Benjamins Yarn

Trend watching in business has come a long way from being a trend in itself to being a full time profession. Trend watching helps companies by preparing them to adopt new trends in their field of business. Trends change quickly without limitations, but the lack of knowledge and timing about changing trends can result in disaster if a company tries to make a foray into a business whose time has not yet come. Accurate judgment about a trend’s longevity is important before taking the plunge and investing.

HOT TRENDS IN BUSINESS

How Do You Spot New And Hot Trends?

Don’t restrict yourself to music, sports or the kind of stuff targeted only to the young. A newspaper or a TV commercial will conclusively prove to you whether or not something is trendy. Just by this discussion, you can tell that getting into music retailing is trendy. Buying new cars is a trend with youth of the day.

Outsourcing Business Processes:

Outsourcing of business processes is a big trend among large corporations. Simple but labor-intensive jobs are outsourced for increased production and cheap labor. If someone is looking for opportunities in this field, he has definitely hit a goldmine! Simple things like “voice to text” data conversion, data entry, engineering processes and content development are a few hot trends.

Corporate Restructuring:

The opening of trade barriers and the advent of the WTO (World Trade Organization) has led to a shift in the corporate mindset. Downsizing and relocating are new trends today. Corporations, in their quest to survive and grow (don’t forget, growth is the mantra for survival), are also moving across borders and applying new management systems like Six Sigma for all-round quality improvement. By doing this, many companies have proven that it is indeed possible to save money and improve quality at the same time.

Intellectual Property Rights:

I have chosen this not because this is new but for its longevity. It will live longer as time goes on. One of the major ways of securing your future is by protecting your property, both physical as well as intellectual. With the advent of the Internet, this trend will only get stronger.

Incubation Of Start-Ups:

Who had heard of an incubator for a business some ten years ago? Start-ups that were just armed with great ideas, no money and no experience to get their business up and running were getting the money they needed as venture capitalists arrived on the scene. They invested and incubated small businesses until they grew big enough to fly on their own. The focus was undoubtedly on technology start-ups with an orientation towards product development.

This business trend was started by many current big names. (For example: Google and Sun Microsystems).

Six Sigma For Complete Quality:

The advent of Six Sigma methodology is a sun rising on the quality management horizon. This breakthrough methodology has already saved huge amounts of money for companies and customers by removing defects in every corner of production. Many have achieved what could have not been possible without implementing Six Sigma.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

China’s media is booming creating opportunities for marketing-savvy businesses. But many companies have little understanding of how to harness the power of the media in the world’s most populous country.

The following are ten points to consider when embarking on a media relations strategy in the Chinese market and identifying with the Chinese media.

1. Understand cultural differences.

Be sensitive to local communities and understand the complex and varied structures of the Chinese media. They are not uniform and often controlled at a local, provincial and national level. Improve your cultural literacy by understanding the culture and history of those you’re doing business with. Respect these differences and don’t impose your own values and perceptions on how the local media should treat you. Never make assumptions, do your research.

2. Use a local spokesperson.

Depending on the news value of the story, you will have a better chance of gaining media coverage the more Chinese you make your message. Using a local spokesperson will give you greater credibility. For example in PR campaigns for Nokia and IBM in China, they use local Chairmen who are Chinese because they are well respected and have deep
Chinese roots.

3. Know your point of difference - what you do in your own backyard you also have to do in new markets.

Find out what makes you or your service or product unique in the Chinese marketplace? How will it stand out from the competition. In the past cultural differences have been used as an excuse for dubious practices not acceptable back home. This has changed. Be accountable as your actions will automatically be associated with your company’s offices regardless of their location.

4. Clarify your communication objectives?

What do you want to achieve? To inform or entertain? To provide information? To build a profile? To influence public opinion? Personal marketing? Marketing or launching a new product or service? How will cultural diversity and differing news values influence this? News values differ in China. Often issues will be reported one or two days later and not with the urgency or timeliness of the Western media. By understanding your objectives you are more able to set tasks to achieve them accurately and will gain a better understanding of the processes involved.

5. Define your target audience?

Who is your target audience? General public? Customers? Competitors? Suppliers? What age are they, what level of education, what beliefs and values, geographical location, how do they use the local Chinese media? How credible is the media your target audience uses? Does it still have credibility even though it is controlled? The media is evolving and becoming more respected. Never assume similarities between similar markets in different countries, do your research, this not only helps define your objectives but offers cultural insight.

