1)-You agree too easily.

When you decide to think independently and try to make some real dough, almost everyone you encounter will try to dissuade you from it or otherwise implant negative ideas in your mind if you lend them your ear.

They’ll try to convince you it’s much safer to have a job and fuel your dreams by buying lottery tickets. If you listen to their poison, you’re smoked.

2)-You procrastinate.

Entire books have been written on the subject. If you don’t get in the habit of taking action now, your life will be over before you even start living it. Time flies and there is not reason to wait. When you know the next step, you must take it immediately.

3)-You need reinforcement to act.

Similar to number 1, this factor is just as deadly. If you need people to agree with your ideas and tell you how good you are before you act on them, you’ll wait a long time. Learn to trust yourself. That’s the person that has the most influence on your success.

4)-You tolerate excuses.

If you’re going to make real money, you have to lower your tolerance to zero. Take no excuses from others and even less from yourself. Small compromises too often duplicated make a perfect plan a pathetic failure.

5)-You haven’t taught yourself to make decisions.

Great fortunes stem from the ability to string together good decisions and execute the necessary actions. At first, the only person that can make those decisions is you. Most employees are like herd cattle, they need a barking dog in front of them to guide them right or left.

6)-You don’t know what you’re good at and what you like.

If you do something just because you heard it makes money, chances are it’ll do the exact opposite. Building true wealth will require a brief period of very hard work. If you don’t like what that work consists in, you won’t finish the race.

Sometimes we think our inclinations are “too unconventional”. That is often not true. There is a market for almost anything.

7)-You automatically think new is better.

Here is a proverb: “things seem worst just before they get better”.

Most people give up in that dip, thinking they’ve come to a wall when in fact they’ve come to a door.

Persist in what you do and resist the temptation to jump on the new hot ticket. Persistence is much more lucrative than just about any other possibility.

8)-Your attention controls you instead of you controlling it.

If this is the case for you, you get nothing done that has any real value. You get lost and stumble around as your unfocused energy disappears into the great beyond leaving you with nothing to show for it.

Make a plan and stick to it. No excuses.

9)-You criticize rather than analyze.

If you do this, you are a human cancer to yourself and others. The best thing to do, metaphorically speaking, would be to cut you out of contact with a sharp knife to stop you from spreading.

With this mentality, your ideas are killed in the egg and the people that could help you get what you want will have nothing to do with you.

10)-You have a low tolerance for risk.

Maybe you have no money or a family to support. Those are darn good reasons not to take chances with your money or situation. Many others prefer safety to potential gain.

None of the above are ready to make any money. Change your situation or change your belief system before you even attempt it or you will soon confirm why you don’t like risks.

11)-You’re unable to make a commitment.

“Plan the work and work the plan”. 95% of the accomplishment is not worth 95% of the reward, it’s hardly work anything at all.

When you don’t see things through to the end, you have done nothing at all except assure your failure. Don’t cheat yourself. If you make a decision, it becomes written in stone except in very rare situations. Make it happen.

12)-You’re not willing to pay the price.

Never mind all the other things that come into play, like the option cost on your free time and leisure activities. Just look at all of the above. You won’t get there by accident. There is a price to pay, over and over again. How bad do you want it?

13)-Being afraid to fail.

You should be afraid NOT to fail. If you don’t fail, it’s because you didn’t try. If you didn’t try, you never even had a chance.

Direct marketers consider a 10% success rate great because they can ride that one success into the sunset.

Don’t count the “Yeses” count the “Nos”. For every one you get, you’re that much closer to the big breakthrough.

Alex Goad writes internet marketing articles such as this Adwords180 review. Find more business articles on the author’s internet marketing blog.

Yeah! We all know them. Those disgusting people who can walk into any situation and seem to fit right into the conversation. They seem to feel at home with any crowd, and they can turn a bunch of strangers into friends in moments. In fact, they can do it in the time it takes you and me to munch a couple of dainty sandwiches, drink a glass of punch, and fade into the wall paper.

I guess it’s one of those things you are either born with, or brought up to do.

Or is it?

Like many things in life, being able to feel comfortable among strangers, make conversation on topics you know little about, and come out on the other end with new friends or business contacts is a skill that can be learned. While being born with certain genes or having been raised a certain way can surely help, you can learn how to get around those presumed limitations, and might even wind up being better at carrying it off than those who seem to have a head start on you.

