The Amazing Resource

Dream Your Future

2009-02-28T00:37:00.000-08:00

Hopeless is Just a Word

Everybody, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn't fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn't dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can't do this. It's too hard. It's too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up unsuccessful and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

How to Become an Ideal Leader

2008-11-17T06:34:00.000-08:00

When you are at work, do you get frustrated because things don't seem to be happening the way they’re supposed to be? You see people milling around but nothing gets accomplished. And in the daily hustle and bustle, do you feel that your goals remain just that – goals. Then maybe its time for you to stand up and do something about it.

Most people are content just to stand around listening for orders. And it isn't unusual to adopt a follow-the-leader mentality. But maybe, somewhere inside of you, you feel the desire to make things happen – to be the head, not the tail. Then maybe leadership just suits you fine.

Some people believe that great leaders are made, not born. Yes, it may be true that some people are born with natural talents. However, without practice, without drive, without enthusiasm, and without experience, there can be no true development in leadership.

You must also remember that good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their natural skills. This takes a commitment to constantly improve in whatever endeavor a person chooses.

First of all, let's define leadership. To be a leader, one must be able to influence others to accomplish a goal, or an objective. He contributes to the organization and cohesion of a group.

Contrary to what most people believe, leadership is not about power. It is not about harassing people or driving them using fear. It is about encouraging others towards the goal of the organization. It is putting everyone on the same page and helping them see the big picture of the organization. You must be a leader not a boss.

First of all, you have to get people to follow you. How is this accomplished?

People follow others when they see a clear sense of purpose. People will only follow you if they see that you know where you are going. Remember that bumper sticker? The one that says, don't follow me, I'm lost too? The same holds true for leadership. If you yourself do not know where you're headed to, chances are people will not follow you at all.

You yourself must know the vision of the organization. Having a clear sense of hierarchy, knowing who the bosses are, who to talk to, the organization's goals and objectives, and how the organization works is the only way to show others you know what you are doing.

Being a leader is not about what you make others do. It's about who you are, what you know, and what you do. You are a reflection of what you're subordinates must be.

Studies have shown that one other bases of good leadership is the trust and confidence your subordinates have of you. If they trust you they will go through hell and high water for you and for the organization.

Trust and confidence is built on good relationships, trustworthiness, and high ethics.

The way you deal with your people, and the relationships you build will lay the foundation for the strength of your group. The stronger your relationship, the stronger their trust and confidence is in your capabilities.

Once you have their trust and confidence, you may now proceed to communicate the goals and objectives you are to undertake.

Communication is a very important key to good leadership. Without this you can not be a good leader. The knowledge and technical expertise you have must be clearly imparted to other people.

Also, you can not be a good leader and unless you have good judgment. You must be able to assess situations, weigh the pros and cons of any decision, and actively seek out a solution.

It is this judgment that your subordinates will come to rely upon. Therefore, good decision-making is vital to the success of your organization.

Leaders are not do-it-all heroes. You should not claim to know everything, and you should not rely upon your skills alone.

You should recognize and take advantage of the skills and talents your subordinates have. Only when you come to this realization will you be able to work as one cohesive unit.

Remember being a leader takes a good deal of work and time. It is not learned overnight. Remember, also, that it is not about just you. It is about you and the people around you.

So, do you have the drive and the desire to serve required of leaders? Do you have the desire to work cooperatively with other people? Then start now. Take your stand and be leader today.

The Key to a Better Life

2008-11-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

Time management is basically about being focused. The Pareto Principle also known as the '80:20 Rule' states that 80% of efforts that are not time managed or unfocused generates only 20% of the desired output. However, 80% of the desired output can be generated using only 20% of a well time managed effort. Although the ratio '80:20' is only arbitrary, it is used to put emphasis on how much is lost or how much can be gained with time management.

Some people view time management as a list of rules that involves scheduling of appointments, goal settings, thorough planning, creating things to do lists and prioritizing. These are the core basics of time management that should be understood to develop an efficient personal time management skill. These basic skills can be fine tuned further to include the finer points of each skill that can give you that extra reserve to make the results you desire.

But there is more skills involved in time management than the core basics. Skills such as decision making, inherent abilities such as emotional intelligence and critical thinking are also essential to your personal growth.

Personal time management involves everything you do. No matter how big and no matter how small, everything counts. Each new knowledge you acquire, each new advice you consider, each new skill you develop should be taken into consideration.

Having a balanced life-style should be the key result in having personal time management. This is the main aspect that many practitioners of personal time management fail to grasp.

Time management is about getting results, not about being busy.

The six areas that personal time management seeks to improve in anyone's life are physical, intellectual, social, career, emotional and spiritual.

The physical aspect involves having a healthy body, less stress and fatigue.

The intellectual aspect involves learning and other mental growth activities.

The social aspect involves developing personal or intimate relations and being an active contributor to society.

The career aspect involves school and work.

The emotional aspect involves appropriate feelings and desires and manifesting them.

The spiritual aspect involves a personal quest for meaning.

Thoroughly planning and having a set of things to do list for each of the key areas may not be very practical, but determining which area in your life is not being giving enough attention is part of time management. Each area creates the whole you, if you are ignoring one area then you are ignoring an important part of yourself.

Personal time management should not be so daunting a task. It is a very sensible and reasonable approach in solving problems big or small.

A great way of learning time management and improving your personal life is to follow several basic activities.

One of them is to review your goals whether it be immediate or long-term goals often.

A way to do this is to keep a list that is always accessible to you.

Always determine which task is necessary or not necessary in achieving your goals and which activities are helping you maintain a balanced life style.

Each and everyone of us has a peek time and a time when we slow down, these are our natural cycles. We should be able to tell when to do the difficult tasks when we are the sharpest.

Learning to say "No". You actually see this advice often. Heed it even if it involves saying the word to family or friends.

Pat yourself at the back or just reward yourself in any manner for an effective time management result.

Try and get the cooperation from people around you who are actually benefiting from your efforts of time management.

Don't procrastinate. Attend to necessary things immediately.

Have a positive attitude and set yourself up for success. But be realistic in your approach in achieving your goals.

Have a record or journal of all your activities. This will help you get things in their proper perspective.

These are the few steps you initially take in becoming a well rounded individual.

As the say personal time management is the art and science of building a better life.

From the moment you integrate into your life time management skills, you have opened several options that can provide a broad spectrum of solutions to your personal growth. It also creates more doors for opportunities to knock on.

How to Get What You Want

2008-11-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

One of the things I've been very good at is manifesting what I want in my life. People often ask me how I do it. How at only 35 have I managed to have two kids, live in a dream house on the ocean in Hermosa Beach, build two million dollar businesses and attract my ideal life partner?

Today, I want to share with you my secrets for having everything I want so that you can too. First, you must understand that you are already a master at manifestation. Look around you and understand that everything around you right now has been created by you and your thoughts. If you are not happy with what you see, take full responsibility for that, not from a place of shame or guilt, but from a place of empowered knowingness that because you have created it, you can also change it.

Next, become aware that the secret to having everything you want in life is first knowing what you want.

I find that this can be the most difficult step for most people because sometimes what we want feels too big and overwhelming.

For example, what I want more than anything is to have my own TV show. In my heart, I've known that for years. But, it's only been in the last year or so that I could say that out loud and acknowledge it not only to the world, but to myself.

Why?

Because it was too big and scary. What if I admitted it and then it didn't happen? What if I wasn't good enough? What if ... What if ... What if .... Sound familiar?

Here's the truth though. Until I could admit it to myself and start to say it out loud, it would never happen. Even though it's what I wanted more than anything deep down inside. By keeping it hidden (from the world and from myself!), my mind made me believe I was safe from disappointment. But that's a lie, isn't it?

The first step to getting what you want is knowing what you want and broadcasting it as loudly as you possibly can.

The next step to getting what you want is to describe it fully as if it was already so.

So, here's my description:

I want a TV show where I can guide people through life transforming events, whether it's starting a business, leaving a relationship, resolving a family conflict ... change is hard for most people. And yet, when guided through it, these events can be the catalyst for incredible life growth. I want to facilitate that growth in an entertaining and inspiring way. I want to show up at the studio around 10a for script review, hair and makeup. I want the show to tape at 2p or 3pPT each day from the Los Angeles area, preferably as close to Hermosa Beach as possible and I want to be out of the studio no later than 4pPT and on my way home. Can you see that happening? I can!

Now the next step is the most important. You must take action to prepare yourself for getting what you want.

There were a lot of things I needed to do to prepare myself for my own TV show. One of the hardest things was letting go of the things in my life that would conflict with what I wanted, like anything that would make me unavailable during taping hours, which mean that I had to stop seeing new clients at my law firm and bring in a partner to take over the day to day operations. This was difficult because I had to let go of things I had become attached to that I thought I needed in my life when I didn't have any guarantee of replacing those things. There's a lot of faith involved with getting what you want.

Last, I had to begin to take actions that would lead me closer to what I wanted.

For example, I am not sitting around waiting for TV to come to me. I began to hold myself out as an expert. I wrote a book. I started to appear on radio programs. I began to build a platform. And now, I'm taping a pilot episode of a show. It's impossible to know which of these things will lead to my own TV show. But, I know some of them will. And the more I do that is aligned with my vision of what I want, the more likely I am to get what I want.

The same is true for you. So, to recap, here's the steps you can take to have everything you want in life:

Step 1: Be aware that you are a master at manifesting and that you are creating everything in your life right now.

Step 2: Admit to yourself what you want. Then, broadcast it in some way to the people around you. You can do this on a blog, by telling your close friends or family, or in some even bigger way.

Step 3: Describe the details of what you want as fully and specifically as possible. This can be in writing, pictures or digital, just get a clear vision out of your head and onto something you can see.

Step 4: Prepare yourself to have what you've described by letting go of those things that are in conflict with what you want. Have the faith to let go even before what you want has appeared.

Step 5: Take the actions that will bring you closer to having what you want.

10 Questions you should ask to yourself

2008-11-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

"What Really Makes You Tick?" 10 questions you should ask to yourself: a preparation to self-improvement

Be all you can be, but it's not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it's hard to think of anything else when where are real issues to be discussed.

Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful.

So we're all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn't even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks… or can they?

1. What do I really want?
The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day.

Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is worth it.

2. Should I really change?
Today's generation has taken another level of redefining 'self', or at least that's what the kids are saying. Having an army of teenage nieces and nephews has taught me that there are far worse things that they could have had than acne or maybe even promiscuity. So how does that fit into your lifestyle?

If history has taught us one thing, it's the life that we have gone through. Try to see if partying Seventies style wouldn't appeal to the younger generation, but dancing is part of partying. Watch them applaud after showing them how to really dance than break their bones in break-dancing.

3. What's the bright side in all of this?
With so much is happening around us there seem to be no room for even considering that light at the end of the tunnel. We can still see it as something positive without undergoing so much scrutiny. And if it's a train at the end of the tunnel, take it for a ride and see what makes the world go round!

4. Am I comfortable with what I'm doing?
There's always the easy way and the right way when it comes to deciding what goes with which shoes, or purse, shirt and whatnot. It doesn't take a genius to see yourself as someone unique, or else we'll all be equally the same in everything we do. Variety brings in very interesting and exciting questions to be experimented.

5. Have I done enough for myself?
Have you, or is there something more you want to do? Discontentment in every aspect can be dangerous in large doses, but in small amounts you'll be able to see and do stuff you could never imagine doing.

6. Am I happy at where I am today?
It's an unfair question so let it be an answer! You love being a good and loving mom or dad to your kids, then take it up a notch! Your kids will love you forever. The same goes with everyday life!

