Steps Archives - TODAY INDIA

How to Manage Your Money Better in Five Easy Steps

Money is anything used for the exchange of goods and services. Money is, in the world of commerce, what blood is to the human body. The roles money plays in our daily lives cannot be over-emphasized. It is pervasive, yet very few people understand how to deal with the challenges arising from the use of it.

Your money is an important aspect of your life. The amount of money you have can determine what you do, where you go and how you live on a daily basis. Learning how to manage money is, therefore, an important step towards taking control of your life. In order to manage your money properly, you must first understand the source of your money and how you spend it. Make sure that the way you manage your money falls in line with the things that matter most to you.

Very importantly, the secret to living a financially free life is to cultivate effective money habits. Fortunately, you do not need any degree in finance to be a good manager of your money.

Now let us briefly look at those simple steps that can help you manage your money efficiently.

1. Set up a budget and most importantly, stick to it. The rule is to spend less than you earn. Having a budget helps you track your spending, i.e. you know what you spend money on, on a daily basis. You may be amazed that those little amounts you spend on certain routine add up. One good way of tracking your spending is to open a bank account.

2. Understand the flow of your income: Know what you earn from your job or your business. Know your true income. If you are a salary earner, your true income is your earning minus compulsory deductions such as tax, pensions and other statutory deductions required to be taken out at source by your employer. If you are a businessman, place yourself on a salary and discipline yourself by living within the salary as though you are an employee by following the rules highlighted above. This is what accountants refer to as net income. Budget on your net income. You cannot manage your financial resources properly if you do not have a clear idea of what those resources are.

3. Actively manage your bank account. Some people do not pay attention to what goes on with their bank accounts. Keep a record of all additions to your bank account and all that you have withdrawn from it either directly from the bank, checks or the electronic channels like ATM machine and POS terminals. At the end of the month, make sure that what you have in your account tallies with what you expect to have based on your calculation. Where you are not able to explain any differences in the number, contact your bank immediately for an explanation.

4. Start saving: You have a budget; you track your spending and you are probably spending less than you earn; now it is time to begin to save. You should have a savings account and once you received your monthly salary or earn income from your business, put away a part of it in the savings account. An easy way to save is to give a standing order to your bank to transfer a certain amount of money to a named savings account once your salary account is credited. If you save as little as 10 percent of your earning every month, you will be amazed at how your savings account will grow by the month.

5. Invest: By investing part of your savings, you are actually getting your money to work for you. Set aside a portion of the money in your savings account for investment on a regular basis. There are many options available to you to start investing such as stocks and mutual funds. For a beginner, mutual funds are a safe and easy way to begin investing.

Most importantly, a common source of money troubles for most people is bad borrowing. By bad borrowing I mean when you borrow money to fund consumption rather than acquiring income-yielding assets. If you manage your money well by following the steps highlighted in this article, you will have less cause to borrow money in order to meet your daily need. Managing your money effectively will help you take control of your life. If you manage your money properly, you become less anxious about your finances.

How to Write a Cover Letter for a Job Application: 10 Easy Steps

Learning how to write a winning cover letter is easy and so important! We have 10 simple steps to show you how to write an awesome cover letter so that you stand out when applying for your next job. Apply for you next job with confidence.

Provide your contact details at the top of the Cover Letter – make it easy for an Employer to contact you! These should not take up half the page either. Just list them in a couple of lines. Be sure to include your first and last name, don’t worry about your middle name, a contact phone number (don’t provide multiple numbers, just one will do), and your address.
Personalise the Cover Letter by using the Company name AND the name of the person in the company if possible. Take the time to address the letter to the person who will be reading it. This shows that you are prepared to pay attention to detail. Many people do not do this, so by making sure that you do, you are already showing that you are better than your competition!
State the job title and reference number of the job. The company may be filling more than one role. This is usually stated in the job ad. Look for it and use it. Again this shows excellent attention to detail and will suggest that you will be an efficient employee!
Customer your Letter and make sure you match the skills and experiences in the job ad. If the job ad asks for someone to be enthusiastic, make sure you tell them that you are enthusiastic. If it asks for someone with good people skills, make sure you state that you have good people skills. Use the same words that they have used. This is a sure-fire way to ensure that you tick the boxes and get short-listed.
ALWAYS state your key qualifications such as degrees, diplomas and certificates. If you have them you must boast about them! Sure they are in your Resume, but you MUST mention them in your cover letter too. Don’t leave them guessing, tell them your strong points.
ALWAYS state how many years of experience you have in a similar role. Don’t wait for them to figure it out from your Resume, tell them how many years you have. The more the better. You do not need to be exact, you can say things like over 5 years, or almost 3 years.
Describe your current job and the main duties you perform. Again try to match the duties to the duties that they have listed in their job ad where possible.
Sell Yourself! Include some compelling reasons why you are perfect for the job. Are you highly productive, a great communicator, highly experienced with skills that match the job perfectly?
In your closing sentence, you need to have a Call To Action – request an interview or a time to meet.
Finally, check your Cover Letter length. It should not be longer than 1 page.

