The Map Magazine

One of the fastest methods of building your client base is to search out mutually-beneficial joint ventures. The key words here are’mutually-beneficial.’ Find marketers and entrepreneurs who have already got enormous’responsive’ mail lists and make them an offer they can not refuse.

Many people have tried using this plan but have failed badly. I’ll tell you why.

The problem with many folks is they are only concentrated on what they can get out of the deal. You’ll never get it if that’s what your focus is on.

When you’re trying to form joint ventures, target the other party and ask yourself,’What do they need? What can I offer them that would be of value to them?’

Sure, you can just offer the other person a cut of the profits if they accept to commend your product/service to their list, but that’s what everybody does! And nowadays, that’s not tempting enough. How is your offer unique?

Apply the USP - the’twist.’ Be unique! Create value for them! Make it worth their while. Make them an offer they can’t refuse!

When I send out an offer for a joint venture I simply tell them I would like to promote their product/business/service for them and not be paid for it. Rather than receiving 40% commission as an affiliate I offer them to keep 70+% of the profit. All they have to do is let me use their service just once ( considering that they are an ezine, newsletter or business with a giant opt in list ). I assure them that a unique page will be made and payments will be made straight to the partner.

Think about it!

You’ll be giving the partner additional exposure, higher profits and security of their business. In doing so, you also will be in a position to provide discount advertising/products/services to your members or visitors giving YOUR business more value . Because now, people will know to come to you for repayments on products and services they need!

With this concept in mind , go out there and seek for some enterprises who have already got a massive list or some high traffic.

—
Original article was written by Kevin Lam from www.TexasSEO.com - Texas SEO is a Dallas-based web marketing and consulting firm specializing in SEO & SEM, PPC, copywriting, web designing and more.

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There’s more to making money than income alone - you need to be making money cost effectively. A simple and frequently forgotten asset when doing so is performance management software.

Business optimization needs comprehension of the abilities and weak areas of its employees: where is their best work done? How can your system adjust to emphasize their strengths and hide their weaknesses? This is the key question. Discovering and making this data ready to use tends to be where things can become challenging, however.

Simply keeping track of employee performance and determining advancement in that performance is a significant task. You first put employee appraisal systems into action in order to assess work carried out by each member of staff. Should you be employing established methods, your next move is to manually assess all the raw data points you have gathered simply to be able to follow future progress and define goals. Employing performance management software you know that this analysis is taken care of and you need only study the various analyses to determine what the right goals for this employee would be. It also renders charting the employee’s development much easier. Thus you eliminate a significant time commitment while probably obtaining more precise information into the bargain. Should you choose to it’s possible instead to carry out your own assessment, merely using the software to produce and maintain a record to use as a basis. I’m sure I don’t need to say, it’s not merely the performance of employees that can benefit from advice from performance appraisal software. Both suppliers and clients can be studied using the appropriate software, providing you with more performance management tools. For example, when looking at suppliers you can demonstrate the weaknesses like slow delivery times, bad damage records, and so forth.

Clients have their own metrics of performance, and once again it’s possible to streamline your processes and help your bottom line. You can then adjust your ordering and stock handling to maximize your income while reducing outgoing money. Not only that but a greater understanding of your target demographics will allow more efficient marketing. Analyzing both your market and your sources is effortless with performance management software. It renders staff performance management quick, simple, and far more effective when encouraging employees using definable achievements decidedly. All in all, the potential of this system is endless and depends solely on your own creativity and ability to use what you learn.

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It’s still a common misconception in numerous businesses that, if all of their employees have sufficient health and safety instruction, they are well prepared to manage an emergency. The truth of the matter is that, regardless your industry, an education in health and safety regulatory affairs just isn’t enough. Equipping your employees, choosing an enthusiastic supervisior and encouraging frequent safety practise sessions are essential to the safety at work.

A team supervisor has a much larger role to play than simply general management. A supervisor must see their health and safety training as important and be able to get other employees feeling enthusiastic about it.

In addition to insuring conformity with health and safety legislation, the supervisor also needs to make sure that every employee works to the highest standard. This isn’t a simple job. Extensive product knowledge is a must for a supervisory role as well as a very high standard of understanding of safety regulations, risk assessment, and emergency assistance techniques. Offering health and safety training really isn’t enough for your workers. Your employees need to have practical experience of risk assessment and the recognition of hazards. Staff need to know the best method of eliminating safety hazards and also knowing what to do when the unexpected happens. Staff are only completely prepared when everything has become a habit. Proper safety apparatus is equally as essential to the your employees’ safety as any training. When they don’t have apparatus they need, or discover that items are broken when they are required, then all the training they have already completed is essentially useless.

