In happens every year in June.

Six months down and six months to go. What will you do differently during the second half of the year to improve your selling results? If you don’t take time to think about what you’ll do differently, you may not do anything different. Now that’s okay if you’re happy with your year to date results. If however you’d like to do more during the second half of this year you’d better think about making some changes now.

One of the keys to raising the bar is effective sales planning. For most of us selling is fun and planning is not. Remember that selling success doesn’t come from doing what everyone else is doing. The most successful salespeople do the things that few salespeople take an interest in doing. There are two requirements for planning. First set aside some quiet time for creative thinking. Second, be sure to put your thoughts on paper.

At least once a year professional salespeople should dedicate a minimum of one-day to strategically think about their businesses. Don’t be too quick to say you’re already doing it. Most sales reps acknowledge they think about their territories and customers daily. When pressed however most will admit they don’t have time to creatively think about blue sky scenarios that may happen a year from now. If you can’t devote one solid day for unrestrained creative thinking, don’t think about aiming for the stars. Your best bet is to wait for a shooting star to come your way.

Begin your planning process with these six critical questions. Direct these questions at your business, your territory, your accounts, your customers, and naturally your competitors. These questions will raise more questions and you should consider this process a success if you end up with more questions than answers. Here are the six questions.

1. Where are you are now? Where are you now relative to your sales results and selling skills? How’s your performance? What’s your relative rank within your region and within your company? What kind of overall growth do you have in your territory and in your top-10 accounts? Where are your competitors making inroads in your
accounts? How well are you managing your time in your territory? What are your biggest challenges and best opportunities for growth?

2. Where are you headed if you don’t change anything? What’s the implication for you if you don’t acquire new skills? What happens to your overall performance next year if you don’t make up the loss of your second-largest customer? How will your customers react to a strategy that is really based on a “more of the same” concept,
especially when your competitors are becoming more creative in their approach? With more work and less time available, how are you planning to manage next year when your business is expected to grow 10 percent across the board? If you can’t handle the sales and marketing challenges and opportunities this year, how will you respond to the one’s you face next year?

3. Where should you be headed? Do you have specific personal and professional goals? Are these goals specific and clearly defined? Are they in writing? Do you have completion dates established? For each of your top-10 accounts do you have specific objectives for sales, margins, growth rates, product mix, etc? Have you made a commitment to read sales books and to subscribe to sales publications? Have you analyzed your travel time and your time allocated to large, medium, and small accounts?

4. How will you achieve your objectives? You really can’t “do” a goal or an objective. What you can and must do is create an action plan detailing how specifically you plan to achieve the goals you outlined when considering question three. For example, if your goal is to increase your sales by 12 percent in your largest account, how specifically will you do it? How many “how’s” will it take to achieve your goal? Your goals define
(what you want to achieve) and your strategies define (how specifically you’ll do it.) Without proper linkage between goals and strategies, your goals begin to look like dreams.

5. What are the specific details involved? The details referred to are the who, what, where, why, when, which, and how as they relate to initiating and implementing your strategies. Ben Franklin once said, “Small leaks can sink big ships.” In sales, minor adjustments often create big impacts and higher sales in your territory.

6. What should you measure? Always measure what matters. One of my favorite old sayings is “what gets measured gets done.” To keep you on your stated course (objectives) how will you measure your progress? What key elements of success should your review monthly? Personal growth and development are often the result of careful measurement and evaluation. The difference between first-place and second place is often a very narrow margin.

These questions can make a significant contribution to your selling results, but only if you invest the time to ask them. The favorite day of the week for procrastinators is tomorrow. Action-oriented people, the real doers in life, recognize, if you focus your energy on today, tomorrow takes care of itself. The future is yours to live one-day at a time. The shape of your future depends on the foundation of your plan.

Are you planning your future today or waiting for tomorrow to do it? It’s a clear choice and it’s all yours.

