with regulators over the use of unapproved parts, said Monday the parts were installed on almost twice as many planes as it first believed.

The airline also has suspended the maintenance firm that got the parts from a subcontractor.

Southwest said Monday it has replaced the unapproved parts in more than 25 planes but needs more time to find parts for the remaining jets and an extension to avoid a disruption in its service to its customers.

Without an extension, the Federal Aviation Administration could force the airline to ground some planes.

Oil settles below $70 on China worries

UNDATED (AP) - Oil prices fell nearly 4 percent to below $70 a barrel Monday as a steep drop in China's stock market raised doubts about the strength of the U.S. and global economic recovery.

Benchmark crude for October delivery lost $2.78 to settle at $69.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first time oil has ended a trading day below $70 in about two weeks.

Major refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. fell by the daily maximum 10 percent after the company said it does not expect to significantly boost production, while PetroChina, the Shanghai index's heaviest weighted share, fell 6.7 percent.

Head of Boeing's commercial jets to step down

CHICAGO (AP) - Boeing Co. said Monday that Scott Carson will step down as head of the company's commercial airplane division and retire at the end of the year.

The Chicago-based company said Carson will be succeeded on Tuesday by the head of its defense business, Jim Albaugh.

Boeing's commercial aircraft operation has struggled with sharply lower orders amid the global economic downturn, which has hurt demand for air travel and cargo services. It also has grappled with problems arising from its new 787, a next-generation aircraft that's been delayed five times. Boeing said last week the lightweight plane will fly for the first time by year's end.

Survey finds support for Fed, jitters on spending

NEW YORK (AP) - Economists are pleased with the Federal Reserve's policy on interest rates but skeptical of the government's ability to rein in spending, curb greenhouse gases or overhaul health care, a new survey finds.

The latest semiannual survey by the National Association for Business Economics, set to be released Monday, indicates almost 70 percent of the 266 economists surveyed earlier this month think the Fed's monetary policy is "about right," up from 63 percent in March and 56 percent a year ago.

The results come as indicators point to an improving economy, presenting policy makers with wrenching decisions over how quickly to roll back measures taken in the past year to avert a financial collapse.

Wal-Mart to sell goods from other vendors on Web

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has launched an addition to its online business that has outside retailers selling nearly 1 million new items through Walmart.com, a move that could help the world's largest retailer catch up in the online world.

The Walmart Marketplace has products from categories that include home, baby, toys, apparel, sporting goods and sports memorabilia. The company said it picked the retailers - including eBags, CSN Stores and Pro Team - because they have large product assortments and solid customer service track records.

Huntsman makes $415M bid for Tronox assets

NEW YORK (AP) - Chemical company Huntsman Inc. has offered to pay about $415 million for Tronox Inc.'s titanium dioxide and electrolytics businesses in a deal that would make Huntsman the world's second-biggest maker of a whitener used in products as diverse as food, plastics and paint.

Texas-based Huntsman Inc. said Monday that it signed a "stalking horse" agreement last Friday with Oklahoma City-based Tronox Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in January.

That means other companies may submit competing bids for Tronox's assets before a bankruptcy court auction, which will likely take place in the fourth quarter of this year.

Drugstores to start giving flu shots Tuesday

NEW YORK (AP) - Drugstore operators are beginning their seasonal flu shot campaigns several weeks early this year, saying they expect greater demand for the vaccine in a year when the swine flu strain has dominated the news.

CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co. are making flu shots available starting Tuesday, while Rite Aid Corp. said some of its pharmacists are already giving the shots. The vaccine is intended to prevent the seasonal flu and is separate from vaccines for swine flu. A swine flu vaccine could be ready by mid-October.

CVS said it was offering the shots three or four weeks earlier than usual. Walgreen said it started giving flu shots Oct. 1 last year.

By The Associated Press

The Dow fell 47.92, or 0.5 percent, to 9,496.28.

The S&P 500 index fell 8.31, or 0.8 percent, to 1,020.62, while the Nasdaq fell 19.71, or 1 percent, to 2,009.06.

Benchmark crude for October delivery lost $2.78 to settle at $69.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for September delivery fell 7.59 cents to settle at $1.9859 a gallon and heating oil dropped 8.11 cents to settle at $1.7792 a gallon. Natural gas shed 5.6 cents to settle at $2.977 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude settled down $3.14 at $69.65.

Business Activity Increases More Than Expected

Business activity in the United States rose more than forecast in August, adding to signs the economy is improving.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago said Monday that its business barometer increased to 50, the highest level since September 2008, from 43.4 in July. Fifty is the dividing line between contraction and expansion.

Automakers are likely to be at the epicenter of a rebound in manufacturing in coming months as assembly lines speed up after the government’s cash-for-clunkers plan left showrooms bare. Increasing demand from overseas and a record reduction in inventories mean that an increase in factory orders and production may last for much of the rest of the year.

It’s “a manufacturing-led recovery,” said Robert Stein, a senior economist at First Trust Advisors of Wheaton, Ill. “Much of this is probably related to the revival in auto production over the past month or so.”

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast the index would rise to 48, according to the median of 53 projections. Estimates ranged from 46 to 52.5.

Economists watch the Chicago index for an early reading on the outlook for overall manufacturing, which makes up about 12 percent of the economy. The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its August factory report on Tuesday. According to a Bloomberg survey, that measure will show expansion for the first time since January 2008.

The Chicago report’s orders gauge climbed to 52.5, the highest level in a year, from 48 in July, and the production index rose to 52.9, from 43.3.

The employment index increased to 38.7, from 35.3. A measure of prices paid for raw materials jumped to 50, from 35, while a gauge of delivery times increased to 54.6, from 49.6.

Source: NYTimes

MLM Business Leads-3 Tips On Generating Free Leads for Your Business

Most networkers have limited budgets and desire to generate mlm business leads for free or very low costs.

If this sounds like you, you will love these free advertising methods you can use to market and create your own leads.

MLM Lead Generation- How To Generate Free MLM Leads For Your MLM Business
By Tony Adam

There's absolutely one thing you must have in order to grow your MLM business and that's leads. You need tons of targeted MLM leads. The only problem is, how do you generate leads for your MLM business? Well, I'm going to share some MLM lead generation techniques that will show you how to generate free targeted MLM leads for your business.

When it comes to generating leads for your MLM business, it can get very expensive. The MLM lead generation tips I'm going to share with you will help you generate MLM leads for free. That way, even if you're on a budget, you will still be able to grow your business. Pretty cool stuff, right?

MLM Lead Generation Tip #1

Using the internet, without question, is a powerful way to grow your MLM business. It'll take your business and turn it into a MLM lead generating machine. One way to do this is to use video marketing (example: YouTube.com, it's free and easy to use). Using this technique will help you generate hundreds of targeted MLM leads for your business.

