What are millions of people doing on the Internet everyday ? Have you ever thought about what YOU are doing on the Internet ?

The answer is: you, like most people, are on the Internet because you are looking for information. Like most people, you are also probably hoping to get this information for FREE for that has been the culture since the Internet came into popular existence.

How is it then possible to make any money on the Internet if everyone’s mindset is “FREE”, “FREE”, “FREE” ?

The answer is: “Knowledge” - sell YOUR special knowledgesomething you know which they don’t know, and something which they are looking for. Most people are searching for information to gain some knowledge about something which they have an interest in or are passionate about. If this “something” happens to be what you have, you already own the rights to a potential goldmine. All you need to do is to set yourself up to start mining it.

People who are looking for freebies CAN be converted to paying customers if you can convince them that your knowledge or any information that you might have about their hobby, interest or favourite subject CANNOT be found anywhere else for free. This is the PRIMARY KEY to online success.

The knowledge market is an unlimited one. Each and every one of us have certain unique knowledge but only some of us have figured out what that is and have capitalized on it.

Ever heard of the old saying -”Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” ? In a way, each of our unique knowledge can be perceived in this manner; yours may well be of no value to me, but that does not mean that it is of no value to everyone else. It is highly likely that there is a small group of people out there who ARE craving for this bit of knowledge which you hold. Your job is to identify this niche and then market directly to them.

To begin tapping into your goldmine, you will need the following:

• Your special knowledge in the form of an ebook i.e in a digital format that can be downloaded immediately from the Internet. It should also have an appropriate title with an attractive and professionally designed ebook cover.

• A professional looking website (not just another mile long scrolling web page used by every other online marketer) with good copy about the subject matter and leading your readers onto the order page.

• An order page where you can easily accept orders and payments online and in real-time by credit cards. If you do not have this in place you WILL LOSE out on many potential sales, many of which would have been impulse buyers.

If you have knowledge for sale and you want to get started, check out the wide selection of low cost eBook Mini-sites from MillionEbooks.com that will kick-start your dreams of online wealth.

Copyright © 2004, MillionEbooks.com. All rights reserved. http://www.MillionEbooks.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ Permission is hereby granted for this article to be freely published and distributed in e-zines, included in ebook compilations, sold or given away as a bonus provided the article is not modified in any way and the copyright and web links are included as it appears.

If you were to walk up and ask successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs what they did to succeed or fail, most of them would cite some mentor or lack of trait… Blame genetics or outside influence. But if you were to ask the exact same group if they used this secret, 99% of successful entrepreneurs would say yes - and almost all of the unsuccessful entrepreneurs would ask what you were talking about…

The secret to being a successful entrepreneur is very, very simple. It is called “Quantifiable Goals”. It might sound complicated, but when you have finished reading this article you will completely understand what it means - and why it is so important.

Let’s say, for example, that you walk into a room full of entrepreneurs, and ask them to state their goals. To state why they are ultimately in business for themselves. Most of them will respond something along the lines of time or money. But watch them puzzle when you ask them WHY they want to earn money or have that extra time. This is the most essential part of Quantifiable Goals. Any John Doe can say he wants to make money, but why? Is there something in particular he wants to buy? Something he wants to do with that time?

Once you establish WHY you want that extra time or money, you have just taken a big step towards success. You now have a goal. For example, you want that extra money to buy a house. Buying a house is your goal. Now comes the Quantifiable part.

How much are you going to spend on this house? $250,000? $1 million? You need to come up with a dollar amount or time amount, something of quantity, to properly set your goals. That way, once you earn that $250,000 or gain those 3 hours, you have essentially attained your goal.

But waking up one morning and deciding to earn $250,000 doesn’t make it happen. So how do you achieve your long-term Quantifiable Goal? By breaking it up into smaller, medium term quantifiable goals.

For the example we have been using, buying a house for $250,000, your medium-term goals would most likely be monetary. You could set goals to complete two projects that would each bring you $125,000, or even 10 projects that would bring you $25,000, or break it down even further.