Jim Meisenheimer is the creator of No-Brainer Sales Training. His sales techniques and selling skills focus on practical ideas that get immediate results. You can discover all his secrets by visiting his website: http://www.meisenheimer.com

Have you ever imagined how visualization can play an important part in gaining weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle? Gaining muscle can be difficult for many people who don’t use their minds to help in the process.

Visualization is a powerful technique that can help you make lasting lifestyle changes. Just by “day dreaming”, you can significantly improve your chances in achieving your goals.

Visualization is a great weight gain tool and its as simple as visualizing your body as you want your body to look like. This mental image of yourself is then transferred to your subconscious mind, which in turn starts to work on your body, shaping it in accordance with your mental image.

This means that if you program your subconscious with a mental image of yourself as a more muscular person, through persistence your mind will accept this and aid your body to conform to this mental image.

Once your mind is programmed with the proper mental images, it will start to work in assisting you to gain muscle. I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to believe in your visualization goals.

You have to let go of your past failures and refuse to entertain any negative images that come into your mind. If you can visualize your body at its perfect proportions, the subconscious mind will work to make it become a reality. It will then begin to positively reinforce your body into aiding the metabolism and eating habits.

Programming your mind into believing that you can gain weight, and to visualize yourself with your perfect proportions is of the greatest importance.

Try to think of a different image of yourself, then let your subconscious do the work for you. If you think of your body as being out of shape all the time, then the subconscious mind will find ways to make it so.

The sub-conscious looks after all of all your vital functions, it is the cause of all your good and bad habits, and also regulates the muscles of the body (The muscles are controlled by the sub- conscious) and body-fat composition on the body.

Try to visualize your body as lean and as muscular as you would like, and your mind will work on that image. The mind can be a great partner in gaining muscle. Relaxation

Relaxation the best way to reach the sub-conscious and will slow down the mind, turn off the exterior world so as to tune in to one’s inner self. The best times for these sessions are in the morning and late at night right, just before going to sleep.

Perform two sessions, one in the afternoon (Primary) and the other before going to sleep (Secondary) but once a day is quite sufficient. Sessions usually last 20 minutes, which isn’t time consuming especially when taking in the benefits received.

When you begin your relaxation sessions, make sure you won’t be disturbed - lock the door, take the phone off the hook and loosen all clothing. Now find a comfortable position, whether it is lying down or sitting in a comfortable chair.

Sitting may be preferable as you may fall asleep if you become too comfortable. You want to be conscious and not asleep in order to tap into your sub-conscious mind.

Try to exhale all the air from your lungs completely and then breathing in through the nose. Take ten seconds to fill the lungs with air (not to capacity, but comfortable) hold for ten seconds and then exhale slowly through the nose for another ten seconds.

Each one of these breathing cycles should last for 30 seconds, complete five cycles and after each cycle you will be feeling more and more relaxed.

Having reaching this calm relaxed state, start your visualizations. Put together images that power your emotions. Make them alive and colourful. Make the scenes as real as possible and imagine yourself as muscular and toned as possible.

Picture yourself ten weeks from now on the beach, walking briskly and confidently to your favourite spot, your breathing is normal and relaxed. You smile to yourself; you could keep walking like this for miles without feeling fatigued.

You lay your towel out and begin to take your clothes off revealing a muscular, toned, well conditioned body. You have just bought a brand new swimming suit which just weeks before would have been lying in your closet waiting to be used.

Glancing around you notice the beach is busy, you catch the eye of someone of the opposite sex, they smile at you and you smile back. You walk confidently to the water and swim a couple of hundred yards with no problem or fatigue.

Or try this:

Visualize your family and friends complimenting you about how good your body looks. Try to view the scene as it is happening this instant - in the present, not in the future.

Using these visualizations you can construct in your mind any scene that desire. See yourself exercising, socializing, in the company of friends.

Try and hear people complimenting you about your new muscular body, and watch their admiring glances. Make the mental image as real as possible.