7. Am I appealing to the opposite sex?
So maybe I don't have an answer to that, but that doesn't mean I can't try it, though. Whether you shape-up, change the way you wear your clothes or hair, or even your attitude towards people, you should always remember it will always be for your own benefit.

8. How much could I have?
I suppose in this case there is no such things on having things too much or too little, but it's more on how badly you really need it. I'd like to have lots of money, no denying that, but the question is that how much are you willing to work for it?

9. What motivates me?
What motivates you? It's an answer you have to find out for yourself. There are so many things that can make everyone happy, but to choose one of the may be the hardest part. It's not like you can't have one serving of your favorite food in a buffet and that's it. Just try it piece by piece.

10. What Really Makes You Tick?
So? What really makes you tick? You can be just about anything you always wanted to be, but to realize that attaining something that may seem very difficult is already giving up before you even start that journey. Always remember, that self-improvement is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it's something that you really want.

What is Team Effectiveness?

2008-11-09T02:41:00.000-08:00

Team effectiveness refers to the system of getting people in a company or institution to work together effectively. The idea behind team effectiveness is that a group of people working together can achieve much more than if the individuals of the team were working on their own. Team effectiveness is determined by a number of factors, such as:

* The right mix of skills. Team effectiveness depends in part on bringing together people who have different skills that somehow complement each other. This can mean different technical abilities or communication skills. In fact, teaming up people who share the exact same characteristics is often a recipe for disaster. Team effectiveness depends on people taking on different roles in a group setting. If there is no agreement on who does what in the group, it is unlikely that the team will prosper.
* The right motivation. Team effectiveness is directly linked to the interest that the group has on the project. If the job is too easy or too difficult, or if the rewards for achieving the end result do not seem worth the effort, the team may end up working half-heartedly in the project. The task should also have a clear outcome. Working towards a specific goal enhances team effectiveness significantly.
* The ability to solve conflicts without compromising the quality of the project. Team work has one major downfall. Sometimes groups end up making decisions they know are not in the best interest of the project, just so they can keep the process moving. Conflict is innate to any work done in groups, and should be taken as part of the challenge rather than as something to be avoided by compromising. Team effectiveness should be increased, not compromised, through conflict.

One way to enhance team effectiveness is to agree beforehand on a code of conduct. As conflicts arise, it is important to know how to deal with them. What is allowed and what is not? How will the team deal with disagreements? Is open discussion favored or will the group vote on major decisions? Knowing what to expect and having the plan will make the process of working in group much easier.

Where Can I Get the Motivation to Lose Weight?

2008-11-09T02:34:00.000-08:00

When struggling to lose weight, many dieters have a hard time staying motivated to reach their ultimate goal. Although the motivation to lose weight can come from many sources, many weight loss experts and dieters that have reached their goal weight will attest to the fact that their motivation to lose weight was internal. Once you figure out how to find the motivation to lose weight, your weight loss goals become much more attainable.

Although the motivation to lose weight can be described as internal, it can still be influenced by outside sources. Many people choose to lose weight for a big event such as a wedding or class reunion. However, unless this big event coincides with an internal will to live a healthier lifestyle, the weight loss will most likely not be permanent.

For the kind of weight loss that will last, the first step to find the motivation to lose weight is to make a commitment to yourself. It is important that you remind yourself of this commitment everyday so write it in a journal, have it pop up on your computer screen, hang it on the fridge or hang it anyplace that you look at on a daily basis. Your commitment should be for a healthier lifestyle, with weight loss just a bonus. If you concentrate on the numbers, you can very easily sabotage or defeat yourself when you don’t lose as much as you want in a certain time frame.

In addition to committing to yourself, many people find the motivation to lose weight by also committing to a weight-loss support group and/or a weight-loss buddy. This approach can also be done through numerous websites online. Some people also stay motivated by committing to a gym or exercise program. Even more find it helpful if they pay money for some of these things because they keep their motivation to lose weight because they don’t want to waist the money they have spent on outside help.

Regardless of which approach you take, it is crucial to write down short-term goals in addition to long-term goals. You need to see positive results to keep your motivation to lose weight. If you keep your weight loss goals in 5 pound or 2.5 kilogram increments, you become excited every time you reach one of these goals. Take time out to reward yourself whenever you reach a goal. The rewards should not be in the form of food! Treat yourself to a new compact disc or DVD or buy that pair of shoes you have been saving up for. Eventually, all of your small goals will add up and you will have reached your ultimate long-term goal.

Four Positive Tools in the Toolbox for Success

2008-11-09T02:24:00.000-08:00

It seems pretty simple to set our goals toward success. Still, the process involves the use of many tools. A lot of people actually set out with a very poor toolbox in the beginning and they don't reach the place they were hoping to reach. In order to have a winning plan for success in life, there are certain things that are just obvious, required tools that everyone should have if they hope to be successful person. At the top of the list is the ability to change your circumstances when you aren't happy with the place you now exist. This requires the first tool known as courage.

If you plan to be successful in life, you have a choice to either accept your position or change it. You can't decide to just plug along in your present condition hoping that someone else will change things for you. You have to create the opportunity in yourself to make a change and this requires courage. Often, people who are stuck in an abusive situation will feel as though they are trapped, controlled, and powerless to get out of that situation. They don't realize that they have the same choice of changing their circumstances as anyone else. What paralyzes them is the fear of the unknown. They have become comfortable in their abusive situation and they don't have the courage to break out of it. If you find yourself in circumstances that are obviously lowering your chance of success in life, then you need to change those circumstances. Courage is the first tool that will help you to begin.

After courage, there is another primary tool that you will need in your toolbox. The next major tool that is required is the willingness to persevere toward your goal.

Once you begin to apply the tool of courage, you will immediately be hit with a series of problems and difficulties in your new attempt to become successful. This is especially true in the first few weeks of your new direction in life. Because of this, you will also need the tool of willingness to persevere because courage may only last for a short time. Willingness, however, is a powerful tool that is even stronger than mere courage. It gives you the energy to keep fighting toward your success even in the face of difficulties and challenges. It gives you the ability to keep going no matter what.

Once you make it through those first few weeks on your new direction in life, you are going to need another tool that is even stronger than courage or willingness. You are going to need a solid plan that will be founded on your good sense and your capacity for reasoning and rationality. Courage is great and willingness is even better. These are great to begin with but a courageous attitude and striving ahead with the willingness to achieve success isn't going to be enough. In order to get you to the top of the mountain, you are going to need more. Eventually, you will need a solid plan to keep you on track and to help you avoid all the difficulties you are going to encounter. You may develop a more rational and reasonable plan for success with a friend or by yourself but you are going to need that plan to be well thought out. Then you are going to have to go back and re-apply your willingness and your courage to put that plan back into action each day.

After a considerable period of time, working in a courageous manner with the willingness to persevere and to think reasonably and rationally in life, you will be well on your way to success. Many people make great strides in their life by simply applying these three tools for success.

What finally arrives as the cherry on the sundae, and which they eventually discover as the greatest tool of all, only comes after first going through the difficult times with courage, willingness and reasoning. Through the use of these three tools, a successful individual may eventually encounter the most powerful tool of Love and this tool may transform their life so as to make everything, which had previously seemed difficult, seem extremely easy and enjoyable.

Using the four tools of success, a person may eventually develop a toolbox which includes the greatest set of abilities a person can acquire. This toolbox filled with courage, willingness, reason and love will make a successful person of anyone and insure them of happiness and fulfillment in everything they do!

Performing a SWOT Analysis for a Small Business

2008-10-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

A key step in risk management that assesses a firm's strengths, weaknesses, market opportunities, and threats is a SWOT analysis. Although this is a relatively simple process, many problems can be anticipated and avoided by identifying them up front. A SWOT analysis is usually a key component to a small business plan. A SWOT analysis is normally represented visually in a four box grid as shown below:

The SWOT analysis starts by honestly assessing the internal strengths and weaknesses in a firm. The next step is identifying opportunities and threats that may affect the organization from external forces such as the market space occupied by the company, the overall business climate and societal forces. SWOT analysis is best preformed by a team of individuals that have diverse personal attributes (gender, age, income level, etc.). Gender diversity is especially important since woman and men tend to perceive threats and opportunities very differently.

The end product of a SWOT analysis is to identify and examine significant factors, both positive and negative, that might affect the small business being launched or the situation being analyzed. The SWOT analysis is an excellent way to document the thought process that was used in arriving at a business strategy and developing marketing goals and objectives.

In each of the four SWOT categories, you may consider organizing the attributes by logical business function (marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, financing, etc.).

Strengths
Strengths usually describe things that the company excels at doing. All strengths listed should support a competitive advantage that the corporation has over its rivals. These can be tangible (fast delivery of products to customers) or intangible (excellent customer service promotes very high customer satisfaction). As these are internal attributes they should all be within the company’s control. Ask questions such as:

• What does the company do well?
• What resources (physical and personnel) does the company possess?
• What advantages does the company have over its rivals?

Do not forget to include key strengths that the people in the organization possess which includes things such as their experience, knowledge, educational background, business connections, and job skills. Tangible assets such as plant capacity, state of the art equipment and facilities, strong supply chains, available capital (or access to credit), loyal customers, patents, copyrights and superior information systems.

Weaknesses
Weaknesses are factors that the company controls that impair its ability to compete with other firms. Weaknesses are any areas in which you need to improve to maintain a competitive edge in your market. Ask questions such as:

• Which departments need to be improved?
• What resources does the company lack?
• What skill sets do the employees lack that competing firm’s workforces have?
• What services does the company fail to offer?

Opportunities
Opportunities are the external factors that will allow your business to succeed against its rivals. Since these are external factors, they may not be under control of the company. Ask questions such as:

• What opportunities for new products or services exist in your market?
• Are new markets available that could provide opportunities for growth?
• Have new technologies been developed that will allow us to compete more effectively?
• Have consumer lifestyles, wants and desires shifted?
• Are the target customers economically healthy?
• Do previously resolved internal problems give the company a competitive edge?

Usually, opportunities reflect the areas where you can excel by changing the company’s marketing strategy. Should new products be launched? Should existing products be promoted to new customer groups? If possible, identify the time frame for each opportunity. Is it something the company must capitalize on by a certain date or will the opportunity last indefinitely?

Threats
Threats are factors beyond the control of the company that reduces its competitiveness in the marketplace, adversely affect marketing strategy, or in a worst case scenario, potentially lead to the total demise of the business (think buggy whip manufacturers when automobiles became popular). Although the company has no control over external factors, the key is to identify the threats and draw up contingency plans to negate the threat or soften the impact should an event arise. Ask questions such as:

• Are consumer preferences shifting away from company business lines?
• Is price competition from competitors affecting company profit margins?
• Are new technologies making the company’s products or processes obsolete or unaffordable?
• Are new competitors entering the market space?
• Are suppliers increasing prices?
• Are raw material costs going up due to scarcity or catastrophic events?
• Is the general economy on the downswing?

Classifying threats by the degree of impact and the likelihood of their occurrence is often useful to help identify which threats need to be planned for immediately.

The Benefits of SWOT Analysis
The main thrust of the exercise is to determine how the company’s strengths can be used to take advantage of opportunities and minimize critical threats. Eliminating weaknesses can also provide resources to capitalize on opportunities or ward off threats. Identifying the most critical issues provides a game plan for the business to follow based on an honest assessment of the firm’s potential.

What is SWOT Analysis?