6. Identify the best channels of communication.

What is the best way to reach your target audience? TV, Radio, Internet, newspapers - local or national? Do your homework on how news is structured and gathered. Investigate who is reporting on what. Find out the nuances. TV has the highest penetration, while the Internet is growing amongst younger Chinese. Each market will be different and it is important to be specific and focused on these individually as well as collectively.

7. What is your key message?

The media is becoming more competitive and market driven. They need readers and viewers to stay viable in the new economy. How can you make your message appealing and newsworthy? Distil what you want to say into three key points. Always check translations of media releases. Have them retranslated back into English to check for accuracy. Be careful with tenses and cultural influence particularly when using humour.

8. Build your case.

When building your case look for the China angle. What are the features, advantages and benefits of your message for your Chinese targets? What evidence do you have that is seen as credible and independent within their cultural belief system? Always use a local angle, even for an international venture.

9. What is the China hook?

What will make your message or news release stand out from the rest and appeal to the values of Chinese journalists? You are not successful in China until the local market tells you. Giving money to Chinese journalists is no longer acceptable. Use more legal and
ethical incentives such as providing transport, lunch or a gift or souvenir item. This isn’t to be used as a bribe however, rather a hook, something to capture their interest and should be mutually beneficial.

10. Develop long-term relationships with the media.

Visit and meet journalists face to face. Network, get to know them and involve them in the story. There is now a focus on the interactive brand experience. For example in one successful mobile phone campaign local journalists were involved in trialing the product prior to launch. They were asked for their feedback and engaged proactively in its development providing them with ownership of the product and subsequent story. Relationships and personal connections, or guanxi, are very important in China and especially so in cultivating good media contacts.

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.
You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com

For years, gazebos have been an interesting way of adding elegance and splendor to a garden or a backyard. Gazebos are also helpful in rejuvenating one’s body and soul. Relaxing in the shade of a gazebo enjoying the morning sun with the cool breezes flowing through is a good way to melt away stress and calm down nerves. Apart from this, gazebos are a great place to enjoy with your family and friends. Different materials are being used in the making of gazebos such as metal, wood, vinyl and bamboo. Among these, wood gazebos are considered to be a more classical or traditional form of gazebos.

Wood gazebos can be made using different types of wood. However, most popular among these are Cedar, Pine and Oak. Wood is a durable material that can resist the vagaries of the weather and can remain intact for years, thus giving a best return on the investment. Apart from this, the color of the wood can mix well with the surroundings, thereby providing a mystic appearance. The only disadvantage of a wood gazebo is that it is far expensive than any other gazebo and also requires a bit of maintenance. However, an economical solution for this problem is to buy a wood gazebo kit, using which it is much easier to set up a wood gazebo in the backyard.

More outdoor gazebo

If you are a parent, as am I, I think we can agree there is
little else more important than keeping our children safe
and protected. It’s difficult enough keeping them safe from
the unscrupulous people we read about in the news, but
dealing with children and the Internet takes it to a
completely new level.

Many young people find instant messaging and e-mail a
convenient and fun way to talk with their friends. If you
have children, like me, when they’re not on the phone,
they’re talking with their friends on the Internet. We have
very strict rules and guidelines about who they can talk
with and for how long. We have given them detailed
instructions on what to do when they receive e-mail from
someone they don’t know or receive an anonymous instant
message.

Recently, someone close to me received a death threat via an
anonymous instant message. The language this person used was
so vulgar and explicit you would have thought it came from a
prison inmate. Interestingly enough, the person at the other
end was a child.

After significant investigation we determined this person
was a school mate. They had received detailed information about
the child including the child’s instant messenger alias,
their home address and color, and what type of cars the
family drove. Can you imagine how scared this child and
child’s family was? Quite frankly, it was not only sad but
sickening that another child could be so verbally brutal.
Additional investigation revealed that the school these
children go to were aware that this had been going on for
quite some time. Other children had been receiving
similar threats.

This particular event was all the result of several children
speaking in a chat roam and one child in particular got
upset about something that was said. That child contacted
another child, who is known to be mean, and asked them to
scare one of the other children. We got to the bottom of the
whole mess and everyone felt a bit of relief.

