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While you were growing up, you probably negotiated with your parents about your chores, your allowance and your curfew. If you were like me in school, you negotiated for homework extensions with your teachers. In your family today, you negotiate about vacations, budget and other issues. And I'd be willing to bet that that you negotiate pretty hard when you're buying a car or a house.

You and I are already seasoned negotiators. In one way or another, we have been negotiating every day of our lives and we have gotten pretty good at it. Or so we believe.

The problem is, the tactics that have worked so well for us in our personal negotiations can turn out to be disastrous in business. And few people realize that. Consider scenes like these:

Buying a Car
you stood up and headed for the exit door. It worked beautifully. But if you try the same tactic when you are buying a business, you will probably kill the deal. It is wiser to wait out the other side by keeping the conversation going, even when it seems to be headed nowhere.

Selling your House
you sealed the deal by offering to pay for a new roof or a new furnace. But if you are selling a business, making concessions like those too early can undercut the value of what you have to sell. You are literally giving away your money. If you bite you lip and wait for the other side to offer the first bargaining chip, you will do better.

Yes, there is an experienced negotiator inside you. The question is, is he or she the right one for the negotiations you will enter into tomorrow or next week? Ultimately, your success depends on having a large repertoire of tactics you can call upon as the situation requires.

Becoming a great negotiator means understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator. The more you practice your negotiation skills, the better you will become at it. Just like everything else, practice makes perfect.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments

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What's the most profitable investment you can make?

Some people would tell you it's the stock market. Other people would point to mutual funds, precious metals or municipal bonds.

Make no mistake, all those investments can offer you a great payback. But there is another investment that promises far greater rewards. I am talking about investing in yourself. Dollar for dollar, investing in your own education promises vastly greater benefits than any other investment you can name:

Appreciation that outpaces any stock
Education unlocks your earning potential. It lets you earn bigger paychecks, negotiate more lucrative deals, acquire more valuable properties and open successful new companies. It helps you take your life wherever you want it to go. I can't think of another investment that can promise anything comparable.

Greater income and dividends
An investment in the right course can quickly add tens of thousands of dollars, or more, to your annual earning potential. If you invest $100 in a mutual fund or some municipal bonds, the most you will have after a few years is $200 - and even that is pretty optimistic. Again, education outperforms all other investments

Diversification
With a sound education, you can reinvent yourself in countless new ways. As your knowledge grows, you can start new businesses, buy a business or invest in new kinds of real estate. People buy mutual funds to diversify their investments, but even they can't take you all the places that a good education can.

Long-term security
A stock can lose half its value tomorrow. That can't happen to you, because your education gives you lasting value. And the more you know, the more you are worth in the world.

Ultimately, your real wealth is not in your bank account, but in the value of what you know. That's true of Donald Trump and the other ultra-rich people you have read about. And it is true of you too.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments

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"Success is good. Success with significance is even better."
- Donald J. Trump

It's good to start each day by saying to yourself, "What can I learn today that I didn't know before?" It opens you up to more information as an individual. Why live limited lives due to lack of knowledge when there are so many resources available to us today?

The world didn't start with your birth and it won't end with your death either. That doesn't mean you're not a part of the scheme of things. On the contrary, it means that you are.

We should be aware of our culture and other cultures, our history and their history, and not live in what has been termed "a cultural vacuum." Someone once said that not knowing history was like being a leaf that didn't know it was part of a tree. That's an interesting visual and it applies to many. We are individually responsible for our education, and that means whether you're in school or not.

What if you know you are a leaf, but you're not sure what a tree is? I'd say the best thing to do is to find out what a tree is.

Never be a "know it all". First of all, it's impossible to know everything, and second of all, it's just not fun, for you or anyone else. And third, you will be missing out on some great adventures. So remember to think big by expanding your horizons.

That's what significant success is about.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 4:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

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Once upon a time there were 2 men called Alexander and Luigi. They both owned construction companies. They each earned about $50,000 a year, and when they came to do their taxes, they both brought shoeboxes stuffed with financial records.

When Alexander learned of the taxes he owed, he only got mad. The only lesson he took away was that he had to work harder to make more money so he could pay more bills.

Luigi also got angry, but then he asked a question that changed the rest of his life:

"What do I have to do so this never happens again?"

It was a great question. He wanted to learn.