But what good are these goals anyway? They are still difficult to achieve, and how do you know what to do to achieve these goals?

Well, you break each of your medium-term quantifiable goals into short term goals. For example, if you chose to get two projects with a price tag of $125,000 each, your first goal might be to think of what kinds of projects you can do that would bring that kind of money in for you. Your next goal would be to close the sale on such a project, and then to complete the project, and finally to collect payment. That way, each medium-term goal is broken down into manageable tasks.

At this point, you want to break everything down into a flow chart to help establish your goals. Put your life quantifiable goal at the top on its own piece of paper. Then, put each of your medium-term goals on their own paper in a horizontal line directly beneath your life goal. Then directly below each medium goal, fill a sheet with the short term goals that it will take to achieve each medium term goal.

This method will help you visualize what you are working towards, and how each step is necessary to achieve your dream.

Now you’ll want to check off each short term goal as you complete it, completing one sheet at a time. By doing this, you will be able to visually SEE your results progress quickly. Each time you complete a short-term goal, you are one step closer to completing a medium-term goal, which brings you one step closer to completing your life goal.

Now that you know the secret, what are you going to do about it? I suggest following the visualization techniques given, and build yourself a “life pyramid” on a wall that is visible while you are working. Glance at it every so often, and it will keep you on track. Reward yourself when you complete your goals - from the smallest achievement to completing the entire pyramid. It will most likely be the most positive experience in your life to see that pyramid completed - and the construction process of the pyramid itself will set you on the right path.

Cherilyn R. Lester, an entrepreneurial coach with Novus Life & Career Coaching, is both a successful entrepreneur and a successful coach. She can help you through the construction process, guiding you up each tier of your life pyramid, and help you through all the bumps along the way. With her business experience alone, she is an invaluable resource for other entrepreneurs. Novus is currently offering a free 30 minute session, during which you can ask questions, get advice, or just talk about the results of constructing your very own life pyramid. Visit their website to take advantage of this offer at http://novuslife.cjb.net

Aren’t laptops brilliant? Comparatively equal in power to desktops, and portable, too. Take them away for weeks on end, and have access to all the same programs and applications. Its freedom personified.

Unless you forget your charger.

For - as much as you can run around with a laptop - the things still need to run on power. In the past, this would mean costly electricity bills and products that consumed high levels of energy.
But Uni-Solar are looking to change that with their ‘Portable Solar Electric Light Panels’. The chargers come in several models. At the cheapest end of the range is the ‘UNI-PAC 10′, which offers dual voltage charging for 12 and 24V. It can be folded down to a size of 254mm in length and 139mm in width, with a depth of 51 mm. It has a larger depth of 78mm.

Each model, then, can be folded into the size of a book, making it a convenient and efficient eco-friendly product. They were originally designed to meet military requirements, and to be used in the field, so a hardy piece of equipment is all but guaranteed. As their website details:
“Solar modules for remote applications must be tough, lightweight and easy to transport. UNI-SOLAR UNI-PACs are designed for the challenge of the field. They provide power even with bullet holes or in partial shade. The UNI-PAC can be dropped, stepped on, packed and re-deployed, and will continue to operate.”

It is unlikely that anyone buying the UNI-PAC for commercial use will suffer bullet damage, but it still nice to know, and certainly gives a slightly surreal piece of mind; portable equipment that hardy isn’t going to break if you drop it out of your suitcase or down the stairs.

Indeed, the UNI-PAC officials know that there are other markets out there:
“Field-proven as dependable and easy to use for military units, trekkers, climbers and professional photographers depend on the UNI-PAC for field communications, emergency power and battery maintenance.”
Of course, there is nothing to say that it can’t also provide adequate cover for essays, spreadsheets, surfing the internet, or on-line gaming. And with the UNI-PAC 10 weighting just 2.1lbs, and the UNI-PAC 15 weighing 3.25lbs, the ability to do just those things comfortably and easily within an environmental framework is easier than it ever was. Even if there was a freak malfunction - having withstood an attack from masked gunmen as you threw your charger down the stairs at the airport playing rugby - then the company grants five year warranty.

