In Business Scheduling Is Critical

Writen by Jim Roe

In my youth, many years ago, I worked for a medium size manufacturing company. I was, like all at that age, eager and knew it all. And some still call me a know it all.

After two months there, the President asked to speak to me. I did not think he even knew I existed. Sweat time. I was sure I would get the axe and I had no idea why.

"I need your help," he said. I started to become confused and weak kneed. My being speechless, he continued: "We are having serious scheduling problems and I would like you to investigate. A fresh look at the problem may be useful."

"Listen to this" he said, "It is a memo to the Sales Manager from the Production Manager."

He read the memo "John: Do you want us to rush the rush job we are rushing now, or are we to rush the rush job you wanted us to rush before we rush the rush job we're rushing now, or rush the rush job we were rushing before?"

With that he developed a twitch in his left eye. The man was rattled. He continued saying "We have two other serious problems. Quality on Mondays is horrible and we have high absenteeism on Fridays."

Being capable of solving all the worlds' problems, I took the assignment.

On the pretext of learning the operations I spent about a week in the scheduling and production departments. Quality was a minor problem except on Mondays. For the most part the suppliers delivered on time. High absenteeism was a mystery to me. Does not everyone like to work? I asked a fellow why he only worked four days a week. He replied, "Because I cannot live on three day's pay."

The senior scheduler had an interesting philosophy, not without merit. "Plan well for the days and let the nights be a surprise."

Frankly, I could find little wrong except for the Monday and Friday problem. However, their scheduling factored in these problems. And the calculated delivery dates seemed reasonable but rarely achieved.

I suspected the planning yet I was at a loss. Then I remembered what General Eisenhower had told me. "Roe," he said, "in preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." A wise man.

I also remember what my old friend Sherlock Homes had told me years ago. "Roe," he said, "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded even the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

But what was left to investigate? Then it struck me - the calendar was at fault. It was the calendar causing the problems. I recalled that in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII had a serious scheduling problem. He could not keep the planting season in sync with the calendar. Farmers could not plan their seeding and harvesting times based on the calendar.

The Pope, following my advice on process improvement of adding, improving or eliminating, he eliminated ten days in 1592. That worked fine for 150 years! In 1744 the British dropped another 12 days (giving rise to the twelve days of Christmas) and all is still in sync.

Compared to the Pope and the British Empire, I only wanted to fiddle with the calendar, nothing major mind you, just a little fiddle here and a little fiddle there.

First, I eliminated Mondays. The day following Sunday was now Tuesday. Brilliant. Quality improved over night. Curing Fridayitis was a no-brainer. I reversed Thursdays and Fridays. With Fridays now being midweek there was little point in taking the day off. So the week now went Sunday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday-Thursday-Saturday.

Everyone enjoyed the four-day week. I was a hero! All went well for a few months. The Production Manager was pleased with the improved quality. However, he complained the missing Mondays was causing his deliveries to fall further and further behind. Hmmm. Should I add the four days a month back into the calendar? I could not call them Mondays so when were they to go?

In another flash of brilliance I add the four days to the end of the month. But what to call them? Certainly not Mondays. So I decided not to name them, but to number them. Following the 31st of the month they were called the 2nd 31st, the 3rd 31st, then the 4th and 5th 31st. The production department loved me.

All was going well until I had a visit from IT. Information Technology: the computer gurus. You know them, the group that has their Help Desk only staffed from 2am-4am, Tuesdays to Thursdays.

"What is with all these requests to change the calendar? You know us: we only work on projects we dream up. Right now we are working to correct a serious bug." The bug was in a program comparable in importance to Windows 3.0 Solitaire. Even then, they never had the latest software.

"We also have to solve the year 2000 problem"

"But that is nearly fifty years away!" I cried. "Yes, we know. A difficult problem." The solution seemed obvious. If I can fiddle a little with the calendar, why not fiddle some more? So I eliminated the year 2000. Who would know? They were so please they extend the Help Desk hours to include Saturdays and Sundays.

Who knocked next at my door but the Human Resources people? They did not want anything. The inventors of the Annual Performance Review were just wandering the halls lost, as usual. I have always maintained it would be cheaper to fire the lot and simply give us all an annual 10% increase. Don't you agree?

Next came a visit from Finance. They were totally confused. Apparently I was stressing their limited ability of adding, subtracting, and complaining. A sad condition. They remind me of the bird who flew backwards: it was not interested in where it was going, only where it had been. Finance only measures what can be measured, not what should be measured. Have you ever seen a list of the most important thing of all, lost customers? Of all the expensive, wasteful things is a lost customer. Why did we loose them? No one ever mentions lost customers. Criminal.

Surprisingly, Finance did not have a complaint. They had a request: would I please have the 10th of the month follow the 20th? All their reports had to be in by the 10th of the month and with this change they would have an extra ten days to do their work.

Not surprisingly, I never heard from Engineering. It has been my experience that engineers rarely know or care what day it is.

Now came the really devious group. EH&S- Environmental, Health and Safety. Here were the deep yet warped thinkers, the real troublemakers. Beware of these people for they are a scurvy lot. Avoid them like the plague.

They wanted the 1st of the month to follow the 31st. "What on earth for?" I asked. "Well," they replied, "We report accidents from the 1st to the 31st. This way the month would be over before it began. Voila! No accidents to report!"

Brilliant, What could I say?

Then a calm voice from the back spoke up. "We cannot do that for if we report no accident for a few months we will all be laid-off." Good thinking. So I moved the 1st to a few days before the 31st. Now there would be a dramatic improvement but not perfect.

I said they were a devious lot. I was being cautious, trying to choose my words carefully. I am convinced EH&S is running a very clever extortion operation and is probably connected to the Mafia. They say, "Pay us more and we will do less. Pay more and there will be fewer accidents and fewer chemical spills. Don't pay us and you will see accident, spills, and government visits will increase." Get less for more money - that's incredible. That's extortion, pure and simple.

And they have a powerful lobby to write more and more complicated regulations. Imagine; in this time of deregulation these people have the power to increase regulations. Can you imagine the Finance department lobbying for more complicated tax regulations? Or the production people saying, "Pay us more and we will produce less?"

It must be extortion. Imagine: work and do nothing. My advice? Get a job there quick. After the first day on the job they all seem to be retired at full pay.

And it goes beyond this company. On my last visit to California I went to the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in San Diego. It was a beautiful building. Huge. 2-3 floors, the cafeteria sat 300-400 people. It was a large, spacious and attractive building.

Now think it through. They are the EPA. Do you realize how much pollution was generated for the building's construction? If they truly believed in protecting the environment, they would be working in tents, especially in earthquake prone California. What could be safer than living in tents? At least in the north we have the cold as an excuse.

In general my new and improved calendar had a few minor problems. We sometimes delivered products before receiving an order and occasionally are accused of being late before receiving an order.

What was the end result? What would you expect? I was promoted. The President retired early on a medical leave. The Production Manger simply disappeared. I inherited the President's tic. Strangely enough I was never asked to help with scheduling again. What a waste of talent.

James Roe www.smartjobhunting.com A free web site.In Business Scheduling is Critical By James Roe 7/10/06

In my youth, many years ago, I worked for a medium size manufacturing company. I was, like all at that age, eager and knew it all. And some still call me a know it all.

After two months there, the President asked to speak to me. I did not think he even knew I existed. Sweat time. I was sure I would get the axe and I had no idea why.

"I need your help," he said. I started to become confused and weak kneed. My being speechless, he continued: "We are having serious scheduling problems and I would like you to investigate. A fresh look at the problem may be useful."

"Listen to this" he said, "It is a memo to the Sales Manager from the Production Manager."

He read the memo "John: Do you want us to rush the rush job we are rushing now, or are we to rush the rush job you wanted us to rush before we rush the rush job we're rushing now, or rush the rush job we were rushing before?"

With that he developed a twitch in his left eye. The man was rattled. He continued saying "We have two other serious problems. Quality on Mondays is horrible and we have high absenteeism on Fridays."

Being capable of solving all the worlds' problems, I took the assignment.

On the pretext of learning the operations I spent about a week in the scheduling and production departments. Quality was a minor problem except on Mondays. For the most part the suppliers delivered on time. High absenteeism was a mystery to me. Does not everyone like to work? I asked a fellow why he only worked four days a week. He replied, "Because I cannot live on three day's pay."

The senior scheduler had an interesting philosophy, not without merit. "Plan well for the days and let the nights be a surprise."

Frankly, I could find little wrong except for the Monday and Friday problem. However, their scheduling factored in these problems. And the calculated delivery dates seemed reasonable but rarely achieved.

I suspected the planning yet I was at a loss. Then I remembered what General Eisenhower had told me. "Roe," he said, "in preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." A wise man.