Servicing your equipment on a regular basis is a good idea. If something isn’t in good working order, ensure that it’s rectified ASAP and put it back in the appropriate location.

Be sure you visit our remarkable site for occupational health safety advice!

The right health and safety education is vital to the well-being of your personnel, however they must have the correct apparatus, the chance to practise, and a supervisor who is gifted with the kind of enthusiasm that people find contagious. Only then will observing health and safety legislation will before long become ingrained in your business culture not something that staff have to make an effort to remember all the time.

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Talent management is very important for business success. With a little effort you can acquire and improve these techniques. It may be an advantage to have a innate affinity for people, even so you can do some things to simplify the process.

Be sure to go to our trusted source for utilities human resources tips.

Relationship Development: Start by using staff’s names. Talk to staff; make eye contact during a conversation. Have a respectful attitude, and be attentive to everything the other person has to say, even if you do not agree or have a different opinion. The development of the ability to listen is among the best things you can do to develop your human resources management skills. Encourage any contributions from your co-workers.

Show integrity: Keeping your word is really important. If you can’t deliver on what you promise, the fragile bond of trust is wrecked, and without trust your staff won’t offer their best. When you say something or give your word on something, ensure that you can deliver or it would really be better not to give your word at all. To be honest, if your people can’t count on you, they can’t be relied on to be there when they are most needed.

Welcome any comments: It’s a two way street. Maintaining an open mind regarding other’s ideas is an important skill in managing people. Being accessible and open establishes that your co-worker’s opinions are important to you, and they should value your ideas. Open discussion also encourages new ways of thinking, ways of accomplishing goals, and develops the company dynamic. By allowing the team a voice, each team member invests in the results. Communicating is essential: Good communication is fundamental to dealing with individuals effectively. Be approachable, practice listening skills, be open-minded, and permit team members an equal voice. Employees should be encouraged to talk to each other as well as with you. The exchange of thoughts is imperative in the creative process, if the team members communicate effectively, it becomes easy to discover issues before they present as a problem, allowing corrective action to be taken to prevent any further problems.

A little time and effort will be necessary, but the dividends achieved far outweigh the effort. Through establishing the bonds of a good team and demonstrating effective listening skills, you can accomplish a successful business.

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Confidentiality is a major issue to prospective, previous and current employees. Keeping this concept in mind, you can find better solutions for the verification of new hires that is not only completely confidential, but also faster, accurate and easier. The two go hand in hand when you want to keep up productivity. It is also vital for you to know who you are hiring or considering hiring. There was a time when making phone calls to previous employers was the standard in Employment Verification. Today there is a revolutionary way to get this job done thanks to technology. How does this revolutionary process work for you?

The first step you should take is to make the decision to utilize a revolutionary and more efficient system for your new hire information verification. Once you decide this is the best option for you, sign up for an account. Log in to said account and fill out the information given to you by the hire/prospective employee. Preview and proofread your information to make sure everything is in order then submit it into the online system. Previous employers instantly receive this information via email and fax. They can find the information needed to respond and fill out this information including any extra information like skills, performance record, attitude or personality (if they so choose). They will then submit the Employment Verification forms they filled out to the online system

Available online, this time saving application is easy to utilize, and requires personnel to add only a few business and personal statistics. However, the potential employer must first obtain the individuals special permission to proceed, just as they should whenever they intend to track ones employment verification information in any way. This also eliminates the need to keep personal history files on potential new or previously hired employees within an office file cabinet. Where an individuals personnel files and their privacy might at any time be breached.

If you are a large corporation and intend to this system often, your costs should start at under $5 per verification. If you are a smaller company that requires less usage of this system, you can expect to pay around $7 to $9 per verification. If you do the numbers, you can see that it is a cost effective solution in many ways. If you have to make the calls yourself and do all the verification, it costs you your valuable time as well as any extraneous Employment Verification costs. Get more information online on how you can make this process easier, faster, safer, more efficient and more effective for yourself and your business.