Ten years later, Alexander is driving around in a beat-up old pickup truck, in exactly the same place where he had been a decade earlier. After those same 10 years, Luigi was making more than $1 million a year in his business, simply because he had decided to learn. He had learned how to work on his business and not just in his business. That's a big difference.

Sure, it's a little painful to ask those questions. But if you feel the pain of confronting those assumptions now, you will save yourself a lot more pain later on.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 2:28 AM | Permalink | Comments

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Let's break it down.

550,000 Americans start new businesses every month.

Men are two times more likely to start businesses than women are.

Hispanic Americans continue to start new businesses at a rate that outpaces all other groups. They are the heart and soul of American entrepreneurship.

African Americans lag behind when it comes to starting new businesses.

Immigrants are more likely to start businesses than native-born Americans are. They're really contributing to our economy.

But the most important fact of all...
At least two-thirds of new businesses fail within the first four years.

That's right, at least 366,000 of this month's 550,000 new businesses will be history by year 2010. If you're armed with the know-how you need, you will succeed. You can be one of the 1/3 that grows and thrives.

Starting a business is easy, staying in business is the key!

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 6:40 AM | Permalink | Comments

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You've worked hard to get where you are in life. You've studied, labored, gone the extra mile, taken on additional responsibility, continued your education, honed your instincts, developed sound judgment, retained your integrity, generated positive energy and assembled a top notch staff. You have learned to set direction, plan, budget, dress to impress, and multi task out!

Yet, despite all of that effort, is something still missing?

Maybe you still haven't received the significant success, the level of accountability, impact, or influence that you want. The line on the wall where you will "leave your mark" isn't high enough. Of as one person put it, "My name is not on the right door."

You are puzzled. What more can you do when you've done all you can? There's a good chance you haven't adopted one of these ideas:

\\ Be the first to initiate
You must learn, as top executives have, the art of making the first move. That can mean making a decision before other people do, or being the first to greet people you don't know. Leaders go first.

\\ Expect and give acceptance
In spite of work pressures and hectic schedules, never treat others in a way that you would not want to be treated.

\\ Ask questions
Don't do it to impress, interrogate, intimidate, dominate, embarrass or put people in a corner. Instead, ask questions to improve knowledge and foster a learning spirit.

\\ Stand tall, straight and smile
You can never, for a second, be caught off guard. You need to convey an air of confidence.

\\ Be human, humorous and hands on
Humor is an essential ingredient of your success. Above all, it means being able to laugh at yourself.

\\ Slow down and listen
Your own words are much less important than what other people have to tell you.

As you have noticed, they all come down to strong people skills. But that makes sense. According to a study done by Carnegie Foundation, Harvard University, and the Stanford Research Institute, "people skills" explain 85% of why we get, keep, and move ahead in our careers. Our "technical competence" accounts for only 15%.

Regardless of where you are in your career, you can't waste any more time without it.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 6:21 AM | Permalink | Comments

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Stop for a moment and think about the businesses in your area.

There are dry cleaners, hardware stores and the rest. But are some of them known for doing something special? Is a certain dry cleaner known for its ability to get a spot out of any kind of fabric? Is a certain hardware store known for having experts on staff who patiently answer questions from do-it-yourselfers? Local merchants who differentiate themselves in that way are miles ahead of other businesses that just open their doors and wait for customers to arrive.

They stand out from the rest because they want to. They are different and it doesn't matter how much time & money the competition spends on marketing their business, if they are "just like the rest", they will fail.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 6:10 AM | Permalink | Comments

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They are real, and they work!

1) Get and stay out of your comfort zone
Not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. I hear people say, “But I’m concerned about security.” My response to that is simple: “Security is for cadavers.”

2) Never give up
Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted. Just because what you’re doing does not seem to be working, doesn’t mean it won’t work. It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.

3) When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think
There’s an old Chinese saying, it goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

4) Accept the worst thing that could happen
But make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.”

5) Focus on what you want to have happen
Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”

6) Take things a day at a time
No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don’t look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7) Always be moving forward
Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8) Be quick to decide
Remember what the Union Civil War general, Tecumseh Sherman said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

9) Measure everything of significance
Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10) Anything that is not managed will deteriorate
If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while. Problems will be there.

11) Pay attention to your competitors
But pay more attention to what you’re doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12) Never let anybody push you around
In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you’re doing as anyone else, provided that what you’re doing is legal.