When setting up your video, you should give away free helpful information. Example would be if market travel, you can give tips on planning a great vacation. And at the end of the video, you can give your website, phone number or email address. This will have people calling you who are serious about joining you in your MLM business.

MLM Lead Generation Tip #2

Another cool and free way to turn your MLM business into a MLM lead generation machine is by using blogs. You can get a free blog at blogger.com. Blogs will help you generate dozens of targeted MLM leads per day for your business.

When setting up your blog, you should talk about the benefits of using the products or service. Also, give out a few extra tips and information that people could use to achieve whatever result they're looking for. If you choose to, you can add pictures to your blog. And don't forget to add your phone number or email address. You'll definitely have people calling you or emailing you wanting more information about your business. This will result in you generating a ton of highly targeted MLM leads.

MLM Lead Generation Tip #3

Another way to generate MLM leads for you business is by writing press releases. You can submit them at free at PrLog.com. When writing your press release, you should talk about some newsworthy. Or if you have a new product coming out. Or if you're 'going against the grain'. Writing press releases will generate MLM leads for you. And help make growing your business fun and exciting.

Use these MLM lead generation tips to generate free MLM leads for your business. When you do, you'll add dozens of people into your MLM business on a weekly basis, even if you're on a budget.

This article can be freely published on a website as long as it is not modified in any way including the author bylines and active hyperlinks.

For more information and other secrets on generating leads for your MLM business, visit:

http://www.BuildOnABudgetNow.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tony_Adam

Monique Hawkins
540-858-2885 anytime
Skype: Monique371
Be A Mentor With A Servant's Heart

Wanna be trained to build big in network marketing with any company? We will help and train you and your people and we'll do it for free.

Click here to sign up for your free membership:
http://mentormonique.mentoringforfree.com/?mad=36000

Wiki Syllabus

Spent the day working on a new wiki syllabus for the grad class I'm teaching this semester on the topic of social tech in education.

Yes, that's right: Wiki Syllabus.

Because, over the course of the semester, I want and will encourage my students to update, remix, and redesign my syllabus. I want them to own it. I want it to reflect their needs.

I'll be meeting with them again on Thursday and will be presenting the new wiki to them. After I do, I'll make it available online for all of you to see as well. Both for you to see some of the resources I've gathered as well as to see what it is that young teachers just entering the field really want.

Syllabus as ever-changing adventure. That's the paperless way.

New features in Google Sites

We recently shared an update on the Google Apps Blog about new features in Google Sites, the web creation and publishing application included in Google Apps. The new features let you copy your site, use more options to search, and more easily announce updates. Since these features are useful for anyone who uses Google Sites as part of the Google Apps Premier or Education editions, we wanted to make it easy for you to read about the features.

Posted by Ellen Leanse, Google Enterprise team

Get timely updates on new features in Google Apps by subscribing to our RSS feed or email alerts.

There is NO ROOM for Women In the Painting Business:

Today's blog is a response to an email we received last week. Here's what it said:

Dear Andy,

I am a female in the painting business and I would really like some inside trade secrets. I have a lot of men give me a hard time because they say a woman belongs at home. This is such old school.

I'm in a position to take on a lot of work as I have now found a great crew but don't really know how to bring that work to me. I have always done interiors and am certified in plaster finishes. I went to school for the plaster finishes.

I would love nothing more than to keep this crew busy and get myself off the ladders and just supervise.

What advice can you give me?
Thanks, Moon

Before I get to the tips, I just want to say that there is room for EVERYONE in our profession! There always has been and will always be more jobs to paint than there are painters to paint them.

One of the primary reasons women get a bad wrap in our profession, is that the guys are intimidated by them because homeowners have a tendency to trust women more, which gives them a significant selling advantage.

The guys who actually believe "there is no room for women in the painting business" are just afraid that they will be out shined by a female...

There is more than enough work to go around so get out there and start your business!

Here are a few insights to help women in our profession get and keep their painting businesses moving in the right direction.

1. Put the guys on ignore and go do business - The great thing about the painting business is that it doesn't discriminate... it's a business and a trade open to nearly everyone regardless of - gender, skin color, political affiliation, age, social economic standing, etc.
   
   
2. Create a better marketing and sales process - Use the fact that you are a woman in a male dominated industry as an advantage... Let homeowners know that you have had to work twice as hard to gain the respect of your peers and that work ethic translates into a better customer experience.
   
   
3. Educate yourself and develop a strong work ethic - Stay up to date on the industry trends as well as marketing, sales and customer service... Always keep working to improve your brand and image within your community.
   

In the end business is done between people and once you learn how to DO the "Painting Business" it matters very little if you are a man or woman... what color your skin is or who you vote for.

Honestly it comes down to three things:

1. Delivering a quality paint job the first time every single time...
   
2. Affordable prices backed by superior value... and
   
3. Being someone the homeowner trusts (Building long term relationships)
   

Ladies keep in mind, you are not doing business with other painters, you are doing business with homeowners. Let the "old school" talkers talk, they are only hurting themselves by having a bad attitude.

Go about your business, learn to market effectively, bid profitably and focus on delivering a value based customer experience... AND FOLLOW UP!

That is what will help you achieve your dreams in this male dominated profession. Keep the wise words of Charles Swindoll in mind:

ATTITUDE:

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than success, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.

We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the only string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes."

...and just for the record, one of the best bosses I have ever worked for was a woman (Michelle) and her knowledge and work ethic rivaled most of the men I've seen. Michelle set the pace and didn't give a second thought to what other painters had to say... and that's why she is still so successful today!

As for the advice I can offer to Moon about how to find and land painting jobs to keep her crew busy, that's easy... invest in a copy of 'Painting for Profits'. The step-by-step tips, marketing techniques and business growth strategies work just as well for women and they do for the guys!

Zuji boss Roshan Mendis on Travelocity buying Travelguru

Ease of adjustment in logo colours is never a factor in an acquisition but it has not taken long or much design work to add a few Travelocity stars to the logo of the newly acquired Indian online hotel player Travelguru. Thankfully they avoided the branding redundancy of adding the Zuji tag line of "your online travel guru".

A week or so after the purchase by Travelocity/Zuji of Travelguru I had a chance to sit down (virtually) with Zuji boss and Travelocity regional head Roshan Mendis to talk about the deal, the Indian market and regional plans generally. Roshan took over from former Zuji boss Scott Blume in June and now has a portfolio of brands to manage including Zuji in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore , Nextour in Korea, Travelocity in India and New Zealand, and now Travelguru in India. [note that the Travelocity owned brand of Lastminute.com does operate in Australia and New Zealand but is not owned by Travelocity. Instead the business operates under a franchise structure wholly owned by the Wotif group].

Roshan is very bullish about the acquisition, as he should be for something he has likely just paid tens of millions if not a hundred or so for. He feels the Indian market is at the right time for acquisition and expansion. But he is also upfront that the deal is not without risk. He admits that integration will be a challenge especially on the people front.