While entire courses and training programs could be committed to turning the most insipid wallflower into a blossoming conversationalist and bon vivant, here are a few tips to help you ratchet up your “gift” of gab to a point where you too can join the crowd in the corner and discourse wittily on the subject at hand…usually.

1. Start with who you are. Don’t ever fake it. If you’re a gardener and the topic is rocket science, listen and learn. When the garden crowd drifts over, there’s YOUR chance to shine. You are simply not going to be the center of attention, or even a small fountain of wit and wisdom in every conversation.

2. Listen and learn. Since we mentioned it above, let’s explore this a little. First of all, you can often seem wiser than you are by keeping your mouth shut. While it’s shut, listen to that rocket scientist. Maybe the dry, technical details are over your head, but he may say something that makes sense to you and you can use the info in a conversation later. He may whet your interest in the topic, and what better source of reference than to ask the learned speaker what his, or her, advice would be on how to learn more.

3. Be patient. We have already established that you don’t want to jump in over your head and that you may benefit from the discourse anyway. However, no matter how elevated the topic, any conversation may often drift to other, more mundane topics, particularly if there are others, like yourself, who are in the dark on some highly technical issue.

4. Be curious. As mentioned above, asking a pertinent question or even professing to ignorance in hope of enlightenment will generate sparks of familiarity with the speakers. More than once, I have watched several experts practically compete with one another in their attempts to simplify and communicate a difficult subject to someone who seemed genuinely interested. Anyway, people like to have their egos stroked, and giving them an opportunity to demonstrate their command of the subject, or asking them for their opinion can really get the juices flowing. In the middle of all this, you learn more, create new friendships, and grow more comfortable within the group.

5. Admit mistakes and ignorance, take blame, laugh at yourself. One of the easiest ways to put others at ease is to admit your own ignorance. When you begin a statement or question by letting the others know that you might not know what you are talking about, they feel less “threatened” if that is a good word. It is a tension breaker in all directions when someone owns up to ignorance or error. Most people feel inclined to forgive those who can own up to their errors or lack of knowledge. They will also feel more comfortable if you can laugh at yourself.

6. Have a sense of humor. While many subjects are serious and do not allow a lot of leeway for humor, most people in a conversation are generally open to humor as long as it is not mocking or of the keystone cops variety. Of course, if the group is just cutting up, then cut up with them.

7. Educate yourself. The essence of feeling comfortable in a group is knowing that you are as knowledgeable as anybody else there. While you may regularly feel this way at work, where you are among peers, it may be quite different at a party or on a date where your counterpart may be from some other field or social group. Keeping up with the basics on current events in the fields of politics, economics, sports, science, health, and entertainment gives you toeholds on which to stand above the crowd in many conversational venues.

It also helps to keep up with popular books and movies of the moment. Even if you can only get around to actually reading or seeing one, and that one is NOT the one under discussion, you will at least have some concept of what many other popular books (or movies, or TV shows) of the moment are about, and you will possibly be able to ask rational questions which gives those who ARE familiar with the subject the opportunity to shine.

8. Prepare yourself. While education as mentioned above is a daily process, and might not have much depth, preparation can go much deeper. There are two ways that this can turn you into a conversational powerhouse.

** Become an expert on a particular subject or area. It could be a hobby, or you could just find something that interests you and might be of interest to others. For example, if you were an expert on precious stones, politics, antique coins, rare books, health, or physical fitness, there will be opportunities for you to discourse learnedly on your subject. If it is a subject that you feel deeply about, the depth of your feelings will often mold your presentation and manner of speech in such a way as to leave an impression on your listeners.

** Cram before the event if possible. If you are going to be among investors, learn some investing terminology. If as you read you have questions that the books or tapes don’t seem to answer, save those. You may have a chance to ask a genuine (or assumed) expert.

9. Encourage others to speak. If Jane is commenting on a subject and seems to reach an end, encourage her to go on. You can simply say, “tell me more”, or you can ask a question as mentioned above. If Jane is standing in the crowd and you know she is itching to say something, ask something like, “Jane! Didn’t I hear you talking about that earlier?” Of course, if you have no idea what Jane is thinking, shut up and leave her in peace.

10. Follow up. If the people are of interest to you, or you want to learn more about the subjects discussed, get names and numbers, ask for business cards, and carry some of your own. Call them up later to tell them how much you enjoyed the conversation, invite them to meet you for a lunch or cup of coffee, or send them a small gift that in some way relates to the experience.