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Effective human resource management is extremely important for business success. With a little effort you may learn and improve these skills. It may be an advantage to have a natural affinity for people, all the same you can do some things to facilitate the process.

Relationship Development: Addressing individuals by name should be a beginning. Engage in conversation; look people in the eye when you are talking. Have a respectful attitude, also listen to the other person’s point of view, even if you disagree or have a different viewpoint. Developing listening skills is among the greatest things you can do to better your talent management skills. Be sure to show an interest in what they can offer the business organization. Keep your word: Keeping your promises is really important. When a promise is broken, it can damage trust, and nobody will give you their best if they don’t trust you. Everytime you make a statement or make a promise, do be sure that you can deliver or don’t bother giving your word at all. To be frank, if your people can’t depend on your word, you can be certain they will behave in a similar fashion. Feedback is important: It’s a two-way street. Having an open mind with regard to other’s views is an important skill in effective talent management. Being approachable and open proves that you appreciate other people’s opinions, your opinions will be appreciated in the same manner. Frank discourse in addition encourages novel ways of thinking, original ways of fulfilling the mission of the company, and develops the company in general. By giving the staff an input, the outcome will become important to every employee. Communicating is fundamental: People management skills come down to one concept — good communication. Maintaining an open door policy, use listening techniques, keep an open mind, and allow team members an equal voice. The team should be encouraged to speak to each other as well as with you. The exchange of ideas is imperative in the creative process, if the team communicate effectively, it is simple to discover any issues before they could present as problems, allowing corrective measures to be put in place to prevent further problems. This may require some effort, even so the rewards far outweigh the work. Through promoting a good team dynamic and by listening to your team’s ideas, you can easily have the best in business success.

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It is that time of year once more when many people are working on the goals they have set for themselves for the new year. It’s the same thing every year. The goals that people set for themselves are usually along the lines of, “I want to lose weight”, ” I want to quit smoking”, “I want to exercise more” etc. Newsletters and Magazines are full of articles on how to accomplish these things.

Although the normal resolutions are good and healthy for you, they make you focus on negative aspects of your life, essentially, what you should not be doing…smoking, eating badly, being lazy etc. The problem I see with these resolutions is that it makes people think negatively and feel guilty, especially when February rolls around and they realize that they were not able to keep up with their resolutions. By thinking negatively, we set ourselves up for failure.

I want to suggest something different to you. Let us not dwell on new year resolutions that go down the drain by February, let’s focus on something a little different. Positive thinking brings results. Results make us happy and content. When we are content and focused on positive things we will find that many negative aspects of our lives fall away on their own. It is as if the body says, “I don’t need these negative things in my life anymore” and voila, they drop away without effort.

My suggestion to you is that this year we dwell on positive things. Instead of dwelling on what we want to rid ourselves of this year, let us dwell on what positive things we want to see in our lives. Let us focus on our dreams and make them a reality in our lives.

Many people don’t give much time thinking about making their dreams come true. They are caught up in the rat race of life and a worldly way of thinking. My suggestion is that we focus on a more spiritual way of thinking. Let us take the time to think about what we really want in life and then focus on setting goals that will bring us closer to our dreams.

Yes, even when following your dreams, one must set goals or we will never accomplish that which we dream of. Don’t get caught up in wishful thinking but put some action behind your thoughts. The secret to realizing your dreams is to break your objective into small steps. Ask yourself, “What do I need to do in order to accomplish this goal?” then break it down into bite size pieces.

This week we drove from Hamburg to Munich because we had to check out our new apartment and see about my fianc©’s new job out there. It is a very long drive and if you drive fast and push your limits (which most people want to do) you can make the journey in 8 hours. BUT, if you don’t want to stress yourself out, you have to make sure you take time for breaks and stretching so it ends up taking between 10-12 hours, depending on traffic etc. Then you end up at the end of the journey relaxed. Tired still, but relaxed

Think of your dreams as your destination. It may not be right around the corner, most dreams aren’t, but if you have patience, and pace yourself you WILL arrive at your destination. The problem most people run into with goal setting is that we think we can accomplish it much faster if we push themselves to the limit. When we hit problems that will slow us down, we end up getting frustrated and often give up. If, we would relax and think clearly when we hit a roadblock to our dreams, we would be able to figure out alternative routes to our destination. Detours do not mean failure and stalled traffic does not mean that we must give up and forget about our destination. We will reach our goals if we relax, persevere and be willing to figure out alternatives to our situation. We don’t need to drive ourselves like maniacs in order to reach our destination. Life is not the autobahn!