I also remember what my old friend Sherlock Homes had told me years ago. "Roe," he said, "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded even the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

But what was left to investigate? Then it struck me - the calendar was at fault. It was the calendar causing the problems. I recalled that in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII had a serious scheduling problem. He could not keep the planting season in sync with the calendar. Farmers could not plan their seeding and harvesting times based on the calendar.

The Pope, following my advice on process improvement of adding, improving or eliminating, he eliminated ten days in 1592. That worked fine for 150 years! In 1744 the British dropped another 12 days (giving rise to the twelve days of Christmas) and all is still in sync.

Compared to the Pope and the British Empire, I only wanted to fiddle with the calendar, nothing major mind you, just a little fiddle here and a little fiddle there.

First, I eliminated Mondays. The day following Sunday was now Tuesday. Brilliant. Quality improved over night. Curing Fridayitis was a no-brainer. I reversed Thursdays and Fridays. With Fridays now being midweek there was little point in taking the day off. So the week now went Sunday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday-Thursday-Saturday.

Everyone enjoyed the four-day week. I was a hero! All went well for a few months. The Production Manager was pleased with the improved quality. However, he complained the missing Mondays was causing his deliveries to fall further and further behind. Hmmm. Should I add the four days a month back into the calendar? I could not call them Mondays so when were they to go?

In another flash of brilliance I add the four days to the end of the month. But what to call them? Certainly not Mondays. So I decided not to name them, but to number them. Following the 31st of the month they were called the 2nd 31st, the 3rd 31st, then the 4th and 5th 31st. The production department loved me.

All was going well until I had a visit from IT. Information Technology: the computer gurus. You know them, the group that has their Help Desk only staffed from 2am-4am, Tuesdays to Thursdays.

"What is with all these requests to change the calendar? You know us: we only work on projects we dream up. Right now we are working to correct a serious bug." The bug was in a program comparable in importance to Windows 3.0 Solitaire. Even then, they never had the latest software.

"We also have to solve the year 2000 problem"

"But that is nearly fifty years away!" I cried. "Yes, we know. A difficult problem." The solution seemed obvious. If I can fiddle a little with the calendar, why not fiddle some more? So I eliminated the year 2000. Who would know? They were so please they extend the Help Desk hours to include Saturdays and Sundays.

Who knocked next at my door but the Human Resources people? They did not want anything. The inventors of the Annual Performance Review were just wandering the halls lost, as usual. I have always maintained it would be cheaper to fire the lot and simply give us all an annual 10% increase. Don't you agree?

Next came a visit from Finance. They were totally confused. Apparently I was stressing their limited ability of adding, subtracting, and complaining. A sad condition. They remind me of the bird who flew backwards: it was not interested in where it was going, only where it had been. Finance only measures what can be measured, not what should be measured. Have you ever seen a list of the most important thing of all, lost customers? Of all the expensive, wasteful things is a lost customer. Why did we loose them? No one ever mentions lost customers. Criminal.

Surprisingly Finance did not have a complaint. They had a request: would I please have the 10th of the month follow the 20th? All their reports had to be in by the 10th of the month and with this change they would have an extra ten days to do their work.

Not surprisingly, I never heard from Engineering. It has been my experience that engineers rarely know or care what day it is.

Now came the really devious group. EH&S- Environmental, Health and Safety. Here were the deep yet warped thinkers, the real troublemakers. Beware of these people for they are a scurvy lot. Avoid them like the plague.

They wanted the 1st of the month to follow the 31st. "What on earth for?" I asked. "Well," they replied, "We report accidents from the 1st to the 31st. This way the month would be over before it began. Voila! No accidents to report!"

Brilliant, What could I say?

Then a calm voice from the back spoke up. "We cannot do that for if we report no accident for a few months we will all be laid-off." Good thinking. So I moved the 1st to a few days before the 31st. Now there would be a dramatic improvement but not perfect.

I said they were a devious lot. I was being cautious, trying to choose my words carefully. I am convinced EH&S is running a very clever extortion operation and is probably connected to the Mafia. They say, "Pay us more and we will do less. Pay more and there will be fewer accidents and fewer chemical spills. Don't pay us and you will see accident, spills, and government visits will increase." Get less for more money - that's incredible. That's extortion, pure and simple.

And they have a powerful lobby to write more and more complicated regulations. Imagine; in this time of deregulation these people have the power to increase regulations. Can you imagine the Finance department lobbying for more complicated tax regulations? Or the production people saying, "Pay us more and we will produce less?"

It must be extortion. Imagine: work and do nothing. My advice? Get a job there quick. After the first day on the job you all seem to be retired at full pay.

And it goes beyond this company. On my last visit to California I went to the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in San Diego. It was a beautiful building. Huge. 2-3 floors, the cafeteria sat 300-400 people. It was a large, spacious and attractive building.

Now think it through. They are the EPA. Do you realize how much pollution was generated for the building's construction? If they truly believed in protecting the environment, they would be working in tents, especially in earthquake prone California. What could be safer than living in tents? At least in the north we have the cold as an excuse.

In general my new and improved calendar had a few minor problems. We sometimes delivered products before receiving an order and occasionally are accused of being late before receiving an order.

What was the end result? What would you expect? I was promoted. The President retired early on a medical leave. The Production Manger simply disappeared. I inherited the President's tic. Strangely enough I was never asked to help with scheduling again. What a waste of talent.

James Roe©2006 7/10/06

http://www.smartjobhunting.com A free web site where you are given practical advice and guidance on every aspect of job hunting. Just entering the work force or an experienced employee? This site is a great resourse.

Mobile Oil Change Business 10 Vehicles Per Day

Writen by Lance Winslow

Is it possible for a mobile oil change business to do ten vehicles per day just starting out? Many people going into the Oil Change Business, as independent small businesses base their business plan and risk their capital on the assumption that they can do ten vehicles a day at a pure profit of $15.00 to $18.00 per service or vehicle.

Many people believe that they can indeed do 10 vehicles per day, yet they must also consider that, during this time they will need to be getting their efficient routine down, constantly searching for new business and worrying about making sure they have the proper inventory of air, oil and gas filters on board. Additionally they will be driving around a lot and at $3.00 per gallon there is more cost to consider. One new entrant to the market place stated:

"If I could change 10 vehicles a day at a$15.00 profit x 4 days I would double my current salary at wall mart."

Indeed, you might be able to although I find that most people just starting out have a tough time at 10 per day and usually end up doing a lot less average when starting out. Remember the intervals are 3-5 months for most folks so your customers will not be using your service very often. Although if you could continually sign up small fleets, like the local sheriff department, Air-Conditioning Companies, Companies or even City Hall you could be well on your way to get to your goal.

By mixing 20-30% residential with 70% to 80% fleets it could be done, with proper sales and marketing, if you stayed efficient on your routes and were able to cut costs by good buying of supplies at lower costs. You could make it work, but realize that 10-per day is not easy to do consistently when you start, you should know that up front. Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Be Supported In Your Business

Writen by Jenn Givler

When you are in business for yourself, you wear many, if not all of the hats. It's a lot of work to be all things to your business, and be its biggest fan. To make your business run smoothly you must be sure you are getting the support you need. Support comes from the people you surround yourself with, the environment you work in, and the equipment and tools that you use to run your business.

1. People

Hands down, you are the biggest cheerleader for your business. No one gets as excited about your business as you do. When you have a new idea, or are going through a rough time, it's important to have people in your life that can relate to you. But, what do you do if no one close to you can relate to what you're going through? If no one else in your family or your circle of friends has ever run a business, chances are, they have no idea what you're going through. And, as much as they care about you, sometimes, it's hard for them to know how you need to be supported.

It's important that you find people who can share in your joy, or can give you ideas when you need them. Great places to meet people are networking groups, or industry associations. There are many groups you can join online or off-line. Do a Google search on your industry and see what comes up. You can also check out popular group sites like Yahoo Groups, Ryze or Ecademy. Offline, you can get involved in chambers of commerce, rotary clubs, or specialty networking groups. An Internet search on networking groups in your area and will produce plenty of places to meet new people.

2. Environment

Your environment must support your activities. Your space should be functional and you should add elements to the space that you love. For example, I love fairies. The top of the hutch on my desk is home to 6 wonderful fairies that look down on me while I work. I also love books. I have built-in bookshelves on one wall of my office where I keep all the wonderful books that help me in my business. I also have plants in here, pictures of family and drawings that my daughter has done. To me, my office space is sacred – it's where I do all kinds of thinking and planning and business activities. It truly reflects the things I cherish and supports me.

It's important that you love your space, and that you add elements that will make it a joy to work in your space. If you share a space with someone else, or you just can't have a space that's all your own, be sure that you block out time that your work space is all your own. And, add small things that won't hinder someone else working in that space.