* Remember set a goal for your ideal weight. * You must want to gain weight. * Visualize yourself at your ideal weight. * Use positive images at every opportunity.

Now that you are armed with this information practice these sessions on a daily basis and over a period of ten weeks you’ll be on your way to become a happier, leaner and more muscular person.

If you are going fly fishing, you need to have your critical gear with you while wading and casting. One of the critical pieces of equipment is your vest.

Construction workers have tool belts to hold everything they need while working. Fly fishing anglers have the same thing in the vest. They hold your tools of the fly fishing trade. Without them, you will be endlessly hunting for flies, repellant, grapplers and so on.

This necessary fly fishing clothing comes in a variety of styles. Old school vests are the best in my opinion. They fit and look like regular clothing vests, but are made with mesh pockets and water proofing material. I find they are perfect for holding the necessary fly fishing gear. They are also good because the distribute the weight of your junk…err, gear across your shoulders and back. Any fly fishing gear shop should have them.

Being a consumer society, more than a few companies have come up with advancements in ways to carry around your gear. Typically, they come in the form of modular systems hanging over the shoulder. They look like travel fannypacks hanging off the front of each shoulder. Depending on the brand, they may have a rear or front fanny pack and even both. Some anglers love these more modern gear accessories. Personally, I find them ungainly and annoying, but to each their own. I strongly suggest you fit yourself with one of these new systems before committing to buy them.

When considering how you will hold your stuff, you should give a good bit of thought to what you want it to hold. Personally, I want mine to hold sunscreen for my bald head, insect repellent, clippers, forceps, a poncho for rain, my car keys, line and, of course, flies. I don’t like hauling my stuff up and down the shore, so I tend to load up like a Sherpa. You might prefer a less demanding approach. The point is to figure out what is best for you and then buy a version that meets your needs.

If you are going to get serious about angling, you will need to a way to lug your stuff around with you. Figure out what you want to put in yours and then make your selection.

Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com - makers of writing journals for fly fishing. Visit NomadJournalTrips.com to read more about fly fishing and the great outdoors.

In the late 70’s and early 80’s, television viewers fell in love with The Dukes Of Hazzard, a weekly foray into the fictional setting of Hazzard County, Georgia. Cousins Bo and Luke Duke (John Schneider and Tom Wopat) spent each episode trying to do good, while the loveable “Boss” Hogg (Sorrell Booke) concocted various schemes for making money and having the Duke boys, who always foiled his plans, thrown in jail for violating their probation (the result of a deal with the federal government to end the centuries-old Duke family tradition of bootlegging).

The Dukes Of Hazzard (Season 3) DVD provides a number of famous episodes, including guest appearances by musicians Tammy Wynette, Roy Orbison, and The Oak Ridge Boys. Sheriff Little of Chickasaw County (Don Pedro Colley) makes the first of many appearances in Season 3. Other notable episodes include “The Great Santa Claus Chase” in which Boss Hogg conspires to steal the county’s delivery of Christmas trees so he can resell them at exorbitant profits, but the Dukes and Cooter have different plans, and “My Son, Bo Hogg” in which Boss Hogg takes advantage of Bo’s amnesia and turns him against the Dukes…

Below is a list of episodes included on The Dukes Of Hazzard (Season 3) DVD:

Episode 37 (Carnival of Thrills: Part 1) Air Date: 09-16-1980

Episode 38 (Carnival of Thrills: Part 2) Air Date: 09-16-1980

Episode 39 (Enos Strate to the Top) Air Date: 11-05-1980

Episode 40 (The Hazzardville Horror) Air Date: 11-07-1980

Episode 41 (And in This Corner, Luke Duke) Air Date: 11-14-1980

Episode 42 (The Late J.D. Hogg) Air Date: 11-21-1980

Episode 43 (Uncle Boss) Air Date: 11-28-1980

Episode 44 (Baa, Baa, White Sheep) Air Date: 12-05-1980

Episode 45 (Mrs. Roscoe P. Coltrane) Air Date: 12-12-1980

Episode 46 (The Great Santa Claus Chase) Air Date: 12-19-1980

Episode 47 (Good Neighbors Duke) Air Date: 01-02-1981

Episode 48 (State of the County) Air Date: 01-09-1981

Episode 49 (The Legacy) Air Date: 01-16-1981

Episode 50 (Duke vs. Duke) Air Date: 01-23-1981

Episode 51 (My Son, Bo Hogg) Air Date: 01-30-1981

Episode 52 (To Catch a Duke) Air Date: 02-06-1981

Episode 53 (Along Came a Duke) Air Date: 02-13-1981

Episode 54 (By-Line, Daisy Duke) Air Date: 02-20-1981

Episode 55 (The Return of Hughie Hogg) Air Date: 03-06-1981

Episode 56 (Bye, Bye, Boss) Air Date: 03-13-1981

Episode 57 (The Great Hazzard Hijack) Air Date: 03-27-1981

Episode 58 (The Hack of Hazzard) Air Date: 04-03-1981

Episode 59 (The Canterbury Crock) Air Date: 04-10-1981

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of The Dukes Of Hazzard (Season 3) DVD.

If your anything like the majority of society, myself included, you could probably use a little more info on certain aspects of computers. Here, I decided to take a look at “PHP”. Yeah I know, that’s what I said, “Yeah right!”, but it’s not so confusing when you look at it a little closer…

PHP is an acronym (One of those things smart people use to confuse us) which stands for “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor”. It used to stand for “Personal Home Page”, but that must have been too easy. So after a little reasearch I found out just what the acronym meant. It is an open source, reflective programming language.

Apparently, all that programming language stuff is to develop “dynamic web content and server side applications”. They have also found a new use for it in other types of software.

Once again, this stuff is pretty tricky, but take a look elseware! Maybe there is a “PHP for Dummies” out there. I would encourage any of you who have the slightest incling to find out more, to do so. It’s actually pretty interesting! The best thing to do for more information is to check out forums, blogs, or websites about PHP. There is also books and an actual formal development manual that you can purchase from a store or borrow from a library, that will be able to answer any of your questions about this particlular programming language.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Tyler Brooker is the owner and operator of Hosting Php Tutorials - www.hosting-php-tutorials.com, which is the best site on the internet for all Php related information.

1. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to the product. You could make money selling other people the rights to reproduce and sell the product. People are always looking for new products to sell.

2. Giveaway the product for free from your web site. Just because it won’ t sell doesn’ t mean people won’ t visit your web site to get it for free. They may see another product you sell and buy that one.

3. Try auctioning off the product at an online auction. You may make part of your investment back. If you’ re lucky, you may even make a profit because people sometimes get into bidding wars and will bid a higher price than the product is worth.

4. Use the product as a free bonus for another product you sell. This will increase the perceived value of the product you’ re selling. People will feel they’ re receiving more for less.

5. Contact businesses with the same target market and see if they would be interested in using your product as a free bonus for their product. You could place your ad on the product and get free advertising.

6. Sell your product to businesses at wholesale cost as a promotional product. Businesses are always looking for products they can giveaway to their customers with their advertising on the product. You could make part of your investment back.

7. Barter your product to other businesses for things you need for your own business. You could trade for their products or services. This will save you money and help make up for your profit loss.

8. You could create an online contest so people could win your product. This will attract traffic to your web site. You also could get free advertising by listing it on online contest directories.

9. If you decide to giveaway the product for free, allow other people to giveaway the product for free. Place your web site ad on the product. This will spread your advertising and attract even more people to your site.

10. Ask businesses with the same target audience if they would be interested in combining your product with their product. You could then sell them together as a package deal and split the profits. You may have better results selling your product this way.