LinkedIn Traffic Secrets – 5 Simple Steps for High Quality Daily Buyer Traffic

Don’t chase after traffic. Discover where the traffic is already going and get in front of it. Then redirect the traffic where you want it to go, directly to your profit centers.

Get Your Wisdom Right Here

So many online entrepreneurs chase after traffic. Even veteran online entrepreneurs get caught up in this potential trap.

Chasing after traffic is especially dangerous for the beginning online entrepreneur. They throw money after traffic by buying traffic before they know what they are doing.

This can lead to lots of money going out with nothing to show for it.

Listen. I’m not against paid traffic. I use it.

I just strongly recommend that you create a proven system that takes a new person from prospect to customer before you pay for traffic.

Especially since there are so many great ways to get high quality buyer traffic for

Let’s Look at This the Right Way

Your mindset about traffic is critically important. When you view traffic the right way you are much more likely to do traffic the right way.

Before we talk about what the profitable traffic mindset is, let’s talk a bit about what it’s not.

Profitable traffic is not a one time event.

I hear this often as an excuse for not being successful with traffic online.

“Well, I tried to get traffic like they said. I create a (fill in the blank) to get traffic and nothing happened. This traffic stuff doesn’t work!”

This traffic stuff does work, it just might be you didn’t work it right.

Driving consistent, evergreen buyer traffic is a life long task. I’ve been at this full time for almost 10 years now. I still make creating new traffic one of my daily revenue generation rituals.

The correct view is for the long haul, getting immediate, long-term and evergreen buyer traffic.

While looking at traffic the wrong way is one of the common traffic mistakes, there are 3 other big profitable traffic mistakes you need to be aware of and avoid.

Mistake #1

As with lots of online success, there’s this myth about traffic. The myth goes something like this:

“Well really good traffic is for those people, and I’m not one of those people.”

On the surface it’s the magical thinking that profitable traffic and the success that comes with is just something that magically happens to a chosen few. And you are certain you are not one of the few.

This is at best a glorified excuse for failing, even for not trying at all.

At worst it’s a story some are committed to believing, because they are very committed, almost wed, to the notion that success is for other people, not them.

The reality is that every single one of those people who are enjoying successful traffic started with ZERO TRAFFIC.

Then they got the first person, then another, and then another and so on. They were willing to do the necessary things and work for the traffic they said they wanted.

Implement the correct and current strategies for building traffic, work at it, and you’ll enjoy lots of evergreen buyer traffic.

The bottom line is that building traffic works when you work, and when you work it right.

Mistake #2

Here’s another big profitable traffic mistake: relying on only one source of traffic.

Many entrepreneurs do this silly thing around many issues in business. This mistake is so prevalent in fact that master marketer Dan Kennedy has said:

“The worst number in business is 1.”

Back when I was a therapist in private practice I build many sources of referrals, which is the same as traffic offline.

When I started writing a weekly relationship column for the local newspaper that quickly became nationally syndicated my practice exploded with referrals. I was full with a waiting list and was filling up the practices of colleagues as well.

It was very, very tempting to stop nurturing other long term traffic sources and to not build any other sources of referrals.

Knowing the worst number in business is “1” I continued to nurture all my other traffic/referral sources and build new ones as well.

I wrote that weekly column for the local newspaper for 10 years. When that column, a major referral source, ended I was not panicked or affected at all because I had continued building additional sources of referral.

The bottom line online is you want to make building traffic a life long daily pursuit so that you have multiple streams of traffic coming in from multiple sources.

Mistake #3

Once you get good at generating consistent traffic it’s very easy to believe you can then go do the rest on your own.