13) Never expect life to be fair
Life isn’t fair. You make your own breaks. You’ll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus.

14) Solve your own problems
You’ll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you’ll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of Sony, said it best: “You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others.” There's also an old Asian saying that goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."

15) Don’t take yourself too seriously
Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16) There’s always a reason to smile
Find it. After all, you’re really lucky just to be alive. Life is short; “We’re not here for a long time; we’re here for a good time.”

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 5:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

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Yes, there are three. Yet you probably have only been using one!

Trading time for money – By far the worst of the three income earning strategies, it is employed by approximately 96% of our population – doctors, lawyers, accountants, laborers, etc. There is an inherent problem with this strategy – saturation. You run out of time. If a person accumulates any degree of wealth employing this strategy, it will be at the expense of a life. They compromise on the car they drive, the house they live in, the clothes they choose and the vacations they take. They rarely, if ever, get what they want.

Investing money to earn money – This strategy is used by approximately 3% of the population. The number is small for the obvious reason – very few people have any money to invest. Many people who effectively employ this strategy follow the advice of a trusted, knowledgeable advisor.

Leveraging yourself to earn money – This is where you multiply your time through the efforts of others by setting up Multiple Sources of Income (MSI). This is, without question, the very best way to increase your income. Make a decision to have many sources of income; it's the strategy that wealthy people have used dating clear back to the ancient Babylonians. Unfortunately, this strategy is only used by approximately 1% of our population, yet that 1% earns approximately 96% of all the money that is earned! You are only a decision away from membership.

Once you determine how much money you want to earn, write it down on a sheet of paper in large figures. Look at the number with the dollar sign beside it and tell yourself over and over again:

You can take the total figure and divide it into multiple parts. Each part would represent a source of income. Each source of income represents a separate reward that you would receive for a service you would render.

Work on one source of income at a time; each one can become an exciting part of your life. What you are actually doing is thinking of different ways you can be of service to others.

Think of how you can do whatever you do – more effectively.

Think of how you can improve the quality and quantity of service you render.

Money is the ultimate servant. The more you earn, the more you can help others.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments

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Everyone lives by laws, although is the laws you choose to obey that will bring you to success. These are it:

The Law of Experience - "Success comes from good judgement; good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement." The more at bats you get, the more experience you get, the more successful you can be.

The Law of Hunger - In the words of motivational speaker Les Brown, in order to be successful, “you have to be huuuuuuuuungrrry!” You have to want it so bad that you can taste it. You have to want it so bad that you are willing to pay the price to get it.

The Law of Balance - While you’re paying the price for success, it’s crucial to keep your life in balance. No one who is a success in their chosen profession and a failure in their personal life is a success.

The Law of Small Successes - Many people never even get started on the road to success because they have convinced themselves that the task is too big. This is a myth that stops many people. Even the most gargantuan of tasks are accomplished one action at a time. One action at a time. Simply break your large task into smaller, more manageable tasks, and celebrate each small success.

The Law of Momentum - Once you get a few small successes under your belt, a powerful momentum has been set in motion. You begin to believe you can be successful, and things that seemed difficult or even impossible before become simply challenges you are eager to take on.

The Law of Clarity - You need to be clear about what you are going for, so you will be clear on knowing when you get it. If you say you want to make more money, that’s not clear enough. I could give you a dollar and you’d have more money. But I don’t think that’s what you meant. How much more do you want? By when do you want it? What could you do to experience the most enjoyment while you are getting it? These questions give you more and more clarity.

The Law of The Trail - Success always leaves a trail. While there is value in blazing our own trail, there is also value in investigating how others have become successful. This leads us to.....

The Law of Modeling - To be successful, we do not have to reinvent the wheel. This is so powerful and yet so easy it’s amazing to me that more people don’t do it. Simply find someone who is doing, or has done, what you want to do, and find out how they did it. What did they do on a daily basis to get where they are? What did they have to believe, what did they have to focus on? Most people are so honored by the question that they will be glad to talk with you. Everyone likes to feel like they have experience and wisdom to pass on to others.

The Law of Habit - All of us need success habits that we think and do every day. Remember, “bad habits are easy to form and difficult to live with, good habits are difficult to form and easy to live with.”