3. Equipment

Your equipment is an important part of your business. Be sure it's up-to-date and running properly at all times. When something becomes worn out, replace it. You don't have to spend a ton of money on brand new state-of-the-art technology. Many times, you can get great things second-hand, or you can get last year's model at a discounted rate.

When you look around your business, do you have support from people, your environment and your equipment? What sub-par elements are you tolerating in your business? Make a list of things that you can change this week in order to be better supported in your business. Take time over the next month to update or change the things that are not supporting your business activities properly. Not only will you feel better, but your business will run more efficiently and effectively.

Copyright 2006 Jennifer Givler

Jenn Givler is a Business Empowerment Coach who helps entrepreneurs and those on the verge of entrepreneurship gain clarity about their business and exceed their business goals. Get her free e-book that will show you how to Create a Powerful Business. http://www.jgivlercoaching.com/newsletter.htm

Accomplish Difficult Tasks Easily

Writen by Cathy Wagner

Is there something you've been meaning to do? If you're like me, you probably have a long "to-do" list, but have you noticed that some tasks come and go very quickly on that list while other things linger.

Look at your list now. Is there anything you can cross off today because it is just not necessary anymore? Probably not. The long standing items on my list are usually large, time consuming projects or difficult tasks that I am unsure of the best way to complete.

It is much easier to stick with what we know and more rewarding to cross several items off our lists in the course of a day than just one.

Are Your Difficult Tasks Really Important?
But, think about it. Why is each item on your list? Will it make your life easier? Will it increase sales? Odds are if you do it once, it will be over and you won't really have to do it again. And, if you do have to do it again, it will go much faster next time, once you get the hang of it.

Where will you be if you don't do it? Will your sales remain sluggish? Will you continue to be disorganized? Will you fail to get you project off the ground?

Well, what are you waiting for? My tip today is to pick something (anything) that's been on that list for a while and just do it.

How?
Do you need help? ASK! You probably know someone who has experience with your particular task. Ask them. In most cases they will be able to give you advice that will make your work much easier, but in some cases, you may find that they will be glad to do it for you! You might even be surprised to learn that they can use your help too. No one is expected to know how to do everything and it is truly a sign of strength to ask for help when you need it.

Building a business network or Mastermind Group is the best way to get difficult tasks done. Interacting and working with colleagues will help you to see your own strengths and more effectively accomplish your goals using ALL of the resources available to you.

For example. I know a little html. I update my web site every week and I can even create simple pages relatively easily. But, whenever I have a more complicated web site related task, I always ask my web designer and here is why: it takes me a week to do what she can do in an hour.

We have a mutually beneficial relationship, we work together and are glad to help each other with simple tasks. Of course when I need a lot of work she gets paid, but some things that seem huge to me are easy for her to do in just a few minutes. She doesn't feel as inconvenienced as I would if someone asked me to do the same thing.

But...
The first thing people say to me when I tell them this is, "But I don't have any skills I can trade." My answer to this is "Rubbish!" Everyone has skills.

While my web designer is a whiz with web sites, she knows relatively little about online promotion, other than search engine placement. I keep her up to date on other methods and I've given her a couple of tools that she really loves. I can also proofread work she does for others and help her test the functionality of her designs.

Think about what you CAN do and who you know. Talk to them, find out if they have any needs you could fill. Then, make the time to help them and get some of your more challenging tasks done!

Cathy Wagner, online business expert and owner of http://www.onestopinternetbusiness.com, will help you reach your goals faster with hands-on marketing guidance and support, personalized for you own unique business. You can save hundreds of dollars and countless hours of frustration by avoiding common mistakes and pitfalls.

Can We Make Easy Money Online

Writen by Kum Cheng Liew

Are there any easy ways to make money online? My answer is yes and no. Some people claim that they make a lot of easy money. Some people warn that most of the programs that offer some kind of easy ways to make money online are scams. Below are my reviews and comments on some of the easy ways of making money online.

High Yield Investment Program (HYIP)
A HYIP is an investment program that will pay high interest in short period of time to anyone invested money or fund to the program. The interest and return offered by HYIPs usually rank from 0.5% to 100% daily, weekly or monthly. You can make fast and easy money joining HYIPs. However investing in HYIPs involve high degree of risks. HYIPs generally stay online anywhere between 1 day to 1.5 years. You could lose the entire or part of your principle if the HYIP you invested closes down. One strategy you can use to minimize the risk of lose is diversify your investment into several HYIPs equally and don't leave any interest in your investment accounts for compounding, withdraw them to your e-gold account or other e-currency accounts immediately. You can find HYIPs from those HYIP rank and monitor sites. HYIPinvestment.com is one of the largest HYIP rank and monitor sites. They provide a long list of HYIPs with latest comment, rating and payment status on each HYIP. If you plan to join HYIPs, invest only the amount you afford to lose because your principle and profit aren't guaranteed.

Get Paid to Sign up Program
Get paid to sign up programs seem working right now. You earn an amount of money ($0.50 to $50) every time completing a company's free or trial offer. Low paid offers usually are free to sign up whereas high paid offers generally require you to enter your credit card information during the sign up process. This type of earning opportunities usually available to US residents only. Treasuretrooper.com is one of the most popular get paid to sign up programs now where you can join for free and make money completing free and special offers.

Paid Survey
Taking online paid survey at home is another easy way to make money online as you don't need any special skills and knowledge to complete paid survey job. In order to increase the money you can earn, you need to join as many market research and survey companies as possible. However you can't expect how much money you will make monthly because you have no idea when a paid survey invitation will send to your mail box and how many invitation you'll receive monthly. Thus it is not an ideal way to make a wage but a great way to make some extra income for paying your monthly bills.

Alan Liew is the webmaster of online4income.com which provides information, tips and ideas of how to make money online. You can also visit his blog to find out more ways to make money online.

Custom Trade Show Displays

Writen by Peter Emerson

It is a good idea to have custom trade show displays to exhibit your products and services. A good trade show display is design according to your company's vision and it gives your booth a distinctive identity of its own as you try to attract new business. A well design custom trade show display creates an impression that results in more business. You can design your own display or hire and expert to create a lasting impact in any tradeshow. Custom trade show displays get you noticed and help you succeed.

Designing custom trade show displays does not require any fixed and fast rules. Simple sketches can be used as a new design to which you can add graphics, colors, and texture. You can add attachments like counters, kiosks, shelves or banners to suit your needs.

Your custom trade show display will be ready within a few days. Custom trade show displays are flexible enough to create endless configurations simply by rearranging panels and components. Smaller displays can be created from larger ones. Only a few simple additions are required to highlight your company name and products.

There are several companies that specialize in creating custom trade show displays. They give exclusive attention to each client's display and design their exhibits to best suit their needs. They even set up the displays at the venue of the trade show before the client arrives. These experts provide complete solutions to all trade show display needs, including delivery and installation. Using a custom trade show display gives you the look you need for a successful trade show. From concept to completion, these professionals guarantee the finest results at affordable prices.

Trade Show Displays provides detailed information about trade show displays, custom trade show displays, portable trade show displays, and more. Trade Show Displays is affiliated with Mannequins.

Innovation Working On Your Business Not In It

Writen by Justin Woolich

So what exactly does it mean to be Innovative and 'Work On your business not in it' and how is this possibly going to assist you in reaching your long term goals for your life and your business?

I had the misfortune recently to be involved in a motor vehicle accident. Nothing too uncommon I am sure you would agree. I was lucky in that I walked away with only a few minor scratches and a bruised ego.

The accident however, gave me the opportunity to witness first hand, how innovation within a company can assist in getting its customer service right; and on further investigation it gave me the chance to find out exactly what the innovation behind the exceptional customer service experience was.

From the very first moment that I contacted the insurance company it was obvious they were an innovative organization. They actually had a real person pick up the phone. You would agree that in instances like this you just kind of expect to be given the run around and be frustrated by bureaucracy and inefficiency at every turn.

Thankfully my experience was a little different. I had just brushed myself off and I was still quite shaken, but I managed to pull myself together and begin taking care of things. I was definitely not in the mood to be interrogated with a multitude of questions. I just needed to get my vehicle towed and get myself to a doctor for a further check up. The friendly yet concerned voice on the other end of the phone seemed to know this instinctively and was able to set everything in motion quickly and effortlessly. Within minutes a tow truck was on its way, an ambulance had been ordered and my claim had been started.

And the impressive service did not end there. Throughout the vehicle repair process I was contacted regularly and given full and comprehensive updates on the status of my vehicle and was even asked when the most convenient time to be contacted for follow up service calls would be.

This is quite different to the customer service experience I thought I would receive

Being quite interested in finding out what drove innovation in exceptional service businesses I decided that I would ask some questions of the staff whenever they contacted me regarding my claim. I was interested to find out what enabled them to provide a consistently exceptional customer service experience.