2008-10-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

The SWOT Analysis is one of several strategic planning tools that are utilized by businesses and other organizations to ensure that there is a clear objective defined for the project or venture, and that all factors related to the effort, both positive and negative, are identified and addressed. In order to accomplish this task, the process of SWOT involves four areas of consideration: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It should be noted that when identifying and classifying relevant factors, the focus is not just on internal matters, but also external components that could impact the success of the project.

Strengths in the SWOT Analysis are attributes or characteristics within the organization that are considered to be important to the execution and ultimate success of the project. Examples of strengths that are often cited are factors such as experienced management, state of the art manufacturing facilities, and a solid profit line already in place.

Weaknesses in the SWOT Analysis formula have to do with internal factors that could prevent the achievement of a successful result to the project. Factors such as a weak internal communication system, unhealthy levels of rivalry between departments, lack of raw materials, and inadequate funding for the project are often cited as weaknesses that can threaten to derail a project before it even begins.

The third classification of factors in the SWOT analysis is Opportunities. This classification has to do with external elements that will prove helpful in achieving the goals set for the project. Factors of this type could be the positive perception of the company by the general public, a network of vendors who are willing to work with the company to achieve success with the project, and market conditions that will help to make the project desirable to the market at large, or a least a significant segment.

Last, the final essential component for the SWOT Analysis is Threats. Here, external factors that could threaten the success of the business venture or project are listed and addressed. Among the possible threats that will be critical to any SWOT analysis is a negative public image, the lack of vendors who can supply raw materials for the project, and no ready made market for the final product of the project.

The underlying purpose of the SWOT Analysis as a strategic planning tool is to compile this list of relevant factors, and then seek answers to four essential queries. This process is usually referred to as the USED component of the SWOT Analysis. The four basic points to ponder are how to use each strength, how to stop each weakness how to exploit each opportunity, and how to defend against or eliminate each threat.

What is Outsourcing?

2008-10-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

Outsourcing referrs to a company that contracts with another company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in-house employees. Many large companies now outsource jobs such as call center services, e-mail services, and payroll. These jobs are handled by separate companies that specialize in each service, and are often located overseas.

There are many reasons that companies outsource various jobs, but the most prominent advantage seems to be the fact that it often saves money. Many of the companies that provide outsourcing services are able to do the work for considerably less money, as they don't have to provide benefits to their workers, and have fewer overhead expenses to worry about.

Outsourcing also allows companies to focus on other business issues while having the details taken care of by outside experts. This means that a large amount of resources and attention, that might fall on the shoulders of management professionals, can be used for more important, broader issues within the company. The specialized company that handles the outsourced work is often streamlined and often has world-class capabilities and access to new technology that a company couldn't afford to buy on their own. Plus, if a company is looking to expand, outsourcing is a cost-effective way to start building foundations in other countries.

There are some disadvantages to outsourcing as well. One of these is that outsourcing often eliminates direct communication between a company and its clients. This prevents a company from building solid relationships with their customers, and often leads to dissatisfaction on one or both sides. There is also the danger of not being able to control some aspects of the company, as outsourcing may lead to delayed communications and project implementation. Any sensitive information is more vulnerable, and a company may become very dependent upon its outsource providers, which could lead to problems should the outsource provider back out on their contract suddenly.

While outsourcing may prove highly beneficial for many companies, it also has many drawbacks. It is important that each individual company accurately assess their needs to determine if outsourcing is a viable option.

source: wisegeek.com

How Much Coffee Is Too Much?

2008-10-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

It’s really nice, this coffee stuff, ain’t it? Warms you up on a cold day, keeps you going when the temperature rises, grinds away the rough edges after a hard night and makes the hours at work seem like minutes. The temptation with coffee is to just keep pounding it down but you might not want to do that.

According to the American Dietetic Association’s Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, which isn’t much of a bedtime read, “for most healthy adults, moderate amounts of caffeine 200 to 300 milligrams a day, or about two cups of coffee poses no physical problem.”

Okay, so two cups is good. But is three cups of coffee too much? In a word - yes.

According to the boffins who study this kind of thing for a living, you should not only keep it to two cups per day, but you should also actively seek to reduce your caffeine consumption in soft drinks and chocolate, and even over-the-counter and prescription medications. In fact, if there are other factors influencing your health, you might want to go even a step further and reduce the caffeine in your caffeine.

If you-

• Have been substituting coffee in place of water and juice in your diet
• Are having trouble falling asleep
• Are pregnant or nursing a child
• Have a medical condition such as high blood pressure, gastritis, or ulcers
-it’s time to switch to decaf, or even give coffee a miss altogether for a while.

Look, we’re all big fans of the brewed stuff around here. We send it down like water, but we also go to the gym, eat healthily, and take a few hours each night to just sit and relax. Coffee can get you through the stressful times, but if the stresses aren’t dealt with at their root cause, then you’re only going to be stressed again tomorrow.

Make sure that for every coffee you drink, you drink two full glasses of water, to help your system replenish what the caffeine takes out. For every cup of coffee that you NEED to get through the day, sit at home on the couch for one hour every night and read. Doesn’t matter what you’re reading v magazines, books, the back of a cereal box v the point is you need to give your body a chance to slow down and relax naturally.

And, on top of that, ditch the sodas and chocolates altogether. Sure, we know you enjoy them, but you also know full well that they’re doing bad things to your insides.

Ultimately, coffee has to be seen as a trade-off. If you want to enjoy a cup of Joe, look after yourself in other areas and you’ll be sucking down the espressos for decades to come.

The National Soft Drink Association resource of caffeine contents.

A 7 oz cup of coffee has the following caffeine (mg) amounts:

Drip 115-175 mg of caffeine
Espresso 100
Brewed 80-135
Instant 65-100
Decaf, brewed 3-4
Decaf, instant 2-3
Tea, iced 70
Tea, brewed, imported 60
Tea, brewed, U.S. 40
Tea, instant 30
Mate 25-150
The variability in the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee or tea is relatively large even if prepared by the same person using the same equipment and ingredients day after day.

Caffeine is present in tea leaves and in coffee to the extent of about 4%. Tea also contains two other alkaloids, theobromine and theophylline. These last two relax the smooth muscles where caffeine stimulates the heart and respiratory systems.

The effects of theobromine are, compared to caffeine and theophylline, relatively moderate. However, cocoa contains eight times more theophylline than caffeine. As well, caffeine has been shown to combine with other substances for added potency. Thus the effects of theobromine might be enhanced by the caffeine in chocolate.

Theobromine is highly toxic to dogs and kills many dogs per year via chocolate poisoning. It takes quite a dose to reach fatal levels (more than 200 mg/kg bodyweight) but some dogs have a bad habit of eating out of garbage cans and some owners have a bad habit of feeding dogs candy. A few Oreos won’t hurt a dog, but a pound of chocolate can do considerable damage.

source : www.talkaboutcoffee.com

When you have friends you desire success for them

2008-10-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

At the reach of my possibilities, I always like to help my friends. Even when they don't ask it, I am always willing to offer myself and help them on anything. I also like to open them money making opportunities. I love to send them links to websites, softwares, affiliate news, instructional e-books, how-to videos and other products which I think can make my friends successful.

Well, every one of you reading this right now is also my friend and have I got a wonderful little tidbit to tell you about to help you out whether you need the help or not!

RACsuccess has a contest on their website which basically let's you participate no matter what is your religion, sex, affiliation or anything. Its definitely an international contest.

For just referring one of your friends, you can already participate in the contest but the more friends that you refer the greater your chances of winning an amazing price I will talk to you about right now.

The only thing you need to do in order to participate in the contest is to fill out RACsuccess recommendation form with your name and email and the email (s) of your friend (s) and submit the form, that's all!

RACsuccess doesn't have any restrictions regarding how many times you can submit the form as long as each friend's email address is different on each submission. This is a chance you can't miss to win the contest price! Had you ever thought participating on a contest could be that easy?

Now, you might be curious already about what's the prize but I will not tell you. It has to do with videos of success in the best freelance website called Rent a Coder but I will not tell you because I want you to find it out for yourself by going to RACsuccess website.

For more information about this wonderful contest, just look for the heading: "What's New?" on RACsuccess home page.

Don't miss the opportunity to be the winner of this month!

So that means don't wait anymore, just refer at least one of your friends to be entered into this month's RACsuccess contest for a chance to get a license of the RACsuccess package!

So, since I'm such a helpful and friendly person, I'm referring ALL of my friends who are reading this to RACsuccess! But don't worry, I already have my RACsuccess Package, so I'm not competing with any of you.

Refer as many friends as you want through RACsuccess recommendation form.

Don't miss the opportunity to get involved in the contest every month and be sure to familiarize yourself with the contest rules to learn how it works.

Success: How Self Hypnosis Can Give You More Success

2008-10-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

You can achieve more success with the help of self-hypnosis. Your focus on successful thoughts and positive emotions can yield more of the same. You can overcome failure and move on with focus on your goals. This process yields excellent results that you can use with great ease.

Ease into Successfulness

Your movement towards more success begins with your subconscious mind. You can take control of your thought processes, creating better responses that feed positive attitudes and core beliefs. This can work for you as you take on each and every task that you choose.

The process of using the subconscious mind is quite simple when you employ a hypnosis MP3 recording. This is a valuable approach that is easier than you imagine. Self-hypnosis is a viable approach to changing your thought processes on a subconscious level and this leads to better responses in your conscious mind as well.

More Success

Your ability to envision your successful accomplishments is a key factor in this endeavor. Your subconscious mind does not make a distinction between imagination and reality so when you imagine successfulness, your subconscious mind actually experiences the feelings associated with having more success.

This process leads to deep inner self confidence and positive self-esteem. These elements are integral to furthering your accomplishments in reality. When you experience successful endeavors, your behavior follows with confidence and assurance, making your achievements building blocks for your successful future.

It doesn’t matter that the accomplishments are imagined. Your subconscious mind believes deeply in them through the experience of visualization. This process can be repeated each time you have successful experiences in the mind and in real life.

Experience in the mind is the same as real-life experience as far as your subconscious mind is concerned. You can reprogram this realm to follow through with feelings of confidence and self worth. This brings about behavioral follow through that is consistent with these positive feelings.

Without effort, you manage to behave in ways that are conducive to success just by listening to hypnotic suggestions. This is a useful solution to your achievement goals and dreams.

Finding a Self-Hypnosis Recording

Finding the right self-hypnosis recording is a very important step in the process. Not all compositions are created equally so you have to make an informed decision. Following are some options to consider.

Duncan McColl’s brilliant recording found here - More Success - is a masterful compilation of hypnotic suggestions that reinforce your motivation and drive. You can envision successful experiences, brining them to your consciousness using this tool. Other outstanding selections are available here - Hypnosis MP3. Simply click on the links for more information.

The Amazing Power of Words

2008-10-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up there was a saying that sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. That adage supposedly was teaching that it didn't matter what someone said to you. Insults were only thin air. Yet day in and day out I counsel people who were damaged by what someone else said. Only it wasn't the words that were the cause but the interpretation of those words. I wonder what percentage of us really means our words to wound our loved ones or friends.

When my daughter was seven, my marriage was in shambles. I had been miserable for years, but despite my misery I didn't consider divorce because of my two young children. Then one day I got a letter from my mother asking me if I needed money for a lawyer, and soon after my best friend also suggested a lawyer, and my sister-in-law told me that if I had to make a quick get-away I could count on her to take us in. I couldn't figure out why they were talking of divorce since it wasn't on my mind!

One afternoon, as I was watching TV with my daughter, she turned to me and asked if we were going to get a divorce. I was dumbfounded. I assured her that we were not. At that moment I really meant it. I had no such thought. I was so dense that I didn't get what everyone else knew. Less than six months later I had filed for divorce. I guess I finally realized that I couldn't stand the pain anymore. My daughter was very upset and angry with me for a long time after that.