Yet more piece of mind.

For the environmentally minded, then, the Uni-Solar Portable Solar Electric Light Panels are a good alternative to traditional laptop chargers. And versatile as they are, they can be used for other appliances too. Perhaps best of all, though, you can tell you friends that you own a piece of military equipment. POW!

Chris Woolfrey is the solar panels expert at EcoSwitch The environmental social network.

When I became a coach six years ago, I had a dream that took me a while to admit toeven to myself. What I really wanted to do was to combine the two great passions of my lifecoaching and working with horsesbut I had no idea what that might look like. As I bravely shared my fledgling dream with others, people began to point me to other people who had the same dream. I started exploring and discovered that the field of Equine Guided Education is a lively and growing one, where there’s plenty of space for the coaching process to be incorporated.

You might be surprised to learn that coaching with horses provides a depth and immediacy that brings new information, even about business development. Synchronicity happens in the domain of energyenergy from our thoughts, our emotions, our body, our spirit. Horses, unencumbered by language, read and reflect this energy, providing unbiased feedback. How does coaching with horses work, you ask? To give you an example of how this process works, I want to share my experience of doing my coaching process with horses around my own business questions.

Here’s what happened…

Background: I am deeply committed to bringing Equine Guided Coaching and Education to the world, but unsure of how, exactly, to grow my business. So the question now is “What’s next?”

Equine Guided Coaching Process: One warm, sunny October day when I had a few extra minutes at the barn, I went out into the pasture where the six horses I work with were grazing. As I stood in the middle of the pasture, I posed the questionto myself and so to the horses”What is next for my business, for this business with horses?”

Very quickly a horse named Digby came up to me. Digby is a thoroughbred horse who takes his rider over those 4- and 5-foot jumps you see in the Olympics. His athleticism and performance are not small potatoes. I said, “Hi Digby, why are YOU here?” As I looked at him, the thought occurred to me (openness to the synchronicity of thoughts is key to this work with horses) that he is large, the second largest horse in the pasture. I said, “Well, you are big. Am I supposed to play BIG with this business?” Just as I finished that thought, Colin came up. Colin is a Clydesdale-quarter horse cross and is the biggest horse in the pasture, with big feet, bones and a tall, strong stature. As I looked at Colin and petted his nose, it came to me that I’m supposed to play REALLY big. Gulp! I immediately noticed the fear that came up for me around this. Then I thought: “What does ‘playing big’ mean for me? How would it look in my business?” As I accepted that this was the message they came to tell me, both horses turned and went back to grazing, leaving me alone to let this idea settle in, confirming that I’d understood what they’d had to say.

Now these messages from the horses come quickly, and the full implication doesn’t always sink in immediately. What happened in the hour after my time with Digby and Colin started to clarify what “playing big” actually meant. My business partner and I had invited our insurance representative to the pasture to experience a sample equine-guided coaching session since she had expressed interest in what we were doing. As is typical, she experienced deep and profound shifts in her thinking about the actions she could take in her life. She became aware of important new options that had simply never occurred to her before. For example, normally a type A personality, she had never thought of the possibility of a more relaxed lifestyle. She saw that she could use space and openness to see what is next for her rather than more busy-ness. As we talked about it over lunch afterwards, our agent expressed such enthusiasm about our work and strongly urged us to incorporate our business to fully professionalize our work. And she asked if she could invite people she knows in the horse world to a workshop so that they could also experience the power of this process!

Synchronously, once I offered my question about how to direct my business to the process of equine-guided coaching, I not only received an inner direction to consider building my business to be really big, but also began to discover what that might entail, actually taking a first step to begin to grow it. Coaching with horses this way grounds the process so that we step out of our minds and invite all of ourselvesbody, mind, and spiritto engage with our intentions and clarified direction. The response is almost always startling and exciting, filled with the lively energy of newness. In these few months since Digby and Colin made the message known to me, we have conducted a workshop with eight influential friends of our insurance representative, incorporated a new business called Wisdom Horse Coaching, which will serve as an umbrella for all of our work with horses, and have presented a demonstration of our work at the first annual Equine-Guided Education Association conference held in California to 70 people from all over the USA and seven other countries in the world who are doing this work with horses.