A few months ago, I attended a presentation given by a local newspaper editorialist. In the process of his presentation, I realized that many of his points were similar to, though not the same as, some points made in a book that I had enjoyed. I chatted with him after the presentation for just a couple of minutes, but managed to ask him if he had ever read the book. He admitted that he had not but seemed interested in it, even taking a moment to get a business card and write down the title of the book and the name of the author. Later, checking on Amazon, I realized that I could get a copy sent to him for a few dollars and did so. A few days later, he contacted me, thanking me for the book. He and I have communicated occasionally since then, and he has offered me encouragement and advice on my writing, and has even suggested I join a professional organization I had not even known existed.

One of the most important investments you can make in any “growth stock” is in the quantity and quality of your personal and business contacts AND your friends. Life is much easier for those who have invested wisely and widely in these. With a good list of friends and professional contacts, the next job is easier to find, the solution to the next problem is in your address book, the right contact is a phone call away, and life is a pleasant passage indeed.

Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as yoga, writing, nature, animals, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, health, fitness, and weight loss. He has collected several of his articles on health, fitness, diet, and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/.

If you’re really serious about making money with your new business, you must take the time to write a good business plan. A business plan is a roadmap that covers all the aspects of your business, and is vital if you’re planning on applying for a small business loan.

A business plan is also something which intimidates many new business owners who have no clue as to what to put in their business plan. Depending on the nature of your business, your business plan can be an elaborate write-up and analysis topping 100 pages, or it can be a narrative of 10 - 20 pages. What are 7 “must-haves” for your business plan?

1. Mission Statement

A mission statement is where you state your purpose for starting this business. Perhaps you’re starting a dog-treat bakery to sell home-made dog treats because you feel there are too many harmful additives put in pet food. Or, perhaps you’re starting a hypnotherapy practice because you strongly believe in the power of the mind to heal, change bad habits or increase motivation. Your mission statement doesn’t have to be long, but it does have to reflect your reasons for starting your business. If all you can think of is “I need to make money somehow,” then you might want to consider a different business.

2. Describe Your Business

This is where you describe in detail all the aspects of your business. Are you a service-oriented business (therapist, hair-stylist, consultant, etc.)? Do you sell products? Give a description of your products. Do you use a wholesaler or dropshipper? Do you manufacture the products yourself? What makes your business unique?

3. Short-term and Long-Term Goals

This is where you state your long- and short-term goals. For the short term you would list your goals for the next few months to a year. You might have as your goals finding a business name, applying for a business license, taking some SBA classes to learn more about running a business, securing office space, or whatever you might need to begin your business. You might also include the income you expect to earn in your first year of business. For your long-term goals you might want to pick a three-year to five-year goal. Your goals could include future product lines and any future marketing plans. It might include opening new stores, offices, or starting new websites.

4. Potential Customers

This is where you list who your customers will be. Who will buy your product? Who needs your services? What are they looking for? Why do they need your product? This helps you focus on the type of marketing you need for your customers.

5. Competition Analysis

This is where you analyze your competition. How can you know your chances for success if you don’t know what you’re facing in the way of competition? In the example of the hypnotherapy practice you would want to identify all the hypnotherapists in your area. You would also want to include psychotherapists or alternative-health professionals who may also appeal to your potential clients, as well as hypnosis CDs offered on the internet. This can help you spot the areas where the competition is less. For example, if you’re a hypnotherapist and find the competition is stiff for weight-loss or smoking cessation programs, try to find a niche which is less competitive.

6. Financial Analysis

It’s important you take a realistic look at your finances. You need to write down all the money you pay out each month for personal and expected business expenses, versus how much you realistically expect to bring in each month. Remember to list everything: ISP charges, computer upgrades, office rent, electricity, products to sell, housing, medical expenses, charge cards, etc. Make sure you will be able to afford the business and your current lifestyle. You may find that you will need a small business loan to cover your expenses until your business is able to pay all your expenses. Or, if your business is one you can start on a part-time basis, you may find it’s smart to take on a part-time job while building up your business, with the hopes of making your business full time in the future.

7. Marketing

This is where you list all the places where you’ll be able to advertise or market your new business. This could include a blog, website, articles in newspapers, articles in online article sites, press releases, appearance on cable-access television, offering free presentations at local groups and organizations. Don’t overlook anything. You’d be amazed how much business you can get by giving a free presentation at a local homeowner’s association meeting or local chamber of commerce. Take advantage of local Toastmaster’s group for gaining experience in public speaking.