About twenty-five years went by during which I married a wonderful man and had a happy life. Around then my daughter was in therapy trying to deal with her life experiences and was making great strides. One day she phoned me to tell me that she had spent her latest therapy session dealing with her anger toward me because I lied to her.

In that moment I knew exactly what she was upset about. She thought that I lied to her when she asked about our divorce all those years in the past, but the truth was that I wasn't lying at that moment. Since the divorce took place so soon after our conversation she felt as if I had betrayed her. For twenty-five years she had held that anger toward me. I felt awful when I realized what that one sentence had done to her. Even though she accepted my explanation it couldn't undo all the ramifications of how her belief that I lied led to unhappiness in her life. If only I had know what was going on in that little girl's brain so long ago.

In my line of work I constantly hear people recall the exact words that a parent, teacher or important adult said to them in childhood that were like knives turned in a wound. One woman who grew up in New York City asked her dad to meet her at the subway station near their house when she came home after dark, when she was in high school. He told her that no one would steal her, trying to reassure her that they lived in a safe neighborhood. What she heard was, that only things of value get stolen, and she wasn't worth stealing.

Some people are told they are just like their father. This could be interpreted to mean they are brilliant, handsome, and talented or perhaps they are a loser, alcoholic, or deadbeat. The problem is that the person who spoke those words never checked to find out how they were received. The person who was the recipient believed the negative spin she put on them to be the truth.

Sometimes that child grows up, holding on to the hurt that was done, remembering where the incident took place, and even what he was wearing at that time, but the parent has no clue that it ever took place since it started out as an offhand remark not really meant to harm. However, by that time the adult has so much invested in the grudge he has carried that it is difficult to let go of his version of the truth. How sad! Yet we all do this. Everyone who is reading this has many memories of words that were expressed in passing that have tormented him or her. Now is the time to re-think the occurrence and release the anger, pain and hurt of the past.

Goal Setting Part 1 of 3 Using the SMART Method

2008-10-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

The process of successful goal setting should always begin with a self discovery. What is it that yo really want to be, do, and have? Do you want to be an online marketer, learn to race cars, own a yacht and sail around the world? What will get excited just thinking about it. What did you think about a lot when you were younger, what were your dreams? Write these things down, pay close attention to those which give yo a thrill just thinking about them.

Once you have a list of the things which you really want to be, do, and have, take several things you've listed which you believe you can complete within the next year, three years, and five years. You'll want to choose things which will get you excited and also be a reach to accomplish. Write a 1, 3, or 5 next to the items, depending on when you believe you will have it complete.

You'll write a set of goals for each of the one year, three year, and five year time increments. Using 3 x 5 index cards has always been my favorite medium, they are easy to carry and also have enough space to write several goals on each. You'll write your goals so that they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time referenced. This is the SMART method.

You want to have goals that are specific, measurable, and time connected, you also want to have goals that you will have to stretch for to attain. An example might be if you regularly earn $60,000 to $65,000 per year. To have a goal of earning $65,000 to $67,000 is easily attainable, not much fun, as you are not stretching to get there, and you would probably reach that level without any effort as far as changing your mental habits or setting goals. In this example a goal of $80,000 this year would be a stretch, a lot of fun when it is attained, and would take mental changes, changes in your actions, and work with goal exercises in order to attain.

You'll use the present tense to write all of your goals. Please write them as follows: Today is September 30, 20__ and I have $_____, in the bank, I now drive a _____(color) _____(make) ______(model), and live in a glorious ___bedroom, ___bathroom home with a pool and a ___ car garage in _____, (city) ____(state). Remember, present tense.

There is a subtle difference here but please stick to the present tense. In other words you want to write your goals "as if" they have already happened. Writing and repeating your goals as if they were somewhere in the future will keep them there, in the future.

The reason for this method of writing your goals will be more apparent in later articles in this series. Be sure to read Part Two, Bringing Emotion to Your Goals. Charging your goals with emotion is fun, and will assist you in reaching them.

George L. Kenney has a career of twenty five years in financial markets, including the past six in the mortgage business. He is a successful online marketing pro, with a passion for helping others. He will teach you how to leverage your time, money, and technology to put you on the fast track. To find out more about his team and the Marketing Mentors Program Click Here

How to Study GMAT

2008-10-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

When you are going to prepare for GMAT Exam you have many questions in your mind as what is this test all about? Why is it necessary to take this test? What are the contents of this test? How to prepare this test? And what are the strategies that can be proved useful during exam? This article is aimed at answering all your questions and it will be quite useful for you while preparing for the GMAT exam. Prepare GMAT using GMATPass.com (http://www.gmatpass.com)

As far as the question of what is this test for and why it is important? is concerned, the answer to these questions is very simple. The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a standardized test that's used to predict a college graduate's likelihood of succeeding in graduate schools of business. While not all business schools require candidates to take the GMAT test, the vast majority do. Scores range between 200 and 800 on the GMAT test, and everything else being equal, a higher score naturally improves your chances of gaining admission to the business school of your choice. It's a timed test, which you can take just about any month of the year. Prepare GMAT using GMATPass.com (http://www.gmatpass.com)

To begin your preparation for GMAT, you should become as familiar as possible with the various types of questions that appear on the exam. There are basically three types of questions that are asked in GMAT exam and these are:

• Analytical Writing Test
• Quantative Test
• Verbal Test

The first part is Analytical Writing GMAT test section. You will have one hour to complete two writing assignments-in the first one; you will analyze an issue that's presented. In the second, you'll analyze a selected argument. The second part is Quantitative, which lasts 75 minutes and consists of 37 multiple questions concerning problem solving and data sufficiency. Finally there's the Verbal section, which also is timed at 75 minutes, and tests your skills at critical reasoning and reading comprehension of complex passages. Although you won't receive your official scores for about three weeks, which you can receive online or in the mail, you can view your unofficial scores for the Verbal and Quantitative portions before you leave the testing facility.

A major dilemma that most of the people face is the belief that because they had done well in algebra and geometry in junior high school, they will be convenient with the math section of the GMAT. It is entirely a wrong idea as I can tell you from experience; when you throw in a time constraint, it's a level of pressure that requires you to be well trained. 37 math questions in 75 minutes mean you have to have every single question answered in no more than 2 minutes. With only 2 minutes each, you will not have time to do most of the calculations needed without using a calculator.

My advice is to go through a GMAT guide, learn all of the tricks to quickly answering math questions. You'll learn things, like - plugging in each of the answers to an equation to find which one is correct vs. solving the problem.

Next step is to be familiar with the Computer Adaptive Test system (CAT). Make sure you know how everything works (e.g. scrolling) before you start the exam. Pace is very important. Losing time because of unfamiliarity with the CAT system is avoidable with the practice of sample questions. The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) offers free practice questions on its Web site so that you can become familiar with the test. Prepare GMAT using GMATPass.com (http://www.gmatpass.com)

When you feel you understand the material completely, take the Diagnostic test that follows and evaluate your results. A low score in some particular area indicates that you should spend more time reviewing that particular material. Study the review section for that area until you are completely satisfied with your performance. For best results, try to simulate conditions of exam as closely as possible when taking sample tests. There should be no unscheduled breaks or interruptions, and there should be a strict adherence to time limits. Prepare GMAT using GMATPass.com (http://www.gmatpass.com)

Test-Taking Strategies:

Develop a strategy as you practice. It's important to know where you are in the test at all times. Remember some basic strategies for taking your GMAT exam; it will be an added advantage for you during your test. There is list of Test-Taking strategies as below,

1. The first five or so questions count more than later questions. Budget a little more time for these questions. You have 13/4 minutes for each verbal question and 2 minutes for each quantative question. So be prepared to spend more time with the initial questions.

2. Another important strategy for taking the exam is “Answer as many questions as possible”, while there is no minimum number to answer in order to get a score; your score will be lower if fewer questions are answered.

3. If you are not sure about answer, guess because unlike the older version of GMAT now there is penalty for wrong answer.

4. Pace yourself and be aware of remaining time and confirm your answer only when you are confidant about the answer a you can not return to the previous question. In the end, be careful about section exit and test quit commands as you cannot go back

GMATPass is an online, progressive GMAT preparation centre which ensures that students score high percentiles in their upcoming GMAT tests. Based in UK, GMATPass offers comprehensive and up-to-date study material to students all over the world in the form of easily downloadable study guides, Q n A and Test Engine.

How to Describe Your Strengths During a Job Interview

2008-09-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Along with "tell me about yourself," "describe your strengths" is one of the questions that you know you'll be asked in a job interview. At first blush, it sounds like an easy question. But because it's such a broad topic, it can actually be quite difficult to answer well. Below are a few guidelines to help you prepare for and deliver a great response.

Identify your strengths. You should think very carefully about your personal strengths well before you step foot into your interview. It's not unusual for even the most ambitious professional to be at a loss as to her own strengths. Try viewing resume samples and notice some of the strengths that come across. Do any of those apply to you? Another good source of "strength identification" is to ask your friends and family what they see as your positive attributes. Are you organized? Decisive? Detail-oriented? It's a good bet that these qualities come through at work as well.

Limit your strengths. Of course you want to impress the hiring manager with your many and varied strengths, but it's a good idea to put a lot of thought into just three or four, rather than make a catch-all list to regurgitate. If you try to sell the fact that your strengths cover every single thing that could possibly arise-ever!-two negative things are likely to happen: your interviewer probably won't believe you, and you won't have enough time to expound upon anything (and, hence, miss the opportunity to lend credibility to your claims).

Avoid over-used catch phrases. It's tempting to say things like, "I'm a people person" because it sounds like it should be the right answer. But it's far too vague to convey anything other than the fact that you don't know how to interview well.

Make sure your strengths are transferable. If you're interviewing for a similar position as the one you have now-or with your current company-it'll be fairly easy to describe how your strengths relate to your potential new job. But if you're changing careers or re-entering the work force after an absence, you'll need to be more creative. If you're switching from graphic design to sales, for instance, you can relate how your dedication to on-time delivery and creative customer presentations would be a huge plus in your new job.

Relate your strengths to the new company or job. It's no secret that candidates need to research the prospective company, as well as the specific job they're after if possible. But you may not realize how valuable that information can be when you're relating your strengths. If you know that the culture of the hiring company is customer-focused, for example, you should make sure to convey that customer service is one of your strengths. The company doesn't care about your strengths in an abstract sense; they want concrete evidence that you can hit the ground running for them.

Give concrete examples. Too many job seekers begin well with their "strengths" answer, but then stop short of an impressive response by, well, stopping short. Don't just say that you're persistent; back your assertion up with a story about the time you courted a new client for six months to secure a huge deal for your previous firm. Or demonstrate your attention to detail by showing your interviewer a company newsletter that you edited.

Be prepared for the follow-up. A good interviewer knows that you'll expect questions about your strengths and weaknesses and that, if you're smart, you will have prepared a good answer. So to mix things up a bit, some interviewers ask questions that force you to defend your assertion. If you describe one of your strengths as being able to sell ice to an Eskimo, the hiring manager may pick up a stapler and ask you to demonstrate your no-fail sales technique. The best way to prepare for follow-up questions like this is to make sure that you actually possess the strengths you say you do.

9 steps to a service utility

2008-09-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Virtualization is the topic du jour in IT today. The technology is cool, the attributes are slick and now the stock market even is tracking it. The adoption problem that is facing virtualization strategies stems from a bottom up IT driven approach versus a top down business aligned approach. Furthermore, the technology is limiting in value unless it is implemented as a “virtual service oriented platform architecture” with a dynamic operational model.