Here is some more detail from our interview

BOOT: This acquisition was your first big move as the new regional lead for Travelocity. Why India and why this company?

Roshan : Couple of reasons. We see India as a top three market in region. Looking ahead to 2012 – research indicates will be right next to China, Japan and Australia as top online travel market. In addition the OTA, general market and accommodation market growth rates in India are attractive. But it is still an emerging market. So this is not a deal without risk.

BOOT: you have plenty of competition to contend with. Expedia is in India and the local big three - Cleartrip, Makemytrip and Yatra are very aggressive.

Roshan: Absolutely – big three make up 80% of market. Competition is stiff and irrational at times. Certainly attractive bits in online space but domestic flights are unattractive and that is where competition is most fierce. Looking to compete differently through Travelguru.

BOOT: Will you bring the supply facing teams together?

Roshan: Putting integration plans together now. The Intent is for a unified partner marketing [Travelocity name for supply team] to represent Travelocity India for all brands.

BOOT: I read there were a lot of challenges in integrating Travelocity and Lastminute supply operations in Europe, are you concerned about the integration task here?

Roshan: I won't comment on the Travelocity and Lastminute integration but generally acquiring and integrating a company particularly on the people side is not a small job. [We are going into the integration effort] with a common purpose and goal between Travelocity.co.in and Travelguru. [Including] clear expectations in leadership between the two. Under no allusions that going to be a cake walk putting people, processes and culture together.

BOOT: In the press release Travelguru founder and CEO Ashwin Damera, said "he was excited with the deal and would want to replicate the story in other Asian". Tell me more about this idea?

Roshan: Purpose of the deal and intent is to focus on India and make success in India – over and above that – the model might work in other market but don’t think that is where short term effort will be.

BOOT: Ram Badrinathan of PhoCusWright asked this question in his blog post "Travelocity Acquires TravelGuru—Will it Change Anything in India?" [Will Travelocity] back TravelGuru and Travelocity with at least a $2.5 million annual marketing budget (to build the brand and business)?

Roshan: [regarding the marketing plans of Travelocity and Travelguru in India] past behaviour is the best indication of future behaviour. If you look at Travelocity.co.in, it is has grown in last few years. [On marketing we are] very analytical and invest in those channels that allow for growth and maximise profit. [BOOT I took this to mean a focus on online channels rather than offline spend]

BOOT: At last year's TRAVELtech your predecessor Scott Blume said that Zuji was firing in Asia on "most" cylinders. "when one country is firing, other aren't" he said. You have a large portfolio now in Asia. What are your plans for firing on all cylinders?

Roshan: In our portfolio in AP have a number of assets and they have certain kinds of potential determined by size of market, size of online pie, balance between supply.com and intermediates etc. Different expectations for the different markets and invest in those markets according to our expectations on what it should and can deliver. [delicately keeping with the analogy] We have a set of cylinders that are not the same size and horse power. Need to recognise and pump with the appropriate level of fuel to achieve the maximum potential. We take a portfolio view – have a place and role for each asset in the portfolio and will support to meet full potential.

BOOT: Finally - what worries you? What things do you want to make sure you get right?

Roshan: The acquisition. Lots of things to determine success of acquisition. There are social and economic events to keep track of as well as the maturity of the space, consumers, online penetration etc.

What do you think? Bold move? Too soon? Wrong market? Right time?

PS - looks like we can finally kill off the rumours of Expedia's investment in Travelguru

A Letter to the Teachers of My Children

Dear Teachers,

Tomorrow morning, I'm sending three kids your way. Thought you should know a little bit about them as well as a little bit about my wife and I and our feelings about education. And, so I'm sending this note.

First of all, you should know a little bit about the kids.

Our twin boys are soon to be nine years old and they are sort of excited about going into the third grade. I say 'sort of' because in the broad range of things to be excited about as boys of their age with 'very' best personified by going to the store to get a new pack of Warcraft Trading Card Game cards and 'not at all' being somewhere along the line of watching Bambi, I'd say from observation that going into third grade sort of falls in the middle.

As you are sure to soon discover: the boys love fantasy adventures, have read (or been read) all of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and would rather battle with wooden swords than play soccer.

They also love jazz and both of them play horns. If they are being shy, just ask them about the road trip we took this summer and about going to the jazz club in New Orleans.

My little girl is going into first grade. She is easily the smartest person in the family. She wins all the family spelling bees, loves handicrafts (we have a ridiculously large and growing collection of handmade pot-holders all over the house thanks to her ingenuity), and she has a memory sharper than most you will have encountered -- so you might watch what you say around her ;)

She is also a very precocious reader. Her favorite seems to be Asterix and Obelix. Ask her any question you want to about Ancient Gaul and Julius Caesar; if you're not up on your ancient history, you may want to read up over the next weekend or you're gonna catch an earful all year.

Oh yeah, and one more thing: all three kids are totally wired. And perhaps that gets into knowing something about my wife and I.

See, we are both people who hated school. It's not that we hated learning, quite the contrary... it's that neither one of us really feel that we did much learning in school.

Well, I can't speak for my wife, but I remember ditching homework assignments -- especially in English class -- to read the things that I wanted to read. I guess I was a bit like my daughter that way. I recall once getting in trouble for not getting the 'comprehension questions' finished in my American Lit textbook; I'd been up to the wee hours reading Ezra Pound. When I told my teacher what I'd been up to, the only piece of Pound he knew was the one short -- and completely un-representative piece -- in our textbook. That started me thinking that the dude was clueless. His later comments that a piece of Surrealist poetry that I'd turned in for a grade was very 'Joyce-like' confirmed my suspicions that he'd been a 'C' student in college.

That's not to say I've always been down on teachers. I still remember the strength I found inside myself each Friday afternoon when our middle school language arts teacher led us through meditation practice (I'm sure that wasn't in the curriculum). I still remember the music suggestions made by my seventh grade English teacher... and by large part, the early part of my music education was shaped by him. I still remember the teachers I didn't even have for class in high school but who cared enough to take in a teenaged freak and give a little advice and comfort; I try my best to honor them by taking on this role in my own work as a teacher today.

Where things really came together for me was in the advent of the Internet. And I'd say that, with regards to education, I'd be nowhere without the connections that the Internet has offered. Because this new century is all about connectivity; and I know now that I was certainly made for these times.

The Internet allowed me to learn on my own terms. It took learning out of the static environment of those musty old classrooms and textbook-wielding teachers and put it into the hands of a kid with dynamic interests and access to the minds of visionaries and big thinkers. It allowed me, and continues to allow me, to create myself according not to the doctrines of an arbitrary and politicized curriculum, but by the whims of my own mind, heart, and imagination.

And I've taught my children that that is what education is all about.

And so, there's a good chance that my kids aren't always gonna have their homework done. And there's a good chance they are going to do lousy on their State Testing.