The Law of Focus - It’s our responsibility, each and every day, to control our focus. If we focus on all the things that could go wrong and how we might not be successful, we will be pulled in that direction. If we focus on opportunity and all the many ways in which we can be successful, we’ll be pulled in that direction. We control our focus. It really can be that simple.

Now that you know, you should take action and put these laws into practice. Knowledge is power, but the use of knowledge is indestructable.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 5:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

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There is a very real possibility that everything you and I have been taught about how to earn money is so far from the truth that it's almost comical. Earning money has nothing to do with age, formal education, gender or geography. It has nothing to do with past experience or your formal years of education or your level of intellect. Check it out...there are individuals who are functionally illiterate who have become multi-millionaires, while there are others who are absolutely brilliant and they are broke.

Virtually anyone can be taught how to earn millions of dollars and yet the sad truth is that 97 out of every 100 people are born, live their entire lives, and die without ever learning how to earn money. To perpetuate this ridiculous problem, their ignorance is passed along from one generation to the next.

Our school system has been designed as an environment to enlighten young minds, to replace ignorance with understanding and thereby improve the quality of life. Our educational system has obviously been successful in many areas. However, it has woefully neglected one important subject, "How to Earn Money." You can earn a doctorate degree in economics and have little or no knowledge of how to earn money. A lack of understanding in this area is the cause of numerous unwanted and unnecessary problems, since money is the medium of exchange that is used worldwide for other people's products and services.

There has always been a small, select group, approximately 3% of our population, who clearly understand that prosperity consciousness is the primary cause of wealth and their prosperity consciousness, like ignorance, is also passed down from one generation to the next.

Let's look at "money." What is it? Money is a reward you receive for the service you render. The more valuable the service, the greater the reward. Thinking of ways we can be of greater service will not only help us earn more money, it will also enable us to grow intellectually and spiritually.

Money Is An Idea

The paper you fold and place in your purse or pocket is not money. It is paper with ink on it. It represents money, but it is not money. Money is an idea. The earning of money has nothing to do with the paper stuff. It has to do with consciousness.

I am aware there are books that instruct you on how to manipulate the market, stocks and people...they might even help you get money. But, let me caution you...when there is no spiritual growth...there is no spiritual strength...there is no lasting happiness...and, there is no real or lasting wealth.

To accumulate wealth, a person must become very comfortable with the idea of money. That may sound strange, however most people are not comfortable with the idea of money, which is why they do not have any. The cause of poverty is poverty consciousness. A poverty consciousness will cause a person to see, hear, smell, think and feel...lack and limitation.

The late Mike Todd said, "Being broke is a temporary situation. Being poor is a mental state."

He was correct. There are wealthy people who lose every cent they have through a series of mistakes in judgement...but that does not make them poor. They will have it all back in a short time because of their prosperity consciousness.

If you have any question in your mind regarding your level of consciousness with respect to money, be very honest with yourself and look at your results. Study the patterns in your life.

If you want to improve your financial position in life, focus your attention on creating a higher level of prosperity consciousness. Begin by preparing a powerful, positive affirmation and fuel it with emotion. When you do this, you are depositing this creative energy in the treasury of your sub-conscious mind. And, by repeating this process over and over and over again every day, it will begin to alter your conditioning and mentally move you in the direction you want to go. Write it out, read it, feel it, and let it take hold of your mind.

How much money do you want? Saying you want more is not good enough. Five dollars is more. How much more? Decide on a figure. Be specific. You will not seriously want more money than you are capable of earning...however, you would be wise to remember, you must earn it.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments

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Take a look at the "Forbes 400 List of Wealthiest Americans". Every person on the list got there by being an entrepreneur. From Bill Gates to Warren Buffet to Michael Dell to Donald Trump, the truth is self-evident. People get rich by starting their own businesses. Some of the people on the list started companies when they were young, some started them when they were a little older. But nearly all of them took that first step toward staggering wealth by starting a business.

People today know that they can't get rich by working for someone else.

In fact, recent surveys report that 40% of all Americans dream of starting their own businesses.

Yet 55% of the people who wanted to start a business stated that they didn't know what was involved in "getting a small business off the ground."

So what should you do if you have that entrepreneurial hunger to start a company, yet fear that you will blow it because of critical holes in your knowledge? Well, you have to talk to people who have succeeded, read everything you can, learn everything you can and acquire critical skills.

Go on. You can do it.

- Business Man

Posted by newsboi at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments

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