Public speaking is one skill that kids should enhance. Aside from practice, public speaking for kids requires personal coaching. Personal coaching includes the development of self-confidence and the effort on helping kids to improve their public speaking skills. For beginners it is important that they undergo this kind of learning to have a better public speaking approach.

Kids have their own skills and abilities on how to deliver a presentation. It is up to the coach to bring out that natural skill in them. The kid only needs to listen and internalize all the things that the coach will teach.

If you are the kid being trained, you will be introduced to an approach in public speaking that can be convenient to you. The coach will not attempt to change your style and be different to other speakers; although speakers seem to be more effective if the audience finds him unique in his public speaking.

The coach will try to enhance your own skills and talents that are already present in you. You can expect comments and feedback from your coach during the training process. He will provide you the much needed guidance and specific knowledge for the coach is obliged to produce a better result in your training. Here are some reasons why you will need a personal coach:

- You may ask for a coach if you need help on a specific presentation that is very important to you.

-If you want to concentrate on specific communication and speaking issues that are covered in general workshops and seminars.

-If you have encountered sessions and workshops that progress slowly and are too standard or maybe do not get your interest.

-When you are too busy to attend trainings because you cannot choose just one that can answer your needs.

-If you are not comfortable in the team setting or you may feel that your speaking skills are on a much higher level.

-If you have undergone public communication and speaking lessons before and you may need additional knowledge and enhancement.

-If you have found you work much better and develop faster with a personal approach.

Getting a personal coach does not mean you are a slow learner or have poor communication skills. There are many reasons why will you need to have a personal coach, as mentioned in the above list.

Coaching can be just like that, like any sport where a team needs a coach to perform well and be guided on the executions. For a child that wants to be trained in public speaking as early as in his early childhood, it could be better if the child is already trained on how to address and interact to other people by means of public speaking.

Battletoads is a video came franchise that first relased in 1991. The first game titled “Battletoads”, was a 2D Smash ‘em up style video game from Rare Ltd. At it’s release it was one of the most advanced video games to ever be released graphically. Such a success that the game was even turned into an arcade machine in 1994 in association with Electronic Arts.

The original story behind Battletoads, is of two teenaged, mutant toads (Not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), who are both named after skin disorders, Rash and Zits. They are required to save their brother, who is also named after a skin disorder, Pimple, and the Princess Angelica. Princess Angelica is being kept captive by the Evil Dark Queen, who is the ruler of the Planet Ragnarok. They are assisted along the way by Professor T. Bird, who is equipped with a funky space ship.

The main characters in the game are:
Rash - The most popular Battletoad. Green in Color and weards black sunglasses. Real Name Dave Shar, he is the craziest and fastest of the Battletoads.
Zitz - The leader of the Battletoads. Intelligent and cunning, brown in color, his real name is morgan Ziegler
Pimple - Not the smartest toad, but he is powerful with brute force. Pimple is a tank, and not to be reckoned with. Often times seen using heavy objects in attack situations. Real name George Pie.
Professor T. Bird - The mentor and guider of the Toads throughout their mission. Often times seen mocking the toads when they fail, as he dislikes failure.
The Dark Queen - An Evil Queen, with a goal of destroying the battletoads in her ultimate mission in ruling the universe with her axis of allies. Noted that she looks strikingly similar to Elvira.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Zeno Zit Zapper - www.zeno-zit-zapper.com, which is the best site on the internet for all zit related information.

Actions Speak Louder Than Word

Why an artfully delivered speech can be far more persuasive than the written word

The written word and verbal communication each have their own unique styles. Moreover, each has its own time and place. When we write, we stay within strict guidelines of grammar and syntax. A written correspondence often conveys a serious or urgent message, or is reserved for special occasions such as wedding invitations and thank-you notes. When we speak, we are more informal and imprecise. Grammatical rules are not always obeyed and tone, mood and urgency are relayed in the inflections of our voice or in our body language.

