The thyroid gland is extremely important, and your health can improve if your thyroid is treated and supported properly.

When thyroid medication is given in the correct dosage, a patient’s energy level, depression level, cravings and patience are improved.

Let me start from the beginning. TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is the most common thyroid test. The normal scale for a TSH result is .5 to 5 (sometimes .5 to 5.5). This means that when your doctor tests your TSH level, if the result comes back in between those two numbers, they tell you your “results were normal” and that’s the end of it.

Don’t stop there!

What I would suggest to you is to call your doctor’s office, ask the nurse to look up the test results for the TSH level on your chart (assuming you’ve had your thyroid tested–if not, get it tested) and find out what your number came back as.

Most people do best with a number between 1 and 2. If yours came up as a 3 or 4, you are borderline deficient in your thyroid gland.

This is going to deplete your energy, add to your depression, make losing weight nearly impossible, and increase your irritability.

If you are borderline deficient, you have two options:

1) Go on thyroid medication.

2) Work at rejuvenating your thyroid’s ability to function on its own.

The first option may necessitate that you take thyroid medication for the rest of your life. And it can be a long process to find the right dose, because most doctors want you to be on a dose for 2 months before getting retested. Then you have to adjust from there.

There are better methods for finding the right dose for you. If you are on the correct dosage, there are little or no side effects to thyroid medication, so this may be the route you wish to go.

But here’s a warning: when you start taking any thyroid medication, your body will shut down its own production of thyroid hormone, so that you will eventually need to take more and more until you’ve basically replaced most of your body’s natural production of thyroid hormone. This is why, once you go on medication, you will most likely need to stay on it for good.

One more note on thyroid medication. If you do take thyroid medication, I recommend that you ask for Armour Thyroid medication. It is a natural thyroid medication from an animal source that has T3 and T4 thyroid in it.

Most synthetic thyroid medications have only T3, which your body needs to convert to T4, in order to utilize it. If your body isn’t converting T3 to T4 well, the thyroid medications that provide only T3 will not work well for you, either.

I recommend the book “Thyroid Power: Ten Steps to Total Health” by Richard Shames and Karilee H. Shames. This book will help you and your doctor decide which thyroid tests to conduct and how to interpret test results to find the very best level for you. It also goes into more complicated issues like having high anti-thyroid antibodies.

No matter which direction you take as a result of a thyroid test, be sure to do your research and find the best solution for you.

Anita Murray is a Professional Health Coach, Nutritional Consultant, and Founding Editor/Owner of http://www.FibromyalgiaHope.com

To learn more about natural ways to support your health, take this unique, Interactive E-course, entitled “8 PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR LIVING FREE OF FIBROMYALGIA”. Discover simple ideas that will change the course of your illness forever.

This entire article is available for reprint electronically or in print, for free, as long as it is done in its entirety, and the bylines are included.

Obesity is on the rise for canines. The reasons for this influx are similar to those that humans experience, too much food and too little exercise. The results of obesity are similar for your canine friends too. Studies reveal that 25% of overweight dogs experience severe joint problems. This effects their daily activities such as walking, standing and sitting. It also increases pain and makes jumping up or down off the bed difficult. If a dog is overweight its lungs cannot function properly- the extra fat pushes against the lungs and diaphragm and makes breathing more difficult. Carrying extra weight decrease ability to preform daily activities. It takes more work to do everything. Body systems have to do more than they were designed for because extra weight places strain on the heart, muscles and respiratory system. Because being overweight causes daily tasks to be more difficult and causes more pain, dogs can become more irritable. Dogs who are overweight have a shorter life span and a lower quality of life. However, there are several things that a pet owner can do to help their animals shed the pounds and live a longer, happier life.

Assessing Your Dog

One way to get an idea if your dog is overweight is by checking their ribs. The ribs should not be visible as they stand, but still detectable when you touch them or when they move (such as jumping in the air to catch a Frisbee). If you cannot feel your dogs ribs, they are probably overweight. The first and for most important measure though, is to take your dog to their veterinarian. Your dog should be seen on a yearly basis for a routine check up. One reason why visiting your veterinarian is so important is that some dogs do not look overweight. Large dogs can especially hide weight well. Your veterinarian will be able to decide if your dog is overweight and why. To help your veterinarian keep a record of what you are doing with your dog before you go. Record your dogs patterns such as sleeping, eating and exercise. In some cases weight issues might be due to medical conditions, such a thyroid problems, verses overeating and under exercising.