For more equine coaching information go to www.WisdomHorseCoaching.com.

Below are ten categories of real estate, and different ways to invest in them. The best one for you is something only you can decide, according to your particular needs. To help you do that, I list a couple good points and bad points for each type.

1. Renting single family homes. Good points: An easier way to get started, and good long term return on investment. Bad points: Being a landlord isn’t much fun, and you typically wait a long time for the big pay-off. You also lose all your income when a house is vacant.

2. Fixer-uppers. Good points: Fast return on your investment, and it can be more creative work. Bad points: More risk (many unpredictables), and you get taxed heavily on the gain.

3. Low income housing. Good points: Similar to any other rentals, but with higher cash flow. Bad points: Similar to any other rentals, but with more repairs and tenant problems.

4. Selling rent-to-own houses. Good points: If you buy, then sell on a rent-to-own arrangement, you get higher rent, and the buyer is usually responsible for maintenance. Bad points: Bookkeeping can be tricky, and most tenants don’t complete the purchase (this can be an advantage too, but it does mean more work for you).

5. Commercial properties. Good points: Multi-year triple-net leases mean little management and high returns. Bad points: A tough market to break into, and you can lose income on vacant storefronts for a year at a time.

6. Land, split and resold. Good points: Simpler than some real estate investments, with the possibility of great profits. Bad points: It can be a slow process, and you have expenses, but no cash flow while you wait.

7. Boarding houses. Good points: You’ll generate more cash flow renting a house by the room, especially in a college town. Bad points: You’ll generate more headaches renting a house by the room, especially in a college town.

8. Invest cash, sell with terms. Good points: A high rate of return is possible by paying cash to get a good price, and selling on easy terms to get a high price AND high interest. Bad points: You need a lot of cash, and you tie up your capital for a long time.

9. Invest, live in it, sell it. Good points: The tax law lets you fix it up, and sell it for a big tax-free profit after two years (if you live in it), then start the process again. Bad points: You may become attached to your investment, and you’ll have to move a lot.

10. Pure speculation. Good points: You can make large profits buying in the path of growth and holding until values rise, and it is a low-management investment. Bad points: Growth in value isn’t always predictable, you have expenses with no income while you’re waiting, and transaction costs can eat much of the profits.

There are many ways to invest in real estate. These ten are just to get you thinking about what is possible, and what type of investing suits your personality. Once you figure that out, you may want to look into other categories of real estate investment.

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. To learn more, get a free real estate investing course, and see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

Spending a day at the Magic Kingdom can be a truly magical experience or a very stressful one. What makes the difference is being prepared for the park and arriving with a plan. Families that travel to the Magic Kingdom without researching the park layout, park attractions and features of the park will find their day spent tackling long lines, hot weather and confusing park details.

The best way to approach a trip to the Magic Kingdom is to review all the available information on the park while planning your trip to Orlando. First time visitors will be overwhelmed by the number of attractions, shows and sheer size of the Magic Kingdom. If you plan to spend only one day at the park you will have to plan on making some tough choices on what you really want to see. When traveling with children, it is always best to plan on spending two full days at the Magic Kingdom. This will enable you to see all the attractions and get the full Disney experience.

By reviewing the park layout in advance you can prepare a “plan of attack’ for the park. Even in the off season, the Magic Kingdom is always the most crowded of all four Disney Parks. Many of the most popular attractions, such as Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Winnie the Pooh’s Adventures always seem to be packed with people waiting on line. You will maximize your time at the Magic Kingdom if you understand the best ways and times to visit each attractions.

Also, Disney is always adding new attractions, refurbishing current ones and introducing new park policies (security checks, FastPass tickets for attractions). Learning about these procedures in advance will only maximize your day, touring the park. Advance planning will definite save you time and money as you visit the Magic Kingdom.