The answer I received from the staff with whom I asked the question was consistently the same. 'This is the way we do it here'. On further questioning them on exactly what this meant. I was relieved to find that everything that I had experienced right from the opening dialog through to the claims processing and on to the final delivery of my repaired vehicle, was all part of their internal Innovative Processes and their Documented Operational Business Systems.

Every step, carefully thought out, the dialog to use for the phone conversations, the tone of voice and attitude of the claims staff, the back end processing of the claim, the follow up service calls. All integrated and consistent across the company, and all configured to provide the best outcome for me the customer.

So this is what it is about: This 'working on your business not in it', Business Innovation and Systemization if you will. While it may sound very structured and ordered and not flexible enough to work in every business. The truth is that is does work and can work for you.

Imagine your people having that flexibility to innovate within the well defined system that you have created with them. Everyone working together towards the defined goal, your goal.

Communicate to your staff -'This is the way we do it here' - Provide them with the required tools to allow them to Learn and Innovate. Watch them Grow; Watch them Thrive...

Copyright 2006 Business Systems Manager

Justin Woolich has been involved with the Development of Innovative Business Software for over 12 years. He is passionate about assisting Businesses with Software for Business Development. http://www.BusinessSystemsManager.com/AboutJustinWoolich.aspx. Start a Free Trial of Business Systems Manager today and find out additional ways we can help you to free yourself from the concerns of loosing your key staff http://www.BusinessSystemsManager.com.

Creating A Work Environment That Works

Writen by Barbara Hemphill

Whether you are working at home, in the office, or in your car -- your ability to produce results with the least amount of stress, is directly affected by your physical environment. A functional desk that is ugly can be as much of a deterrent to productivity as a beautiful desk that is not functional. I have spent over twenty years with people working in their homes, offices and cars. One thing has become vehemently clear. Your desk can be your greatest enemy or your best friend.

Take a good look at your desk. How does it make you feel? Are you comfortable there? Can you do what you need to do there easily? How does it look to other people? Does it reflect the message you want to give to the world about your work and your values?

Analyze the kinds of activities you need or want to do at your desk. If you use a computer, an L-shape desk is usually the best option. Use the short end of the "L" for your computer, and the long end for desk accessories, your telephone, and spreading out papers while you are working.

One of the major detractors to an effective and attractive desk are those pesky scraps of paper, which seem to proliferate in your absence and sometimes in your presence! In my experience, an important component of any desk is space for files. I prefer two file drawers in my desk – one for current projects and another for reference materials I use frequently. If you are an "out of sight, out of mind" person, you may prefer a file holder that sits on top of your desk. You can use Post- it? Flags with colored bars for easy-to-use color-coded labels.

Do you get lots of phone calls? If so, it is important to develop a systematic way to record all those messages. In our office, we leave an open 6" x 9" spiral-bound notebook by the telephone to jot them down. The top of each page is dated, and we put the initials of the person responsible for responding to the call in the left-hand column. When the action is completed, the initials are crossed out. Any pending issues are flagged with a Post-it? Flag – a different color for each person. The flag dispensers are attached to the side of the telephone.

Do you spend lots of time talking on the telephone? If so, what do you need? Is your source of phone numbers – electronic or paper -- easily accessible? Do have a consistent way to take notes while you are talking? To make filing your telephone notes easier, keep Post-it? 4" x 6" pads nearby. Avoid putting notes from several conversations on the same piece of paper.

The greatest desk in the world will be sabotaged without a comfortable adjustable chair and good lighting. An inspirational piece of art in your natural line of vision can be a real stress reducer too!

Most people want to be able to move around in their work area, so a swivel chair on rollers is a big advantage. If there is carpeting, you will need a chair mat so the chair will roll easily.

Most desks I see are too cluttered – paper that could be filed away if you were confident you could find it when you needed it (we'll talk more about that in future columns!), office supplies you never use, and memorabilia that has been there so long you don't even see it!

Essential desktop supplies for most people include an "In Box" for mail you haven't looked at yet (not a place to put postponed decisions!); an "Out Box" for the things that need to go outside your office, and a "To File Box" for the papers that need to be filed outside the reach of your desk. Caution: Eliminate any container not designated for a specific purpose or it will soon become a catchall for unidentified objects!

My definition of "organized" is very simple:

1) Does it work and
2) Do you like it? If you answer "No" to either of those questions when it comes to your desk, decide now what you can do about it!

© Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com

Anonymity In Online Communication And Internet Forums

Writen by Lance Winslow

Have you ever participated in online communications and noticed that everyone is using made up pen names? Have you noticed that more and more people who email are concealing their names with fancy or meaningless email addresses? Well, meaningless to anyone else but the calling party that is. Have you noticed your attorney uses a rather sneaky type format of their real names? Is the whole world trying to conceal their identities? How can anyone know if any of it is real or not?

The Spammers of course use bogus names to try to entrap you into reading their wasteful ads, phishing scams or tempt you to their websites? Why is everyone afraid to just be them selves? Some say it is because nasty and vindictive people will use this knowledge against them if they show their true identity and they are afraid of personal or financial harm from a crazy computer user out there or some one stealing their identity?

Others have said that anonymity promotes more honesty into what someone is thinking and thus allows us all to say what we really mean without fear of retribution. Many very intelligent people use fake names, alias identities or "CB Handle" type digital names in online forums and instant messaging. If you look at the trend you will see that since the kids and teens all have portable communication devices of all types, that in the future it will be more the norm than someone using their true identity.

In online forums you never know who you are speaking with, it could be a PhD Professor, an entrepreneur or some street gang kid who now has access to a computer and a keyboard all of which have opinions about everything and will fight for their opinions online to prove a point. But why do they work so hard to argue a point for "Cruel Girl 87" or "Sonora Sunset 2001" after all no one really knows who in the hell that is?

It is intriguing this new trend in human communication and interesting that no one has studied the psychology behind it in regards to the future of civilization, society and individualism in the next 2-3 decades. In forums sometimes people will share a name and a pass work, other times folks will use multiple names. Regarding using two people with one name that is funny, as it keeps everyone guessing and indeed makes keeping a conversation or debate going somewhat interesting, as if arguing with a true schizophrenic. And as you read online forum debate threads from where they start and end up, it is fascinating the team building, personal attacks, compliments and peaking order that ensues? Are we not totally sure that the anonymity of all this is merely showing the innate human characteristics of mankind? That the primate politics of our socialization process has not really evolved all the much further even though we live in advanced civilizations instead of mud huts, Teepees, igloos and caves?

Well whatever the case anonymity on the Internet does propel thought and often allows for the ditching of political correctness, which could be said to be more honest even if it makes the most enemies, hurts the most feelings and challenges our belief systems. I myself can remember using two or three names before to discuss a concept or to pitch the other viewpoint without looking silly as if I was contradicting myself, which I often end up doing too in order to allow the reader to see all the different angles of a situation and relative truths of perception surrounding and argument? In this case one can come up with a totally new point of view or innovation and simply debate them selves in a forum to show the Devil's Advocate of a concept or idea or to simply show the silliness of an argument in the sound and fury of life from the peanut gallery perception. Kind of like the dialogues of Copernicus or Leonardo da Vinci.

This way if some one wants to criticize an idea, the originator of the original thought, has already beaten them to it with a fictitious or created person. Obviously the historic philosophers knew this and used this technique to their advantage and we sure see a lot of this scenario on Internet Forums in the present period. I know it sounds crazy, but it also helps the creator of the new innovation or concept with ability to think from outside the cave looking in at the projector and the viewers of the flickering light.

One can only imagine the string puller of the created fictitious debaters, as they can probably almost hear the critics in the background attacking themselves and each other. Now then back to the pressing argument; is the anonymity of the Internet a positive thing for propelling thought and communication between diverse groups and independent minds? Does it show the true psychological nature of humans? Does it help us in being honest with ourselves? Or as some would say, is it tearing down the fiber and strength of society rather than strengthening our civilization. You decide, think on it.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Digital Video Recorders For Security And Information

Writen by Scott Norris

Digital video recorders (DVRs) are more than toys in our crime infested world. They are a necessary tool for security. In conjunction with CCTV cameras you can record everything that happens in your business 24 hours a day. The days of wondering what is going on in your other facility are gone.

Using the internet, your business is under your control, 24/7/365. Using your DVR, now you simply open internet explorer, type in your IP address, input the proper username and password and you are remotely viewing a live video feed from your business.

The benefits of digital video recorders are obvious. Remote viewing is being used more and more in the security industry as people become busier, traffic becomes heavier and the hours that business remains open is lengthening. You can be on vacation in the Bahamas or Mexico and still look in on your business whenever you want.