And you will be able to do some.

The reality is that the profitable traffic game online is ever changing. It’s really too much to try to keep up with on your own.

For this reason and many more I will always have a coach and always be a part of a mastermind. I always want to have another set of trusted eyes on my business.

Other people whom you trust can always see the things you can’t see, simply because it’s your business and you can get too close to be able to see all your options.

The bottom line for you is to always have trusted eyes on the traffic generation part of your business.

The Power of Profitable Traffic

Remember when I said don’t chase after traffic, find out where the traffic is going, get in front of it, and then re-direct it exactly where you want it to go?

And where you want it to go is your profit centers like your blog, your opt in pages, your product resource pages as well.

The 3 types of traffic you want to build are:

1) Immediate traffic

2) Regular traffic

3) Long-term/evergreen traffic

Results Now Mini-Workshop

Now let’s get you some traffic with your content, shall we?

The steps are simple really:

Step 1 – Choose a specific topic in your niche – Interestingly enough, the more specific you can make the topic, the more buyer traffic you will pull.

Cast too wide a net and the less high quality traffic you get.

Cast a specific targeted net and the more high quality buyer traffic you get.

Step 2 – Come up with the 3 most common mistakes most beginners make around that specific topic. These can also be mistakes everyone makes, beginners and veterans alike.

Step 3 – For each mistake talk about how the mistake is made and what it looks like, how easy it is to make. You want to avoid making your prospect feel bad for making this common mistake.

Step 4 – For each mistake include what to do instead. You are not giving away the farm here, just offering one small tip.

Step 5 – Include a call to action to visit one of your profit pages and get your content out on Social Media, your blog and LinkedIn.

Major congrats! You’ve just created and shipped an Evergreen Traffic Machine that will bring your immediate, regular and long term evergreen traffic.

Profitable Genius Tip

“An evergreen traffic machine a day sends buyer traffic your way.”

I promised you a “traffic genius tip” and here it is:

You want to make creating your evergreen traffic machines something that you do daily. While that may sound like a lot, when you see the results it will feel much easier.

As you’ll see ETMs come in all forms – some as simple, quick and easy as an info-graphic, along with some that take a little more time such as blog posts, articles and videos.

Building ETMs is one of my DRGRs – how’s that for alphabet soup?

Said another way – creating evergreen traffic machine to build waves of highly qualified buyer traffic is one on my Daily Revenue Generating Rituals. I recommend it becomes one of yours too.

Killer Series – 7 Steps to the Killer Interview

The mere thought of interviewing makes many people break out into cold sweats. In many ways, the interview process can cause so much stress, people lose their marbles. They may be as limp as a soggy cornflake by the time they actually sit down for the “BIG” talk. Do you remember your first ever interview? How do you think you did?

Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned vet, the interview could still be a stressful event in your life. The fear of rejection is high and the anticipation of failure can be rather dreadful. Weak knees, sweaty palms, woozy stomach and cotton mouth are all some people can imagine when they think of answering the deadliest question an interviewer can ask, “So tell me about yourself” which, by the way, is technically not a proper question but, you get the point.

Anyway, what if I told you that you could ace an interview anytime you want and leave the interviewer nearly stupefied by your masterful self presentation, he’d have no choice but to hire you on your terms, would that be something in which you’d be interested?

Good… stick around then!

Yes, the interview process may put the fear of the devil into some people but after reading this article and practicing the proven techniques shared, the devil himself will fear you.

Following are the 7 Steps to the Killer Interview which can virtually guarantee you ace every interview from this day forward.

Step 1: Killer Resume

Your resume is usually the first point of contact that a potential interviewer will have with you. As such, you want to make sure that it leaves a blazoning impression on the reader. The resume is so important to this process; I may have to devote an entire article to the topic. For now, here are some key Dos and Don’ts of resume writing.