Let’s look at the following for an example of this difference.

The written word: “Kindly remit the requested amount forthwith.” Oral style: “Please pay your bill right away.”

These not-so-subtle differences are the reason why it is better to prepare your speech from outlines rather than attempt to deliver carefully worded, fully written out speeches. A written speech will often sound stilted and too rehearsed while a speech given from an outline will be far more conversational in tone. This will help you to build a rapport with your audience and to infuse your speech with humor, anecdotes and other details that require the timing and intimacy of real conversation. An outline will help you to stay on course, to cover all of the important points you wish to make, and to keep track of statistics and other vital details. Your speech will still be accurate, but by using an outline instead of a prepared manuscript you will entertain your audience, not bore them.

Typically, oral sentences are shorter than written sentences; we use fewer words when we speak than when we write. In fact, more than half of our speaking vocabulary is made up of only 50 simple words. The oral style is also more personal. People are referred to more often, and words such as “I,” “me,” and “you” are used frequently. When we write, we have a tendency to take ourselves out of the message being relayed. Even if the purpose is to persuade or argue, it is at times considered more impartial, and therefore more credible, to speak from the point of view of the third person. This is not the case when we speak. In public speaking we want to appear as though we are having a one-on-one exchange with our audience members, even when we are speaking to a room full of people. It is more acceptable to come from a personal, more passionate perspective when we speak. We make it personal because that is what our audience will understand; we need it to become personal to them as well.

Public speaking is the art of perfecting the oral style, using the subtle nuances of conversation and pairing them with research and persuasive details. Being a strong writer is vital to career success in nearly every field and is an important talent to nurture. But being able to recognize when the written word is needed and when a less formal, conversational oral style is needed will make you an outstanding presenter as well as a powerful writer.

The purpose of a professional development plan is to provide for continuing improvement in teaching, in other student interactions, in the quality of scholarly activity and other service to the university and community. The purpose of evaluation is to provide faculty with new information which will contribute to their teaching abilities. The professional development plan is intended to be supportive of a faculty member’s and their desire for continuing trained growth and academic excellence. This process contributes to various personnel activities and supports the interest of each faculty member to achieve continuing professional growth and to pursue the highest possible level of academic excellence. Project activities included reading and discussing pieces of fiction and history, developing an interdisciplinary humanities curriculum, and video-taping and viewing classroom instruction. It’s helpful when knowledge is shared equally between colleagues within and across different departments; reduced teacher isolation; and the development of an intellectual community for teachers within high schools and universities. However, teachers at different points in their career trajectory were differentially affected by this project.

A good professional development plan is an important part of effective technology use, and only high-quality professional development plans can ensure the maximum benefits from the time and money spent. Educational technology requires educators not only to become familiar with the technology available in their schools but also to totally transform the teacher role. Professional development plans help teachers learn new roles and teaching strategies that will eventually improve their students’ achievement. Professional growth occurs in areas such as effective teaching, scholarly or creative activity, and active involvement in the high school and university community and professional organizations. Faculty scholarship and current knowledge of the discipline, together with a desire to improve pedagogy, are instrumental to good teaching.

Formative evaluation is used to modify or improve a professional development plan. It is conducted throughout the plan to provide feedback and to determine changes to be made during the program to make it more valuable to participating educators. There are a number of ways to collect information for the formative evaluation. Educators can be asked to think about their own goals for personal and professional growth; then, at various times throughout the professional development plan, they can be asked to evaluate the program’s value in meeting those goals. Finally, and most important, is the effect on student learning. Test scores are not the only source of information on this point. Some technology use is reflected in ways not readily seen on test scores, such as increased time spent on writing, better inquiry skills, or more collaboration among students. The ultimate value of a professional development plan is their ability to transform the learning environment. The purpose of evaluating professional development programs is to determine if that transformation is happening and to specify what changes need to be made to ensure that transformation does occur.