In our experience, we took a business aligned approach and created a virtual oriented utility platform that incorporates the needs of the business, the control over execution and the leverage of everything virtual. This Virtual Oriented Utility Strategy can be implemented & leveraged by following the 9 step blueprint below.

What can a Virtual Oriented Utility Strategy help organizations do…

- become more flexible and responsive to the dynamic needs of the business
- simplify & reduce the complexity of the IT environment
- get more value out of project & operational IT spend – both systems & people
- reduce costs while delivering improved service
- eliminate dedicated silos of data, systems and infrastructure as they exist today
- reduce the time it takes to build and deploy new business services
- implement and sustain predictable qualities of service

The 9 step blueprint for successfully creating a Virtual Oriented Utility…
1. Economic Model – define the Business & IT linkage of demand and supply. Orient the analysis and model creation around the interactive dynamics of: consumption of IT resources by the business and the fulfillment behavior of processing by IT.
2. Demand Mapping – in natural language terms (no geek speak) define and capture the day in the life of the business, what they expect, where there are problems today, and understand sensitivities to cost, bottlenecks, and timing constraints.
3. Consumption Management – instrument and capture “objective” factual data of which users, using what applications, consume what app, server, network and storage resources for how long. Ensure you trend this over a period of time to accurately identify peaks, valleys and nominal growth.
4. Virtual Runtime Management – runtime control and execution enforcement of ensuring the right work gets done at the right time with the right resources. Business operates dynamically in real time, your infrastructure needs too also!
5. Virtual Resource Management – infrastructure and information resources should be exposed as services that are made available (provisioned, re-purposed, etc…) to virtual runtime management in an abstracted, on-demand nature as required.
6. Implement Virtual Resources – once runtime management, resource management and instrumentation is in place, then and only then do you implement “everything virtual”. This is a critical lesson that traps most organizations where they start bottom up without any ability to manage and ensure business alignment.
7. Standardize & Optimize the Plumbing – agility comes from a consistent foundation and optimal resources. All applications , information and infrastructure services should be built on top of standardized plumbing (client, server, mediation and data). Self contained pods of resources (compute, storage, network and specialized processing appliances) should be utilized in concert with virtual runtime management to provide “more with less” processing capabilities.
8. Product & Portfolio Management – coalescing business and technical priorities in aligned continuous capability adoption – will ensure sustainment and differentiation of your business thru IT.
9. Service & Change Management – dynamic models of operation require processes and procedures of service delivery and change management to be able to accommodate “on the fly” and “as needed – when needed” operation of IT.

The bottom line from our experience is – if you want to create a business aligned IT operation, the approach, the methodology, the technology and the operating model must be top down driven – not bottom up. The value of this lesson resulted in 10-50x greater efficiencies than the traditional bottom approaches firms take and vendors sell.

SWOT Expert - Swot Analysis Software

2008-09-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

SWOT Expert is the first multimedia software solution for conducting a Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats assessment for your organization. Listen and watch as a consultant guides you through a structured process that asks you the probing questions that will help you uncover new opportunities and fend off threats.

Graphical Analysis Demo - Swot Analysis Software

2008-09-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

Graphical Analysis 3 arrives as an easy to use program that produces, analyzes and prints graphs that you make. It’s been a popular product for years and with this third version new features and capabilities are included as well as an updated look.

Graphical Analysis 3 can do a lot of things. Create and print graphs, data tables, text, FFTs, and histograms. They are highly customizable; allowing you to perform automatic curve fits, calculate statistics, tangents, integrals, and interpolations. You can also adjust the parameters of your graphs.

Putting data into Graphical Analysis 3 is easy. Type the values into the data table, import your collected data from a supported TI graphing calculator using the TI-GRAPH LINK cable or USB direct cable supplied with TI-84 or TI-89 Titanium Calculators. Then simply copy and paste the data from another program.

New features abound, including video analysis of still photos, double-Y graphs, function plotting, and support for importing information from DataPro (on a Palm OS handheld) or the LabPro interface. Also new are improved analysis tools, improved curve fitting, 100% interchangeability between Mac and Windows files and more flexibility in how data is graphed.

Graphical Analysis 3 supports most operating systems, with Windows XP SP 2 and Mac OS X 10.4 being the latest systems supported.

Download Here >>

How to Reach the CEO

2008-09-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

In a comment to my previous entry “How to Sell to a CEO” karishmak asked:

“How do I reach the CEO? We can be very professional and act like a CEO but its very difficult to reach the CEO especially in the offshore software industry where you are restricted to talk through phones, emails and skypes. Can any one help?”

Great question.

There are three solutions to this problem:

1. Work with lower level contacts to gradually win access.
2. Enlist the help of a colleague, peer or friend of the CEO.
3. Trick the CEO into taking your call.

Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s start with the first method, because it’s the way that most customers would prefer you approach the situation. My description of the first method is based upon the wisdom of Neil Rackham, author of the classic sales book “Spin Selling.” He points out that in most companies the “decision” to buy (or not buy) an offering is often shared between three individuals:

1. The “budget owner.” This is the CEO or (if your offering is small potatoes) some lesser executive.
2. The “problem owner.” This is the operational manager whose department actually needs your offering.
3. The “access owner.” This is the person in the operational manager’s department who is willing to talk to you and (hopefully) sponsor you.

Typically your first customer call is to the “access owner” who then agrees to sponsor you to the “problem owner.” If the “problem owner” is satisfied that you can provide something of value, the “problem owner” gives you access to the “budget owner.” If you can get all three people to say “YES,” then you have a sale.

To make this method work, your sales approach needs to be different for each type of decision maker.

The “access owner,” being lower level, is primarily interested in his or her own credibility and position in the hierarchy. This person will want to be certain that you are credible and can deliver as promised, so that bringing you forward will enhance the status of the “access owner.” At this point in the sale, your emphasis is on creating an aura of personal credibility and building a strong relationship.

The “problem owner” is typically too busy to talk to you unless somebody else in the organization (i.e. the “access owner”) is willing to put his job on the line by sponsoring you. The “problem owner” is primarily concerned with whether your offering will have an actual benefit in the part of the business that’s the responsibility of the “problem owner.” At this point in the sale, your emphasis is on the solution and the benefits that it will provide.

The “budget owner” (i.e. the CEO) isn’t interested in your offering, per se, but on the impact that your offering will have on the proverbial bottom line. (See my previous post on this subject.) So at this point in the sale, it’s all about making the decision to buy into a no-brainer. The way you do this is to make the “access owner” and the “problem owner” into your advocates.

The advantage of this method is that, when you’re done, everybody is on board. By contrast, if you sell directly to the CEO, you still may need to backtrack down to the “problem owner” who may resent that you went over his head. The disadvantage of this method is that it can consume a great deal of time, especially if (as is often the case) the “access owner” lacks in the internal credibility to be an effective sponsor.

In my next post, I’ll explain how to get access to the CEO without working through the hoi-poloi in the management chain. That's when you need the kind of chutzpah I was talking about in my previous post.

How to Qualify Leads

2008-09-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

By: Geoffrey James

I’ve been harping on lead generation because that’s where sales pros need a lot of help. In fact, over 70 percent of sales leaders are not satisfied with their lead generation process, according to a survey of sales managers conducted by Jim Dickie, the head of the research and benchmarking firm CSO Insights. Actually, I’m surprised that number isn’t higher because I’ve never, ever heard a sales rep say: “Gee we’ve been getting plenty of great leads!”

According to Tom Roth, president of Wilson Learning, the root of that dissatisfaction lies in the widely-held (but hilariously mistaken) belief that the best way to get higher sales volumes is to have the sales team call on as many prospects as possible. As a result, marketing groups tend to generate long lists of generic “prospects” in the hopes that the sales pros can turn those so-called “prospects” into real live customers. Then management turns the screws on the sales teams to make more cold calls.

However, Roth’s research reveals that when sales pros use generic prospect lists to make cold calls, it takes on average 30 calls (ouch!) to generate a single sale. That’s not only a lot of time-consuming cold-calling, it’s also morale murder, since even the most talented sales pro can get discouraged after making dozens of calls without so much as a nibble.

Sales pros don’t need bigger generic lists of prospects, but shorter lists of qualified leads that are more likely to turn into real customers. However, since they’re probably not going to get that kind of list from Marketing, Roth recommends that sales pros winnow down generic lists to the prospects most likely to buy. Here’s how to pre-qualify a list of “prospects” and turn them into actual leads:

STEP 1. Define your target industries. Based upon your experience (and that of your colleagues) figure out which industries have both the greatest need for your offering as well as the money to purchase your offering. Limit your target to one or two industries at most. Now go through the generic list and scratch out everyone who isn’t in one of those target industries.

STEP 2. Define your target job titles. Within each industry there are “natural” buyers who either purchase offerings similar to yours or greatly influence such purchases. Based on your experience (and that of your colleagues) figure out the two or three specific titles that this natural buyer usually has within your target industry. Now go through the edited list from Step 1 and scratch out every remaining prospect that doesn’t have one of those two or three job titles.

STEP 3: Craft a targeted message. Based upon what you know about that natural buyer in your target industries, create a compelling message. You want a message that identifies the problem that keeps the prospect awake at night and which your offering helps to solve. The most effective messages have a high emotional content. For example, if you’re selling security software, rather than the “our software is industry-leading, third-generation, and robust” message you got from the marketing group, try something like “what do you plan to say to the CEO when hackers steal your customers’ credit card numbers?”

STEP 4: Reality-check the list and the message. At random, call four or five of the prospects on your edited list. Do not attempt to make a sale at this time. Explain that you’re trying to understand how to sell into the prospect’s industry. Ask them to confirm that the targeted individuals inside the targeted industries are actually the people you should be calling and that the message will prove effective. If there’s a disconnect, re-examine your assumptions and return to Step 1.

STEP 5: Help Marketing create better lists in the future. Make your cold calls. If you find (as you probably will) that pre-qualifying your cold calls results in a higher number of average sales per call, save yourself some time and trouble in the future. Ask Marketing to purchase or generate prospect lists that fit the demographic of your proven target. Warning: when the marketing group sees what you’ve done, they’ll probably want you to come work for them!

Putting a Price on Innovation

2008-09-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

Founded 30 years ago at the dawn of biotech, Genentech is a legend in an industry where companies yearn to do what it does: to make billions of dollars off of novel drugs while remaining true to innovation and science.

Unfortunately, it's also a legend being positioned for a fall.

That's because the Swiss drug giant Roche, which has owned a majority of Genentech shares since 1990, wants to buy the 44 percent of shares in the company that it does not already hold. Late Thursday, Genentech said it had formed a special committee to evaluate the $89 per-share offer, which many analysts and shareholders believe is too low.

At any price, this whopper of a deal could mean an end to Genentech’s distinctive culture of innovation, despite promises from Roche not to meddle.

It would also provide more evidence that the days of “Big Biotech” – a relatively small subset of successful companies in an industry that takes years to develop products and to become profitable – are over. Big Biotech is being swallowed by Big Pharma.

Facing slender pipelines for new drugs and expiring patents for blockbusters, big pharmaceuticals are snapping up medium and large biotechs with abandon. Biotech’s biggest selling product line this year will not be new meds for cancer or Alzheimer’s, but deals.

Roche’s initial Genentech offer is $43.7 billion, equal to over half of all of biotech’s revenues last year. The offer was 9 percent over premium last Friday, but the share price has quickly risen to $95, signaling that shareholders want more. Analysts expect Roche to pay $100 a share if they are serious about the purchase.