Unless you’re a recent college graduate, don’t begin your resume with an objective. Nothing screams amateur more than to begin with a header like “Objectives:” Instead, start with something simple like “Overview of Qualifications” or “About.” It’s succinct and easy to digest.
Do not use the term “Employment History.” Everybody else does and you’ll just be another rat in the pack. If you want to stand apart from the rest, use something like “Career Experience” or, “Overview of Experience.” Either approach will work way better for you in making that first impression.
Don’t regurgitate your daily and routine tasks from one job to the next… that’s just “monkey work” and I guarantee you that no one cares and brownie points go way down. First of all resumes are tough to read as it is, why make it boring too? Instead of writing what your tasks are/were, exercise verbs in stating how you solved problems for your company or made them more money or saved them time and made them more efficient. In other words, your bullet points should begin more like this, Developed a new system that saved…, Implemented procedure that increased productivity by X%, Devised strategy that made the company $XXX in 3 months…, and so on and so on… you get the idea. Oh yeah… don’t forget to choose to highlight the accomplishments that are most closely aligned with the position for which you are interviewing.
Please include your hobbies, awards and community service affiliations. This is who you are. Contrary to what many believe, no company worth working for wants to hire machines and buy people, they want to hire people and buy machines. Show them who you are. Besides, since most people present the machine, this will be another way you stand out plus it provides fuel for meaningful conversation and possible common interest connection during the interview… more on that later.
Finally, under no circumstances include salary requirements. Even if the company insists, fight the urge to comply and tell them you’d rather discuss that in person.
Spell check, proofread and then… save… print… send!

Step 2: Killer Cover Letter

Writing a Killer Cover Letter is definitely an art but can be easily mastered with a few pointers. Remember the cover letter goes along with the resume so here again is another opportunity to really present you. Don’t waste it!

Firstly, your cover letter is not your autobiography. It is not an endless pontification about your accolades and many talents. No one cares how long you can hold your breath under water before shaking and flailing like a fish on a hook (Unless they’re recruiters for the Navy Seals). What they do care about are the challenges their company faces and how you can help them overcome them. The only person that can let them in on that secret is you. The best way to utilize a cover letter is to use it as a way to align your skill set and experience with the position for which you are interviewing and the company’s goals.

To do this effectively, you want to use specific language and include certain elements to bring it home. Here are some key things to remember.

Start by introducing yourself and stating exactly why you are contacting them; your language might read something like… My name is John Resume and I am writing you in regards to the Marketing Manager position you are seeking to fill in your Professional Products Division… simple, right?
Next, state the main requirements of the position and then follow that with how your experience might fill their needs. Your language in this case might look something like… I understand that you are looking for someone who can do X and with my experience in Y, I know I can accomplish this with tremendous success…
Conclude with a bold statement about their company goals and how you see your own goals aligning with them. Your language might look something like… I know that your company is spearheading many initiatives in clean air technology and I have done extensive community service work in this area…
Keep your closing and salutation nice and simple. Your language might look something like… I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, John Resume…

Step 3: Killer Research

I wasn’t sure where to place this step because it affects the outcome of this entire process. Ultimately, I decided to put it somewhere in the middle since it impacts every step directly or indirectly plus, I like the number 3.

Skipping this step simply means you want the other guy next to you in the lobby to kick dust in your face as he refurnishes the corner office that was supposed to have your name on it… or was it? Research is vital to the interview process; it could mean the difference between the shredder pile and the resume that makes it all the way under the nose of the CEO.

Before you show up to interview, you want to know what you’re getting into… know the landscape so you can anticipate and navigate challenging situations. Be proactive in finding out all you can about the company, its mission, and its people. Done thoroughly, your research should cover 3 key areas, Company, Prep and Recon or as I like to call it CPR.

Company – know everything you possible can about the company
- Research the products and/or services the company provides and then summarize that into one sentence you can easily remember
- Go through the website and any paraphernalia you can find to weed out the mission statement of the company
- Make sure you look up their earnings for the last 12 months if it’s public knowledge – if you can get specifics on why the numbers look the way they do, even better
- Know about any special projects on which the company might be working or are sponsoring
- Know about their public service accolades
Prep – I’ve never been accused of being too prepared
- Study what you discovered in your research and make sure you know it well enough to carry a stress-free conversation
- If at all possible – have someone of prominence from the industry for which you are interviewing, conduct a mock interview with you before hand… this could yield a lot of insights you wouldn’t gain otherwise
- Know the three words you might use to describe yourself and be ready to give examples of when and how you’ve exhibited these traits in a past situation – ask your family, friends and colleagues for help if you need to for this one
- Finally, know the fair market value for the salaries paid for the position with your level of expertise – perform several comparisons across different firms and industries if applicable (Try www.salary.com)
Recon – fail to do this and your research and prep may be all for naught
- Take the mode of transportation you will use, the train, the bus, a cab or your car and drive to the interview location during rush hour before hand to gauge the amount of time you’ll need to get there – then add at least 30 minutes
- Visit the interview location in the morning to see what time people arrive, what they wear to work and whether or not they have coffee in hand
- Find a coffee shop nearby where you might sit, have a coffee and wait for your interview

With CPR covered, you are armed to the teeth with everything you need to kill the interview. Do you feel the stress lifting already? Hold on, you’re not quite finished yet.