While reviewing the park layout and policies you will also be able to see which attractions are geared for the members of your family. Height and size restrictions do apply on some attractions, and some even include warnings for small children (attractions that contain complete darkness, loud noises, etc). This advance information will prove important so your children are not disappointed once they arrive at the park.

Advance planning can not be stressed enough when planning a trip to the Magic Kingdom. Do your homework before traveling and when you arrive at the park you will have a truly Magical Day.

© Copyright MouseManual.com, All Rights Reserved.

Jessica Mitchell is the author of the Mouse Manual a Walt Disney World Travel Guide (www.mousemanual.com). She and her family have vacationed at Walt Disney World every year for the past 7 years.

All successful weight loss programs rely on one common denominator; calorie restriction.

What is calorie restriction? Calorie restriction is an effort to reduce the amount of calories one consumes in order for the body to achieve a negative energy balance. This is simply a person reducing food consumption to the point that they are burning more energy than they are consuming. The body is then forced to use stored fuel (muscle tissue, glycogen and body fat) in order to survive. The burning of these stored fuels is cause of the weight loss phenomenon.

How does a person achieve this negative energy balance through calorie restriction? First a person must have an idea on what a calorie is. A calorie is a measure of heat. Food is the fuel our body needs to generate heat. If the body is not getting enough fuel from food consumption then the fuel must be found elsewhere. That fuel is found in our body fat.

The best analogy for this process is gasoline and an automobile. Cars run on gasoline. Without gasoline, a car is useless. We drive our car and fill up with gasoline when we are getting low on fuel.

What would happen if we put 18 gallons on gas in our car if we only burned 16 gallons? We would have extra gas left over. That extra gas has to go somewhere so it goes into storage for when we only have 14 gallons available but we need 16 gallons.

What would happen if we never tapped into our gas reserves? The surplus would keep growing and growing causing a need for larger storage tanks.

The human body works in the exact same way. The surplus fuel (food) is turned into stored energy (body fat) and the only way to reduce how much fuel is stored in reserve is to limit new consumption of fuel (food). This is the only way that the human body can body fat. A caloric deficit must be established so stored energy (body fat) can be burned to keep us alive.

How is a calorie deficit achieved? The simplest answer is to eat a fewer number of calories then it takes to fuel your basal metabolic rate. The BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the measure of energy a person needs to subsist. People can figure out their BMR by using any of the numerous BMR calculators that can be found online.

Once the BMR is calculated a person can then have a goal to shot for. If the BMR is 2500 calories a day, they a person should shoot to try to eat fewer the 2500 calories a day for a consistent period of time.

How can a person effectively create a caloric deficit? Part 2 of this article will address this issue.

W.S. Evans (Bill) is one of the millions of people who have battled a life long weight problem. Bill has a passion for helping others battle their weight problems by sharing what he has learned with his struggles with obesity. Bill’s struggle can be viewed on his blog called “My next 60 pounds”. Bill’s blog can be found at http://billgetsfit.blogspot.com.

The number of marijuana grow-ops and drug seizures has dramatically increased over the last few years.

There are many other serious community consequences associated with these crimes. Marijuana grow-ops are continuously linked to property crimes and crimes of violence. In addition to finding stolen property inside these homes, Police have investigated several home invasions where thieves have broken into grow houses to steal the marijuana crop being produced. Some recent home invasions involved innocent families that had moved into a previous grow-op house or were living close to one and were mistakenly victimized. It is important, therefore, to spot a grow-op and report any suspicious activity to the authorities.

The following are characteristics of typical grow-op houses, many effects of which can still be visible after the house has been vacated:

[ ] Suspects do not appear to regularly attend jobs but drive expensive vehicles.

[ ] There are dark coverings over some of the windows to prevent the escape of bright hydroponic lights.

[ ] Rooms in the house or outbuildings seem to be illuminated all the time.

[ ] There is heavy condensation on the windows. Absence of frost or snow on the roof when other houses have frost or snow. Or growers put fans in the window to increase air circulation that blows the curtains around.

[ ] There may be an unusual number of roof vents, or unusual amounts of steam coming from vents in cold weather.