There's also a good chance that my six year old daughter can run circles around most of yr eighth-graders in strategizing how best to take on a dozen dark creepers in the bowels of a dungeon. And there's a good chance that Miles Davis is the soundtrack to my boys' daydreams; and yes, they are ignoring you. It's not that they don't care; it's that they care a whole lot. Just not about what you might be teaching them at the moment.

So, I want to allay a few concerns you might have right off the bat.

First of all, I want you to know that you can talk to me and my wife as people. I'm a teacher. I know bs teacher talk. You don't have to use it with me.

Second, your honest opinions of my kids will not offend me. I'm not going to sue you or try to have you fired. Sometimes my kids are jerks. Sometimes they are rude. I know this. I'm their father. If you tell me that my kids are always perfect angels, I will not believe you; in fact, I'll probably think you are somewhat clueless.

Third, I expect you to be challenged. If you are not up for challenges, get out of teaching. Meaning: you had better read up on what's going on in education; I expect my kids' teachers to be professional, aware, and engaged with the cutting edge of 21st century education. If you can't cut it with what's going on in your (and my) profession, we're going to have problems. Read up.

Finally, I expect you to treat my children as citizens of the 21st century. I do not expect, nor want, you to teach them like you and I were taught. Computers do not scare me. Social networks do not scare me. And they don't scare my blogging, MMOG-playing, YouTube-watching elementary schoolers. I've been doing my part to teach my kids digital citizenship; I expect nothing less from you. I want you to experiment with the integration of social technology into your classroom and I'm not gonna freak out if there are problems along the way.

I am gonna freak out if you treat the computer as a glorified television set.

So, to wrap this up. Looks like we've got our hands full this year. Our world is rapidly changing and we're gonna have to help each other carry on through these tidal waves of change. I promise to do my part as a parent, and I'm going to count on you to do your part as a professional teacher. Together, we will raise the 21st century's first generation.

Be fearless. And I'll do my best to be fearless. This isn't a competition between us; but at the same time, it's not like we're on the same team versus the kids. I'm gonna expect a lot of you this year; and you should expect a lot of me. Let's start by connecting on Twitter. You know where to find me.


Sincerely,

Shelly
@TeachPaperless

Business Models Beyond Profit - Alexander Osterwalder on Social Entrepreneurship

In this presentation Alexander Osterwalder, author of Business Model Generation, expands his business model canvas to include social and environmental costs and benefits, with some really nice examples such as Grameen Bank and Kiva.

MLM Business Lead-The Top 10 Ways to Work Your MLM Business Leads

Doug Firebaugh is a leader in network marketing that I like a lot. In the following article, he will share with you the top 10 ways to work your mlm business leads. It's very useful information and I know you will find it very helpful!

MLM Leads- The Top 10 Realities of Working MLM Leads
By Doug Firebaugh

What is an MLM Lead? And why would you need an MLM lead to work? In Network Marketing, many times we run out of warm market, or we simply do not have many friends in an area. MLM leads help you to find people that are interested in a Network Marketing Home Business. They have called in either off of an ad, or maybe off of an internet site, and indicated they have an interest in a home based business.

After having worked MLM Leads for 8 years, and made over 50,000 phone calls, there are some things that you need to know. MLM leads are a great way to work MLM, but there are 10 things you need realize about MLM Leads. They can be a GOLD MINE, or an empty shaft. You must learn the difference.

1)They are NOT a guaranteed Sale or Recruit.

Just because they have indicated an interest, does not mean they are a done deal. They are simply many times “kicking tires” and checking to see what is out there. Make sure you know that they are serious about looking at your company.

2)They many times are NOT truly willing to change their life.

What a lead says, and what a lead does are 2 different things many times. You must be aware that they may change their mind once they realize they have to change some things in their life. Many people are apathetic. Move on when they show you this.

3)An MLM Lead is usually very skeptical and guarded.

This is normal. Many people who you will call, will want to get to know you first, and then take a serious look at your offer. Develop the relationship, for that is what will develop the Success.

4)An MLM lead is NOT a source of future Volume. Only a POTENTIAL Source.

The potential of an MLM lead can be HUGE, or nothing. That is why that you call them. There may be a gold mine waiting to be dug in that lead, or it may end up being a pile of dirt as far as potential. You must understand that. You qualify them and then make your decision if they are worth pursuing.

5)There are many leads that have been burned before with other MLM companies.

Many MLM leads you call have had a home business before, but got burned from dishonest people. They carry that “hurt” into your conversation, and you must be sensitive to it. Let them tell you about it, and you listen. You will be surprised at the good that can do for them, and you. They will respect your willingness to listen, and care.

6)An mlm Lead IS looking for something, but you must find out what that something is.

You MUST find what the lead is looking for. Financial Security? Recognition? Training? Personal Development? Freedom? Pay for kid’s college? To quit their job? All of these are possibilities, and you must zero in on what they are looking for. Once you discover it, help them obtain it with your company.

7)An MLM Lead is human, and has Dreams just like you.

One of the great things about MLM leads as they are human, and most want a better life for themselves and family. They have dreams, and goals. You just talk to them about their dreams, and their desires and hope for their life. Make their dream a priority in your initial conversation. You will be surprised at their response to your interest in helping them achieve their Dreams.

8)An MLM Lead can, and will, lead you on, and then disappear.

I call it the “ADP.” The Amazing Disappearing Prospect. Many leads you call, will try and lead you on because they appear to want to be chased and that makes them feel important. Do NOT chase them. If they disappear, let them go. There are more leads out there than you can count. Go to the next one.

9)An MLM Lead CAN make you rich.

You read that right. There are many folks that have been called, and recruited, and have exploded into the industry. But you MUST be persistent in working the numbers. They WILL show up, if you simply let them. Don’t give up, because they WILL show up if you persist. And potential wealth is waiting on that list of leads you have.

10)It is NOT a working the Numbers game, but EFFECTIVELY working the numbers with MLM Leads.

Many people have called a lot of MLM leads, and they have never hit it big. Why? Lack of effective impact on the prospect. Working the numbers effectively is focusing on the lead, getting to know them, finding out what they are looking for, understanding they may not be truly interested, and caring more about what is right for them, then what is right for your paycheck. If you keep that focus, you will win HUGE with MLM Leads.

Here is a BONUS Reality- It is NOT the MLM Lead as much as what you DO with it.

How can one person call 100 leads and get nothing, and another call the same lead list and recruit 10 people? It is what you DO with the lead, not what you just say. Focus on what they want, and not what you want. Be their friend, and care more about THEIR paycheck than yours. Show them you can help transform their life, and future.