Step 4: Killer Outfit

Now that you’re completely prepared to kill the interview, you need to dress to kill. So many people dismiss this element without giving it a second thought. Why would you want to distract your interviewer by wearing inappropriate, boring and uncomplimentary clothing to the interview? Take the time to choose an outfit carefully, it will be time and/or money well spent.

Remember the recon tasks you performed earlier? This is going to help you big time with choosing the right dress code. You should now know what the employees wear to work… right? If not, go back to Recon. The aim is to pick an outfit that compliments the company’s culture and dress it up just a tad.

For example, if most of the employees wear jeans and a t-shirt to work by all means feel free to wear jeans, a t-shirt and then dress it up by throwing on a nice, classic blazer… no rips and tears in your jeans of course. If the idea of wearing jeans to an interview scares you, don’t let it. As long as the outfit you wear is in line with the company’s culture, you will be viewed as intuitive… trust me. Just remember, your killer outfit is meant to kill them, not you.

Here are 7 “general rules of thumb” on interview outfits and overall appearance. These apply to both men and women.

Keep at least one navy blue and one pinstriped gray suit in your closet at all times
Wear light blue dress shirts or blouses whenever possible – this color conveys trust
Keep the jewelry to a bare minimum – watch, 1 chain/necklace, 1 bracelet
Earrings are for women only – sounds like a double standard but it’s still true
Hide all body art unless you’re interviewing for the NBA, a rock n’ roll band or a biker gang
Absolutely no beach wear or flip-flops (I know I’m not talking to you here but I’ve seen some whoppers.)
Grooming is a must – combed hair, clean nails, clean teeth, pleasant body and oral odor (Again, I know I’m not talking to you but in the interest of being thorough…)

What makes a killer outfit for an interview is one that resonates with the identity of the company for which you are interviewing as well as represents your personal style. You have to decide what that balance is and then go for it. If all else fails, nothing is sharper than a navy blue or gray pin-striped suit with a white or blue dress shirt. Depending on the company culture you can choose to where a tie or not.

Step 5: Killer Discipline

An impression is formed about you in the first 3 minutes of a person meeting you. Many of us will decide whether we like a person or not in less time than that. What this means then as it pertains to interviewing is that you want to maintain discipline. Your diligence in preparing for the interview may seal the deal for you before you’ve even exchanged the first words of the interview.

The fact is that what you say means less to people than what you do. It’s an old cliché but it is universally true – your actions speak louder than your words… one thousand times louder.

There are a few simple rules to follow when it comes to interview discipline.

Be on time for your interview – by “on time” I mean that if your interview is at 10 AM, you arrive between 9:40 AM and 9:50 AM. You want to be no more than 20 minutes early and no less than 10 minutes early. This gives you time to hang up your coat, accept a coffee graciously from the assistant, relax and collect your thoughts.
Use the bathroom before your interview – this is the time to handle #1 only… handle #2 at home and check to make sure all your efforts in grooming are up to snuff. With everything in its place, there will be fewer distractions.
Dial down the wind chill factor – you’re not the “Fonz”… being too cool will backfire quicker than a lemon with fire crackers in the muffler. Maintain professionalism, you don’t get brownie points for the “Clint Eastwood” cool factor.

Step 6: Killer Instinct

This is where you shine, where you combine your wonderful research and prep with your wit, charm and charisma. These elements taken in combination will give you the Killer Instinct.

Now that you are prepared and dressed to kill, you can calmly and confidently field ambiguous questions like the dreaded “So, tell me about yourself.” For the sake of clarity, let’s make sure we understand what is really being asked with a question (or not a question) like this.

What the interviewer is really after is, how and why did your experiences bring you to us and how will we benefit from the association. With this insight in mind, it will make it much easier for you to focus your answer on the parts of your life that directly relate to the company and the position for which you are interviewing.