Feeding

Dog’s have a strong need for affection. One reason dogs overeat is that pet owners use food as an easy way to show their affection. It is not recommended to do this. Using food as a means of reward trains your dog to seek food for affection. This adds to their weight gain and all the other associated problems. Instead, fill their need for attention with games, petting and playing or get a new toy or go for a walk. Habits are hard to break, so here are few tips to help you. Do not leave food out all day. Set a schedule and a location to eat. One meal per day (or two small ones) is all that a dog needs. Also, one day each week with no food will help burn excess fat which they have stored in their bodies. Dogs are trained in behavior. If they beg at the table and someone gives them food, they learn that begging results in getting what they want. To help change this pattern feed your dog before you eat and keep them in another room while you have dinner. After, take them out for a walk or to play a game so they feel loved and get the attention they need. Once new patterns have been decided upon make sure everyone in the family is on board. Otherwise someone might feel “sorry” for the begging dog and give them “just a little something” and this will slow down or prevent your dog’s weight loss, especially if that “little something” is every day. Meet as a family to discuss the need for changes in your dog’s diet and how your animal will be effected if you don’t. This will help everyone understand why and help them keep the new rules.

Excercise

The enthusiasm for new changes might cause over doing exercise at first, but it is important not to do this. Start slowly, for just a few minutes a couple times a day. This will be sufficient at first and then you can slowly increase their activity. Encourage your dog to move around the house with you. Movement frequently and throughout the day is essential. If you take your dog out for a hard run to get him “in shape” it might do more harm than good. Especially when no exercise has been implemented in his routine before. A nice, leisurely walk is sufficient each day and then a couple of times a day as directed by your veterinarian. Another way to get movement is by playing games with your dog. As your dog increases in strength and endurance playing fetch is fun for the dog and helps them get in more activity. Follow your veterinarian’s plan and keep appointments. This is especially important if the weight loss is significant.

Loving your pet is doing what is best for them. Increasing their activity and reducing their treats and table scraps will help them become their ideal weight. Your dog will move easier and breath lighter and you can sleep better knowing their health is on the right track.

Emma Snow, an animal lover, works in marketing for Dog Pound http://www.dog-pound.net and Horse Stall http://www.horse-stall.net leading portals for pet management.

When you finally decide on a weight loss program, it is probably because people are looking at you with such scorn. Some may even consider you to be a slob. But that is so wrong. I have found that some people are obese because of various medical challenges.

If you are a person who looks down on overweight people, I would advise you to take a different view. The challenges they face may overwhelm a person like you. But they continue to shoulder their burdens like a trooper. If you had to face half of their burdens, you may crumble at the first sight of the same type of pressure.

Just like you need love and encouragement to overcome your inability to take pressure, obese people need the same encouragement to lose weight. If you are obese, allow me to encourage you to embark on a weight loss program.

That alone would have a marked impression on your sense of self worth, self esteem and most assuredly on your outlook on life. As you endeavor to lose weight you will even develop a healthy perspective.

Find an encouraging partner to lose weight with. Work with and encourage each other. Not only will you have the potential to develop a lifelong relationship, both of you will lose weight at the same time.

It is easy to find a partner. You would be surprised at the people who desire to lose weight. I have a twenty eight year old daughter who is the smallest woman I know. The most she has ever weighed is one hundred and thirty two pounds. She is not on a diet, but according to her, she eats sensibly.

My daughter cannot run because she has flat feet. She works out on a treadmill. She would absolutely love to have a workout partner. But people say that she is so small and that she really doesn’t need to lose weight.

Get yourself a partner today. Don’t struggle alone, people need people. People need encouragement. Ask the smaller woman to partner with you. You can look at her as your desired weight goal. She can look at you as someone she has helped in this life. That’s fine. In helping you, she has also helped herself.

