Most if not all sales processes consists of three steps. The first one is a very simple one. It is such a basic step that many tend to forget to use it. Even in a normal communication process this activity is also required, but often source of confusion when the complete step has been skipped or ignored. But whether it is the internal sales process, communicating the goals and activities to pursue or the external sales process, it starts with information.

How often do you come across a situation that you have not been informed your self by your manager? Or, as a manager have you ever forgotten to inform your team members about an important issue that will have consequences later on?

The first step in sales is about informing the other party, the other side or person on the line. Sales is not only about selling a product, but many times about gaining commitment. And the first step in doing so is informing someone.

The straightforward sales process also starts with this activity. And much of this sales process is executed by none-specialized sales agents. Instead, marketing departments take most of this responsibility. And the reason is simple, if you are able to inform more people (about a new feature) the conversion to a next step will increase automatically.

Think about the tv-campaigns, the billboards down the roads or the banners on the net. It is all about showing that you (your business) is there, waiting for the unknown prospect to approach. Telemarketing too, is often initiated after prospects have been previously informed. A normal approach is that they receive some kind of information, a leaflet or whatever so that the telesales person can elaborate on existing information - have you received our brochure yet? What did you think of it?

There are three main steps in the sales process. This first step can have a massive approach, where your organization can contact many potential clients. The distance between your (sales) organization and the potential client is still very large. In the next two steps this distance will have to be narrowed down.

© 2007 Hans Bool

Hans Bool writes articles about management, culture and change. If you are interested to read or experience more about these topics have a look at: href="http://www.astorwhite.com/" target="_new">Astor White or sign-up for our href="http://www.astorwhite.com/en/about_news_signup_page.php" target="_new">newsletter

All through history there have been similarities in the wedding traditions and marriage customs of people from all over the world, but each nationality of people seems to have their own little way to go about the union of a man and woman too. The one thing that all wedding ceremonies seem to have in common is the commitment of love and devotion for all time and eternity during a public ceremony.

Everyone at a wedding hopes for a productive and happy union between the wedding couple. Wedding traditions are usually a way of showing signs of this hope for ultimate happiness. Some of these traditions are very interesting.

In the United States a favorite tradition is the best man to auction the garter instead of tossing it. The best man carries a hat around the reception site and the guests put dollar bills in it. Someone acts as auctioneer to count the money, and after a specified time has elapsed, the best man gives the garter to the last person to put money in the hat.

In Sweden, the traditional bride will end up wearing three rings by the end of the wedding ceremony. The first is the engagement ring that she entered the ceremony with. The second, the wedding band, is added to the first. A final band, however, is added as well. This band is known as the ‘motherhood’ band. This is said to indicate the hope that marriage is about more than just love, it is about building a family.

Wedding traditions in the Philippines include the Pandango, a dance which can last for hours. During the Pandango, guests pin money to the bride’s dress to pay for their honeymoon.

A traditional Irish bride may wear a blue wedding dress - believing blue to be a lucky color. English lavender is often mixed with her wedding flower. It is traditional for the bride to braid her hair - as it is considered a sacred way to preserve one’s feminine power and brings luck to the newlywed couple.

In Mexico wedding tradition dictates that a white ribbon or rosary be placed around the necks of the newlywed couple, symbolizing the joining of the two souls.

A wedding tradition in Egypt - just before the marriage vows are spoken - there is a musical wedding march called the Zaffa. There is traditional Egyptian music, belly dancers, drums horns and performers with flaming swords. Many Egyptians believed that the ring finger has the “vein amoris”, the vein of love, which runs straight to the heart.

In ancient civilizations of the Middle East sandals (walking was the main mode of transportation) was exchanged as a sign of good faith whenever a commitment of any kind was made. Today, that tradition has died off in all but weddings where the practice of tying shoes to the bumper of the bridal couple’s honeymoon continues.

There are many wedding traditions around the world which may differ from what you are used to, but if you are about to plan a wedding you may find it interesting to incorporate some of these traditions in your own wedding.