Be sure to refer to your business plan from time to time to make sure your business stays on track. It’s okay to make changes along the way as you find what works and what doesn’t work. If you are using your business plan for a business loan, you may want to hire a professional business plan writer who can review your plan before submitting to funding sources.

Shari Hearn is a writer and creator of a career training website where you can learn about many different career options, including paralegal study.

I was amazed to learn recently that the most popular course in colleges today is a Psychology course on happiness. Martin Seligman is the Positive Psychology guru who has written the book Authentic Happiness. He says that happiness is more of a pursuit ala Thomas Jefferson rather than something we can acquire. Here are some tips to help you in your pursuit of happiness.

1. Happiness is a choice - You are able to take a positive or negative approach to issues. Do you find what is good about something or do you focus on what is bad about it?

2. Be grateful - Find the things for which you are grateful and focus on them.

3. Avoid negative self talk - Monitor what you say to yourself. Do you tell yourself you always screw up things, you’ll never amount to anything or you are bad at ______? Change your language. Be kind to yourself and forgiving. Avoid using the words “always” or “never” because they have permanence to them that signal you that there is nothing you can do about it.

4. Enjoy relationships with others - People who have friends and a community to support them feel happier. If necessary build your community.

5. Know your life purpose and your values - Find ways to use your purpose and values in your work and in your life. When you know your purpose you know the work you were meant to do. When you define what most important to you in life you know your values. Using your purpose and values gives meaning to your life and work. Doing meaningful work makes you a happier person.

6. Find a cause or an interest that engages and excites you - When you are excited and engaged in what you are doing it can become a passion. Use that passion in your work or in a volunteer activity.

7. Find your own specific work-life balance - Make sure you achieve that balance on a daily basis. If you have a day or two where the balance is off, refer to #3 and forgive yourself.

8. Avoid perfectionism - Perfectionists set themselves up to be disappointed. That disappointment leads to negative self talk. Strive to do your best work and forgive yourself if it is not perfect. Remember that mistakes make you human.

9. Don’t take yourself too seriously - Laugh at yourself and see the humor in your humanness.

10. Take 30 minutes a day for quiet reflection - Recall a time and place when you were very happy and spend time in that memory. Use this time for quiet meditation too. Today’s life is busy and hectic. Allow yourself to slow down. Appreciate yourself.

About Alvah Parker

Alvah Parker is a Practice Advisor and Career Coach as well as publisher of Parker’s Points, an email tip list and Road to Success, an ezine. To subscribe send an email to join-roadtosuccess@go.netatlantic.com.

Parker works with successful attorneys who feel overwhelmed by their work and are willing to take action to create a more profitable practice and a more fulfilling life. Alvah also helps attorneys and others who want to change careers and find the work that is more meaningful and fulfilling. Alvah is found on the web at http://www.asparker.com She may also be reached at 781-598-0388

It seems like there are dozens of great, new websites and web resources popping up every day. Some of these new web toys and tools are pretty cool - but it’s tough to keep track of them all. Let me save you the trouble of sorting it all out with a quick review of some of my newest faves:

1.-Blurb - (www.blurb.com) Cool concept. Blurb lets you create your own, customized book in a variety of sizes or versions (hardcover, soft cover, photo book, text, etc.) You simply import your content into one of their template designs, and follow the process to build your book. Prices start at $12.95 for a small, 40-page book. Perfect for kid projects, cook books, photo essays or your own literary masterpiece!

2.-Ziggs - (www.ziggs.com) This social “professional” networking site is like MySpace for grownups. Ziggs lets you organize your contacts, friends, to-do lists and e-mails in one, central “hub.” Similar to LinkedIn, but with different features.

3.-Twitter - (http://twitter.com/) Web citizens are all atwitter about Twitter, the very latest blogging craze that lets you share very brief (usually one line) “twitters” about what you’re doing at this moment. Twitter describes itself as a “global community of friends and strangers” answering one question: “What are you doing right now?”

4.-Tumblr - (www.tumblr.com) “If blogs are journals,” this site says, “then tumblelogs are scrapbooks.” With Tumblr, you can share or post just about anything: Photos, videos, quotes, articles, links, etc. Very user friendly and fun.