MLM leads are a great way to find incredible people, if you understand the realities of what you are dealing with. It is fun making new friends, and many can become friends for life. That is the Real Power of Network Marketing, and MLM Leads.

blessings...doug
PassionFire Intl
http://www.passionfire.com
doug@powerfire.com
(c) 2005/all rights reserved

Doug Firebaugh is one of the top MLM network Marketing Trainers, Speakers, and Authors in the world. His training ezine is read by over a million people a month, and he travels the world training and speaking. He lives in Birmingham Michigan, and you can get a FREE subscription to his training letter at http://www.passionfire.com and you can reach him at doug@powerfire.com. FREE daily training audios available onsite.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Doug_Firebaugh

Monique Hawkins
540-858-2885 anytime
Skype: Monique371
Be A Mentor With A Servant's Heart

Wanna be trained to build big in network marketing with any company? We will help and train you and your people and we'll do it for free.

Click here to sign up for your free membership:
http://mentormonique.mentoringforfree.com/?mad=36000

What about TWO?

A reader writes:

I am seeing a surge in teenagers, as they get older toward mid-late college, using two Facebook pages. One is their "professional" page - for family or job prospects. Yes, family is included, they often consider a family broadcast a hindrance to their privacy! The other is their regular page complete with beer pong and weekend parties.

Though beer pong rarely makes it into my broadcasts, I have no less than four social networks (education PLN, classroom use, music and arts, and personal).

What about you all? How many Twitter feeds are you handling?

Strategic Alliances - an important part of most business models

A strategic alliance is an agreement between two or more players to share resources or knowledge, to be beneficial to all parties involved. It is as way to supplement internal assets, capabilities and activities, with access to needed resources or processes from outside players such as suppliers, customers, competitors, companies in different industries, brand owners, universities, institutes or divisions of government.

Different forms of Strategic Alliances

Strategic Alliances can take different forms, occur within an industry or between actors in different industries, and can range from simple agreements to mergers or equity joint ventures. There are basically three types of generic strategic alliances: Non-Equity Strategic Alliances, Equity Strategic Alliances, and Joint Venture Strategic Alliances.

Non-Equity Strategic Alliances

Non-Equity Strategic Alliances can range from close working relations with suppliers, outsourcing of activities or licensing of technology and IPRs, to large R&D consortia, industry clusters and innovation networks. Informal alliances without any agreements, or based on "Gentlemen’s agreement", are common among smaller companies and within university research groups. Another form of informal non-equity alliances are geographic clusters where concentrations of interconnected players, industries, universities and government agencies co-exists, increasing local competition and productivity.

Equity Strategic Alliances

In Equity Strategic Alliances agreements are supplemented by equity investments, making the parties shareholders as well as stakeholders in each other. The investments are passive so each firm retains fully its decision power. The cross-shareholding of companies may result in a complex network where company A owns equity in company B that owns equity in C, creating direct and indirect ownership. Intuitively, when firms share profits the incentives for competing are reduced and are often done to enhance control and make takeovers more difficult.

Joint Venture Strategic Alliances

Joint ventures are distinguished from Equity Strategic Alliances in that the participating companies usually form a new and separate legal entity in which they contribute equity and other resources such as brands, technology or intellectual property. The parties agree to share revenues, expenses and control of the created company for one specific project only or a continuing business relationship.

Reasons for entering a Strategic Alliance

Firms entering strategic alliances often have multiple objectives, some of them listed below:

• Access to intellectual property rights
• Access to knowledge
• Access to new technology
• Access to new markets
• Access to distribution skills
• Access to manufacturing capabilities
• Access to marketing skills
• Access to management skills
• Access to capital
• Create critical mass
• Create common standards
• Create new businesses
• Create synergies
• Diversification
• Improve agility
• Improve quality
• Improve R&D
• Improve material flow
• Improve speed to market
• Influence structural evolution the industry
• Inhibit competitors
• Reduce administrative costs
• Reduce R&D costs
• Reduce risk and liability
• Reduce cycle time
• Utilize by-products

Main risks identified in the literature

There are several risks and limitations using strategic alliances. Failures are often attributed to unrealistic expectations, lack of commitment, cultural differences, strategic goal divergence and insufficient trust. Some of the risks are listed below:

• Activities outside scope of original agreement
• Hidden costs
• Inefficient management
• Information leakage
• Loss of competencies
• Loss of operational control
• Partner lock-in
• Partner product or service failure
• Partner unable or unwilling to supply key resources
• Partner's quality performance
• Partner take advantage of its position
• Partner experiences financial difficulties

Using the Business Model concept

When using the business model concept, listing or visualizing the different parts of the business model, and analyzing what is really core in the business model you often find opportunities for business model innovation using strategic alliances. What if you combine your value proposition with another company? What if you use their brand or they use yours? What if someone else delivers your products or services? What if you use external assets and capabilities to improve or create new value propositions? Could you lower your business model cost structure by using a strategic alliance? Could you create stronger control mechanisms through strategic alliances to protect profit streams from being reduced by competitors, partners or strong customers?

European business, consumer confidence up again

LONDON — Official data shows business and consumer confidence in the 16-nation euro zone has increased again in August.

Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said Friday its measure of business sentiment rose to -2.21 points in August from -2.70 points the previous month. Improvements were particularly strong for production expectations and orders booked.

The figure is still weak, however — "even when compared to the previous historical lows of 1993" — suggesting that industrial production remains subdued, Eurostat said.

The wider Economic Sentiment Indicator showed that its measure of consumer confidence also improved in August, to -22 points from -23 points in July.

For the 27-nation European Union, consumer confidence likewise improved marginally, to -20 from -21.

Australia to Open Auto Finance Fund - Sydney

SYDNEY -- Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said Friday the government will activate from Sept 1. a special fund to provide liquidity for auto dealer financiers encountering difficulties due to the global credit crisis

The government announced last December it would create the special purpose vehicle worth up to 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.66 billion) with the support of country's big four banks -- Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank Ltd., Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and Westpac Banking Corp.


The government in June lowered the estimated size of the vehicle to around A$550 million, following a better-than-expected functioning of the market and the ability of dealers to secure funds through remaining lenders.

Like in the U.S., scarce credit has hammered Australia's A$7.7 billion auto sector in recent times.

The Australian government decided to establish the auto fund following plans by GE Money, a unit of General Electric Co., and GMAC, to exit the local market, leaving an estimated A$2 billion hole in funding lines to auto dealers. Swan said Friday the so-called OzCar program has helped ensure their orderly withdrawal.

"However, it will still be necessary to activate OzCar so that the remaining GE and GMAC dealerships will have more time to secure ongoing financing," Mr. Swan said in a statement.

"The activation of OzCar will also provide Ford Credit Australia with access to the liquidity required to continue to support its dealerships -- most of which are in regional areas."

Legislation enabling the fund was passed by lawmakers in June.

The fund is backed by the government's AAA sovereign guarantee but the government won't contribute direct funding.

Holden, the Australian unit of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. currently manufacture cars in Australia.

Source: WSJ.com

The Secret of Business Growth in 2010

Having had their fill of the economic downside, business leaders are truly ready for the eventual upside. Apparently, U.S. companies are preparing for a global economic recovery to begin in the first half of 2010, according to a new "Road to Growth" market study from AT&T.