Weight loss is important because you only have one body. Fiona Beckett desires that you learn the best food choices to lose weight. If you do too, please go directly to her premier weight management site. And remember, if you destroy your body with bad food choices, where else would you live? Make a fresh start at: http://www.clefinfodesigns.com/freshst

As it concerns profit margins, inventory control is one of the more visible and appreciable aspects of the manufacturing business today. Raw materials, goods in process, and finished goods are each the visible consequences of inventory in some form or fashion, and each means actual money locked up until product is finally shipped out to the customer. The longer any of these aspects stands idle in the shop, the longer company dollars get tied up in inventory carrying costs. Conversely, the shorter the time inventory stays on-hand, the greater are the enhancements to the bottom-line. What every inventory manager seeks is a rapid throughput and system flow of inventory, especially as a result of the supply chain stream so vital to business today. When inventory moves rapidly through the plant, the benefits in supply chain and inventory management are already being realized. To this end, inventory turnaround means that finished goods are flowing out of the plant and all-important delivery dates are being met.

Inventory turnaround (also termed inventory turnover) is that notion that speaks to the amount of time raw materials and parts spend in the plant after purchase and before they are put to use. Inventory managers seek the fastest turnaround possible, for idle inventory only depreciates in value to the detriment of the company’s bottom line-a wasted cost, so to speak. To enhance inventory turnaround, enterprise resource planning software is developed to integrate all aspects of plant operations to bring real-time data to bear in determining optimum inventory acquisitions/replenishments relative to incoming sales orders and outgoing finished products. Vital to the efficiencies realized in this function of buying-to-the-job is an accurate pull-production scheduling system whereby raw material and/or parts needs are anticipated. Indeed, to provide for just-in-time inventory management and cost savings through economies of scale purchasing, accurate scheduling systems within an enterprise resource planning (ERP) operation allows inventory managers to quickly consolidate purchasing for multiple-jobs that use the same parts.

On the other hand, when raw materials or parts are bought-to-stock for economies of scale, rapid inventory turnaround is bit more problematic and a result of strategic planning. For example, when repetitive production is involved, robust ERP software systems store past purchase histories for material and parts bought-to-stock, and will instantly measure on-hand inventories against anticipated seasonal or otherwise historical inventory needs. This material requirements planning (MRP) involves getting material on hand when needed for production and should address such basic notions as when to place order, how much to order, which vendor to order from, and when the material/parts need to be on hand. A robust ERP software system will provide an easy way to employ MRP programs that schedule and reschedule materials as far into the future as required for repetitive production, and maintain inventory at minimal levels to eliminate waste.

Ultimately, MRP through ERP will create a total inventory management system that is flexible enough to purchase either to-the-job or to-stock. Such flexibility offers the modern manufacturer the ability to take on jobs quickly and without worry for facilitation, and to be able to meet those job delivery requirements consistently and, most importantly, on-time.

http://globalshopsolutions.com/

Dusty Alexander is the President of Global Shop Solutions. Global Shop Solutions is the largest privately held ERP software company in the United States.

Copyright 2007 - Global Shop Solutions. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and give the author name credit.

Has someone that you love experienced a traumatic event recently? Do you want to help them but you do not know how to begin? Here are ten ways to deal with post traumatic stress.

1. THE CONDITION IS REAL Acute post traumatic stress lasts about one to three months. Chronic post traumatic stress lasts more than three months and “delayed onset” post traumatic stress arrives at least six months after the event or stress. The sooner that a person is de-briefed after a traumatic event the less likely the person will have prolonged post-traumatic stress. Make an appointment as soon as possible with an experienced strong therapist that can listen over and over to the details of the event to help desensitize the trauma fears. If a person is talking suicide take them seriously and get them immediately to a hospital or psychiatrist where they may receive observation or medication.

2. KIDS ACT DIFFERENTLY A child responds differently to a trauma then an adult. An adult who experiences intense fear, horror or helplessness may become hysterical, freeze, or act violent. A child may simple act agitated and disorganized. Watch for sleep disturbances, anger, difficulty concentrating, jumpiness or acting too vigilant. A person may also begin to act detached from people, places and activities that were once pleasurable.

3. INDULGE A child may begin to act out the aspects of the trauma repeatedly in play times. Images, thoughts and recollections may occur in adults causing distress. Leave a light on, soft music playing or let someone sleep next to your bed if they are having trouble sleeping at night. Avoid sleeping with the television on because the vulnerable mind is listening while they sleep to conflicts, violence or hard selling that may make the person more upset. This may be the time to indulge an adult or child. Avoid putting more pressure on them or attempting to toughen them up. Taking a child’s favorite blanket or toy away to help them grow up is bad psychology anyway, and would be even worse in a state of trauma.