"The special committee intends to proceed in a timely manner to review the Roche proposal, which was both unsolicited and unexpected," said committee chairman Charles Sanders in a statement. "The outcome of this process has not been pre-determined, and there can be no assurance that the special committee will approve any transaction with Roche."

In the past, Pharma companies have been content to support certain biotechs like farm teams in baseball through licensing and milestone deals, worried that engulfing them might destroy the innovation.

No more. In April, Japanese pharma giant Takeda bought Millennium Pharmaceuticals for $8.8 billion, and last year biotech biggies such as Medimmune were sold for billions of dollars. And remember Chiron? Another biotech pioneer for the San Francisco Bay Area, Chiron was purchased by Novartis in 2005, and now seems to have vanished.

Nobody seems as intent on buying new companies as Roche. Already this week it has bought Canada’s Arius Research for $189 million, and Mirus Bio of Madison, Wisconsin for $125 million, on top of the Genentech offer late last week. Apparently, new Roche C.E.O. Severin Schwan likes to shop.

Roche argues that duplications in the two companies are costing hundreds of millions dollars a year, and efforts to keep the two companies separate keep operations from being as smooth as they might be.

But critics of the deal insist that this is really about Roche taking advantage of a weak dollar and a declining stock market.

One thing is likely: there may not be another Genentech for a long time. Any company with the potential will be snatched before it has a chance.

This may not be healthy for the larger pharma industry, which not only needs more novel drugs, but it also desperately needs novel new business strategies and new cultures that are able to keep the innovations coming even in a huge company.

Genentech was the most important player in this experiment to find a new way to incorporate both.

If the deal gets done, the ball will be in Roche’s court to see if its buying sprees will help it become more like Genentech, or will turn Genentech into another disappearing act like Chiron.

How To Make A Decision And Stand By It

2008-09-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

One of the qualities of a great leader is the ability to make a decision and to live with it. Some people are born with this skill, however most of us are incapable of making decisions and sticking by it. I believe taking the right decision is crucial for success. Here are a few points that can help you make the RIGHT decision and how to abide by it.

Section 1 What is a decision ?
Before we start it’s important to know what we are talking about: Decision making can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes (cognitive process) leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion. For this post I will mostly point out actions.

Some of the decision making techniques that we use in everyday life include:

* listing the advantages and disadvantages of each option
This is a smart way to start
* flipping a coin, cutting a deck of playing cards, and other random or coincidence methods
This is the worst possible way of taking any decisions
* accepting the first option that seems like it might achieve the desired result
Sadly a lot of people take the first option they think about because they do not believe there is any other way of fixing a problem.
* prayer, tarot cards, astrology, augurs, revelation, or other forms of divination
I am not even going to comment on this, don’t pray & don’t look for cards to make the decision for you.
* acquiesce to a person in authority or an “expert”
Why use an expect ? You are the expert at making your own decisions!
* calculating the expected value or utility for each option.
This is smarter, calculating the risk and personal desire is a start.

Section 2
How to make and stand by your decision

1- Look at every aspect of the problem before making the decision
In most cases you don’t need to make a decision right away, so take your time and analyze every aspect of the situation. It’s very important to be neutral when analyzing the situation. If your decision affects other people, try to put yourself in their shoes to see how they would feel about it. Try to think about their objections and if they would appreciate it, as this can help you figure out if your idea is right or wrong. Nothing looks more unprofessional than having to back down on a decision because of discontent from other people (Our politicians makes this mistake quite often).

2- Don’t look back
Once you’ve taken all the necessary steps in making the right decision don’t look back, believe it’s the best choice possible and never open the door in your mind to change it. This is a mental battle but it’s very important to understand that once you open the possibility you can create it. I’ve talked about the creation process. For example let’s say you want to quit smoking, if you never tell yourself that you will smoke again or that you can, chances are that you won’t. However if you open the door in your mind that a cigarette would be good, only one won’t hurt and such, then chances are you will not be able to quit. In this situation you need to tell yourself it’s over PERIOD, never open the door to any other possibility. Our thoughts are our greatest friend but also our most powerful enemy.

3- Talk to people and seek advice (not an answer)
I am sure you’ve notice by now that in most of my posts I always seek other people’s advice, as in some cases it’s good to get help from our peers. For decision making you can also look for help, however do not find someone to make the decision for you. Ultimately you need to do that by yourself with the information you gather from your peers. Most of the time we are afraid of the outcome because it’s unknown, this is perfectly normal and we need to learn to overcome that. The more decisions we take the easier it is to make them. Just like anything else in life.

My last point is less factual but I also believe it can play an important role in decision making. Your gut feeling is also something not to underestimate, it’s very important to follow your instincts and what feels right. Most decisions in life will affect us personally, so if they don’t feel right there might be a reason for that. Trust your instinct and your judgment, as this will help you make the right choices in life. Remember each choice we made brought us to the point we are in life, every action has a reaction make sure you make the right actions/choices/decisions to achieve the desired goals.

Small Business Advocate: Analyze self to achieve success

2008-09-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Discovering the four levels of performance consciousness is a defining professional moment. This consciousness isn't about being awake; it's about being aware of why you're successful or not.

There are four levels of consciousness.

1. Unconscious Incompetent. This person doesn't know ... that he doesn't know. Also called a DK2, which is short for "Don't know, squared." A DK2 is not only incapable, but actually clueless about his inability.

Before you say, "There, but for the grace of God, go I," it's important to note that everyone is a DK2 sometime. The challenge is to not live your life that way because DK2 is a terminal professional condition.

Right now you're probably saying, "Oh, Great One, please, stop me before I DK2 again."

Don't fret; we'll get to that.

2. Unconscious Competent. This individual lurches uncontrollably toward success without knowing how or why.

Sometimes we call an Unconscious Competent gifted, or lucky. Those of us who have to work hard for everything we get call them annoying.

But don't be too quick to envy this person because not knowing how you got where you are is one of the definitions of lost. And any resulting success is likely not repeatable.

3. Conscious Incompetent. This person is incapable and knows it.

If you're looking for an employee to train, this is the one. No ego about what he thinks he knows and no resistance to your methods and practices. A Conscious Incompetent is an amorphous block of disciple clay waiting for you, the master sculptor.

But be careful. Sometimes the Conscious Incompetent wallows in this condition as an excuse for nonperformance. Conscious Incompetence should be a temporary condition on the way to the next level.

4. Conscious Competent. This person gets the job done and knows why. She can identify what happened when she's successful but, more importantly, is fully aware of what happened when she fails.

How do you become a Conscious Competent? Through a practice called self-analysis.

Self-analysis allows us to see what we do well and capitalize on it, as well as recognize -- and constructively evaluate -- what we don't do well and improve or minimize it.

Self-analysis is not easy; sometimes it even stings because it requires that we control our ego. Ego obstructs self-analysis by telling us that any success we have is because we're so smart, while assuring us that any failures we experience couldn't be our fault.

Successful self-analysis is part of a conscious plan for professional improvement. Practicing self-analysis, Conscious Competents discover the enduring benefits of being honest with themselves about their own performance.

Write this on a rock ...

If professional excellence were a mountain, Conscious Competence would be its peak.

Jim Blasingame is the award-winning host of The Small Business Advocate Show and creator of the small business knowledge base, AskJim.biz . Also find Jim at SmallBusinessAdvocate.com.

5 Questions You Can Ask Yourself to Be Competitive

2008-08-13T03:10:00.000-07:00

Some say that competition is bad, that we should just aim for cooperation. But looking at how the real world works, we could that we could gain something from competition. Look at how Apple and Windows are slugging it out. And see Linux. They get challenged to churn out better products (Ahem! for Vista) and we get choices.

In my opinion, competition keeps you on your toes. It spurs you on to be better. A lot of people tend to settle with just scraping by with the bare minimum. But it’s never too late to decide that you might want to accomplish something that’s above what you’ve done so far.
However, spurring yourself on shouldn’t be something that you do for the sake of doing it. Reckless abandon doesn’t often result in the best things. So before you go out launching some competition against some random bloke, go ask yourself a few things.

What do I really want?
Establish S.M.A.R.T. goals. Make sure that it’s specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to dream big. Just work on smaller goals in order to reach that big dream. If you plan to be a Hollywood star. How about taking some acting lessons first (or a series of plastic surgeries).

How much do I want it?
Motivation is one of the keys to success. And you just have to want things more than the average Joe Schmoe.
A corollary question to this would be, “What am I willing to risk to get to my goal?” Anything that compromises your or other people’s well-being is not healthy competition anymore. It’s mania.

With whom am I competing?
Remember that in this life, you are not the only one who’s dreaming big. If you plan to get rich, hey, practically everyone wants to do the same. A key to success is being competitive is acknowledging the competition. If you’re smart, expect everyone to smart as well.

What do I have over everyone else?
Focus on your strengths. Knowing that you have advantages over other people can help you overcome that sense of mediocrity.

What do I gain from it?
While self-motivation is great to push you to the top, you might also get overboard. A bit of thought given to the possible outcomes and the pros and cons can help you decide whether the endeavor’s worth taking. Does the end justify the means?

How to Be Closer to Your Boss

2008-08-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

And we don’t mean your puckers on his/her butt. Sometimes the thin line that makes the difference between a nightmare job and a dream job is a good relationship with your boss. I’ve had one too many friends who complain about their jobs. All of them acknowledge, though, that their jobs will be a whole lot more fun if their bosses didn’t have that “I am God and you’re just a mere maggot” aura. Read on these tips on how you can get on your superior’s good side and see how it can make your life easier.
The most important policy is respect. Under any circumstance - in success or failure, you should always show some form of respect to your boss. Sure, it’s pretty tough to do if the bastard’s like Dilbert’s Pointy-Haired Boss. Of course it’s more ideal if you become friends with your boss, but even though you joke around with each other, always maintain that level of respect so that you never do anything below the belt.
Cope with your boss’ leadership style. It might not work for you at first, but s/he’s the boss so you’ll just have to make it work. You can either adjust or resign. One of the best values of professionalism is being able to cope with different leadership styles. In the long run of your career, you will come across different leadership styles. And the best that you can do is to make yourself efficient under any leadership style.
Know when to assert and when to back off. Your boss needs your ideas, your efforts, and your full cooperation in every project. When it comes to brainstorming, planning, and execution, be at your best and give all you’ve got to contribute to the success of every project. Equally important is to know when to back off. Your boss needs space when s/he comes to office in a bad mood or when s/he seems overly stressed. Be observant and sensitive. Just wait for the tempest to ebb a little before you give him more things to stress over.

Strategy - SWOT analysis

2008-08-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

Definition:

SWOT is an abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

SWOT analysis is an important tool for auditing the overall strategic position of a business and its environment.

Once key strategic issues have been identified, they feed into business objectives, particularly marketing objectives. SWOT analysis can be used in conjunction with other tools for audit and analysis, such as PEST analysis and Porter's Five-Forces analysis. It is also a very popular tool with business and marketing students because it is quick and easy to learn.

The Key Distinction - Internal and External Issues

Strengths and weaknesses are Internal factors. For example, a strength could be your specialist marketing expertise. A weakness could be the lack of a new product.

Opportunities and threats are external factors. For example, an opportunity could be a developing distribution channel such as the Internet, or changing consumer lifestyles that potentially increase demand for a company's products. A threat could be a new competitor in an important existing market or a technological change that makes existing products potentially obsolete.

it is worth pointing out that SWOT analysis can be very subjective - two people rarely come-up with the same version of a SWOT analysis even when given the same information about the same business and its environment. Accordingly, SWOT analysis is best used as a guide and not a prescription. Adding and weighting criteria to each factor increases the validity of the analysis.