DVRs are much more sophisticated now than they were even 2 years ago. Using the latest recording compression codecs, you can now get 30+ days on a 250GB hard drive with 8 cameras, if you buy the right DVR. There are so many different manufacturers out there that it's very confusing, plus most (95%) are foreign made.

Many of the cheaper models have from 30-40 buttons on the front, and this is how you program and access the different functions (playback, archive, search, etc) on the digital video recorder. It can be very frustrating and time consuming to learn the complicated sequence of commands.

Or you can simply buy a better DVR and use a keyboard and mouse to access all the functions. This is much easier and usually only takes a minimal amount of training to learn to use the DVR.

This is why I recommend dealing with a reputable company, and purchasing a digital video recorder that is made in the USA. It is a wise choice for service, parts and support.

Scott Norris

info@rcdvr.com

Scott Norris has been involved in the security industry for over 30 years and is a recognized authority on digital video recorders and surveillance systems. He has written numerous articles and has given seminars on digital security solutions and DVRs. http://www.rcdvr.com/

The Most Annoying Man On The Internet

Writen by Lance Winslow

Who is the most annoying man on the Internet today? That is hard to say considering there are some 13 Billion pages out there isn't it? Well let's say we wanted to find the most annoying, despicable or obnoxious man on the Internet today? What would the criteria be? How would we pick such a figure? Indeed it seems that it would be tough to single out just one man as the most obnoxious or annoying person wouldn't it?

Well we could pick someone out who was successful and opinionated? Someone who was always in everyone's face like a John Mac Enroe or a Denis Rodman, but to do so would be to deny they entertain us and so that wouldn't be the right person. Plus as obnoxious as those people are, they are indeed extremely talented. Of course we could pick Donald Trump, his is somewhat success and always in everyone's face, although he is entertaining and often he is right about things. Plus he dates some very fine women, so all in all, he should be fired from the list of the most annoying man on the Internet.

What about an Internet Marketeer? One who has a website, but no way to contact him? How about a man who builds a website telling you to buy his stuff and the only contact is an order form or "Free Junk Mail" in your inbox, hyping his wares each week? Now that would be totally annoying wouldn't it? But there are so many of those folks out there, aren't there? Well let's pick one who has a website which is nothing more than an 18-20 sales letter using one line or two-line sentences or paragraph after paragraph of hype and no substance. Every few paragraphs with link to the order page?

How about someone who sales books and tapes on how to help you sell, by selling you "how to sell tapes and books?" Why not pick someone who can never decide which font or size of type to use and continually uses BOLD and italic print? Someone who sucks you into each paragraph thinking your will learn something only to quickly grab your attention into the next using the latest psycho-babble BS?

Who would you pick for the most annoying man on the Internet in a day and age of so many phony baloney, BS Artists, who either use a fake name or a modification of their name and sale crap on the Internet? The one's who waste your time and then expect for you to buy something from them? How could we ever choose; they are all a dime a dozen and they are everywhere? So, I guess we couldn't pick just one of them out could we? Do you know there are actually people who aspire to be just like that? It's true, think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Office Printing Solutions

Writen by Brian Johansson

Every office has different needs when it comes to their printing solutions. Most companies will grow from a home based business into a larger office will require a change in their printing solutions. It doesn't make sense for a business to have several small ink-jet printers running all at the same time each serving as individual employee. Ink-jet printers are notoriously expensive to maintain and can only serve one or two people at a time without causing a huge backlog of print jobs. A larger office should have a singular large format laser-jet printer that will process jobs more quickly and more efficiently than smaller individual printers can. In the long run this will be much better for your business as it will lower many of the costs your business will incur. Converting from individual printers to one central unit will require several things and you should be aware of them before moving forward with this process.

Your office will have to establish a network of some sort for all the machines in your office to print to a single machine. This could mean bringing in a computer expert to establish your network, or simply setting it up yourself. Setting up a network for your office is really quite simple and can be done in any office outfitted for DSL, which most already are. All you will need to do is to route the DSL through one central router and out to the individual machines and setup the central printer either through your router or one of the computer's on the network that can grant access to all the computer's on the network.

Once you have a network in place you should do plenty of research before purchasing the printer you are going to place on your office network. There are plenty of models out on the market from companies like Brother, Hewlett Packard, Epson and Lexmark. You should choose a machine that gives you the options you need and has the print capacity that fits your company.

Find out how to get your hands on the best office furniture for less at http://find-office-furniture.info/

Paid Online Content Jump Onboard Now Or Be Left Behind

Writen by Steve Faber

Consumers are now, far more than ever before, ready and willing to pay for online content. Some startling facts:

1) Over 17 million music tracks have already been bought and downloaded on Apple's iTunes music service, despite the existence of KaZaA and other file sharing services.

2) In 2004, over 58% of all webmasters in the UK charged for online content, with that number predicted to grow to over 65% by the end of 2005.

3) Consumer spending in the U.S. alone, for online content, reached $1.8 Billion in 2004, according to the Online Publishers Association, This figure showed a solid 18% growth over the previous year. Some categories showed truly astounding growth. The number one paid online content category in total dollar volume was the Online Dating / Personals category. This category showed a respectable 14+% growth. However, the Entertainment / Lifestyles category showed a tremendous 90% increase from 2003, moving into second place among all categories.

4) Sports websites have been a staple of the Internet for years. As could be expected, this also holds true for paid online content, with the Sports category experiencing a whopping 38% growth from 2003 to 2004.

5) All this growth has taken place with less than 12% of all U.S. internet users purchasing online content. This indicates the tremendous potential for continued growth of paid online content.

There are three main determinants that decide weather content can, or should, be monetized; it should be unique (there should be a USP, or unique selling proposition), exclusive and usable. The more the content follows any, or all of these three determinants, the greater its ability to be monetized.

Another factor that bodes well for the continued, explosive growth of paid online content is the proliferation of Internet enabled cell phones, PDAs and phone / PDA combos. Currently these have rather slow connection speeds, but as newer technologies and faster networks (such as 3G) take hold, this problem will disappear. Indeed, at the end of 2004, PayPal, an eBay subsidiary, began investigating the expansion of its mobile service division by among other things, the addition of micro-payments.

The full scale entry of PayPal, with over 70 million account holders, into the mobile payments market would definitely hasten the acceptance of paid online content into the mobile arena. By 2009, According to analyst firm TowerGroup, the total market for Internet and mobile micropayments in the U.S. is predicted to increase 23 percent (at a compound annual growth rate) to $11.5 billion in revenues, up from just over $2 billion in 2003.

One category, business and financial news and reports, has shown solid growth (over 14% 2003 – 2004, according to the OPAss'n.). There is the potential to charge much more for content in this category, as the information directly impacts business decision making, and thus profitability. Marketing and financial reports from major research and financial firms are very profitable, selling from $250.00 to $1,500.00. These tend to be extremely comprehensive, but smaller, more concise reports sell well also for prices from $50.00 - $150.00.

Now is the time for you to transition your website into some form of paid online content. Market acceptance for it is experiencing solid growth that shows no signs of letting up. Paid content is a fantastic addition to an existing website or a solid foundation for a new site. You'll see your portion of that $1.8 billion rolling in as subscription revenue month after month. Recurring revenue also makes your far more valuable should you ever decide to sell it. Just find your niche, find or create your content, and market your site.

Steve Faber has been successfully marketing both on and off line for years. He has been a principal for a bricks n mortar business that grossed almost $2 million a year. He has been involved with several successful websites for both bricks n mortar and online businesses. If you really want to investigate the exciting, revenue producing world of paid online content and watch your income take off in just weeks, see his eBook here: http://www.opportunitiesaplenty.com

Quality Pool Cue

Writen by Andrew Robinson

A good cue stick is the most important part of the game. At Boston tables, pool cues of the best kind and make are produced. The store basically offers three high quality designs of cues: Eliminator Pool Cue, MLB "Eliminator" Pool Cue and NFL "Eliminator" Pool Cue. These cues are available in various colors and weights. Apart from the ethereal white, cues also come in black and the dark red shades of Burgundy. The cue mass usually ranges from 18 to 21 oz. One thing that strings all myriad shapes of cues from the Boston stable is finesse of the final product.

If a player has no faith in the pool cue, his performance is likely to suffer. Performance out of a pool cue and the pool cue tip are considered cardinal for any good game of pool. The Eliminator series cues from Boston tables have a superb and smooth stroke. Professionals have professed their liking for these cues due to zero pinching and a perfect balance that results in true shots.

Unlike its peers, www.bostontables.com makes use of an improved grip in its cues. The eliminator graphite and glass produce the smoothest and consistent hits in the entire cue industry. The pressed and polished Irish linen wraps give the cue its added charm. These cues are polished and use a joint pin in addition to a butt plate. The shafts come in many colors plus a high-grade hard rock maple adds durability. The ferrule is a linen fiber with joint protectors. The Boston table pool cues are known for their solid construction and excellent balance.