4. BE ON THEIR SIDE Flashbacks are frequently extremely disturbing and can be triggered by any of the senses, smells, sounds or visual stimulation that reminds the person of the traumatic event. They may temporarily lose their defenses and re-experience the horror of the event. Be patient and try to calm the person by reassuring them that they are safe now. Some combat veterans struggle with flashbacks and post traumatic stress for many years. If you feel embarrassed in public when a nice event becomes a meltdown, then you may be choosing the side of the public and not your loved one. They are in the fight of their life and need all the support you can give. Save any criticism for something that can be controlled, not for post traumatic stress.

5. PROTECT If your child develops an intense fear of a place or person, listen to them. Sexual abuse or the threat of violence can happen in a minute. Maybe you looked away and something happened to your child. Even an older violent sibling or a grandparent with dementia may act inappropriately. Your job is to protect your child, even from family members. Have your child use dolls to show you what happened to them.

6. JUST TV A rape or murder on television is impossible for a child to dismiss as only acting. Screen all violent images that you can until your child is older, including video games, songs and movies. Nightmares and fears may be triggered by fiction as well as fact.

7. EAT WELL Post traumatic stress can happen from many events, including a car accident, a violent crime or a natural disaster. But recurring thought of horrific images can also be self inflicted trauma. The healthy brain diet requires high quality protein and Omegas found in fish and nut oils, fresh vegetables and fruit to operate properly. Sensitivity to wheat, milk, eggs or additives and vitamin and mineral deficiencies can also make the body and mind ill. Many kids eat waffles for breakfast, mac and cheese for lunch and pizza for dinner. Parents wonder why their children are depressed, obsessed or paranoid with diets of predominantly wheat, sugar and milk. Give the brain and body the best possible organic food and see if post traumatic fears as well as other problem behavior disappear more easily.

8. NEVER EVER TELL Are they keeping the trauma a secret? Terrible things can happen to a child or an adult that renders them silent, overwhelmed with guilt or shame. Denial is a coping skill that allows something horrific to be encapsulated and stored in a blocked memory. The very thought of the event is considered too dangerous to remember or even life threatening. A trusted therapist can help to unblock the memory. Remembering may be painful but keeping bad memories inside is toxic to their life and physical health.

9 WHY ME? Painful memories eventually fade. Some people are able to cope more easily than others. Post traumatic stress hits frail women, little children or the bravest soldier without discrimination. It is a mental computer glitch that will heal and is no reflection of intelligence, maturity or courage. The brain has override protection that kicks in to protect itself regardless of a person’s will. One must simply give the brain an opportunity to reestablish normal operating procedure. How long that takes is unique to every individual.

10. YOU ARE DISMISSED The worst thing a loved one can do is try to sweep the feelings under the rug. Comments like, “Oh, don’t be silly,” or “That’s all in your imagination,” do much harm to someone trying to purge themselves of inner demons. Let the person express themselves and hire a professional mental health counselor to help the victim through the worst of it. Soon, you will see the return of lightness and joy in the heart of your loved one.

Dr. Molly Barrow holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is the author of the new book, “Matchlines: A Revolutionary New Way of Looking at Relationships and Making the Right Choices in Love,” ISBN 159507158X. She is an authority on relationship and psychological topics, a member of the American Psychological Association and a licensed mental health counselor. Dr. Molly has appeared as an expert in the film, My Suicide, documentaries Ready to Explode and KTLA Impact, NBC news, PBS In Focus, WBZT talk radio and in O Magazine, Psychology Today, Newsday, The Nest, MSN.com, Yahoo, Match.com, N Magazine, Women’s Health and Women’s World. Take the new relationship compatibility test by psychology expert Dr. Molly Barrow. Please visit:
http://www.DrMollyBarrow.com/ Love and healthy relationship advice for pre-marital, marriage, dating and business relationships.

In 1948, Andrew Wyeth painted one of his most famous works to date and titled it “Christina’s World”. It was done in tempera and depicted the figure of Christina Olson lying in a field on her family’s estate. The Olson house, located in Cushing, Maine, fascinated Andrew Wyeth and seemed to endlessly provide inspiration for his art. Wyeth met Christina Olson and her brother Alvaro through his wife Betsy James in 1940. For some reason, Wyeth believed that Christina and Alvaro, along with their Cushing home, possessed some endearing quality that was unique to Maine. Wyeth was entranced with the Olson estate, and visited the house so often that he was granted use of one of the bedrooms on the upper floor for an art studio, which he used for 30 years of his career. Wyeth’s character would get so immensely involved with the subjects of his art that his works were infused with realism and personality.