Areas to Consider

Some of the key areas to consider when identifying and evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats are listed in the example SWOT analysis below:

Hyperion for battlespace communication and information services

2008-08-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hyperion is a collaborative project between BT, General Dynamics, QinetiQ, Southampton University and Imperial College. It is a cluster project within the Ministry of Defence Data and Information Fusion Defence Technology Centre.

Technical Objectives

To create an adaptive agent-based architecture capable of significantly enhancing the functionality and resilience of Networked Enabled Capability (NEC) Information Fusion and C2 processes. In particular, by providing an adaptive reconfigurable capability for battlespace communication and information services.

Science Objectives

To investigate novel algorithms for self-organising network infrastructures in support of military requirements. The specific areas for research are: resilient service-oriented peer-to-peer (P2P) architectures, representation frameworks for network-centric information fusion, mixed initiative information retrieval and integration, complex policy management and control, agent negotiation protocols for NEC support, visualisation and user interaction methods for fully distributed service oriented computing in battlespace environments.

Approach

Future NEC operations will require intelligent and real-time reconfiguration of ICT services to meet bandwidth, hardware and human constraints. Hyperion is a set of distributed intelligent agents, embedded within the NEC environment, that apply dynamic goal-driven service workflows, adaptive QoS and brokering/negotiation to optimise the availability of C2 resources. The Hyperion agents are themselves connected by a self-organising peer-to-peer network that provides a high degree of resilience and availability for the services.

The Hyperion agents will respond to policy level statements that specify preferred configurations and prioritisation requirements for each information service or communication channel. The agents dynamically allocate services and compose them into distributed processes according to tasks requested. New policy requests can be hot-loaded at any time to dynamically reconfigure the agents' behaviours. A command oriented interface system enables policy level management of the system and re-tasking of network resources. It supports varying degree of human-machine interaction from fully autonomous to mixed initiative operation. The targeted value is an order-of-magnitude reduction in ICT support requirements for C2 processes, through a reduction in administrative manpower and time to reconfigure ICT services.

A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR THE STOCK MARKET THROUGH INTEGRATION OF FUZZY NEURAL NETWORKS AND FUZZY DELPHI

2008-08-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

Abstract

The stock market, which has been investigated by various researchers, is a very complicated environment. Most past research is only concerned with the quantitative factors such as index in open and volume, rather than the qualitative factors, such as the political effect. However, the latter plays a critical role in the stock market environment. Therefore, this research proposes a decision support system for the stock market that considers the quantitative factors as well as the qualitative factors. The proposed system consists of four steps: (1)factors collection, (2) quantitative model (fuzzy neural network \[FNN]), (3) qualitative model (fuzzy Delphi), and (4) decision integration (FNN). An example based on the Taiwan stock market is utilized to evaluate the proposed intelligent system. Evaluation results indicate that the proposed system can perform more effectively than the single artificial neural network.

How to become a successful stock investor

2008-07-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

The key to becoming a successful stock investor is to know the difference between a great investment and a bad investment. Many investors assume that great companies are great investments, but this is not always an accurate assessment. Sometimes, a wonderful business can make a lousy investment.

Most stock investors can be classified into two investment styles: value and growth. Value investors utilize an investment style that favors good companies at great prices over great companies at good prices. These investors use such valuation measures as price-to-book ratio, price-to-earnings ratio, and dividend yield to determine the attractiveness of an investment. Growth investors invest in companies that are growing their earnings and/or revenue faster than the industry or the overall stock market. These companies usually pay little or no dividends, instead preferring to use profits to finance future expansion and growth. Value investors prefer to own companies at good prices, and growth investors prefer to own great companies and price is a secondary issue.

Which style is better? It depends on the investor. Stock investors with a lower tolerance for risk should consider investing a larger portion of their portfolio in value stocks. Investors with a higher tolerance for risk should consider investing a larger portion of their portfolio in growth stocks. However, investors who want to avoid under performing the stock market as whole should always invest at least a small portion of their portfolio in both investment styles.

Over the long term, value has outperformed growth, but from time to time growth has outperformed during the short term.

Stock investors should be aware of the following:

1. The stock market rewards different styles at different times.

2. Value investors tend to be buy-and-hold investors, and growth investors tend to be more short-term oriented.

3. It is very difficult to determine which style will outperform in the short-term.

4. The variance between performance of value and growth styles can be very large during short time frames.

5. For some growth stocks, growth never does come. Eventually the share price falls.

6. Some value stocks are cheap for a reason - they are bad stocks and they deserve to be cheap.

Overall, the best investments are those companies that able to grow profits and add shareholder value. These companies have traditionally been value companies. Investors who prefer to select their own stocks should consider a value approach and complement these investments with a growth mutual fund. Remember that selecting the wrong growth company is not as forgiving as selecting a value company erroneously, as the market correction in growth stocks in early 2000 showed us.

by: Daniel Reed

Basic Investment Strategies

2008-07-21T05:56:00.001-07:00

Are you ready to open your pathway to financial independence?
Well you should be, and the sooner the better, but, how do you get started investing?

There is so much to know about investing and the truth is it will take a lot of training and guidance in order to get the hang of it.

With our fast paced and ever changing economy, it can be hard to fit into the market with no experience. So the sooner you get started the sooner you will know what you are doing.

You can start anywhere, read books, websites, financial publications, magazines, attend courses, seminars etc. but no matter what you do, make sure you start as soon as possible.

This website have been designed to aid you in your quest for financial independence. Throughout these pages you will find hundreds of articles, tutorials & strategies that will help you learn about investing, and help you get things started down the right track.

Learn How To Invest & Create a Passive Income For Your Future!
If you’ve ever wondered how the rich get so obscenely rich, it’s not because it’s in their blood or because they attend the best schools. The reason is much simpler than that. You see, while you work hard for your money, rich people make their money work hard for them.

No one ever got rich from working for money. And yet, some people who seemingly do nothing more than work a regular nine-to-five job and earn a weekly paycheck, join the ranks of the super wealthy every single day. How do they do it? They’ve learned what the rich teach their kids ...

They have learned how to make money work for them, instead of them working for money. If no one has ever taught you how to do this, you can start right here. This site contains hundreds of articles related to every aspect of stock market and real estate investing.

Here’s a small sample of what you can learn ...

--How anyone can learn to invest in the stock market

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--Discover the big winners of tomorrow before everyone else does.

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--Why the right mutual fund can skyrocket your net worth and how to avoid the risks.

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--Are those stock investing newsletters and membership sites really worth anything

--Learn the truth about e-gold investing

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Start by exploring some of the great resources on this website. Each category runs several pages deep, so to get a feel what we offer, we suggest you browse the first page in each category before digging deeper.

And if you haven’t done so already, take advantage of our Beginner’s Guide to Investing E-Course. It’s absolutely free. Just type your name and email address in the box at the left, click “SUBMIT” and you’ll receive your first lesson in a flash. Don’t miss out on learning all the investment secrets of the rich.

Investment Techniques For Creating Passive Income
There are many wealth creation strategies and investment techniques available to those who are looking to create a passive income. These fall into three main categories. Running a business, investing in property and investing in the share market. Although there are many options in each of these areas, finding the right wealth creation strategy for you is not that hard.

The formula for Wealth Creation is relatively simple. In order to increase your wealth, you need to increase your wealth generating activities. Most of us start out trading our time, for money. We get paid an hourly rate for doing a certain job. The problem with this is that in order to increase your income, you usually need to increase the amount of hours you sell to your employer or clients. Which in turn reduces the amount of time you have to spend on yourself, your family and doing the things you enjoy.

In order to increase your quality of life, the only realistic strategy is to increase your income, and reduce the amount of hours you work. How do you do this you might ask? By using time tested wealth creation strategies and investment techniques to create and then increase your passive income.

Creating a Passive Income for Wealth Creation
Passive income is generated when you are making an income without having to work for it. For example if you own a business, that you have setup to run completely on its own, or if you own shares in a company that pays you annual dividends, or perhaps a piece of real estate that generates capital or rental returns.

All these investment techniques earn you passive income. because you are not limited by the amount of hours you can spend per day working on them. Instead of working for money, you now have money working for you. This is the true essence of any effective wealth creation strategy. Maximum return for minimum effort.

Before you go investing and time or money in any wealth creation strategy, it is best to fully research and understand each strategy before making a decision.

How to Earn from a Hobby: Photography

2008-07-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

So there’s an artist in you after all. Ever since you bought that camera, the two of you are inseparable, and all you want to do is point and shoot. Photography is a pleasurable hobby. You walk about, and you look and you wait for a perfect moment which you can immortalize with a snap of your camera. If you have developed an eye for beauty, then why not turn it into something profitable? After all, photography is not a cheap hobby.
Invest on equipment. Well, if you’re really into it, be prepared to invest on a good camera, lenses, lights… I talked to one professional photographer colleague of mine and he says that any yahoo with a good digital SLR and Adobe Photoshop can call himself a “pro” nowadays. It’s really easy to just shoot-now, manipulate-later where you can dish out terrific pro-level shots even if all you know is click.
Learn. There’s so much in the art and science of photography that you need to learn. Lighting, composition, aperture speed… Enroll in short courses and workshops from pros to learn what you need to make it to the big leagues.
Value your personal style. Even though you are a beginner, you have a style all your own and that’s what makes you stand out from the other photographers. You don’t need anyone telling you which angle looks better because you know where it is. The most important thing is to keep your cool and trust in your own talent. If you can’t do traditional wedding photos, then do it your way. No one will complain as long as your shots are all pretty. People won’t be looking at angles or lighting, they’ll only care about how they look in the photos. So be on guard so you won’t miss a perfect shot.
Launch a photoblog. You can still earn by publishing your portfolio in a photoblog. Let the magic of Web 2.0 fund your hobby.
Be organized. Make sure you set up ahead of time. There’s no room for mistakes so make sure you’re all set when the event starts. To be sure that you don’t forget your extra batteries at home, make a checklist. Make a portfolio of your whole coverage so that you can officially promote your own photography services to future interested clients. Take on available jobs. Do you know someone who’s getting married soon? Make a phone call and offer your “services”. You’ll do something you love, plus you earn extra cash!

Source : http://www.lifespy.com/

Investing Tips For Beginners

2008-07-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

Investing can be confusing, especially for the beginner. Getting some basic tips can help a beginning investor to make informed choices that fit their needs. Each person has a different goal when investing and that plays a big impact on how you invest. The following list explains some things beginners should know before investing.

1. Understand that there are no set rules for investing. There are no guarantees and no perfect way to invest.

2. Make informed choices. Before investing in any way you should completely understand how your investment will work and all of the details of the transaction.

3. Make a simple plan to determine your goals and needs. This will help you to determine what investments to make and how much money to invest.

These three tips are great for general investing, but many people are looking to invest in the fast paced world of the stock market. The above tips are a good beginning, but the following tips will further help those interested in investing in stocks.

1. Look at the value of the stock instead of the price. Low cost stocks may be low for a reason. Look at the whole picture. See why the price is low and if there is a possibility it may rise.

2. Check the companies return on net worth. This is the profit after taxes divided by the net worth. It is important to see a trend of growing return on net worth.

3. Spread out your risk. You should not put all your money in high risk stocks. Try some lower risks and some higher risks. This is the best way to protect your money.

4. Understand the basics of stock prices. Prices move up or down depending on future projections.

These four tips can help a beginning investor start investing in the stock market.