This is to say that “So tell me about yourself” is not an invitation to tell your life story. It is however and invitation to tell the interviewer everything about you that matters most to him and his company. The caveat is you have to give just enough information to wet his or her pallet and leave it somewhat open ended inviting a probe for more information if he or she so chooses.

For example, if you had an interview for a Marketing Manager Position at Lancôme Cosmetics and you were asked the dreaded question; your answer might sound something like this.

“Well, I have always loved make-up, especially mascara which is the department I worked in at XYZ Company. The idea of accessorizing my look with cosmetics has always been interesting to me and that’s why my Thesis in Graduate School was about how much women spend on cosmetics and how it makes them feel. I spend a lot of time in places like Saphora just trying different kinds of cosmetic products.”

Do you see how that answer might resonate more with your Lancôme interviewer than something that started out with the following?

“Well I moved to New York when I was 12 years old and I attended P.S. 252 Junior High School before going to Midwood High School. My major in college was marketing and once I graduated I worked at…”

To your interviewer, the latter would not only be boring but somewhat disconnecting unless he or she too moved to New York at around the same age and had a similar experience as you did… not likely but it would be a lucky break. Personally, I am not willing to take that chance… are you?

Another element of the Killer Instinct is the “graceful refusal.” This is the art of refusing to answer an inappropriate question and have the interviewer be happy with it or at the very least respect your position. This is often a scary moment for many but it doesn’t have to be.

This moment often occurs with the money question. “So, what are your salary requirements?” or my all time favorite “How much do you earn at your current job?”

Now really, what does this question have to do with this interview? That’s right, absolutely nothing! So, why ask the question?

In the halls of Corporate America where I’ve worked for 15 years, this question is what I like to refer to as “sizing up.” This is a great opportunity for the interviewer to accomplish 2 things.

See how confident you are and whether or not you are able to think quickly on your feet
See whether or not your salary requirements fit into there pay scale

Regardless of the motive though, this is a question to avert at all cost in an interview. It doesn’t matter at what level you are in your career; this question is taboo from all sides. It immediately places you in a box and there goes any leverage you might have. And, if you didn’t come in with any leverage at all, you’ve essentially turned over your fate to the interviewer because once you answer this question, they get to keep the ball and decide where it lands. This is a no-no!

If you are asked this question, remain calm, pause and then confidently reply something like this…

“If we are going to discuss salary, I’d rather discuss a salary for this position that you consider to be fair market value and in line with my level of expertise.”

OR…

“I realize that this may be a standard question, however, I’d much rather confine our salary discussions to the parameters of the position for which I am interviewing and my level of expertise as I am sure you will agree that these are most relevant.”

In choosing a reply like the ones above, you avert the question and leave the door wide open for dialogue and negotiation. Furthermore, any interviewer would be hard-pressed to argue or rebut your position. At the very least he or she would respect you and you would have shown that you are confident and shrewd…BIG plus.

Whatever you do, don’t answer this question out of fear. I have never answered this question and I have used variations of the suggested replies above and they’ve worked every time. At the very least, trust your instincts and if you can’t trust yours (yet)… trust mine. I’ve been there and I am sharing my experience with you… leave this question alone and you will undoubtedly separate yourself from the many lambs that are doomed to the slaughter.

Step 7: Killer Close

You’re not quite finished yet. Now that everything has gone as planned right through the interview and you’re feeling great about yourself, no need to blow it by neglecting the little things.

The clincher to the deal may just be the Killer Close. It’s simple and may even be deemed trivial by many when you look at the whole. I on the other hand believe that more often than not, it’s the other way around. Without the close, all your efforts in steps 1-6 may be forgotten. Don’t forget that the interviewer may have seen many candidates before you and probably many more after. You just never know so it’s your duty to make sure that he or she remembers you and that you stand apart from the pack.

As my father use to say when I was growing up, “Dean, observe what the crowd is doing and do the opposite.” These are wise words that ring true in almost any situation and certainly in this one.

While others may forget this small detail, you will perfect a memorable Killer Close that will leave your mark on anyone you meet.

So, what’s the Killer Close all about?

This is where you crystallize all your efforts from step 1-6; it’s where you make sure that the impression you made is a lasting and positive one.

The Killer Close entails 3 simple steps and if followed could make all the difference in the world.