It’s very important to pay attention and, in some cases,
monitor what children are doing on the Internet. It’s for
their protection and the protection of others. I’m sure I am
going to get an ear full from privacy rights advocates on
this one. Regardless, the safety of our children is one of
the most important tasks a parent has.

If your children use e-mail and Instant Messaging on a
regular basis you should;

1) Limit the number of people they can e-mail and message with;

2) Work with them to develop an approved list of friends;

3) Limit the amount of the time they spend e-mailing and
messaging;

4) Make your presence known while they are e-mailing or
messaging; and

5) If necessary install some sort of monitoring software to see
what is going on in chat rooms.

Update: Shortly after writing this article, a 13 year old
boy at a middle school in my area was arrested for e-mailing
death threats to two teachers. In one e-mail he indicated he
was planning on bringing a gun to school to kill a teacher.
The other e-mail, sent to a teacher at a different school,
indicated that he planned on targeting students as well. For
further details please see the full article at South
Florida’s Sun Sentinel “http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pcletter18feb18,1,216444.
story?ctrack=1&cset=true.”

For information on computer monitoring software take a look
at WatchRight http://www.watchright.com/.

A good site to visit to learn more about protecting children
on the Internet is www.protectkids.com. It’s full of great
information every parent should know. Other sites you may
want to visit are http://www.isafe.org/, and
Obscenity Crimes Reporting http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/.

About The Author

—————-
Darren Miller is an Industry leading computer and internet
security consultant. At the website -
http://www.defendingthenet.com you will find information about
computer security specifically design to assist home, home
business and small business computer users. Sign up for
defending the nets newsletter and stay informed and empowered
to stay safe on the Internet. You can reach Darren at
mailto:darren.miller@paralogic.net or at
mailto:defendthenet@paralogic.net

———-

Aritcle URL
http://www.defendingthenet.com/Articles/ProtectYourChildrenOnTheInternet.htm

While driving to the home improvement store Saturday before the 4th of July, we noticed that the usual “Open House” signs were missing. The real estate offices were closed. No real estate agent wants to work on the 4th of July holiday week. In fact, earlier in the week, I called two real estate agents about listing a property and another agent about a home we wanted to see. They all put me off until July 5th!

However, these are the conditions that mean real estate investors can pick up a deal. Home shoppers put off looking for a home because of holiday decorating, shopping, and parties. Plus, the hot weather makes home buyers prefer to stay home. Investors can take advantage with little competition from other buyers.

Other reasons why now is the time to buy real estate:

Motivated Sellers

Home sellers who didn’t sell during the recent buying frenzy are worried that their home will not sell. Any seller offering their home for sale during the holiday season is motivated.

Affordability

Interest rates continue to creep up. Who knows what the rates will rise to next month?

Qualifying

Lenders threaten to tighten up qualifications. Last summer, loan officers were able to get through almost any loan. Today may be your best shot to buy real estate and get a decent rate with the easiest qualifications.

Easy Escrow or Closing

Title insurance agents, closing agents and appraisers are not as busy. Appraisers need work. Too many people became real estate appraisers when there was too much work. It used to take a week or more to schedule an appraisal. We just ordered an appraisal and the appraiser wanted to come out the same afternoon! Also, appraisal fees cost less today than last month.

Clear some time from your busy holiday schedule and go find a bargain house. Make many offers. You won’t get this break until Labor Day Weekend.

Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

Jeanette Fisher teaches five ways to make money investing in real estate. FREE Beginner’s Real Estate Investing Guide

Dr. Niles Eldredgem, Curator-in-Chief of the permanent exhibition “Hall of Biodiversity” at the American Museum of Natural History, describes the previous five extinction periods of our planet. He predicts Number Six.

Please read Dr. Eldredgem’s article at http://www.actionbioscience.org/newfrontiers/eldredge2.html where he says that current trends will lead to an extinction caused by one species of earth’s many creatures. Can you guess which species is most likely to bring a sixth disaster in terms of life forms on the planet?

Answer: Homo sapiens

Eldredgem blames man (Homo sapiens) for a number of “recent” extinctions. He wasn’t there to see it but the good Doctor is a paleontologist and he just knows such things.