Road plan to your dreams:
1.Figure out what you want the most in life. What is your dream?
2.Set small, realistic steps so you can clearly map out the way to your destination, your dream. Remember that you cannot swim the ocean.
3.Be prepared to take an alternative route if you run into roadblocks.
4.Don’t give up. You WILL reach your destination.

This new year, let us think about the positive things we want in our life. Take the time now, to think about what you really want and then set about making up your road plan. Wishful thinking won’t accomplish anything. Make plans and follow your dreams!

“Shoot for the moon, if you miss at least you will end up amongst the stars”- Author unknown

This article is bought to you by Sharron Myers

Sharron Myers has been a teacher of Spiritual Truth for over 30 years. She also is a Certified Aromatherapist and Personal Development Consultant. Be sure to check out her site: www.sharron-myers.com

To Live the Life You Want, Learn the Skills You Need
www.sharron-myers.com

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The Cult

Becoming a part of the Cult, consists of being recruited a member of the cult, as a person that can be relied on to assume responsibilities and accomplish all or almost all things requested.

Depending upon the position you hold and the person that you are attached to the most, any position can be engaging and can be so different from any other experience that you have had prior to Walmart in almost any retail sector that you feel you are being chosen for great things.

Along with morning meetings and consistently being told how much you mean as an individual to the company, by your recruiter, management and the general population you feel an inclusiveness that is hard to describe. Before the end of each meeting the feeling, gets closer to being accepted into a religious organization or sorority, and when you are accepted, in some way you sincerely begin to believe what you are being told is that you belong to a new family. “The Walmart Family” You begin to believe that “The Walmart Way” is the better way, the only way.

I did not see it happening and I begin to correlate past experiences with this new and empowered way of working. I am sure I felt something then that most typical retail employees seldom if ever feel. A sense of power.
As the brainwashing continued, I found myself accepting any number of practices that are not truly acceptable according to written company policy but are known to the members as unwritten rules that are to be followed by all without question or concern.

I found myself accepting the unacceptable. Policies and procedures that were just plain common sense meant nothing soon. Even when I complained about something that was going on or went to the office seeking information, or asked why, eventually I you would accept that it was the way it should be in the end and continued to feel that someday I would get the recognition and the position that I truly did deserve.

Depending on your view of what a job is you may find yourself accepting and or doing things in order to please the management that has been so good to you.

I found that seldom if ever did I say anything that would offend anyone. Situations that would normally be questionable to me, even according to Walmart company policy or my own moral beliefs became acceptable.
Things such as Gender discrimination or favoritism becomes acceptable and some how I knew inside bringing it up as unfair would label me as a problem.

This in turn would cause the person or manager who was so good to me, to be hurt and unhappy I would think or even suggest it is what it is.

I found it was not hard to accept and believe all of it was for my own good. I started to believe the company would never want to mistreat or discriminate against anyone even when it looked that way. I believed the reasons or concerns I had, what ever they were, were being handled in a justifiable way and it is was all for the good of the family.

Once I became a bona fide member, the procedure continued and changed occasionally to fit the position that I held within the cult.

The inclusiveness, the confidentiality of different situations became paramount to my standing within the cult.

If at any time, I became a maverick or bucked my immediate supervisor I found that I would immediately pulled aside and put on notice about my conduct and how I should go about repairing any damage I inflicted upon the cult. All of it was done in a very nurturing way and during this type of situation I was informed how I would be now and always expected to conduct myself in the future.

It is when the situation becomes personal and changes the actual way that a person views life, that it simulates brainwashing.

It is when one person recruits another and has no reason for doing it other than their standing within the cult that it is not normal. When the only reward is the person’s standing within the cult will be higher because the person knows what they are doing what is right according to Walmart.
Once you have entered the status of truly being brain washed all situations that are accepted by the cult as justifiable are accepted personally as well.

My personal experience has resulted with the inner conflict that occurs with mentally trying to accept “The Walmart Way” over biological family members and numerous coworkers that have had situations requiring one to take sides.

All issues due to any number of internal or external situations that present themselves seem to trigger an automatic defense system. To do anything other than this would cause one to be shunned by the cult and would cause members to inflict mental strain and stress on the person not conforming to what is considered to be a part of your responsibility to the company as an associate.