5.-MyMasterboard- (http://www.mymasterboard.com/) This is a for-pay ($29 USD annually) service that allows you to design your own “vision board” for goals and affirmations. They provide photos, designs and “visioning” tools. You can also create screensavers or wallpapers for your computer.

6.-Askville - (http://askville.amazon.com) The newest offering from Amazon.com, Askville, is part Wikipedia, part message board, part chat room. Ask any question and tap into the collective brain.

7.-Joe’s Goals - (www.joesgoals.com) This site is a simple, user-friendly and free goal tracker. According to Joe: “Inspired somewhat by Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues, I built Joe’s Goals to make it stupidly simple to create, track, and share your personal goals.”

I hope you find some tools you can use to make your day more productive and fun. Happy surfing!

TV writer/producer Lou Bortone is “The Online Video Guy,” who gives small businesses and entrepreneurs the tools and rules for creating their own online video content. Lou helps individuals, businesses and non-profits produce compelling video blogs, podcasts and TV programs for the Internet. Call Lou at 603-498-9254 or e-mail lou.bortone@gmail.com when you’re ready to profit from the online video revolution! And be sure to visit http://www.theonlinevideoguy.com and pick up your FR*EE Special Report “7 Secrets to Boosting Your Business Using Online Video!”

Are you using audio or video on your website yet to boost your business? No? Well, find out how to get video on your site fast and easy at TheOnlineVideoGuy.com!

The corporation has been described as one of the great inventions of mankind. An entity on its own, the corporation exists separate from the personal fortunes of its founders, can pass from their hands intact, and may even outlive them. It pays its own taxes, can be sued in its own name and may have many owners in the form of shareholders over time.

There are many advantages of doing business in this structure. So, let’s look at the top 10 reasons to set up a corporation.

1. Protection from liability

This probably ranks number one among the top 10 reasons to set up a corporation because of the limited liability that the corporate structure affords its owners. Theoretically, the corporation is responsible for its debts and obligations. This benefit is not absolute though and has boundaries. The corporate veil may be pierced under certain circumstances and shareholders of a new or small corporation may be asked to give personal guarantees when trying to obtain financing.

2. Ability to Raise Capital

One of the top 10 reasons to set up a corporation is the increased ability to raise capital, when compared to a sole proprietorship or partnerships. Outside investors may be enticed by the tax benefits and limited liability offered by corporations. The flexible nature of the capital structure in corporations allows them to address a wide variety of investors with varying needs.

3. Choice of Tax Year

Tax law allows corporations (except S corporations) to freely choose their fiscal tax year, which may be different from the calendar year. The corporation can select the tax year most advantageous to the business and most appropriate a fit to its natural business cycle.

4. Business Continuity

This is not too obvious a benefit but certainly important enough to be one of the top 10 reasons to set up a corporation. The corporation can survive its founders provided that it complies with state and federal regulations.

5. Centralized Management

Shareholders in the corporation possess the right to vote for and determine the board of directors of the corporation, who in turn elect the officers of the corporation. This affords control.

6. Transferability of Ownership

In contrast to the other forms of business entity, the ownership interest of a corporation is easily transferred. Barring any prohibitive agreement among shareholders, or restrictions in the articles of incorporation or bylaws, shares of stock may be bought and sold freely.

7. Corporate Identity

Shareholders benefit from the sense of image and stability of a corporation.

8. Tax Savings

Corporations are taxed at a lower rate than individuals. They can own shares in other corporations and receive corporate dividends 80% tax free. This is certainly one of the top 10 reasons to set up a corporation.

9. Less Risk of IRS Audit

The probabilities of IRS audits on corporations are lower than on individuals, and disallowances are likely to be less.

10. Employee Benefit Plans

The last, but not the least of the top 10 reasons to set up a corporation, can be found in employee benefit plans. The owners of a corporation may be in a position to take advantage of several IRS-qualified employee benefit plans that can be used both to compensate employees and to reduce the corporate income tax liability. Payment to these benefits gives the corporation a tax deduction and the shareholders may receive favorable tax treatment on the dividends arising from it.

My name is Ashley Castellanos, and I have been helping Internet business owners set up and run their businesses correctly since 1997. I own Corporation Soft, a company that was created for, and is dedicated to teaching business owners how to incorporate, and how to do it for less!.