The closing handshake – once your interview is finished, reach across to the interviewer with your right hand to shake his and then grip his elbow firmly with your left hand and say something like…

“It was a pleasure to meet with you and I look forward to meeting with you again. Thank you for your time.” Former President Bill Clinton is famous for this type of exchange. It’s a professional approach with a personal touch that makes people feel validated… use it!

No more than 24 hours after the interview, send an e-mail to the interviewer letting him or her know how much you enjoyed your meeting and are looking forward to another. Your e-mail should be succinct and personalized with one or two specific details of the interview. This emblazons you in the mind of the interviewer. It could read something like…

“Dear Mr. X, It was a pleasure to meet with you today. I enjoyed our conversation especially when we discussed corporate social responsibility. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your time.”

Wait 14-21 days and if you have not heard from the company, send a follow up e-mail to say thanks once again for the interview and request that they keep your name on file. The purpose for this is to keep your name top of mind so that if other opportunities arise in the company, you are one of the first called. Your e-mail could read something like…

“Dear Mrs. Y, Thank you for meeting with me on (Date goes here). I realize that it is a competitive market and I understand if you have already filled the position for which I interviewed. Please keep me in mind and my resume, which is attached for your reference, in your files should another opportunity become available at your firm. I look forward to meeting with you again.”

Going beyond these 3 steps is not necessary unless working for this company is your ultimate goal. If that is the case you should continue to follow up via e-mail once every 3 months with inquiries about new opportunities. One caveat is that this could border on annoying and persistent… it will depend on the contact person and substance of your e-mails.

Well, these are the 7 Steps to the Killer Interview and I have used them all successfully on several occasions. I can share with you from first hand experience that these techniques work very well.

Happy hunting.

Internet Home Business Idea – 5 Steps That Lays Golden Eggs

What if you have tried everything but have failed to start your own successful internet business?

In this article you will learn the exact 5 step formula that I personally use to start a new internet business and achieve my internet home business idea.

The purpose of this article is to get you started on the right path towards the way to internet riches and financial freedom.

Your 5 Simple Steps to Make Killer Money Online…

1. Create a Goal.

2. Create a Plan.

3. Create a Treasure Map.

4. Cut Them Down.

5. Create a Time Table.

Lets get started…

1. Create a Goal.

It is extremely important to define your end goal that you want to achieve. It can be to make $2000 every month or start getting 500 visitors to your site every day.

Clearly write down your goal in detail.

2. Create a Plan.

Create a step by step plan to achieve your goal. Write it down, color it and create a road map.

It is the exact road map that you will follow to shoot your goal. Stick your plan in a place where you will always see it.

3. Create a Treasure Map.

Now that you have a plan write a simple todo list from start to finish that you will follow to achieve your plan.

4. Cut Them Down.

Now cut down your treasure map into daily, weekly and monthly tasks. You will follow these tasks the way you write down in this step without fail. Persistency is the key to success.

5. Create a Time Table.

Once you have your daily, weekly and monthly task create a step by step time table as to when you will achieve these tasks.

Follow the time table patiently and make sure you complete your tasks as per the time you have allocated. Be desciplined in completing your tasks as per your time table.

Apply the above 5 steps to any complicated project you are doing and success is right at your doorsteps.

This simple blueprint will make sure that you achieve your internet home business idea in the shortest and quickest way possible.

The purpose of this article was to give you the exact system that I personally follow to start my internet business and make money online.

Every successful internet business enterpreneur will follow this plan in one way or the other as it is a very important element to achieve success and increase your focus in achieving your internet business goals.

Whatever you do I wish you all the very best and success in life and business.

10 Key Steps to Turn Your Mobile App Idea Into Reality

Many people and companies are coming up with new mobile app ideas to make it big in their field. They either want to reach a new audience or better serve their existing customers.However, people are relatively unaware of the steps or process needed to turn a mobile app idea into reality. Due to lack of ability and information among startups and established companies, most of them don’t know how to go about shaping the app idea.

I have helped several companies build their mobile app. Here are the 10 key steps I have followed in my 6 years of experience. I believe that my list can help anyone from any industry get their mobile app idea turned into reality.

Step 1: Write down your feature list

Conceptualize your idea begins by taking some notes. Before doing anything, you should write whatever comes to your mind. Writing down the feature list on a piece of paper helps you focus on your idea and expand on it. I recommend writing your idea several times and in many ways. This list also will be helpful when you are discussing with your co-founders, designers, investors or developers; they all are going to ask for it. Note that you should have them sign an NDA before you share your feature list. Your feature list should be clean and easy to understand. Also make sure it has popular and unique features, which will play the major role in success of your product.