Jeanette Shinn is a wedding professional with over a dozen years experience making dreams come alive. Find helpful tips to href= "http://www.excitingweddingfavors.com/unique-favors.php"> unique favors that help you develop your wedding theme to href= "http://www.excitingweddingfavors.com/cake-toppers.php"> Wedding Cake Toppers options at http://www.ExcitingWeddingFavors.com.

Cholesterol is only found in animal foods. I know that comes as a big surprise, but bad cholesterol is truly only found in animal foods such as meat, fowl, fish, egg yolk and milk products. It comes from saturated fat. Most fats from animals are predominantly saturated.

Fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts contain no cholesterol. That is because the fats are polyunsaturated. The exception is Coconut oil with a high level of saturated fat (not cholesterol) that will raise your cholesterol level up if not used in moderation.

You can tell the difference because one is solid (saturated) and the other is liquid (polyunsaturated).

Chicken and Fish and Fowl (Turkey) have as much cholesterol in them as red meats do. In fact: One 3 oz serving of pork has just a little more cholesterol (76mg) than the chicken breast without the skin (73mg). Switching one kind of meat for another is not the ultimate solution for cholesterol control.

Meat, fowl and fish account for 35% of the cholesterol in the american diet equal to 35% from egg yolks and followed by milk products (ice cream, cheese, milk…) 16%, cooking fats 6% and other 8%.

A study done by Loma Linda Medical University shows that those who consumed nuts less than once per week had the highest risk of heart attack. Those who consumed nuts one to four times per week lowered their risk about 25 percent and those who consumed nuts more than 5 times per week cut their risk of heart attack in half. Many health professionals warn of high fat from nuts and were shocked at this studies results. By the way, walnuts and almonds are the best. Peanuts are not nuts, they are a legume.

Another study showed, women who eat 4 or more teaspoonfuls of margarine a day have a 66% greater risk of heart disease than women who have margarine less than once a month. It’s the trans fats. “Vegetable oils should be used in their natural state,” said the lead researcher.

High fiber is another very important key to reducing cholesterol. The more fiber the better. Heart disease is directly linked to a low fiber diet. This diet would be rich in fruit, vegetables, nuts and grains.

One thing you should know, stored foods like ice cream, cakes, cheese and milk…with cholesterol in them from the animal products used to make them have a lethal damaging effect on arterial walls. This is due to the oxidation to the cholesterol caused by the air it is exposed to, “Oxidized Cholesterol”. This may turn out to be one of the most important dietary factor that influences heart disease risk. This world wouldn’t be much fun if we couldn’t have our cake/ice cream and eat it too!

Good news! Your local health food store has wonderful egg replacers (I like Ener-G, it’s powder and it comes in a box). I am amazed at how good the cake is using these. You won’t miss the real eggs at all.

As far as ice cream goes, there are some very tasty soy alternatives on the shelf these days. Companies have been waking up to the consumers demand for heart healthy and tasty alternatives for some time now and they are getting pretty good at it. I should know, I’m very picky myself and so is my 15 year old daughter. Experiment and find out which ones are best for you.

Just think, if you have to throw one or two in the garbage, it’s better (and cheaper) than throwing the only heart you’ll ever have in the garbage by continuing to eat the real thing.

Healthy Ice Cream Tip: Freeze your favorite fruit ahead (organic banana’s have a sweeter taste). Pour some of your favorite soy milk or water in the blender, add some sweatener to taste along with enough fruit to make an ice cream consistency. Yum!

Blog - http://ThrowOutTheMeds.BlogSpot.com

A few simple writing mistakes can often make the difference between a very good manuscript and a not-so-good one that is rejected by publishers.

Below are just three of the most common mistakes I see day after day as a writing instructor and writing coach:

1) Overuse of participle phrases to begin a sentence. A participle phrase usually begins with a word that ends in the letters “ing.” There is nothing wrong with beginning a sentence with a participle phrase. But when you do it too often, it begins to draw attention to itself and distract the reader from the action of the story.