Boston table cues are among the most beautiful pool cues available. The pool cues have some eye-catching designs. The colors of the woods used complement each other well, resulting in a cue that is a true work of art. The Eliminator pool cues feature great designs, excellent playability, and quality construction at attractive prices.

The excellence in quality can be assuaged from the fact that eliminator Cues have come to the – Major League baseball MLB. The cues can be purchases either online or picked up from the Boston tables store. They usually come along with a beautiful bag, in line with the high-quality standards of the Boston table pool cue. The pool cue pack definitely stands out from the crowd.

Andrew Robinson is a well known author and has been writing content for pool table,business, consulmer services an Online sale pool cues pool sue for sale site for so many years. His content is worth reading as it gives you an insight about different aspects of Online Pool cues Pool sue for Sale For more information visit www.bostontables.com

Effective Web Search With Googles Quotmy Search Historyquot Tool

Writen by Nowshade Kabir

You were looking for certain information on the web. After several attempts using different words and phrases with your favorite search engine, you finally have found the required information but, as it happens, forgot to bookmark the pages. In a few days when you needed to check out the same pages again, to your utter dismay, you realized that you couldn't recall how you searched out those pages. Sounds familiar? If you are like me, you probably face this problem quite frequently!

Finding the right page link you are seeking from the browser's history feature, out of hundreds of pages that you have visited recently, is not easy either! More over, browser's history page remembers where you have been as you browse the web for a limited time only. Things may be a little easier if you use Google Desktop search or similar tools from other search engines, but again if you don't always use the same computer, even this might not be of much help.

My Search History – a new Google feature

However, thanks to new "My Search History" feature from Google, now you are able to overcome this difficulty. The service, which is still at beta stage and released just recently, provides complete search history of all the past searches made through Google once you install it. The search histories are stored on Google's servers, this enables you to access search histories from any computer. From your search history page you are able to make a query on the search history itself. On the history page at the right side you can see the search words or phrases used for making a query, time of the query made, pages visited related to the query and the page link. At the left side, there is a calendar to check out the search made by you on an earlier date.

It also shows how many searches you have done on a certain day and how intense your search activity was on each day. A neat feature, which will help you get rid of the problem mentioned in the beginning of the article, will show you relevant search results from your "My History Pages" along with the new search results while you make a query. "This feature of Google Web search enables you to find information you thought you lost", Google claims on its site.

How to install?

In order to add this feature go to the "My Search History" link on your Google home page and search results pages, by clicking the My Search History link on Google Labs, or by going directly to http://www.google.com/searchhistory. If you ever registered with any of Google's services, i.e. Gmail, Newsgroups, Froogle, etc. you may use same user name and password to install this feature. If you don't have account with Google as yet, don't worry unlike Gmail account you can go to the following page https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount and create a new account. Once you created an account, you can turn on "My Search History", which will add the link to your Google home page and search results pages.

Is this feature something new?

This is actually not a new feature on the Internet. This service of Google has striking similarity to the one already existed on Meta Search tool www.a9.com. Other search engines like www.askjeeves.com and little know www.findory.com also have some thing similar incorporated to their systems. A9 also has a feature called "Discover", which along with your search results recommends sites relevant to the query. The My Yahoo Search test released in October also enables users to save, share and post notes on their own search results.

Privacy issues

There is always a reason to be concerned when your Internet activities are tracked and kept by any company. However, Google has taken several steps so that a user can have total control on how he exploits this service.

First, you have to log on in order to use this feature. Your log in status is visible all the time on the Google home page. If you can see your account name on top right side of the page, this means you are signed in.

If you don't want certain searches to be tracked by Google, you have two choices. Either you can suspend the service for a while by clicking on the "pause" button or just log off from the service. You can also erase search results from history page by clicking on "Remove" link. Combination of all these mechanisms will allow you to keep your searches private and protected. However, if you are overly concerned about privacy, you better refrain from using this feature.

Benefits

Most of Google's features carry great values for users. The personalization of search processes using "My Search History" allows you to get a better search experience. It's a significant leap towards creating an ideal search system.

The benefits of this feature for Google are also enormous! Almost all of Google's revenue comes from search ads. Naturally, Google's ability to provide more refined search results to users will allow vendors better targeting their market niche. They would spend substantially more if they could show ads to users based on their past search history. But, Google claims that at this moment it is not planning to post any ads on your history pages.

No doubt, this is an interface that many of us have been waiting for quite a while. However, its impact on the future of search engines remains to be seen!

Nowshade Kabir, is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of Rusbiz.com – a Global B2B Exchange with solutions to create e-catalog, Web store, business process management and other features to run a business online. You can read various articles written by Nowshade Kabir at http://ezine.rusbiz.com

Is Ip The Most Cost Effective Choice For Your Business Communication Applications

Writen by Michael Lemm

Too often a business assumes that IP based solutions are the best choice to satisfy their communication requirements. Particulalrly with convergence issues. But....don't get caught making a hasty decision. There are viable options...and factors to consider before making a final choice.

One of the problems with convergence is protocol, starting with IP.

While we tend to think in terms of Internet and IP, there are alternatives. Dedicated circuits come to mind, followed by frame relay. One option that hasn't gotten much exposure but may offer some real advantages is gigabit Ethernet via fiber optics. The fiber overcomes the distance limitations associated with Ethernet. Ethernet allows for layer 2 switching versus IP based routing. From a private network perspective, this may be an ideal way of lowering overheads and improving latency and jitter issues.

The same applies to other transports such as a private radio network. The IP headers are only one solution to source and destination, and are necessary only when joining the public Internet where IPv4 is the required protocol by agreement (not technical requirement). In 1985, the choice of protocol was still being debated, and Ethernet and Token Ring were still fighting for dominance.

Moving out of IP opens up other opportunities for improved performance and efficiency in other applications besides voice.

From a marketing perspective, "cost effective" applies when taken in the context of the five currencies people use - time, money, security, knowledge, and prestige. Consumerism exists only because people deal in all five currencies and products can find their "cost effective" niche.

"Money is rarely the issue, but when money is the issue it is the only issue."

Fiber to the home or fiber to the curb is a nice thought, and it is becoming more common in new developments here in the US. The economics of this are simple - installing fiber during initial construction costs little more than material at that time, and the cost is buried in the price of the new home to be recouped over 30 years. For the carriers, once a fiber infrastructure is in place at no cost to them its easier to take advantage of it than not. Fiber trunks are routinely installed when major road arteries are reworked. Again, its the economics of reinstalling copper versus installing fiber once the existing facility is compromised by road construction.

Unfortunately, this approach will only get FTTH/FTTC to new developments, For existing neighborhoods, conversion will occur when the providers are faced with a major rework due to natural disaster or infrastructure degradation due to age. To count on fiber anytime soon in these areas would be foolish.

It is possible today to get up to gigabit Ethernet paths between major metropolitan areas in the US, and to some parts of Japan and Europe, much the way dedicated circuits are ordered. Bandwidth on demand capabilities are available to scale up and down in near real time as needed. Running a long haul Ethernet backbone can be significantly easier and more effective than running a routed backbone or using the Internet as the backbone for many companies. This can include companies that in turn provide services to individual users such as telephony services.

What I am suggesting is a review and selection based on what makes the best business AND technical sense. Is IP the right choice for the telecommunications you are supporting? Step back and take a closer look at ALL your options before deciding.

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including DS3-Bandwidth.com and Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.

Is Plastic Corrugated Returnable Packaging Right For Me

Writen by David Marinac

In the competitive manufacturing world, new, "innovative" products are constantly being introduced that are designed to save users enormous amounts of time and effort. And manufacturers of consumer goods are not the only industry trying to win the title of "Most Innovative." Even business-to-business organizations, like the vendors who supply materials to manufacturers, have entered the game with products that aim to help manufacturers realize significant savings.

The packaging industry has also put its hat in the innovation ring, and with great success. For example, a relatively recent innovation, corrugated plastic, has taken the packaging industry by storm, and manufacturers are just now starting to realize the product's benefits. Plastic corrugated is a durable material designed to replace the conventional paper, or cardboard, corrugated products which once dominated the packaging industry. Corrugated plastic is formed when two plastic liners are fused together on either side of a sheet of wavy plastic known as fluting. Together, these three layers create a weather- and chemical-resistant material whose properties offer a superior alternative to traditional packaging methods.

For manufacturers, the benefits of plastic corrugated are plenty. Just take a look at this list of how corrugated plastic can help manufacturers save resources:

1. Plastic corrugated will outlast cardboard corrugated by 20-40 times and can be used over and over, so manufacturers have to replace fewer cartons, resulting in significant cost savings in both obtaining new cartons and disposing of the old ones.