Anyway, despite the fact (or because of the fact) that according to scientist that the earth can tolerate a lot more human beings; we have to worry about our extinction too.

Let me speak as a cosmologist for a second. Excuse the fact that I am not a cosmologist. Consider the “fuzz” on the earth as non-consequential in the cosmic view: Does it matter if that fuzz disappears. The earth would still look pretty good from space.

What is this “fuzz?”

Answer: Plant and animal life.

However, dispite what I said, even cosmologists think that earth life, especially human life, has significance.

What do you think?

Here’s what I think: The earth will take care of itself.

If it’s abused, it will heal itself.

If there are too many Homo sapiens, it will cut them down to size by disease, war, natural catastrophe, and other means.

(If the earth is not abused it will still reduce the number of Homo sapiens by disease, war, natural catastrophe, and other means. Animals and humans die of starvation all the time.)

Things will become more intense as agriculture continues its march and the earth’s population of Homo sapiens continues.

What will Homo sapiens be doing all this time?

Answer: History says that they will do too little until it is too late.

I don’t worry too much about what will happen to this planet and the creatures on it. What I worry about is that Homo sapiens might eventually leave our solar system and contaminate the world with Earth Ideologies and our deadly nature.

Fortunately, in my opinion, there is little chance of this in the near future. By the time we would get good enough to explore the universe, the earth as we know it may no longer exist.

For those who want to (at least for now) keep the earth a habitable place for Homo sapiens, I suggest the following:

1. Agriculture is a problem. Stop eating those grains, fruits, and vegetables on weekdays. Tell your children that vegetables are awful and that they don’t have to eat them. Teach them to eat dirt to avoid agriculture. Babies love to eat dirt. Don’t stop them.

2. Hunting is a problem. Stop eating wild game and mounting heads on your cabin wall. Get a paintball gun. Your color can be yellow so that everybody will know you are the one that hit the ibex in the rump. Have that video camera ready.

3. Fishing is a problem. Stop eating fish on Fridays. Catch and release on weekends.

4. Ozone is a problem as is CO2, H 2SO4, and other gases. Stop driving during months with an “R” and don’t buy those aerosol cans.

5. Teach your kids to be celibate. Tell them it has great eternal consequences. Buy them a GameBoy® if they will agree to be cloistered.

Well, it may sound trite, but it could be a start couldn’t it?

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com,) a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine. He is Executive Representative of IWS sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He also sells TopFlight flagpoles. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.aaaflagpoles.com

So, you want to learn how to play piano. So do thousands of others around the world. Here’s how they usually go about it.

First, they try to find a piano teacher close to where they live. They may or may not know what style they want to learn, but figure the piano teacher can help them figure this out.

Next, it’s off to the piano teacher for the first appointment. What usually happens here is the teacher gives the student “an assessment” to see what they know. Now, for the most part, piano teachers won’t ask prospective students what they want to learn because they assume it will be classical in nature.

The benefits for the piano teacher in teaching the classical method are enormous! First, students must learn how to read music and this can take anywhere from 1-month to 1 year depending on how fast a learner the student is. Second, students learn classical repertoire and this can literally take forever. As this is happening over time, the student becomes a piano player who can read sheet music and play the music of dead composers reasonably well. That’s the goal anyway.

The student at this point may have spent thousands of dollars learning how to do this thus increasing the piano teachers income. What a great deal for the piano teacher! But what about the student?

Listen, if your goal is to learn how to note-read and play other peoples music for fun then that is what you should do. But if you’re interested in a more creative approach to piano playing, you may want to seek out a teacher who will show you how to play piano using a chord-based approach. Here’s why:

1. Time spent learning is greatly reduced. Listen to this… you can learn most chords on the piano within one month’s time. You won’t be an expert at it, but you’ll know enough to get around on the piano. This puts you light years ahead of your classical playing counterparts.

2. Musicianship is quickly realized. Do you know that most classical players don’t have a clue how what they are playing was created? That’s right! They just play the notes like a typist and never understand the mystery behind the music. Now, if you learn chords, inevitably, you’re going to learn about chord charts and once you learn how to “chart out music,” you’ll be thinking like a composer. You’ll be quantum leaps ahead of most classically trained musicians.