Like this:

Reaching behind her, Mary grabbed her backpack and ran straight for the woods. Pushing branches and tangled vines out of her way, she was able to find the foot path. But a snake was stretched out across it. Turning around quickly and searching for another way through the forest, she suddenly heard someone call out her name.

Notice how clunky that sounds.

When you finish writing a story, go back over it and circle all the sentences that begin with a participle phrase. If you have several of these phrases on each and every page, change most of them.

Like this:

Mary reached behind her and grabbed her backpack, then she ran straight for the woods. She pushed branches and tangled vines out of her way until she was able to find the foot path. But a snake was stretched out across it, so she turned quickly and searched for another way through the forest. Suddenly, she heard someone call out her name.

2) Dislocating or projecting body parts. Yes, many writers actually do this in their stories. The most common example of this is when characters’ eyes leave their bodies.

Here’s what I mean:

I was angry at my brother. I shot my eyes across the room at him and gave him a dirty look.

Yikes! Was the poor brother left holding those eyeballs, or were they just stuck on the front of his shirt or something?

3) Dialogue that is punctuated incorrectly. The most common example is when characters laugh words. They simply can’t do this.

Try it yourself. Can you laugh and speak at the same time? Not really. Yet, when you use a comma to separate the dialogue tag from the dialogue itself, you are indicating the words were laughed.

Here’s an example:

“I’d never try that in a million years,” laughed Denise.

To avoid this mistake, simply use a period after the dialogue, creating two separate sentences.

Like this:

“I’d never try that in a million years.” Denise laughed.

As you can see, these common mistakes are easy to correct, but now that you’re aware of them, try to avoid making them in the first place and you’ll be a much stronger writer immediately.

For more writing tips visit http://www.workingwriterscoach.com or http://www.the-working-writers-coach.blogspot.com and also sign up to get Suzanne Lieurance’s two free ebooks for writers. If you’d like to learn more about writing for children, visit the National Writing for Children Center at http://www.writingforchildrencenter.com and find out how to join the Children’s Writers Coaching Club.

Some of the new CMS 1500 Forms were printed incorrectly and have caused the delay in the deadline that was imposed for using the new forms. The CMS 1500 forms replace the long lived HCFA 1500 forms. It is extremely important to make sure the forms you have are the correct format and will print properly.

You can easily identify whether your forms will print correctly by looking at the top right corner. There is a small arrow pointing up at the top. It should be located approximately ¼” below the top not at the top edge.

If the forms you have are printed with the arrow touching the top of the page, you should contact the vendor you purchased them from and ask what they are doing about these forms.

Originally April 1, 2007 was the deadline for using the old HCFA 1500 (12/90) forms. After that date the medical providers were to use only the new CMS 1500 (08/05) version which allowed for reporting the NPI number when billing medical insurance claims.

The CMS now states that they are targeting June 1, 2007 as the cutoff date for the old forms. From June 2 on all medical insurance claims must be filed on the new CMS 1500 format. Also keep in mind that even though the deadline for using the CMS has been extended to June 1st, the NPI number must be on the claim forms (no matter which one you use!) by May 23rd.

Meanwhile any CMS 1500 forms that are not printed to specification such as offline or outside the correct boxes will be returned to the provider instead of being processed. Check to make sure you have the correctly printed forms and that you are capable of printing them accurately.

Copyright 2007 - Alice Scott

Alice Scott and her daughter / partner Michele Redmond are co-owners of a medical billing service. They offer an informational website for both physician’s offices and the general public looking for information or help with their problems with medical insurance billing. Check out their website for more information, more about important changes now going on in Medical Insurance Billing, or to sign up for their free monthly newsletter.

The Seagull Who Was Afraid To Fly by Steven Wickstrom, a seventy-three page children’s book released in June, 2004, is one story your children will truly love. In just seven chapters, this paperback teaches children to have courage in the face of fear, the importance of friendship and to accept individuals for who they are - rather than evaluating them on what they are expected to be.