[ ] A variety of extra measures have been taken to protect the house, i.e. new fencing, guard dogs, bars on the windows etc. Entry is exclusively through the automatic garage doors. Residents are hardly ever seen out of their cars.

[ ] There is a strange odor emanating from the house (pungent and skunky).

[ ] Sounds of electrical humming, fans or trickling water. There are also construction noises associated to accommodate a marijuana production facility.

[ ] There is unusual or modified wiring on the exterior of the house.

[ ] The hydro meter can be seen spinning unusually fast. Growers have most of their lights on for at least 12 - 18 hours at a time.

[ ] Localized power surges or browning - neighborhood residences or units experience unexplained power surges or decrease of power that dims lights and slows down appliance use, with the return of normal power flow about 12 hours later.

[ ] Residents avoid all contacts with neighbors.

[ ] Children’s toys and bikes are left outside but there are no children seen at the residence.

[ ] Quantities of growing equipment and supplies are seen to be taken into the house, shed or garage, yet there are no flowers or garden at the house. Often these supplies are purchased in winter.

[ ] There are pots, soil, hoses and nutrients scattered around the property.

[ ] The house can appear to be vacant, the yard is not well-tended, and flyers are accumulating at the door. Residents are seldom seen (garbage is rarely put out to the curb).

[ ] There are hoses running from doors or windows on the exterior of the house.

[ ] Instances of visitors parking down the street and walking to the house. There is excessive vehicle and/or pedestrian traffic day or night at unusual hours.

[ ] The occupants appear to have moved in at night.

[ ] It is never possible to see activity at the house but there is lots of garbage.

Luigi Frascati

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle at http://wwwrealestatechronicle.blogspot.com where you can find the full collection of his articles. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

If that sounds like you, here’s what you may be missing once the new enterprise is launched

Public relations that really does something about the behaviors of those key outside audiences that most affect your new enterprise.

PR that uses a fundamental blueprint to deliver external stakeholder behavior change - the kind that leads directly to achieving your venture’s objectives.

And PR that persuades many of those important outside folks to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that help your new enterprise succeed.

That’s why you as a small business owner must gear up to deal with the unattended perceptions out there that could nudge your fledgling venture closer to bankruptcy than success. Perceptions that, if left unattended, may well result in actions that run counter to those you and your banker had in mind.

For example, when new ventures fail, the wreckage is often assigned to undercapitalization. Seldom is failure attributed to a lack of an effective action plan that might have modified the behavior of prospects and other collaborators in a positive way, thus averting that failure.

So why support your new venture with press release public relations when a basic PR blueprint like this one can hold the key to your success? People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

Add to that these kinds of results: fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; customers making repeat purchases; prospects starting to look your way; community leaders beginning to seek you out; and even politicians and legislators viewing you as a true innovator.

Major caveat for a new entrepreneurial venture: because the cost of gathering key audience perception data - an absolute must in this business - can be substantial, it should be built into the original funding budget. That suggests that you, as the new venture leader, must take the lead in assuring upfront funding of the perception monitoring function.

So, with the people whose perceptions of your venture you care most about now the target of your PR effort, you are ready to launch a well-planned public relations program that can reach, persuade and move those individuals to actions you desire.

Here’s a public relations checklist entrepreneurs may find helpful.

From Day 1, you have to be certain your staff or agency public relations people are really committed to knowing how your outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. And further, that negative key audience perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can hurt your new venture. Fortunately, your PR people are in the perception and behavior business to begin with, so they should be of real assistance for your opinion monitoring project.

Professional survey firms are always available, but that can be expensive. So, whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking the questions, your objective is to identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and misconceptions.

First, rank your external audiences as to impacts on your operation. For example, #1 customers; #2 prospects; #3 employees; #4 local and trade media; #5 your local business community; #6 community leaders, and so forth. Then, involve your PR team in plans for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of those you expect will be your most important outside audiences.

Second, interact with members of your key audience and jot down their first impressions of your fledgling operation, especially any problem perceptions.