Not only I am obsessed with computers, the internet and components, I absolutely love Ebay as well. Some people say Ebay is like having a garage/yard sale. I say no. If you had 10 things on a table for sale at your garage/yard sale, are you going to sell all of these items? On Ebay you probably will.

Here are some of my tips for buying and selling on Ebay.

Buying

-Check the seller’s feedback and other items that they may be selling. Not that it works that well anymore with people buying feedback through the 1 cent auctions.

-Always be sure of postage costs or any added postal insurance before you bid.

-Try buying what you want really early in the morning or late at night when there is less competition in the bidding. Or try during the day when most people are working.

-Read the item description thoroughly. If there is information missing, ask the seller a question to find out more.

-What condition is the item in? Some tricks in the naming of the item may mislead you. For example the words antique or rustic may not mean the item is old. Or an add for wholesale plasmas could just be a wholesale list. Buyers beware.

-When you view the item decide what your limit is before you bid. Just because you want it doesn’t mean you should bid until you win..

-Add items into your watch list because you will kick yourself if it goes really cheap and you miss it.

-Search for items with incorrect spelling. They always end up with fewer bids.

-If you are buying something expensive, then get the contact information of the seller at Ebay seller info. You must be in a transaction with the seller to access this.

Selling

-Start selling items you do not need around the house until you get to know what you are doing.

-Sell items at the right time and day. For example I like ending my auction on Saturday or Sunday, later in the day, because some people sleep in on weekends.

-Use keywords in your item title with the correct spelling. For example to sell an ipod, some keywords would be: ipod, mp3 player, 512mb(size), and the brand.

-Be honest with your description of the item you are selling. This will limit the amount of complaints you get because buyers will know what they are buying.

-Build a good feedback rating. Beware of leaving bad feedback because the other person will do the same. Try sorting it out first.

-When you get paid for an item send it ASAP. Don’t let a good buyer wait.

-Don’t write terms and conditions that are going to scare your customers away!!! Get a friend to read through your ads and make impartial comments.

-For the serious sellers there are more tips are available at Ebay

About the Author
Milica Pantic wrote this article and others at her website
http://www.computerhowto.info
Check it out for more articles that are written in an easy to understand
interface. You can also visit my Ebay shop Fantastic Bits 24_7.

You could be missing an opportunity for more notary signing agent business if you’re not taking full advantage of your web page or website through basic search engine optimization. These simple SEO techniques could help you boost your Google search results position.

1. Understand How Search Engines Work

Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN send out robot “spiders” to “crawl” websites and gather information which they store in their databases. Data is the key here. When you do a search in Google, all their stored data is instantly scanned for the specific terms of your search. If the data doesn’t have the exact terms in the search, the search engines don’t display something close. In other words, they don’t make logical connections.

It works the same as when you do a search in a Word document. If you have a Word document that’s a recipe for fruit salad, you search for “banana,” and it’s not on that page, Word will tell you “not found.” It doesn’t reason you’re looking for fruit, so maybe provide something similar to banana like apple, pear, strawberry, etc. Nope, if banana isn’t in that document, Word doesn’t come up with options. It’s the same thing online: if you list only names of counties but no cities or zip codes, you will not show up in Google results for specific cities or zip codes. Or you may show up but many pages later, only after the best results have been displayed. Keep in mind that search engines will display first the sites that mirror the exact words in a search.

For instance, let’s say you’re a notary signing agent in Miami, Florida, and you have listed your service area as “all of Dade County” thinking that covers everything. A potential customer does a search for these keywords: notary signing agent Miami Florida. Every other site that has those exact five words will show up first before yours because you didn’t specifically mention Miami. Close doesn’t count in searches, so include good keywords on your web page or your website to help your position in search engine results. However, don’t go crazy with listing too many cities or zips because you want your page to look attractive to human visitors not just spiders. Find a balance, maybe up to 20 or so each, and list the cities and zips where you prefer to work.

2. Use Meta Tags

Have you entered a website title, description and keywords for your site in the meta tags section? Check this out by selecting View and Page Source in your browser menu and look at the beginning of that text. If you manage your site, you can complete these sections or give the information to your webmaster. What should be included? Words that might be used in a search. Title: Notary Signing Agent, Your Name, City, County, State. Description: This should be a mini-ad for your site. It’s the short paragraph that shows up in search results and should encourage a prospect to visit your site. Keywords: These should pertain to your site and should be repeated on the page. Keywords don’t carry as much weight as they used to so make sure they are appropriate, with the most important terms repeated in your title, description and page content. You can use different meta tags for each page on your site.