Key study findings include the following insights:

Business Agility and ROI Pressures
In today's economic climate, U.S. companies have significantly shortened the time frame over which a Return on Investment (ROI) is delivered.

More than half of U.S. IT executives stated they are under pressure to deliver a return on investment in half the time than their previous efforts. As a result, two-thirds cited that the change has affected their IT budgets, strategies and priorities.

The study found that companies are less willing to invest in longer-term projects -- where the return does not come quickly. One CIO stated that IT projects must give at least a 100% ROI in 12 months -- otherwise, the project is terminated.

Shrinking Costs, While Growing the Upside
No surprise, regarding the top-of-mind challenges. Cost cutting and increasing revenue remain the two primary business goals. To achieve those objectives, survive the recession and move towards growth, business technology strategies are focused on:

Reducing operating costs: 87 percent cited "reducing operating costs" as "extremely or very important." Improve collaboration with customers and partners: 85 percent cited "improved collaboration with customers and partners" as "extremely or very important." Enhancing workforce performance and productivity: 83 percent cited "enhancing workforce performance" as "extremely or very important."

Rise of the Any-Term Business Strategy
The study found that U.S. companies employ multiple strategies to address business goals, and do not distinguish between short-term and long-term strategies. It appears that U.S. companies are reducing the time period for their long-term forecasting until after the recession is over.

Moreover, the role IT plays in helping U.S. companies achieve long-term strategies is very similar to the role IT plays in supporting a company's short-term business strategies.

Ongoing Role of Business Technology
IT investments and priorities are very focused in a couple of key areas. The study found that "business continuity and security solutions" will have the biggest positive impact on business growth as U.S. companies prepare for an economic turnaround.

This is closely followed by "enterprise mobility solutions" and "Web delivery solutions." Areas of IT investment that are expected to have a high to moderate impact on businesses are "unified communications services" and "hosted solutions."

For more information, and a copy of the executive summary, visit the AT&T Road to Growth Study on their website.

More High Quality Templates and New Premium Fonts in Display Ad Builder

Last week we announced new high-end "Elegant" ad templates that can help you build great looking ads in minutes. Today we're releasing additional "Elegant" templates in the "General" category, as well as templates in a brand new "People" category. This new category enables advertisers to use templates that have professional images featuring people

In addition to these new templates, we also added 13 premium fonts that you can use to make ads with maximum visual appeal. They include: News Gothic, Gill Sans, Futura and Nimbus Sans. Here are some examples of the new ad templates and fonts:

(click here to see full size image)

With some of the new templates, you don't even need to upload any logos or images. With just a little bit of text you can create an appealing display ad in seconds.

To start creating your ads, visit the "Ads" tab in any campaign, click "New Ad," and select "Display Ad Builder' from the drop down." If you want to learn more about creating and running display ads, visit the Display Ads 101 tutorial.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew

Calling all Canadians

Are you a Canadian AdSense publisher? We'll be hosting a small AdSense event featuring optimization and product seminars in Toronto in early October, and we have a few additional spaces available. If you're located in the Toronto area and would like to attend, fill out our interest form, telling us a little about yourself, your site, and your history with AdSense. There are a limited number of spots left, so if you're interested, let us know as soon as possible. We'll let you know by email if you've been selected to take part in the event.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Posted by Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo - AdSense Optimization Team

The 8th Filipino Franchise Show

The ASSOCIATION OF FILIPINO FRANCHISER, INC. (AFFI) is pleased to announce the staging of the 8TH FILIPINO FRANCHISE SHOW on Sept. 4-6, 2009. With Trade Advertising Exhibitions and Conventions International, Inc. (TRADECON, INC.) as the event manager, this annual trade exposition will be held at the WORLD TRADE CENTER METRO MANILA, Philippines.

This year’s theme – FRANCHISING OPPORTUNITIES RISING ABOVE THE CRISIS has been conceptualized as an answer to the positive side of the global financial crisis. The three day exhibition is expected to be bigger than the past years. Successful franchisers along with new and promising brands from the food, retail and service industries shall take center stage once again. Products, services, systems and technologies from the 80-strong AFFI membership shall be on display for the benefit of the public particularly those on the lookout for business opportunities.

FILIPINO FRANCHISE SHOW is a one stop shop of homegrown franchising and business opportunities specifically catered for SMES. This event is definitely a showcase of big and successful local franchisers to new and promising franchise concepts consisting of food, retail, service, systems and technology.

Good news also for aspiring entrepreneurs! This is also an opportunity to have a face to face meeting with the franchisers themselves and learn a lot from their own experiences

For more details visit: www.franchiseshowphilippines.com

Painting technique Cutting In: How to Build Speed and Accuracy

There is a saying among painting business owners… It goes “Roll for show, cut for dough.”

What that means is you make your money on the cut in not on the roll out! One of the most time consuming aspects of painting is cutting in… Until you get good and quick this is where most of your time will be eaten up.

One of your primary focuses should be to build up your speed and accuracy so it becomes second nature. Once you have done that with you dominant hand your next step is to learn to cut with your less dominant hand.

Here are a few suggestions for creating the muscle memory you need to build up your speed. As with any learned skill the more you practice the better you will get…

1. Brush manipulation – Take some time and get to know how to work the brush in your hand to get the bristles to do what you want them to do… Work on a scrap piece of drywall and move the brush around to get a feel of how the bristles move.
   
   

Get them to pull a razor sharp line, get them to work into a small area, practice working them around a soft edge… The point is get comfortable with the brush in your hand and how it feels to move the bristles around to get them to do what you want them to do.

2. When cutting against a straight edge such as a ceiling or trim always look a few inches past where your brush is because if you look at your brush or behind it you are going to get a choppy or wavy edge.
   
   

Much like driving a car, in order for it to track straight down the road you have to look ahead of you because if you look right at the hood you will swerve all over…

3. Don’t over saturate your brush… Only load the brush with enough paint to pull it 18-24 inches. Any more than that and you risk runs and drips any less then that you are wasting to much time dipping.
   
   

4. When you begin your cut always start 2-3 inches away from the edge you will be cutting into and work just enough paint up to the edge. You want to leave the majority of the paint well away from your final edge.
   
   

5. Finally, be sure to feather out your outside edge otherwise if you leave a hard edge it may show up as a “Band” around the room once you roll. So use a dry brush and feather out any spots where the paint may be to thick.
   
   

All of these tips will help you build up the speed and give you the professional look your customers demand. The more you paint the better you will get but when you are just getting started it is important to pay attention and learn the proper technique.

I get asked quite a bit if there are any specialty tools on the market that can help speed up the cutting in process… I don’t recommend any of these types of tools because once you have learned the skill of cutting in you will be able to do it much faster freehand than you could using any of the gimmick tools.