The House

The Olson house depicted in “Christina’s World” was built in the 1700’s by the Hathorn family. Captain Samuel Hathorn renovated the house in 1871 and added bedrooms to the third floor. Christina’s mother, Kate Hathorn, met and married John Olson in 1892, who then took over the maintenance of the family farm. In 1929, Christina and Alvaro inherited the property and Christina lived there until two months before she died in 1968. The Olson home is now owned by the Farnsworth Museum and is open for public viewing.

The Painting

“Christina’s World” possesses such a haunting quality that it is understandable why so many people know of it and are touched by it. It is immediately discernable in the painting, that Christina is not simply in repose. With her frail legs peeking out from her pink gown and her torso twisted ever so strangely, it is obvious that she is on a mission. Wisps of hair have come loose from her ponytail and float gently in the breeze.

Many of the small details imply determination and courage in Christina’s character. It is speculated that she is crawling across her property to visit the graves of her parents. Christina had a degenerative muscular disorder which worsened with age. She refused to use a wheelchair and preferred to crawl. Once a sickly child himself, perhaps Wyeth related to Christina on some hidden level. Wyeth contracted whooping cough at a young age, which left him with bronchial problems that made him prone to colds. After completing the third grade, Wyeth’s parents took him out of school and home-schooled him until the age of eighteen. Wyeth later indicated that because of his home-schooling and recurrent illnesses, he was left alone a lot of the time. There exits a solitary, yet courageous quality to this painting that perhaps Wyeth needed to impart.

The melancholy and fierce resolve that emanates from this work is intensely mesmerizing and people were and still are drawn to it. The fame of “Christina’s World” rose from the mystery that the painting created. Christina’s face is not visible, and therefore the viewer is not privy to any emotion that her facial expression would have provided. However, through Andrew Wyeth’s mastery with the paintbrush, the painting emanates perseverance and silent strength, and instills in the viewer a desire to learn more about its history and its creator. “Christina’s World” captivates your attention and does not let go.

Dan Woods is a modern artist and is the owner of the website Andrew Wyeth Prints.

Accurate forecasting for raw materials and parts acquisition by inventory managers is an essential science in manufacturing today. With manufacturers expected to move at the speed of the Internet, processing orders, purchasing supplies, producing product, and shipping finished goods out the door must be accomplished with ever-decreasing lead times and ever-increasing expectations of quality. It is a tightrope walk that inventory managers must take when assessing production needs as a result of sales orders and production throughput. While customer demand can, in some instances, be anticipated based upon prior history, increased demands or slowdowns must also be contingencies planned for with regards to inventory management. In other words, the best case scenario for inventory management is one in which materials and parts are constantly on-hand yet move very rapidly through the plant.

As a process to manage on-hand raw materials and parts, inventory turnaround is the concept that measures how long purchased inventory must sit in the shop until it is used, or in a worst case scenario made obsolete due to non-use. Frequently, it is measured as a simple ratio calculated by dividing the cost of goods sold by the average inventory. This ratio is important because gross profit is earned each time inventory is “turned over”. Of course, to any manufacturer the maintenance of high inventory levels are undesirable because they represent an investment to the company with a zero rate of return. Indeed, inventory turnaround is an integral notion within pull-production processes whereby production is a product of (”pulled” from) consumer demand. In the best case scenario, pull-production means that inventory is acquired “just in time” for use-there is no long duration maintenance of inventory on the shelves or in the bins. Inventory turnaround (also known as inventory turnover) moves at the pace of production whereby the Lean mandates for the elimination of wasted inventory are met.

To manage this sort of real-time inventory, provisions must be made to integrate real-time production data from all aspects of the manufacturing operation. System-wide integration of data provides a much more complete and clear picture of plant needs as a notion of both present and forecasted needs. To this end, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software provides the inventory manager a tool that facilitates inventory turnaround by coalescing system-wide data into one easy to read and use terminal screen view. By integrating such areas as Purchasing, Scheduling, Inventory Control, Production, and Shipping, ERP software systems assist the inventory manager in making accurate decisions with regards to inventory maintenance. To avoid tying up cash flow and inventory space by having too much on-hand material/parts at any one moment, inventory managers can use ERP software for better, more accurate forecasting. Parts and materials are acquired just in time for their use in production.