Dusty, is one of four siblings born in the spring. When it is discovered that he is afraid of heights, his parents are distraught with concern of what may happen to him when it is time for everyone to leave the nest. Shamed and ridiculed by his siblings, Dusty grows up with very little self-confidence. With effort, the parents must harden their hearts, destroy the nest and abandon the grown children - as is the way with animals. Dusty is now on his own - and because he has no parents to protect him and he is unable to fly, he must think beyond basic instincts and discover new solutions to each problem he encounters.

Dusty earns the respect of several friends along the way to the beach where he meets the love of his life, Jill. It is through his love for her, that Dusty breaks the chains of fear and not only learns to fly, but to soar! Cute hermit crabs, a seal that can play a banjo, a boisterous goose and a fairly wise sea lion are a few of the friends that aid Dusty and Jill in their adventures.

Author Steven Wickstrom is a Chief Warrant Officer in the US Coast Guard and currently resides in Hawaii. Creatures that he sees in his work inspired many of the ideas for the characters in this book. Interestingly, his research into the fear of heights (acrophobia) and the clinical advice for overcoming this chronic condition was interwoven into the book. As such, the book could be quite useful for self-help groups, caregivers and psychologists. The Seagull Who Was Afraid To Fly is Steve’s first children’s book; his gentle, compassionate story is appropriate for readers aged between 6 and 13.

ISBN: 141371890
Publisher: Publish America

~ Lillian Brummet: co-author of the books Trash Talk and Purple Snowflake Marketing, author of Towards Understanding http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit

It is amazing just how many people are insecure with themselves that they wish to be somebody else. I have even heard of people going as far as having face transplants to look like someone else! Now don’t misunderstand me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having someone to look upto, people you look to for inspiration, guidance and support, this is different to when you seek upon doing exactly what everyone else does, i.e. becoming like the Jones’ - following the crowd. This is unlikely to bring you success in your career or business. You are unique, you are the only one with your particular uniqueness, one in more than a billion people, strong and living, that is to be celebrated not discarded.

In Wes Beavis’ book - ‘Escape to Prosperity’ he talks of how we live in a society where people want to be better than the Jones’, their next door neighbour, but you do not know how those people got their success, certainly be inspired by them if necessary but do not envy and therefore feel like you are inadequate as a person. What you need to do is work on your inner self, developing your knowledge and skills in whatever you want to accomplish. “There is nothing more that speaks of success than the easy confidence that comes from living debt free,” Wes Beavis. Leave the Jones’ alone, if you can take some encouragement from them that is fine, but remember keeping up with the Jones’ may mean keeping up with their high level of debt.

In your search for the perfect job or business you may have to do things different, like listening to motivational tapes, using a mentor for advice on matters that are pertinent to your career or business, attending seminars on interview skills and techniques, learning from experts in the field, getting advice about the presentation of your resume or CV this is not what most people do, in general people restrain themselves they ignore the work that goes first because they want success now, a symptom of the society they live in to which they have succumb.

I read a passage from John Harrison’s excellent book - ‘How to stop working and make a £million pounds instead’. In the book he goes on to say that the word eccentric and millionaire seem to go hand in hand it suggest that people who are rich are not normal or different from the rest of us. Though we have to be careful of this notion that rich people are not normal it is worth looking into why rich people are thought of in this fashion. So lets look at the definition of the word ‘eccentric’, Webster Dictionary defines the word as ‘deviating from an established or usual pattern or style.’ Now ofcourse millionaires deviate from an established or usual pattern or style! This is the essential pre-requisite to achieving anything worthwhile. Why? Because extraordinary results require extraordinary actions to bring them to fruition. What do you think happens when you conform to an established or usual pattern or style? That’s right, you get a normal or the same usual results which does not lead to great success or wealth.

So you see, you need to re-programme your mind in order that you can get over the shackles that were placed on you as a child. As a child growing up we are taught by our parents that there is one right way of doing everything, one right way for holding a spoon, a fork and so on after all it is what the books at school say, it is where we get our instructions from. This middle of the road approach to life is certainly not a recipe for success and therefore we must realise our differences and uniqueness, learn from other successful people understanding that they did not follow the crowd, they simply took bold and courageous steps and went beyond where most people were willing to dare.