Look, if you really want to learn how to play piano fast, learn a chord-based approach first. You can always learn note reading later on.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

The hassle of physically going to a gaming hall gives us plenty of reasons to drop it altogether. It’s not necessary to move outside to go for online texas holdem or other preferred games simply because everything can be done from within your familial household assuming you own a fully functional laptop or pc and, obviously, an Internet access account. Yet, don’t hold your breath too soon because there’s a number of facts which you must first fully understand about online texas holdem or other preferred games, all the more should you happen to be a neophyte.

Test your internet online gambling here.

The foremost thing which yours truly as a savvy web risker definitely would chase out is an online texas holdem or other preferred games host of the category promoting high winning odds. Establish for certain that the online texas holdem or other preferred games host is supervised by an honest and trust-worthy bookkeeper to appraise the referenced casino games’ payout on a monthly basis. You definitely must be sure to check the virtual gambling host holds a license, such as by inspecting the ministerial license on the casino site’s pages. Should you be unable to track down any ministerial license on that chosen virtual gambling host, don’t try to place your wager at this place.

For some more advice, would obviously be to play at the start with lesser sums in lieu of disburse more than does you good on the spot. Check, first of all, the integrity and status of this virtual gambling organization before chancing some undue hazard– all the more money loss! And now, the last notable tip about online betting. It must be this: to never ignore that online casino betting should actually be about fun and pleasure rather than big dollars. Gambling in an online casino isn’t a chore, but, instead, a pastime which ought to help you feel sunny and life in general pleasurable. Once you have gone with all the guidelines expounded above, set out to defer to the magic of virtual gambling!

Fad diets are an American tradition. What was all the rage a few months ago is dropped in the proverbial blink of an eye for the latest and greatest way to “easy” and “fast” weightloss. These fads may be a great way to lose about five or ten pounds quickly as an emergency measure, but they can never be a lifetime plan due their extremely restrictive nature, and lack of balance.

These types of diets are only good for the short term, and in fact, may make you fatter once you’re off of the plan since they often lead to “rebound over-eating” and yo yo dieting, both of which harm your metabolism by constantly leaving it in a state of confusion. If you are thinking of trying one of these fads, you may want to also try a quality, natural appetite suppressant since most of these diets will leave you in a constant state of hunger.

We’ll examine this year’s fad diets. Believe it or not, some of these have actually been circulating for a while and are still a popular diet for quick weight loss - mostly via word of mouth. These diets have aquired somewhat of a mythology about them over time. A person you know probably knows someone or heard stories of someone who lost a drastic amount of weight on them.

Popular Fad Diets, Summarized

1.) Cabbage Soup Diet

What It Is: You make a cabbage soup concoction consisting of broth, lots of cabbage, onions, celery and a few other acceptable veggies. You consume nothing but this soup for days, or for as long as you can stand it, and get to gradually add in very small amounts of normal food.

Why It’s Hard: You may never want to eat soup or look at another carrot or onion again after this diet. Your hunger is never satisfied, because largely what you are consuming is water based, and that is why you can drop weight so quickly - you are not eating anything of real substance. Your stomach is in knots with gas pain and hunger. Bottom line is, this diet is very tough to stick to. When you first try the soup, you think “Hmm, not bad”, but you will soon change your mind. The reward is very rapid weight loss. The problem is, as with all other fad diets, it comes back on just as rapidly if not quicker than it came off when the diet is over. Doctors actually prescribe this diet for patients who need to lose weight quickly for surgery.

2.) The Famous Atkins Diet

What It Is: This is basically “The all you can eat - as long as it’s pure protein diet”. This diet gained a huge following almost immediately after Dr. Atkins released the Atkins Diet book to publication, and experienced another resurgence in about 2001 as a quick and easy way to melt the pounds off quickly without sacrificing too much. It attracted quite a bit of criticism due its extreme and unbalanced nature, as well as a concentration on high fat and cholesterol foods, with little fiber and sometimes little nutritional value.

The foods it centers around are cheese, bacon, chicken, eggs, turkey, beef and snacks like pork rinds. Although the Atkins diet is extreme in nature, it paved the way for more balanced, heart and health friendly diets such as The Zone Diet and the South Beach Diet (two of my favorites), which preach more of a moderation mentality, balance, and a focus on more healthy, whole and unprocessed foods and a somewhat restricted calorie plan that doesn’t leave you hungry.