No matter what type of investment you are looking into, knowledge will be the key to success. These short tip lists are just the beginning to understanding investing and how to maximize your return. Keep learning and trying.

by: Stephen Kreutzer

"Strategy "... what is strategy?

2008-07-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

Overall Definition:

Johnson and Scholes (Exploring Corporate Strategy) define strategy as follows:

"Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations".

In other words, strategy is about:
* Where is the business trying to get to in the long-term (direction)
* Which markets should a business compete in and what kind of activities are involved in such markets? (markets; scope)
* How can the business perform better than the competition in those markets? (advantage)?
* What resources (skills, assets, finance, relationships, technical competence, facilities) are required in order to be able to compete? (resources)?
* What external, environmental factors affect the businesses' ability to compete? (environment)?
* What are the values and expectations of those who have power in and around the business? (stakeholders)

Strategy at Different Levels of a Business

Strategies exist at several levels in any organisation - ranging from the overall business (or group of businesses) through to individuals working in it.

Corporate Strategy - is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of the business to meet stakeholder expectations. This is a crucial level since it is heavily influenced by investors in the business and acts to guide strategic decision-making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is often stated explicitly in a "mission statement".

Business Unit Strategy - is concerned more with how a business competes successfully in a particular market. It concerns strategic decisions about choice of products, meeting needs of customers, gaining advantage over competitors, exploiting or creating new opportunities etc.

Operational Strategy - is concerned with how each part of the business is organised to deliver the corporate and business-unit level strategic direction. Operational strategy therefore focuses on issues of resources, processes, people etc.

How Strategy is Managed - Strategic Management

In its broadest sense, strategic management is about taking "strategic decisions" - decisions that answer the questions above.

In practice, a thorough strategic management process has three main components, shown in the figure below:

Strategic Analysis

This is all about the analysing the strength of businesses' position and understanding the important external factors that may influence that position. The process of Strategic Analysis can be assisted by a number of tools, including:
PEST Analysis - a technique for understanding the "environment" in which a business operates
Scenario Planning - a technique that builds various plausible views of possible futures for a business
Five Forces Analysis - a technique for identifying the forces which affect the level of competition in an industry
Market Segmentation - a technique which seeks to identify similarities and differences between groups of customers or users
Directional Policy Matrix - a technique which summarises the competitive strength of a businesses operations in specific markets
Competitor Analysis - a wide range of techniques and analysis that seeks to summarise a businesses' overall competitive position
Critical Success Factor Analysis - a technique to identify those areas in which a business must outperform the competition in order to succeed
SWOT Analysis - a useful summary technique for summarising the key issues arising from an assessment of a businesses "internal" position and "external" environmental influences.

Strategic Choice

This process involves understanding the nature of stakeholder expectations (the "ground rules"), identifying strategic options, and then evaluating and selecting strategic options.

Strategy Implementation

Often the hardest part. When a strategy has been analysed and selected, the task is then to translate it into organisational action.

Social bookmarking

2008-07-18T03:23:00.000-07:00

Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata.
In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine.

Most social bookmark services encourage users to organize their bookmarks with informal tags instead of the traditional browser-based system of folders, although some services feature categories/folders or a combination of folders and tags. They also enable viewing bookmarks associated with a chosen tag, and include information about the number of users who have bookmarked them. Some social bookmarking services also draw inferences from the relationship of tags to create clusters of tags or bookmarks.
Many social bookmarking services provide web feeds for their lists of bookmarks, including lists organized by tags. This allows subscribers to become aware of new bookmarks as they are saved, shared, and tagged by other users.
As these services have matured and grown more popular, they have added extra features such as ratings and comments on bookmarks, the ability to import and export bookmarks from browsers, emailing of bookmarks, web annotation, and groups or other social network features.
Advantages
With regard to creating a high-quality search engine, a social bookmarking system has several advantages over traditional automated resource location and classification software, such as search engine spiders. All tag-based classification of Internet resources (such as web sites) is done by human beings, who understand the content of the resource, as opposed to software, which algorithmically attempts to determine the meaning of a resource. Also, people tend to find and bookmark web pages that have not yet been noticed or indexed by web spiders. Additionally, a social bookmarking system can rank a resource based on how many times it has been bookmarked by users, which may be a more useful metric for end users than systems that rank resources based on the number of external links pointing to it.
For users, social bookmarking can be useful as a way to access a consolidated set of bookmarks from various computers, organize large numbers of bookmarks, and share bookmarks with contacts. Libraries have found social bookmarking to be useful as an easy way to provide lists of informative links to patrons.
Disadvantages
From the point of view of search data, there are drawbacks to such tag-based systems: no standard set of keywords (a lack of a controlled vocabulary), no standard for the structure of such tags (e.g., singular vs. plural, capitalization, etc.), mistagging due to spelling errors, tags that can have more than one meaning, unclear tags due to synonym/antonym confusion, unorthodox and personalized tag schemata from some users, and no mechanism for users to indicate hierarchical relationships between tags (e.g., a site might be labeled as both cheese and cheddar, with no mechanism that might indicate that cheddar is a refinement or sub-class of cheese).
Social bookmarking can also be susceptible to corruption and collusion. Due to its popularity, some users have started considering it as a tool to use along with search engine optimization to make their website more visible. The more often a web page is submitted and tagged, the better chance it has of being found. Spammers have started bookmarking the same web page multiple times and/or tagging each page of their web site using a lot of popular tags, obliging developers to constantly adjust their security system to overcome abuses. Some social bookmarking websites added CAPTCHA protection to fight spam, but this can prevent blind users from registering for those services if accessible CAPTCHAs are not provided.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RSS Reading versus Site Hopping

2008-07-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. I don’t really go visiting websites anymore. For the past month, I’ve just been using my RSS feed reader (Google Reader) for most of my daily reads and research.

Why not? It’s a very streamlined process to get the low-down on what’s new and fresh without the fuss of having to load. I used to have bookmarks folders for all my daily reads and open them all in tabs. Now, while I love Firefox, it is still a resource hog. And opening around 60 tabs will eat up a hell of a lot of RAM and bandwidth. It isn’t really a great option.

Enter Real Simple Syndication. RSS. It’s really a great way to receive updates from your sites. And I think it’s one of the ways to go in terms of publishing your Web content. It’s a whole lot quicker than having to visit every site and reload every time to check for updates.

While Adsense publishers may consider me a lost cause in their chances of getting a few cents from my clicks (since Adsense doesn’t show up in feeds, well not yet), they can still consider me a loyal reader. Which, I think, in a writer’s point of view the better deal. But we’ve got to monetize, right? Plus you can still optimize your blog feeds to feature only snippets of articles so when an RSS subscriber thinks an article is a must-read, s/her will still click on the link and visit your page.

Most of the websites to day feature RSS feeds that you can add to your reader. I must say that it now only takes me a few minutes to get the information I need instead of the usual hours I spend hopping from one site to the next.
Just look at how this guy reads 622 feeds each morning. RSS reading is a must for productivity.

In any case, there are still merits to site hopping. For one, some media and application sites still do not have RSS feeds available so for those, you really still have to visit them for updates. And there’s still StumbleUpon to help you zero in on random interesting topics.

How to Make a Newsletter

2008-07-17T08:35:00.001-07:00

A newsletter is one of the most effective ways of spreading word. You can use it to promote, to preach, to market, or to advertise whatever you want. Organizations and some companies still see some value in spreading the news around. The problem is how you can make one that’s sure to generate your desired results.

Choose your medium. In a paperless universe, it is definitely cheaper to do it online. You can always send it out via e-mail or have it available for download. A blog as a news zine can also work too. Having it printed out can be an option (a bit more expensive too) and you might have some limitations like color (printing in color is expensive!). A photocopied newsletter (while it can work with small runs and very localized distribution) can be a bit shabby at times.

Settle on your content. A newsletter should consist of good material. If you’re running a business, your newsletter content should contain updates, new items on sale, promotions and discounts. Your goal is to inform the public about your product or service. That way, your objective will always be satisfied.

Make good write-ups. You may have good content, but can you compose compelling write-ups and articles? Remember, you want people to read your newsletter from cover to cover so make sure you write your content in the most interesting way you can. And make sure you proof-read your articles. Bad grammar is just not acceptable.

Hire a good artist if you’re not good with designs. A newsletter is not just about the text, but it’s also about the visuals. You want your newsletter to be fresh and appealing so invest on a good layout and design artist who can give life to your newsletter with kick-ass design.

If you want to do it yourself, desktop publishing is the way to go. But you have to at least gain a simple understanding of design concepts before you proceed. Some design concepts to take note of - 1) Clear readable font size, 2) effective color schemes, 3) pictures (make sure they’re scaled or cropped so they won’t look distorted), and 4) effective use of white space (to prevent visual clutter).

Ask for feedback. In one part of your newsletter, you can put a feedback form where your readers can fax you what they think about your newsletter. You can get very helpful suggestions from your readers and increase readership if your newsletter keeps on getting better because of their feedback. Plus, you can earn the readers’ loyalty.

How to Put Up a Newsletter

2008-07-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

If you have a flair for journalism, and you want to express your thoughts, you might want to join a newsletter. Most established institutions have regular newsletters and they use it as a means to communicate announcements, updates, and news about a particular organization. If your company does not have one yet, you can propose setting one up. Let these pointers be your guide.

Decide on how often you will publish it. This is important so that you can determine how long your newsletter is. If it’s weekly, a few pages would be manageable enough.

Your goal is to inform. This means that your priority is to make your newsletter as readable as you can. Put a lot of creativity in your newsletter to attract readership but make sure it stays legible.

Get good writers. You’ll need the cooperation of some colleagues to help you produce good columns. Since you’re releasing your newsletter regularly, assign editors of separate columns. Get writers for news, features, and entertainment. You can even ask an colleagues who has talents on sketching to submit comic strips. You wouldn’t have problems recruiting writers because those who really love to write will see it as an opportunity to express oneself.

You can use your newsletter as a way to raise funds. You can sell ad space. If your newsletter is gathering subscribers, advertisers would want to make ad placements in your publication.

Have your own column! Don’t just be the instigator, but have your very own column where you can write about your opinions on various topics. Write about things you feel strongly about so you can easily fill your space. If you’re not so sure about your piece, have someone criticize your story first so you can polish it up before you publish it.

How to Motivate Yourself to Write

2008-07-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

Let’s see… Your deadline for that essay is tomorrow but you still can’t get a word out of you. You’re suffering from a writing deficiency beginner writers have. Some people think writing is easy and trivial. But that’s cheap talk. An articulate person can have all year to write a bestseller and still end up with a blank page.

If you want to be a writer, you have to work for it. Reading is always a good way to get inspired.

But for now, consider these pointers:

Eliminate distractions. Sometimes, it’s not really an issue of motivation but more of a distraction issue. If you feel stymied by all of the things going on around you, then go find a good spot. If you’re the word processor type of writer, then why not use a distraction free word processor like DarkRoom.

Write what you know. It’s hard enough to put into words your thoughts without having to come up with a compelling piece that’s totally alien to you.

Choose your mentor. Be careful who you look up to. Often times, novice writers tend to mimic their favorite author’s style until they finally get their own voice. Accomplished writers come in different forms. You might want to look up to an inspiring novelist rather than some snub best-selling author who writes only to sell.

Be open to criticism. Everyone who’s ever been famous has, one way or another, experienced being rejected. Talent doesn’t mean you have a clear shot at success. It takes more than the gift to really get to the top. It takes will, balls, and immunity to your critics. After all, bad publicity is still publicity, right? Don’t think that criticism should stop you from writing. In fact, be proactive.