2. Corrugated plastic is stronger than cardboard. Product test results have shown that it has a tensile and tear strength over twenty times greater than paper, guaranteeing manufacturers that their product is better protected and more likely to arrive at its destination unharmed.

3. Plastic corrugated can be fused together in a process called sonic welding; resulting in unique sizes, shapes and designs. This process can be employed to produce custom-fitted products that meet an individual manufacturer's specifications.

4. Corrugated plastic is available in 14 standard colors and can be printed, so even when a product is in shipment, the manufacturer can maintain brand identity.

5. Plastic corrugated is lighter than cardboard, so it costs less to ship.

6. Plastic corrugated is inert to nearly all acids, chemicals, detergents, grease, and oils, is UV-resistant, and can withstand temperature extremes from –17 degrees Fahrenheit to 230 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the best packaging product for many industries.

7. Corrugated plastic is 100% recyclable and environmentally friendly, enabling manufacturers to adhere to the many new environmental laws being enacted all over the world.

In closing, plastic corrugated returnable packaging offers numerous advantages over paper corrugated expendable packaging. As decision makers are being pressed for cost savings, sometimes an evaluation of their packaging will yield unexpected and positive results.

David Marinac http://abc-packaging.com American Built Containment Systems (ABC Systems) is the only company that custom designs specialty packaging via the Internet without having to meet with a customer face-to-face. This allows them to respond faster than any other company at the total lowest cost.

Formal Report

Writen by Anthony Bush

A formal report collects and interprets data and reports information. It may, in the course of doing these tasks, include an analysis and make recommendations for a course of action.

Reports are used to inform, analyze, and recommend. They are usually written in indirect order.

These reports are often very complex and may even be produced in book volume. In the business setting, an informal report is used for internal distribution, while the formal report is used for external distribution to customers, stockholders, and the general public.

The formal report is often a written account of a major project. Examples of subject matter include results of a study or experiment, new technologies, analysis of locations for business relocation, the advisability of launching a new product line, and an annual report.

Careful planning is necessary to guide readers through the report. There are three (3) main sections to a formal report:

1. Front material
2. Body
3. Back material

These sections may contain the following:

Front Material

• Title Page
• Letter of Authorization
• Letter of Transmittal
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Symbols or Abbreviations
• Foreword
• Preface

Body

• Introduction
• Text
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

Back Material

• References
• Bibliography
• Appendices
• Glossary
• Index

Think about content, formal reports use indirect approach. This approach introduces the problem, then gives the facts, with analyses, and summarizes the information given.

If your goal is to make a conclusion, you do that next. If your goal is to recommend action, you offer the analyses, draw conclusion, and then, based on this, make your recommendations.

To Eliminate Wrong Messages

• Do not embellish facts
• Do not make faulty conclusions
• Do not compare oranges to apples. Data must be similar in nature for comparisons to be authentic.
• Eliminate digressions or unfocused material. These can easily derail the report.

After the formal report is completed, double check the following:

• Do heading and subheadings properly reflect content?
• Is information complete for reader understanding?
• Does the report flow logically?
• Is there a clear relationship between ideas and fact?
• Are all grammar and spelling errors eliminated?

By following these guidelines for a formal report, you will be able to produce a report that is informative, good looking, and precise. And in today's world of business a formal reports carries much weight.

Anthony Bush is a freelance writer; publish poet with the International Society of Poets, and owner of Legacy eJournal. To read more articles by Anthony and get FREE tips on how-to write visit http://www.legacyejournal.com You have my permission to reprint this article in any medium provided that you keep content, including the resource box above, intact and without modification.

A Guide To Gumball Vending Machines

Writen by Max Bellamy

Gumball vending machines are among the oldest surviving types of vending machines. (An interesting side fact is that the first vending machine was a water dispenser in Egypt circa 100 B.C.) The first gumball machines were penny machines. You can still get those antiques, although they are more for novelty use than a way for you to make a profit. Who wants to carry around five dollars' worth of pennies?

Most gumball vending machines today are quarter-operated. The great thing about gumball vending machines is that they do not require any electricity for keeping cool or for accepting coins and dollars. Anyone can afford to buy a gumball machine. They start at $50, and even the most elaborate ones are usually not more than a few hundred. The exception is if you choose to go with a huge vending machine kiosk that includes gumballs but also candy, stickers, toys, and other quick impulse items. Those are widely available as well.

Simple gumball vending machines can either be counter-mounted or freestanding. The freestanding models require a stand that you can buy from the manufacturer of the machine. These stands are often available in a range of styles to fit any setting. They can be customized to hold one, two, three, or more gumball vending machines. They can be adjusted to face all directions (perfect for central locations) or they can be adjusted to fit into a corner, with all of the machines facing forward. The money containers can either be emptied from the front or the back, depending on the model. Dome models allow you to empty the money containers either way.

Remember that when you buy gumball machines, you have to figure in probable profits. If you're only going to rake in a few dollars a month, consider changing locations or style. If you have a stand with two or more machines, rotate the gumball selection from time to time to keep customers interested.

Vending Machines Info provides detailed information about the vending machines business, focusing on candy, soda, snack, coffee, gumball, and dvd vending machines, as well as vending machines for sale. Vending Machines Info is affiliated with Business Plans by Growthink.

Survival Without Computers

Writen by Kerri Salls

I was slowed down when my computer crashed and I had no data, no address book and not even my passwords to get back online. I didn't think I was doing anything remarkable by bouncing back to productivity even with this handicap for a week. But from the feedback I've had from more than a few people, it seems paralysis would have been the acceptable common option.

Yes, I got slowed down, but nothing critical was lost and no appointments missed. Why? Internal reserves, resources and drive. How do you survive in business today without your computer (or maybe it's when your cell phone drops in the lake or your Ipod gets lost)?

There were three parts to my personal survival. They are:

A. Resourcefulness -- When things don't go your way, you can have a pity party and choose to be paralyzed. Or you can decide to dig in to your reserves and available resources to propel you forward in spite of obstacles. I start with a simple question: What's the most important thing that needs to be done now and how do I do it (options)?

It's a matter of choosing to get the work done and keeping your priorities in order, or using this problem (any problem) as an excuse to procrastinate, or wallow in self-pity, or give up.

B. Intestinal Fortitude -- This was my father's term for the drive, determination, guts, stamina and the like to find a way or make a way when you hit a roadblock. Intestinal fortitude keeps you going because the vision is clear, your passion is unquenchable and you are a winner – and winners never quit.

Of course when a glitch happens, what matters is how you handle it, not deny it. Handling a problem head on, gives you an action plan. Action puts you in control. When you are in control, the fear and panic can't control you.

If a glitch with your computer is enough to put your whole business at risk, maybe you need a dose of intestinal fortitude to make some hard decisions to reduce that risk in the future, e.g. strategic investments in your infrastructure, etc. Look at the cost of the investment compared to the direct cost or opportunity costs of a week offline (think salaries, sales, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, product delays, and shipping delays).

C. Planning -- In this case, I was indeed lucky. The three days after the disk crash had already been blocked out to work on my three-year vision and budget to get there and the detailed plans for 2006. My schedule was already cleared of appointments, deadlines or correspondence.

As business owners, we all need some reflection time to lift our sights and take a longer view of where we are going, otherwise, it's possible to short-change yourself and the business.

The silver lining of my system crash was that without my own computer, I couldn't be tempted to procrastinate or avoid the soul-searching and reflection this process requires. I was able to really concentrate on what I want to do professionally and personally for the next 12-36 months.

Putting a timeline to the vision and goals accelerates the business momentum and recharges my batteries for the next 90 days to set it all in motion. Try it.

About The Author Kerri Salls, MBA runs a virtual business school to train, consult and coach small business CEO's and entrepreneurs in 10 key strategies to make more profit in less time. Learn more at http://www.breakthrough-business-school.com/products.html or sign up for a free weekly newsletter at http://www.breakthrough-business-school.com/newsletter.shtml.

Quotopenquot Communities Social Networking Sites Vs Quotgatedquot Communities

Writen by Marc Lucas

The recent phenomenon of so called "Gated Online Communities" seems to be catching on. These sites are part of a group of sites called "Social Networking Sites" these sites are still rare on the net, with only a handful of them now online. More common are Social Networking sites which are "Open" i.e. anyone can join.

Other commonly known sites target the business individual like http://www.ecademy.com or http://www.rize.com. "Gated" Social Networking sites cater for a smaller more exclusive group of people which could be called privileged, either because of their wealth, there social status (which often goes hand in hand), or just because they are well known celebrities. Mostly these individuals do not wish to mingle with common people found in the more commercial social networking sites.