3. Emphasize Keywords in Page Content

Search engine spiders are trying to determine the focus of your web page or website and will give more weight to words that are used in subheads, emphasized with bold type or repeated several times. Write your pages first so they appeal to human visitors, then edit to sprinkle in your keywords to appeal to spiders.

4. An Example of “Number 1 in Google”

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to reach “Number 1 in Google” for a specific set of keywords. To see an example of top search results for a notary signing agent who included cities on her GoGetNotary.com web page, do a search for these five words in Google, Yahoo, MSN or AOL - bayonet point notary signing agent - and you’ll see that her page has the Number 1 position in Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL! She has her own custom website, too, but it’s her web page that takes the top position in search results for those particular search terms. If she had listed only counties and not included cities, she would not show up in any search results for this city. Be aware that it also helps that there may not be much competition for these exact search terms. If the city was Orlando or Miami, she might not be number 1.

5. Google Likes Old and New

This great number 1 position shown above didn’t happen overnight. Aging improves search results for web pages and websites since Google equates age with stability. Google also rewards web pages for fresh content which they equate with more accurate information. Old sites that aren’t refreshed may be outdated. You can’t rush the aging process, but make a note on your calendar to revisit your web page or website at least every other month to add or revise something on your page to keep it fresh. Add testimonials to increase your credibility with signing/title/mortgage companies. Add more cities or zip codes. Improve your content whenever you can, even if it’s simply rewriting what’s already there. Keep it fresh and accurate.

Speaking of accurate… While you’re freshening up your page, check it for accuracy. Did you enter your phone number correctly? Email address? Street, city, state and zip? And always proofread your text. Your prospective customers see this information as a reflection of you. Sloppy work on your page or site will present you as a notary public who isn’t interested in details.

6. Links Are Votes

Additional factors, such as links from other directories can help boost your position in search results since search engines, especially Google, see links to your web page or website as votes of approval. Visit GoGetNotary.com for a list of Notary Directories where you can post your info and link for free or for a fee.

7. Review Your Competition

When creating your web page or website, do a search for your primary keywords to see where other notaries in your service area rank. How does your information compare to theirs? Do they have more testimonials? Is their presentation more professional? Invest some time to optimize your web page or website, and when you periodically refresh your web page or site, check your competition again.

You don’t have to become a full-time webmaster to improve your web page or website to boost your Google search results position. Utilize these basic search engine optimization techniques to provide a content-rich, properly optimized web presence that can increase your notary signing agent business by increasing your Internet customers.

About the Author:

A former loan officer and real estate agent in Southern California, Sharon Hassler served as Communications Manager for First American Title-Arizona for 11 years. She is President of Go Get Experts, owner and operator of real estate-related web page directories including GoGetNotary.com for notary signing agents.

Copyright © 2007, Go Get Experts, for GoGetNotary.com. All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint this article is granted if the article is reproduced in its entirety, without editing, including author’s information. When using this article in magazines or newsletters or online publications, please include the full URL or a hyperlink to http://www.GoGetNotary.com

Are you and your team searching for that “magic formula” to increase Case Acceptance? Many orthodontic and dental practices are searching for ways to improve patient enrollment. Actually, winning patients over and improving your conversion rate is much easier than you may think. Consistently practicing to a higher standard and becoming a “patient-centered” practice should not be magic but is not widespread in dentistry or medicine. The results you will attain by doing what it takes to “Wow” your new patients will yield magical results, however. How do you “wow” your new patients and what are you doing to become “patient-centered?”

Remember if we know what to do and do not do it, we are depriving others of our very best. It’s not always what you do for your patients, in as much as what you don’t do. Your focus should be on providing the best in patient care, making starting treatment in your office easy and a unique experience.

Below are two of the seven key ingredients a “patient-centered” orthodontic or dental practices have in common.

#1 - Patient/Parent Aggravations Are Non-Existent Think about the last time you called or went to a doctor’s appointment. Were you aggravated by something in particular? Is there something you would change about the experience?

· Voicemail or a recording when you really would have preferred to speak with someone.

· A more convenient appointment time.

· Left knowing what my treatment would actually cost.

· After arriving on time, seeing the doctor when scheduled without having to wait and completing my visit within the time stated.

A patient-centered practice will anticipate the needs of their patients and eliminate aggravations.