You will spend more time on set up and clean up using these types of tools…These specialty tools are mostly for the do it yourself home owner.

One last tip – Always carry a wet rag and 5 in 1 tool with you… I painted the walls in a law office which was trimmed with cherry woodwork… I had to be perfect with my cut in order to not get any on the trim.

About every 5-6 feet or so I would run my 5 in 1 with the wet rag down the trim edge which created a razor sharp edge. This allowed me to work quickly not worrying about having to be perfect.

I hope this helps!

International Business Information

Import Export Business Question:

I am interested in the import/export business. I only what to be an agent, at this time. I would like to know if I locate the buyer, where do I get help to close the deal and make a fee for my efforts.

I have been to export/import site's I have a lot of this information from export.gov and us export.gov

This information is helpful but you can have all the information in the world if you don't know the steps to process.. it's no good. I have plenty of contacts; I have done my home work. I was told that the freight and banking information is important and the freight companies part, helps with the paper work.. send me information. I have a lot of the information already, that's where I started!

I am looking for your help to refine the process. as I am more detailed oriented.

What is our first step? etc... I have a list of manufactures etc... I want to do a deal. as an agent 1st then move up the latter. So what ever product I can move as an agent, without the licensing part, (at this time) I'm in. I have a list of buyers also. but we need to know the preliminaries; evaluate opportunities, product , shipping, country, pricing, etc..

Import Export Business Answer:

I understand exactly where you are at - I was there 20 years ago - I
only wish the Import Export Toolkit self study course we offer had
been available then as we make it available now - see details here:
Starting An Import Export Business

The course provides you with the step by step you are seeking - yes,
some of it may be redundant to what you already know, but if you are
seeking step by step, then the toolkit is your best resource.

This person never followed our advice in getting a comprehensive self-study course and about two weeks later emailed us again with the following request:

Follow Up Question:

i have a diamond deal i would like so help on

Our Answer:

Sorry cannot help you on this one except to say, BE VERY CAREFUL.

Most diamond sales are locked up through the big diamond buying companies and
this is very much a closed market just as Oil, Urea, Sugar, Precious Metals, etc..

These type of deals are generally foisted on those who have little or no knowledge of
the import export business but who have a lot of interest in getting rich quickly and easily - sorry, there just is no such thing in this industry or any for that fact.

FOLLOW UP COMMENTS:

The above exchanges illustrate what I call "Blinded By The Hype". This person does not view the import export business as a business, but views it as his lottery ticket where he can make a quick score and sit back drinking margaritas on a beach somewhere for the rest of his life.

Literally, he would be better off buying lottery tickets because he is not serious about going into business and at least when he buys a lottery ticket, he really does have a chance of winning something as opposed to losing everything he owns and maybe more if he follows the yellow brick hype path that he apparently is doing.

Comments, criticisms, suggestions are always welcomed!

Ron Coble
Coble International Marketing Services
http://www.importexporthelp.com/

MLM Business Leads-6 Ways to Generate the Best MLM Leads

We all know that as networkers, how important it is to have an on-going funnel of mlm business leads.

Today's post covers 6 techniques to generate your own mlm business leads for free.

6 Ways to Generate the Best MLM Leads

Effective Multi Level Marketing Lead Generation

From Lisa Willard, for About.com

Leads are essential for any successful network marketing business. But where do you find the best multi-level marketing (MLM) leads? Is it lead generation, or do you buy leads? What’s the best way? Good question.

You need prospects for your business and customers to purchase products. Without the two, your business will not exist. So what is the answer?

Should you generate your own, or should you buy leads from a respectable leads company?

The answer isn’t as simple as you may think. Generating leads and having people come to you is the best scenario. And it works. It does take time. But in the end, it gets results.

Generating the best MLM leads is both a skill and an art that can be learned. One of the important factors to remember is that you are talking to real people. It’s not about you. It’s about them. Find out their feelings, their goals and wants. Then provide a solution. Build a relationship and then a partnership.

The fact is most people don’t care about your company, pay plan, etc. They care about finding a solution to their problem.

The good news. You can produce your own MLM leads. Today, the Internet has allowed us to do just that. There are many different ways to product the best MLM leads, but here are a few of my favorites:

1. Generate MLM leads with a personal website.

Learn to sell yourself. Why should someone join you? What makes you unique? And what value and expertise do you bring to the partnership? Answer these questions on your Website. Sell “you.”

2. Use an auto responder to acknowledge your MLM leads.

As leads visit your website, offer a “free report or newsletter.” This will build your subscriber list and allow you to communicate with your prospects. Use it to provide valuable information. Timing is everything. If the timing isn’t right today, it may be next year. Be that person who has stayed in touch.

3. Have an MLM leads generation plan and goals.

You will need to set goals and stick to them. Be consistent and stay focused.

4. Write articles to generate MLM leads.

Article writing is a great avenue for building a presence online. Submit these articles to e-zines and newsletters. Articles are powerful because you can present yourself as an expert in your industry.

5. Create a blog for MLM leads.

Blogging is fun and it allows you to write freely to your niche. Blog posts can be various lengths. Blog regularly and watch your traffic grow.

6. Learn to Squidoo for MLM leads.

Anyone can do it. It’s simple, fun and it allows you to monetize your marketing. I’ve created some of my best MLM leads through Squidoo.

Conclusion: Generating Multi-Level Marketing Leads

Generating the best MLM leads is a process that won’t happen over night. But it will happen. Pick one or two lead generating avenues and master those. Then, when you are ready add one more and repeat.

Good information and strategies that I believe in as well!

Monique Hawkins
540-858-2885 anytime
Skype: Monique371
Be A Mentor With A Servant's Heart

Wanna be trained to build big in network marketing with any company? We will help and train you and your people and we'll do it for free.

Click here to sign up for your free membership:
http://mentormonique.mentoringforfree.com/?mad=36000

Educating Young Teachers in the Use of Social Tech in Education

Spent last evening with a group of young teachers in Baltimore.

This was the first of our ten sessions on social technology in education, and a few things struck me as noteworthy.

First of all was the professionalism of the group. It's not that I don't regularly encounter teachers who take their profession seriously, rather it's so long been a standard quip that young teachers are so inherently unprofessional that it was a nice fork-in-the-eye of hearsay to see that our young teachers -- at least the folks in my group -- are more than equipped with a good set of professional skills.

Second was that by-and-large, these young teachers are unaware of everything we've been talking about on this blog. That is, with the exception of two or three 'social' Twitterers, the only social technologies represented among the group were MySpace and Facebook. And almost everyone who admitted to using MySpace claimed that they had long since given the service up.

In a way, there seemed to be a bit of embarrassment surrounding the use of social networking. Many admitted that they'd not want their students peeking into their own FB profiles.

Ten weeks should change that attitude.