With all plant functions fully integrated through an ERP software system, inventory turnaround is sped up and maximized for greater efficiencies. And, it is these two factors in manufacturing-speed and efficiency-that are the name of the game in the modern production operation. By maximizing turnaround through proper forecasting techniques, the inventory manager contributes to the maximization of the company’s bottom-line.

http://globalshopsolutions.com/

Dusty Alexander is the President of Global Shop Solutions. Global Shop Solutions is the largest privately held ERP software company in the United States.

Copyright 2007 - Global Shop Solutions. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and give the author name credit.

How would like to be a great manager? I mean a really great manager? Of course we all would but what does a great manager look like? It was years ago when first stumbled over a really great manager and boy I didn’t want to admit he was great. Let me explain.

It was 1970 and I was driving truck for my Father’s company, a small trucker with a hundred trucks serving the building industry. There wasn’t much money in the business, the margins were razor thin and hauling clay pipe, brick and steel coils wasn’t too glamorous. The company had three terminals at this point, one in Chicago, one north of Philadelphia in Pottstown and the home terminal in Akron, Ohio.

I just wanted to learn the business so I spent some time as a mechanic and was now on the road with some long term drivers. All the drivers hated going to Pottstown because the Terminal Manager there, Spencer, was as they termed, a real ball buster. Now I had heard from my father that he was the greatest guy to walk the earth. Umm?

Over the next two years I went in and out of Pottstown and Spencer, which was his last name but the name everyone knew him by, was always there when we refueled. He’d come out, never in a particularly good mood, and make really small talk while he walked around the truck. If there was one dent or scrape that wasn’t there the last time you were in, you heard about it. You could say, Spencer was engaged.

When I started out I was talking trash about Spencer just like the other drivers. My father would always respond, “Well, he always makes me money.” For my father, that was the overriding criteria. But as time went on I noticed something else. Spencer’s drivers had been with the company for a long time. In Akron, the home terminal, they never made money, had high turnover and the place looked a wreck.

Over the course of those two years it became apparent that Spencer indeed was doing something right. Then one day I realized in the office that he didn’t even have an office. He had the same amount of drivers working there doing the same volume of work as Akron and had less than half the support staff. And get this … he didn’t even have an office or a desk. He just sat at the end of his dispatchers desk and long before it was popular he managed by wandering around. He knew the business better than anyone that worked for him.

Over the years I became friends with Spencer and a finer man you wouldn’t meet. I worked hard to understand what his ’secret’ was and you know what, I figured it out. He didn’t have a secret he just did three simple things:

1.-He knew the business better than anyone who worked for him. More importantly they knew he knew.

2.-He truly managed the place as if every dollar he spent was his.

3.-He cared. He cared about the business, the people in it and my father, the owner.

Spencer became a dear friend and my ultimate example of what a great manager really is. It is rare today to find someone who fits the bill of ‘manager’ like Ernest did. It took me a couple years to get over the fact that he didn’t have an office, let alone a desk. He didn’t have a lot of things but what he did have was the ability to deliver the mail, as my Dad used to say. He didn’t have a lot of things but he did just get it done and that makes him a great manager.

Ed Kugler

Ed Kugler has been living change since the jungles of Vietnam where he was a Marine Sniper for two-years in the Vietnam War. He came home to a country he hadn’t left and began work as a mechanic and truck driver. Since then he has worked his way into the executive suite of Frito Lay, Pepsi Cola and Compaq Computer where he was Vice President of Worldwide Logistics, a position he achieved with no college degree. Ed left in 1997 to consult and write. He is the author of Dead Center - A Marine Sniper’s Two Year Odyssey in the Vietnam War and five other books and counting. He regularly consults with some o the nations leading companies on organizational change and coaches individuals to make the most of their lives. Ed is the father of three, grandfather to three and has been married to the same woman for 38 years and counting. http://www.nomorebs.com http://www.edkugler.com

I hear from people all the time who have lost a ton of money selling products online because they were scammed and received a fraudulent order. Just today I heard a disturbing story about a person who was using a drop shipping company to sell products on eBay. The person who bought the electronic (first hint that it could be fraud if its electronics and they want you to ship overseas) was asking for special request like “I want to buy this for a family member and ship it to Nigeria”.