Why It’s Hard: Your body goes into a state of ketosis due to a lack of carbs and sugars. You get bad breath. You may feel malnourished and weak - a sign of ketosis. The lack of fiber often leads to constipation. When you get hungry, you get HUNGRY! You may never want to look at another egg again in your life, and feel nauseous at the sight of meat.

3.) The All You Can Eat for Seven Days Diet

What It Is: You get to choose from one food group each of the seven days. One day may be all chicken, one may be all fruit, and one may be all vegetables, with minimal restrictions on which ones are not allowed. You can eat as much as you want as long as it is within that one food group for each assigned day.

Why It’s Hard: Try eating one food group all day. It’s very hard. This diet is almost guaranteed to cause a grumbling belly, since no one food can usually satiate anyone’s appetite or sustain a feeling of fullness for any length of time. Variety is the spice of life, and this applies two-fold to diet boredom and how it leads ot overeating and binges. Once you go off of this diet, you will almost surely gain the weight back, and fast. The problem with diets like this is that they trigger an overeating response due to severe deprivation.

4.) The Snickers Diet

What It Is: You get to eat only Snickers candy bars and may drink coffee or water only with this fad diet. I’m actually not sure how many Snickers bars are allowed per day, but do know someone that has a friend who lost over thirty pounds following this diet, but sacrificed her health, her skin and mental well being in the process.

Why It’s Hard: The first and most obvious reason this diet is unhealthy is that it is based on a calorie dense, high sugar content food, which leads to: high blood sugar, hunger, terrible skin problems, terrible breath, constipation, immune breakdown, unhealthy heart, loss of mental focus and clarity.

There are, of course, many other fad diets that have come and gone, but these are some of the more extreme and interesting ones. While fad diets are tempting to try as a quick fix for drastic and fast weight loss, they should be regarded with caution. Most fad diets lead to larger subsequent weight gains because they are based on deprivation. So, as long as you know what you’re getting going into it, and don’t expect to use it as a long term solution to losing weight or maintaining weight loss, then you’ll be prepared for the outcome.

Visit Diet Reviews for more information on different diet methods, supplements and technology. Danna Schneider is the founder of Dieting Magazine Online Resource for Weightloss and Dieting.

With over twenty thousand webhosting companies competing for new customers, there’s been a lot of speculation over what people are looking for when they purchase hosting.

There are the obvious answers, of course - reliable servers, lots of features, reasonable prices, etc.

One thing that is almost always overlooked though, and I believe most people are looking for this, is “relationship”. After eight years in this business, it’s been my experience that cultivating good relationships with my clients is the best way to keep existing customers and attract new business.

I once attended a seminar put on by a business coach. One thing he said that has always stuck with me is that ‘business’ is just something we use as an excuse for interacting with people we enjoy.

There’s a lot of truth to that. We like to do business with people and companies which we like to do business with - not necessarily those which give the best price or even those that do the best job.

That’s where I think most webhosting companies have missed the boat.

While we can’t ignore essential elements of the business, like uptime and security, we must always remember that those faceless clients who subscribe to our services are real, living, breathing people with very real feelings, worries, and concerns. The better we can get to know our clients on a personal basis, the better we can address those worries and concerns.

Aside from the monetary benefits of fostering an atmosphere of goodwill, there are some really wonderful personal benefits as well.

I never know what my day may bring when I sit down at my telephone. Perhaps I’ll hear from James, our hollywood celebrity, or maybe I’ll talk to Ken, a retired state trooper. Maybe John, a Los Angeles talk show host, will give me a ring. Perhaps I’ll spend a few minutes chatting with Richard in San Antonio or Andy in The Bronx. I never know - but I’m always delighted to find out - just who is on the phone when I answer.

If you truly enjoy other people, it will show in your voice, and the person on the other end of the line will hang up feeling that someone who really cares paid attention to them and their problem.

Here’s the catch, though. You can’t fake it. People are incredibly perceptive, and they’ll immediately brand you as a phony if you’re not sincere.

If, however, you really do like your clients and enjoy interacting with them - the benefits to them and you will exceed anything you can possibly imagine.

Copyright 2006 Larry Dozier

Larry Dozier is part owner of A1 Web Server - http://a1webserver.com