One of the goals of this course is to help the teachers build their PLNs, so it was exciting to see so many of them sign up for their first Twitter accounts. In fact, we got off to what I consider a good start beginning with a review of the shift in educational technology from the old hardware days to the Cloud and social media followed by a look into the work of folks like McLeod, Fisch, and Richardson.

Then it was on to the nitty gritty of building a digital profile: students created their own Weebly pages to be used as the hub of their social network (I've found this is a relatively easy way to organize if you are using several Web 2.0 services). Folks left the class with a web page, a Twitter account, Diigo, and instructions for starting a blog.

Certainly a different sort of thing than when I was in Ed School.

Next week, we'll take a look at Google Apps for education and Google Profiles as well as ways to activate one's PLN. And on that latter note, I have to give a big hearty shout-out to my own PLN across the Twitterverse: responding in a massive voice in my request for things young teachers should know about Twitter, you all gave the medium the chance to perfectly illustrate the message.

Thank you and I hope you all continue to be a part of this building process for these young teachers over the course of the next ten weeks.

Affiliate Marketing 101: Tips For Merchants

By Luis Galarza - Free Internet Marketing.

As An Online Merchant or Marketer You Should Know That A Well Manage Affiliate Program Is One Of The Best Free Internet Marketing Strategies You Can Use!





Understanding affiliate marketing strategies when you are the marketer is all about make it easy to for web publishers and entrepreneurs to know about it, easy to sign up, to promote, and easy to get support. Specially when your affiliate program is open to all type of online marketers. I said this because there are times when a merchant will hand pick the publishers to partners with, and this can be done in-house or by becoming part of an exclusive associate network, for more information about this read my post title: Affiliate Marketing For Merchants: Affiliate Network Success Elements.

So, you can said that when a Internet merchant wants to integrate affiliate marketing as another medium of web exposure, it comes down to the understanding of three imperative elements:

1. How to start a program successfully.
2. How to set it up so it works automatically and follow your marketing goals.
3. How to manage it to increase program productivity and effectiveness, and..
   
4. How to promote it to the right audience of active web publishers.

Now, this type of online referral or associate systems can cost little to no money to implement, but if you compare the same type of system in the real world or offline, which will be a franchise or vendor opportunity like Avon can cost you way more money, time, and resources to build a similar program. Thank God with have the Internet, which makes this process very easy for small businesses and even home based businesses.



The Tips!

OK, let me go directly to some of the most important factors I learn about running a successful performance based system:


1. - Expose Originality.

What I mean with this is that you need to have a brand, product or service that is easy to market. And for something to have a good marketing response from your audience needs to be unique, so focus on creating an USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that have that special benefit that is different from what your competitors are offering. Sometimes a word or even a letter is good enough to make you original, think Google Nemesis which is a PPC training course, and iPhone which is the mobile phone by Apple that turn very popular starting from the name!


2. - Offer Good Commissions.

This is a big one, because most publishers "beginners and advanced" will pick a partnership with the merchant that offers the highest revenues, specially if the associate is going to invest in pay-per-click advertising to market your goods. Many top online retailers like Amazon or Dell offer commissions of 2 to 10% depending on the product sold. But, when it comes to digital goods like ebooks or software marketers expect to get paid more, usually 40 to 80% of the sales.

So, when it comes to commissions you need to also think about what is the right amount that will keep your online sales force strong and active.


3. - Gain Trust.

One of the best ways to build credibility is by using some good PR, article marketing, and social media strategies. Simply, keep your company on the news by submitting at least one press release per month, write one article per day and submit it to some top directories, contribute to high traffic forums, and keep a constant activity in some the top social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc., this can help you build trust and become an authority in your niche.


4. - Set Up A System That Works.

Make sure you create a program that works automatically, and provide supporting tips right at from, this will reduce your customer service giving you more time to work on other important areas. You need to have a good set of pre-selling and advertising material your partners can use to promote your products. Also, remember to offer as much information about your company and services, because a good salesperson is the one that is the most knowledgeable.


This type of Internet marketing strategy can be put to work on any type of market or niche, of course there a few hot trends right now, but any online business should have a referral system in place.

To get unlimited advice about "Effective Affiliate Management Techniques" visit the IE Club. Yes, is all about having a good management process!

Recommended Resources.

- Insider Secrets To Marketing Your Business Online.
- Super Affiliate Handbook.

Like I said before in this post, implementing an affiliate program to have other marketers promote your products or services can cost little or a lot of money. But, if your programs is profitable, is almost like having a complete free Internet marketing system in place. So, focus on managing it effectively.

To your success,

Luis Galarza, Internet Marketing Consultant In Massachusetts.

Blerp Me

or

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New Interface Thursdays: Tips for keyword management

Now that most advertisers are using the new interface exclusively, we want to share some efficiency tips to really unlock the potential of the new interface.

Focusing on what's important

In the Keywords tab you have several tools that help you focus on what matters to you.

First, you can customize columns to show only the metrics you care about and in the order you want. You can then use filters to focus on keywords that match a certain criteria. For example, you might only want to look at keywords that aren't converting well. Filters let you hone on what's important. You can find examples of good filters to try in this Help Center article.

And once you know what you're looking for, you can put AdWords on the look out. Using custom alerts you can tell AdWords what changes are important to you and be alerted when they happen both in your account and via email. For example, using filters you identify your best converting high volume keywords. You could create an alert to be notified if the conversion rate on those keywords drops compared to last week.

If you're working through a My Client Center account, note that you'll need to log in directly to an individual AdWords account to set custom alerts for now.

Changing many things at once

Once you've found what's important, the new interface makes it easier to make bulk changes to your keywords. First off you can select many keywords at once and click Edit to open up all fields for editing. To save time, you can do this all with your keyboard: select keywords with X, move up and down rows using J and K, and press E to get into edit mode. If you want to select a consecutive list of keywords, select the first keyword then hold the Shift key, and then click the last keyword you want selected.

While in edit mode, you can pause keywords, adjust your Max CPC, change the destination URL, and switch the match type. You can also copy bids and destination URLs to all rows. We've also recently added the ability to raise all applicable keyword bids to their first page CPC. From edit mode, just click Prefill all CPCs to first page bid.

You can also use spreadsheet editing to make bulk changes. Spreadsheet editing lets you work with your keywords as if you were using a spreadsheet. You can use formulas, copy and paste, and even find and replace. You'll find spreadsheet editing by clicking More actions then Spreadsheet edit. Remember that spreadsheet editing can only be done within an ad group.

Moving things around

Maintaining a good account structure is one of the keys to successful AdWords campaigns. So, from time to time, you may want to move things around a bit to create more refined, relevant sets of keywords and ads. This is where the copy feature comes in handy. Like spreadsheet editing, you'll also find copy under More actions.You can copy keywords to another ad group or campaign. When copying keywords, you have the option to also copy the bid and destination URL.

We hope these tips help you manage your keywords more effectively and improve your AdWords campaigns.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Inside AdWords crew