In summary, be confident in yourself that being different is okay and normal, people may comment on why you have decided to take the unfamiliar path, but do not despair you are simply doing what most successful people do. Like Shakespeare said: ‘Dare to be different.’

Eating a healthy well balanced diet is so important these days especially for growing children. So many people get caught up in daily life that they find themselves eating fast foods and buying pre-packaged foods that are filled with preservatives and too many words we cannot pronounce. We see numerous stories on television promoting this vitamin or that supplement that and which can be pretty confusing for the average consumer. One thing that hasn’t changed though is how important and essential some of the fats and nutrients from fish are to our bodies. While some people are leery of toxins and mercury that could be found in some fish others are extremely allergic. With these facts in hand there is much to be said about supplementing the American diet with safe pharmaceutical grade fish oil.

You’ve probably heard the term “omega fatty acids” in association to healthy foods or a well balanced diet. EPA and DHA are both omega-3 fatty acids that are found in most of the fish we eat. Some fish that are high in these particular fatty acids are salmon, cod liver, and mackerel. Unfortunately, most people don’t consume nearly enough omega fatty acids, and low levels of DHA and EPA maybe been linked to such disorders as depression, bi-polar disorder, and even ADHD. Consuming large amounts of specific fish has can be associated with dangerously high levels of mercury and other toxins.

Supplementing your diet with pharmaceutical grade fish oil could benefit you in many ways. It can be harvested from fish in very cold waters in only precise parts of the world where environmental and human hazards are at a minimum, providing you with the purest form of the essential aspects of fish oil. When choosing a pure, quality fish oil, research the company’s guidelines to remove toxins ensuring they follow strict procedures.

Pregnant and nursing women should be particularly interested in a fish oil supplement because it may help growing fetuses and nursing infants develop essential brain functions associates with memory. DHA is also one of the main ingredients listed in infants’ formula as an essential element for growing babies. The omega fatty acid EPA has its own set of benefits. It may help with heart disease, lowering bad cholesterol, and improve some skin conditions!

It is true that the average American doesn’t consume enough of the right foods containing omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and certain plant matter to possibly help in brain growth and function. To ensure that our bodies are getting adequate amounts of the elements it needs, eating 2-3 servings of omega rich fish a week or supplementing the correct dosage of pharmaceutical grade fish oil could greatly impact your brains ability to function at its highest level as well as help with a myriad of other health and wellness benefits being researched today.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Lori Matthews studies health, nutrition and wellness. She enjoys writing articles on health for both people and pets. Please visit Sealogix pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplements for more information.

You are in the process of modernizing your home, and as such you would also like to do some contemporary landscaping. (Contemporary- existing or occurring at, or dating from, the same period of time as something or somebody else). You would really like to do your own landscaping, but are considering hiring professional landscapers because you are not especially familiar with landscaping. So, what you need are some contemporary landscaping ideas.

About Contemporary Landscaping

History: Contemporary landscaping began to emerge in northern Europe during the first half of the 20th century, and combined elements of English landscape gardening with influences from modern architecture. New materials such as wood, concrete, metal and glass, and other non-traditional materials found their way into the creation of this new vitality. Contemporary landscaping utilized variations in scale, time, space and texture to create abstract patterns. Newer designs also created innovations in light and space, often told in color, creating new focal points and visual patterns.

There is actually no one kind of contemporary landscaping, since modern houses love to emulate older styles, especially the English Garden look. If this look appeals to you, consider that for one of your contemporary landscaping ideas.

What many people like the most about the English Garden look as a contemporary landscaping idea are the flowers. This look is thus very popular with people that have large yards. This is because people that have large yards are able to accommodate one of the trademark facets of an English Garden, and those are rose bushes

Rose bushes are classically beautiful, and as such they can really add to your contemporary landscaping ideas. For example, if you are the kind of person who loves colorful flowers, purchase several kinds of roses. While roses traditionally come in bushes, they can also come in vines. However, you should make sure they are carefully fed and pruned if you do decide to implement rose bushes into your contemporary landscaping ideas.