Solution: Schedule a team meeting and list issues you have heard from your patients/parents or those they have experienced in your office. Come up with solutions for each issue. Role-play with your team members and practice, practice, practice. Make sure every team member knows how to handle each situation with a friendly smile. Uniformity is key!

#2 - Empty Promises Are Never Made Do not make promises to anyone you are unable to keep. Your patient’s expectations are managed by what is said to them on the phone, in your literature and in the information found on your website. What promises are being made? Are they being kept 100% of the time? If not, you are not meeting and exceeding the expectations of a patient-centered practice. In your practice, establish any broken promise as an unacceptable act. It is simply best not to say, verbally or in print, what you will not deliver.

Promise The appointment coordinator tells the patient/parent a new patient packet will be mailed to them along with instructions on what is needed before the visit.

Unacceptable Act! The packet never arrives or it shows up after the scheduled appointment.

Promise The patient/parent is told the General Dentist office will be called for a panoramic x-ray prior to the visit. The patient/parent offered to make the call but was assured your office would take care of it.

Unacceptable Act! The patient arrives for the consultation and the appointment coordinator or treatment coordinator forgot to call the dentist’s office for the x-ray.

Promise The appointment coordinator or treatment coordinator knows beforehand the consultation will be for a transfer case. The pertinent information is received on the previous orthodontist so that a request of the patient’s records can be made. You assure the patient/parent the records will be in your office the day of the consult.

Unacceptable Act! The request for transfer records was never made or it was made too late and the records aren’t available to the doctor on the day of the patient’s consultation.

Promise You offer 2 free movie tickets if the patient is kept waiting more than 20 minutes into their appointment time. Or, all of your printed material states “how valuable the patient/parent’s time is” so you “strive to be on time for every appointment.”

Unacceptable Act! Your team will rush to get the patient in any chair to avoid giving away movie tickets. Or you keep the patient waiting after they arrive on time.

Solution: Don’t make promises you have no intentions of keeping. This includes verbal or written promises. Be a practice of integrity and keep your word. Hold yourself and your team accountable. Lead by example. If you’re breaking promises to them, they’ll break promises to your patients.

Key ingredients 3, 4 and 5 will be published in the very near future. If you are unable to wait, send an email request and I will be happy to share the remaining ingredients with you, in advance. Begin “wowing” your new patients straightaway! And please, do not limit this exhilarating feeling to your new patients! Once they are enrolled in treatment, it takes the same care to keep them. They will increase your new patient flow with more referrals if they are made to feel special. A patient-centered practice creates Practice Ambassadors!

Copyright © 2007 Avis Ward of AWard Consulting, LLC

Avis Ward is a Dental Marketing Consult specializing in Orthodontics. More information about Avis can be found here: http://aviswardconsulting.com/ Avis invites you to view her blog.

1. Get to know your website

Getting to know your website will help you beneficially. You must know what you are promoting, selling, and/or advertising. Knowing your website will increase your profits infinitely.

2. Give visitors a free subscription to your E-zine (newsletter)

Allowing visitors to subscribe to your newsletter for free will up your sales and/or increase your profits. This gives prospects the visualization of how easy and understanding it will be to earn residual income. You could offer your visitors free bonuses.

3. Get yourself locked into forums

Forums are chat rooms. Getting into forums will allow you to communicate with others. This gives people the opportunity to discuss with, and help others about the online business. You could also gain subscribers here.

4. Write your own articles

By writing your own articles, you are allowing others to grasp the opportunity you went through that made you successful. In other words you are sharing the wealth.

5. Advertise your business

Free advertising works. This will allow you to save money and get unique hits to your website. You could also, if you want, advertise your business on paid advertising sites depending on your financial status.

6. Build your own subscriber opt-in list by getting an autoresponder on your website.

This is a proven way to generate sales online.

7. Get even more visitors to your website by adding a links page.

It is always best to swap e-zines and websites to gain more exposure for your business.

So, while you’ve been reading the above, hundreds or thousands of people all over the world have been working to put money into my pockets, even while I sleep. By this time next week, this could be you.

Copyright (c)
Maleche Stewart is the founder and owner of Peoples Choice Vitamins. His website offers Products, Health & Wealth, Home based business ideas, secrets, opportunities, and resources. He also publishes home business tips newsletters.
Maleche Stewart uses the http://www.peopleschoicevitamins.com website to earn residual income from home on the internet.