There is a psychological aspect to being a Walmart associate that truly finds no special job code.

Julie Pierce has worked in the retail sector for more than thirty years.
She has been a union member of the UCFW Union and the afl-cio more than once and has worked for more than one large retailer during the course of her career. She attended Gulf Coast Community College, Panama City Beach, Florida, in the nineties in the pursuit of a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Some of her work has been published during the eighties and nineties in various editorial pages of newspapers in the state of New Jersey and Florida. She also did some work as a community reporter for a weekly newspaper in Panama City Florida. Other work includes an article in the Gulls Cry, the Gulf Coast Community College newspaper.

She is the wife of TSgt William F. Pierce Jr. (retired) USAF and the mother of three children and one grandchild.

Her experience with Walmart has taken her into three different regions and six districts within the company. In over a six-year period has worked in ten Walmart stores for twelve Walmart Store Managers.

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Time management is one of the least-mastered and most-desired skills in out fast-paced modern world. Time management truly is critical to becoming successful, doing everything you want to, and achieving ultimate success.

What do you need to do to DOUBLE your time management ability?

Do these things NOW:

1) Eliminate time wasters in your life. Time wasters are things that interrupt you and you spend time doing, but you wouldn’t have chosen to do them given the choice. Eliminating these time wasters is critical for time management:

• Email—If you are spending more than 30 minutes per day on email (unless that is your business) you are spending too much!

• Telephone—If you answer the phone live more than 5 times per day during your productive time (work, work at home, etc.) you are sacrificing time management and efficiency. When you answer the phone, you interrupt your current productive flow and this kills your productivity.

• Television—This must be limited for you to achieve ultimate control over your time. My recommendation is 30 minutes per day, especially if you are not getting all the things done you need or want to.

2) Make a list of what is genuinely important in your life and just start doing the things on your list. One of the keys to time management is prioritization—you absolutely must know what you want to accomplish and then go do it. Today’s world has too many distractions and when you allow those distractions to become priority, you sacrifice time management. Follow these steps:

• Make of list of what you want to accomplish

• Set time frames for accomplishing each item

• Organize each item in order of importance

• Create a game plan for achieving each of your goals in its respective time frame

3) Begin to focus on time management throughout the course of the day. Your consistent focus must be on managing your time. Once you have determined your goals and your priorities, start focusing on simply getting those things done. If something isn’t on your goals list for this weekdon’t do it until all your goals are done. When you prioritize every interruption that occurs and put your goals last, you will not accomplish your goals. Instead, you will be a slave (as you probably are now) to interruptions and probably feel like you never accomplish enough.

To subscribe to a free weekly newsletter with more Christian success tips like these, click here: Christian Success Newsletter

Written by: Sean Mize, Christian entrepreneur and Christian time management author. Christian Success Network

Note: You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links. © Sean Mize 2006

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For meetings to consistently deliver the required performance and hence outputs, it is critical to have a prepared communication process in advance of the meeting.

This enables participants to be aware and where appropriate prepare for the meeting in advance.

It also allows for them to circulate any preparatory information and pre-reading before the meeting to minimise any information-giving during valuable meeting time.

This time when all participants are together must be devoted to the interchange that can only happen when people are together.

The agenda format may vary, but it will need to have some components which are common, as follows:-

• Location and time and who

• Preparation required
• Review of previous agreed actions
• Objectives
• Items to be discussed
• Next meeting location and time
• Review of meeting

By having this structure, it becomes possible for the right people to attend and to:-

• Focus completely on outcome and purpose

• Be prepared
• Develop meeting skills

Exercise

1. Review meetings you hold, however informal, without agendas.

- How focused are they?

- How sidetracked do they become?

- What do you notice about behaviours of people who attend?

- Describe how you feel at the end of three different meetings this week - some with and some without an agenda.

2. Plan one meeting this week for which you would normally not have an agenda using the agenda detail provided in the workshop.

3. Discuss the benefits and concerns about using an agenda

- What is better about having an agenda?

- What might be negatives about using an agenda?

- How might you ’sell’ these in a positive way?

Meetings are hugely valuable contribution ot business life, as long as they work well. Preparing people in advance is ‘one giant step for meetings, one giant step for value-creating interactions of like minded people’.

© 2005-6 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com

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