Some people prefer to have an herb garden as part of their contemporary landscaping idea. Herb gardens appeal to people because herbs can be used for cooking, as well as for decorative reasons. However, when planning your herb garden be sure that you know what herbs can be planted together, because some herbs end up taking over other herbs.

Another thing that people like to do when it comes to contemporary landscaping is various fauna in patterns. Perhaps you have seen things like this before, and they really are impressive. While you can try to get the fauna to do this yourself, it is not the best idea to do so, because if you hire a professional to do that, you are saving yourself time and possible annoyances!

Contemporary landscaping mixes the elements of man made structures, such as buildings with natural trees and flowers. Such landscaping is common among city people or people that like shrubs, trees and flowers but do not necessarily have the time to take care of them.

If you would like more landscaping ideas, go to your local garden center. There you will find a variety of different plants that you might want to include in your yard. You can also search the internet for more landscaping advice. With the proper research, you are sure to find the right contemporary landscaping ideas!

Copyright © John Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

John Hanna has traveled the world by Air and Ship while writing eBooks, Software Reviews and Practical Articles on Internet Marketing, Cruising, Gardening and Travel. Visit his websites at Gardening Landscaping Tips
Gardening Outside
and Indoor Herb Garden

You might have a strong case in arguing that no one is indispensable in their job, and i would agree to some extent, especially in today’s uncertain jobmarket. So how can you indeed become indispensable in your job? Well, it is really about having a certain mindset that if utilised will enable you to distinguish yourself from the crowd, providing you with confidence and security in your long term career.

I have said in previous articles that in order to succeed in your career you need to think like a business person and not like a mere employee. This is why the solution lies in your thinking and especially how you think of yourself. When you think like an ‘employee’ it sought of means you place less value on yourself, you rely upon your boss to do everything, he/she pays your wages after all. But when you think like the boss you become indispensable it means you place higher value on yourself you are self sufficient, self motivated, independent, reliable and essentially you are just like the boss. This is not to say employees are not valued, the difference is that though the employee may do those things, working hard and so on, they often do not see themselves in a positive light inside of their own mind, hence they place low value upon themselves.

If you look at football stars today, some might say they have become rather arrogant because of the large sums of money they make, but the point is they actually see themselves as lending their services (just like a consultant might be hired on a contract and paid to work on a certain project) for a period of time after which they would move on to a new team, so in order to get that new contract, that bigger paycheck they work even harder for their current team hoping someone will spot their talents. And so you must do the same as you do not know how long you will be playing on your current team. But whilst you are in the team you need to put in the effort that will get you noticed either inside your company or by people within your industry. Therefore you need to start thinking like a consultant or an agent, unfortunately most people look at their jobs as their final destination point and as a result end up frustrated and miserable.

The term ‘Intrapraneur’ is the term used to describe an entrepreneur that works inside a business, and in fact i understand that there are some major corporations which have piloted and formalised this theory into practice by having ‘intrapraneurs’ in their firms, these companies allow their staff to be free in their thinking in the knowledge that any creation which might materialise from their work is equally shared by the company and the individual. This is certainly a new shift of thinking in comparison to the stifiling bureacratic man management style that is so bereft of most organisations today.

The bestselling American author Robert Allen certainly concurs, he mentioned on one of his audio tapes that if you wish to get ahead in the 21st century jobmarket you need to think like an ‘intrapraneur’ in essence think like a business person, it allows you to see what your boss is seeing. Above all, it will reduce or eliminate the fear that comes from loosing your job or being made redundant knowing that your service to the company was only temporary, long gone are the days when people were guaranteed a job for life. Being indispensable is about knowing your value, your true worth, if you value your skills and ability then people will come looking for you. A very good friend of mine and a man i highly respect, he is a very successful medical doctor in New York city, USA, a specialist in cardiology and the liver. He told me ultimate success in the workplace is when you do not have to worry about finding your next role, the roles come searching for you. Now that is the mindset of an ‘intrapraneur.’