Use questions like these: Now that you’ve read our brochure, do you believe our products/services will be of use to people in this area? Have you used the services of our competitors? Did you find them useful? Fairly priced? Any problems? Listen carefully for any rumors or misconceptions about your new operation.

Third, decide which of the negatives you discovered, rates as the #1 corrective public relations goal - for example, clarify the misconception, spike that rumor, correct the false assumption or fix a certain inaccuracy.

Fourth, when you finally have the chance to address your key stakeholder audience to help persuade them to your way of thinking, what will you say? Ideally, you will prepare persuasive and compelling messages that not only provide details about your product and service quality and diversity, but address perception problems that surfaced during your monitoring sessions. As the method of communication can affect the credibility of the message, you may wish to deliver it in small meetings or presentations rather than through high-visibility media releases.

Not so incidentally, here’s where a talented writer earns his or her keep because s/he must put together some very special, corrective language. Words that are not only believable, but clear and factual if they are to correct the negatives and shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Fifth, in the same way Quesadillas come with sauteed onions and smoky cheese, the right PR strategy tells you how to reach your goal. But just three strategies are available in matters of perception and opinion — change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. And be sure your new strategy is a natural fit with your new public relations goal.

Sixth, things get simpler here. Select communications tactics to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. Making certain that the tactics you select have a record of reaching folks like your audience members, you can pick from dozens of tactics. Everything from speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

Seventh, how do you decide that your efforts are changing perceptions for the better? As time passes, you should notice increased awareness of your business, a growing public perception of the role your business plays in the community; and, of course, growing numbers of prospects.

You can track these results by interacting on a regular basis with people from each of your key audiences, especially by monitoring print and broadcast media and through interaction with key customers and prospects.

But eighth, questions will soon appear as to progress. That will demand a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Using the same questions used in the first benchmark session, you will now be alert to indications that the negative perception is being altered as you wished.

In public relations, we’re lucky that these efforts can be accelerated through more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

The stakes are high - the very survival of your new enterprise!

So, concentrate on what’s most important — people in your new venture’s community or marketing area behave like people everywhere, they take actions based on their perception of the facts available to them.

In the proverbial nutshell, here you have a workable public relations blueprint that can help you persuade your most important outside stakeholders to your way of thinking, then move them to behave in a way that leads to the success of your new enterprise.

Robert A. Kelly © 2004.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net.

About The Author

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net. Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com

When you want to decorate your new living or office quarters, there are many different alternatives available. Whether for home or for business, a furniture rental company can satisfy all equipment needs, from home furniture, to office furniture, to electrical appliances.

Renting furniture for your home or business lets you preserve capital for other endeavors. The above reason is why 80 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies to rent their furniture.

The other reason will be that furniture rental serves as a great alternative to those who cannot afford to purchase a permanent set of furniture. It is also good for those who will only be living in a certain location for a short period of time. Renting furniture satisfies all these requirements.

For example, furniture rental offers the ability to rent an entire room of furniture for significantly less than it would cost to permanently furnish a room. Moreover, many furniture rental companies offer you the chance to purchase the furniture at the end of the rental period.

Shopping for a furniture rental company is a pretty daunting task. You should ensure that the company has a history of delivering furniture promptly. The quality and condition of the furniture should be exemplary.

Other items like economical and stylish furniture, relocation and transportation of the furniture, and whether or not your desired furniture will fit within the space available are also mandatory.

Any reputable furniture rental company is going to have name-brand furniture from all the major retailers. This applies to office furniture, home furniture and electrical appliances. The furniture rental company should have online showrooms in addition to physical locations where different showrooms are set up, showcasing the different styling options available. From living rooms, to bedroom sets, to the office of a major organization, the showrooms should contain the best furniture and appliances available. The prototype of the actual showroom is displayed online; ask your furniture rental consultant for more details.

A good style guide, online magazine, and recommendation center also is preferable for the consumer to see the different furniture options available. A good furniture rental company should be capable of assisting with all of the details by providing a rental consultant. Rental consultants work with the consumer to determine spacing constraints, and also provide assistance with the most modern furniture and appliance needs. They can assist you with moving your equipment if necessary.