Sites like http://www.OutOrIn.net and http://www.aSmallWorld.net target these individuals through a more or less strict membership application process. For example most of us are used to stand behind the velvet rope and wait patiently for a grim looking individual to let us pass and grant us entry into the "exclusive" and "hip" clubs. This is a well known ritual around the world repeating itself every Saturday or any other Party night of the week. The privilege to experience this real life concept of being rejected by the bouncer in cyber space is give to us thanks to "Gated" Online Communities. Another example of a "Gated" Community is http://www.orkut.com by Google, which at the moment counts over 12.000.000 Members. While the "Gated" aspect is in place most people would not brand it as an exclusive Online Community, because of it's number of Members.

http://www.aSmallWorld.net introduced the Internet to the exclusive virtual club scene of Gated Social Networking sites, by demanding to be invited by another member of the site before gaining membership. This phenomenon seems to be catching on, after http://www.OutOrIn.net announced its launch last month. While you are able to buy an Orkut membership still on eBay, other "Gated" Community Sites do not make it so easy to join. This has created a grey market on Blogs with people offering money to gain membership for these sites. "Who are these people so desperate to join these sites offering thousands of dollars to get an invitation"?

Gated Community Sites will discourage the common individual even about thinking to join, with requirements like "You need to have attended a prestigious university or boarding school" or "You need to be a member of a Members Only Club" like requested by http://www.OutOrIn.net. Still if you manage to fulfil all their criteria, you will be happy and excited to receive your membership, join and have the feeling of being "one in a million" - not so fast - the membership application still need's to pass the committee! But do not let me discourage you, especially if you're extremely wealthy and well connected!

Marc runs a website called http://www.gatedonlinecommunities.com, which is the only site for Gated Online Communities links and information on the internet.

How To Research An Idea For Your Internet Business 7 Simple Steps

Writen by Charles Hagan

1) If you have no idea what you want to market, you must generate some ideas. Choose something that you are passionate about. You want success? Then it is easier to be successful at something that you enjoy and that you will look forward to every day.

Brainstorm all the hobbies/ passions/ anything which interests you. Let's say you have an African macaw ( which is a bird if you didn't know!). You like looking after him/her and it is a real pleasure for you to do this on a daily basis....So now you have an idea.

2) Since this is a hobby of yours, you must have a general knowledge in the area of African macaws (to continue the analogy above). If you need more knowlege, that shouldn't be a problem. It's a subject you love.

Now for the second brainstorming session. On a sheet of paper write down everything you can think of about anything related to your area of interest. You want as many ideas as possible. One of them will lead you to develop a product that you will potentially be selling on your website.

For African macaws, (I will use the abbreviation A.m for African macaw), let's say you come up with a list including the following:

A.m food/diet, handling your A.m, training your A.m, A.m postcards/posters, suppliers of A.m's, breeding your A.m, secrets of long-lived A.m's (yes they can live up to 55 years!), cages/aviarys/perches, social behaviour of A.m, toys/playthings for your A.m, common illnesses of an A.m and what to look out for, different species of macaw.

Now that is a list of only twelve. You should try and come up with more for your own idea.

3) Now you have several target ideas in your area of interest. You want to test your idea now to see if it's something a majority of people are interested in. You want enough of a demand for your idea so that it will eventually be profitable for you. This is called niche marketing- targeting a particular market and not trying to sell many different products to many people.

Go to several major search engines and type in these words "word popularity search."

You should get a list of websites which offer a free service where you can type in several keywords for your area of interest, in our case, any keywords such as African macaw and diet/toys/illnesses etc.

The website will then return the popularity of those keywords by telling you how many people searched on those terms at their site or on the major search engines. If you can count on your hand the number of people who are looking for your keywords, then there may not be much of a demand for a product centered around your idea.

4) Is your idea totally original? Most likely someone before you will have had that idea and will have created a website about it because there are literally millions of websites out there.

What you want to do now is again go to any of the major search engines and type in several of the keywords relating to your idea. Up will come a list of websites, some of them will be major competitors to you. Pick out a few that rank high on the search engine and write them down.

Now go back to the search engine and type in the words "traffic ranking" and you will get a listing of websites that when you go to them will give you the ranking of those websites you just wrote down.

By ranking I mean the popularity of that websites against all the other websites on the internet. This is by no means 100% accurate but it does give you an indication out of millions how popular the website is that relates to your idea. You can even get details about the number of visitors to the website and the number of page views for the site.

5) So you have come this far and found some websites ranking high in your area.

Most of them will be of two forms: either competitor websites selling products similar to your intended product, or Portal sites.

Portal sites generally don't sell anything. They usually have a bunch of links and advertising on them and sometimes have some good content. The more portal sites in your target area the better, up to a point.

Important points:

When you search for your keywords on a search engine, you don't want it to return a million search results. Your market may be very oversaturated. But having Portal sites is a good sign. You can use these sites later to help build your business.

Similarly, when you do a keyword popularity search as in Step 3) above, you don't want hundreds of thousands of people searching for the same product. There is too much competition.

6) Now just because a website is popular or ranks high doesn't mean that it is profitable.

How much could you potentially make with your new idea if you converted it into a product and developed a website around it? Simple. Go to any of your competitor's websites. Check out their products and their prices.

If they have been around a while (this can be verified by doing a "whois" search for their website to find out when their website was registered), then most likely they have established relationships with customers who have bought from them in the past. People have paid money for their products - they will most likely buy from you as well if you sell a similar product of equal or greater perceived and real value.

7) Once you are established in your target market, you may want to expand the target market to include related products.

Going back to my African macaw (can you tell I like them?), if I initially sold the best macaw bird cages, I may wish to grow my business by also selling the best food and parrot mix for macaws or by selling posters of different macaw species.

Growth of your business is essential for long term survival. This is another aspect to consider when entering a targeted market. You don't want it to be a fad.

There are two excellent ways to find out if there is a market for growing your niche:

a) perform a keyword popularity search (as in step 3 above) for related targeted keywords. If there is a demand for related ideas, you're in luck for future growth. If you're struggling to find related keywords, go through another brainstorming session or perform a internet search for "keyword mapping" for sites that will assist you.

b) look at what other competitors are selling. It's a good bet that if they are ranked high and they have expanded their niche, then there is a demand for what they are "selling."

In summary, you want the following characteristics for an idea which can turn profitable:

- targeted for a specific market  - idea can be turned into a popular product  - intended target market is not oversaturated  - price for potential profit forecasts.  - room for expansion/growth.

All the best for profitable idea hunting.

copyright 2006 by Charles Hagan

Charles is a budding Internet entrepreneur who has built and managed many successful offline business for over 30 years. He is making the successful transition into the online marketing world by teaming up with a real life mentor, one who walks the talk. Visit us at http://www.internetprofitmentor.com Free books and free "how to" videos available.

What You Gain By Outsourcing Your Writing Projects To India

Writen by James Marriot

To the layman, outsourcing would seem like a waste of time and money, as well as an unnecessary complication. But to a businessman, outsourcing is often a godsend. This is because as businessmen are aware, often there is a need to write a business manual or press release. And not every businessman is an expert when it comes to writing. So, instead of letting your business suffer because you can't write competent business manuals or press releases you could outsource your content writing to a professional company.

And, outsourcing web content writing services to India will help you save a lot of money. And, it can also give your business that push it needs towards winning the competitive market. However, the reason why most business in the United States and Europe prefer to outsource web content writing services to India is the cost factor. The web content writing services in India are way cheaper in terms of human resource and IT services, than in the United States or Europe.

And the money saved through outsourcing web content writing services to India can be spend on other things like, marketing or advertising, giving you the edge over your competitor. Also, when you choose the services of a web content writing service you won't need to buy extra office space and equipment that would be necessary if you intend to have your own web content writing section. Instead all you need to do is to hire the web content writing service, as and when required.

However many businesses are nervous or at least uneasy when it comes to outsourcing web content writing services to India. They're usually nervous about the quality of work that will be delivered to them and also there is the anxiety about whether they've chosen the right web content writing service. And, it's justified since you're spending good money. The key to a satisfactory result is in choosing a content writing service provider with integrity, honesty, efficiency and great communication skills. Although this seems like a difficult challenge, it's pretty easy as long as you ask the write questions.

Before hiring a web content writing service, ask yourself if they are reliable. Also, find out if the web content writing service provides quality services. Your main concern while hiring a web content writing service should be quality. All other factors like, accuracy, productivity and turnaround time are secondary, though they shouldn't be totally ignored. Also find out whether they will meet delivery deadlines. You also need to be concerned about the safety of your data. If you feel that the web content writing service is not up to your expectations, walk out of the deal before you sign anything. And in this you should trust your instincts. Also, before signing a contract, ensure that the web content writing service complies with the statutory laws and regulations and that his financial dealings are all fair and transparent. Also, there should be at least a certain degree of match between the organizations in terms of ethics and culture. And the web content writing service's initial communication with you is a good indication of whether your ethics and culture is a match.

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