Most that are new to drop shipping and Internet business are excited to get their first order and all they can think about is the profit. They do everything they can to get the order processed properly (and fast to not make the buyer mad) and find out after then order has shipped that they credit card, or payment used was fraudulent and they see none of they money. The problem is they have already bought the item from their drop shipper and shipped it out. They are the ones that have lost, and are out of the money. The drop shipper can’t do a thing about it, and you really are left with the bill.

I have seen some people taken for as much as $5000.00 in one transaction from shady deals like these. I do not want that to happen to anyone who reads this article. That is why I am writing about this not so pleasant “dark side” of drop shipping.

Here is my advice:

If you are doing business in the US, then make sure most of your first transactions are done in the US (so you can get a better understanding of the business you are in). Do not be to quick to fulfill an order overseas without doing your homework. I would call your merchant account company, or bank and ask them what are the proper steps to take in order to confirm an overseas payment. If you ship out quick because you are “giddy and happy”, or because its your “first order” this is how those that run these scams operate - they feed on those kind of people that are so new and green to the industry.

Think first, and be smart about the transaction at hand. If you do, you could end up saving yourself a lot of money and heart ache. You do not want your first business transaction to be a bad experience.

Matt Siltala has been doing business online since 1999 and has seen so many drop shipping scams during that time and wants to help people with his knowledge. He has also been heavily involved with dropshipper companies like The Shipper in order to help them better educate the businesses that use their services.

In my first article in this series, I talked about the importance of creating a custom website that will establish you as a credible Network Marketer. Providing quality content is crucial, but your website also has to be easy to navigate…you want people to judge your content, poke around a little bit (navigate), and at least bookmark your site if they aren’t inspired to take advantage of what you have to offer immediately.

I hope that you have taken my advice and downloaded SeaMonkey, and also downloaded some free templates that you can use to get started. Now for a little research!

Go check out several of the highest ranked websites (you are using the free Google toolbar - right?) Take a look at the navigation bar, usually on the left side of the page (recommended) or on the top to get an idea how the experts are constructing their nav bars. You probably aren’t going to have near the content or number of pages these guys have, but you’re just here for ideas on how to build a tool that makes it easy for your visitors to roam around your “cyberhome”.

Now, copy and paste some of the high-quality content you’ve created into several pages using SeaMonkey. When you get to the point where you need to name these individual pages, make sure that they are called something that relates to the content, and contain a word that you intend to use in your nav bar. This isn’t so much a technical requirement as it is just good methodology.

When you have several pages created, start to build your custom nav bar. Go into the edit mode for the page you’re going to use as your “home” page, and replace the top link in your nav bar with the title you want to use for your home page. It will typically already say “Home” as a default, and that will work in most cases. If you want to rename it, just type over the existing text and you’re done. Well, almost…it’s kind of a personal thing, but I prefer not to enable the link associated with the text for the page actually being viewed. That’s up to you, but it serves no purpose to create a link on a page that simply leads to the same page. OK, so I’m a little compulsive…

To disable a link that already exists, put your pointer somewhere in the text and left-click so that the cursor appears in the text. Then go to the SeaMonkey toolbar and click on Link. This will open a dialog box. If you are disabling an existing link, just delete what is there.

*Note - if you’ve elected to use a nav bar that goes across the top of the page, the first link will be the upper left vs. the top, and will proceed to the right as we go along.

Now you want to build a link on your home page to your second page. Select and rename the second link in your nav bar, highlight the text with your mouse, then click the Link button in the toolbar to open the dialog box. Click on “Choose File”, then find the html file in your main website folder that you want to use as your second page. Double-click the file (it will appear in the dialog box), click OK, and you’re done!

Simply repeat this process until you’ve created all the links on your home page to the other pages you’ve created, then go to each of those pages and build a nav bar that looks the same! You’re getting very close to having a custom website!

One word of advice…test! You can open your home page just by double-clicking on the html file in your website folder. The file will open in a new browser window just as if it’s live, even though it’s only on your desktop. Check the navigation functions on all your pages, making sure that they go where you think they should go. Nothing will discourage a visitor more then ending up on the “Blenders” page when they clicked on “Refrigerators”.

The next lesson will focus on linking to other websites…why you would want to, and how to do it without navigating away from your own website. You want to keep them on your website as long as possible, and bring them back often!

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