Step 2: Do the market research

After writing your strong list of features, you want to do market research to find the competition, trends and market needs. Make sure there are no similar apps in the market. If there are, find out their reviews, ratings, feedback, and what is missing in them. Add features in your app that would make it unique and more attractive to the audience. After doing market research, you should update your feature list.

Step 3: Identify the users/audience

It is very important to find who would use your app and who the audience would be for your product. Your users are from a particular industry, gender, region, age group, existing customers, income group, specific profession, or any other group. Once you identify some demographics about the audience, you can find out what people from these demographics prefer or like. Knowing your audience helps you re-engineer your app and the features in it to cater to them. Your whole project moves around user engagement. You can also conduct focus group studies to find out what your audience may like or dislike. Your audience will decide your product’s success, and this insight from focus study can go a long way in defining product success.

Step 4: Identify the monetization strategy

Making money is the biggest reward and energizes for your idea. You can make money from your app idea in several ways: subscription fee, in-app buy, in-app ads, user data, sponsorship. You want to know which one works for your app, audience and market. Launching a paid app does not work these days, but you can make the app free with in-app purchase option for more functions. In-app ads are also losing their shine these days due to user experience. Having user data is becoming a big monetization technique, as you can use it to make indirect money. You can find sponsorship for the app; this works for an app with a social mission. It is important for you to select 1 or 2 techniques that would give you good return on investment.

Step 5: Create a rough sketch/wire frame

You may not have done it before, or may not know how to do it. However, the rough sketch or wire frame helps you define the concept and refine the requirements of your product. You can draw a rough sketch using paper and pencil, while a wire frame can be created using online tools. When you start doing the sketch/wire frame, you will be able to polish your app idea and features list further. Also, this helps you decide the proper navigation of the application. You don’t need technical skills for this step, but you need to have a common-sense understanding of how navigation works. Your wire frames, along with your feature list, will create very good specifications for you to build the mobile app.

Step 6: Approach local mobile app developers and get estimates

Once you have your first version of the feature list and wire frame, you want to start identifying vendors who can build your mobile app in a high-quality, cost-effective way. You should search for local vendors and some global vendors and reach out to them. Once you shortlist 5 to 6 good vendors, have them sign the NDA and send them the project details. A good vendor should check your details and ask you lots of questions. You should make sure to answer them in detail so that your idea is fully communicated. A good vendor should also be able to give you some suggestions to improve your idea. You should get proposals from multiple vendors, with time and cost for development, and compare them. You should check the vendors on past performance, process, price, time, testimonial and their eagerness to work for you. Finally, you should be able to select one vendor and start working with them.

Step 7: Complete the UI/UX

Once you have selected the company, you should work with them to create the UI/UX of the app. You should have them first create the detailed wire frame of the application so that you can visualize each screen, function and flow of the application. After review, you can decide to add or remove features. Once the wire frame is complete, you want them to create the visual design of the application. It should give the color, theme, fonts and visual appeal for your idea. This step will give you a near-final picture of what your mobile app would look like and how it would flow. After completing it, have your vendor reevaluate the development plan, time and cost. If the first estimate of time/cost has increased, get more funding or cut some of the features. You want to pay the right value to your mobile app developer.

Step 8: Get the app developed and tested

Have your app developer start building the app for you. They should be able to send you the app (in progress) every week and you should be able to test and give them feedback. It is very essential for you to QA the app as they develop it, as this helps you control the quality, cost and timeline, and learn whether the mobile app needs some tweaks. You can involve your friends in the testing as well. If you come up with new sets of features during the development, discuss those with your app developer and get the time and cost estimate. If it fits your budget, get it done right away. If not, wait for the next phase.

Step 9: Launch the app and market it

Once you are satisfied with the app, launch it in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. You should also start marketing the app. Get some consulting from experts on app marketing. You can also do self-marketing. Start on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as this is an easy way to spread the word about the app. You should also reach out to reporters and bloggers who may be interested in your app and write about it. A press release on free sites or a paid site can be very handy. If you have more in your budget, you can hire a PR or app marketing company.

Step 10: Gather market response and prepare for the next phase

After the first launch and marketing, you can collect user data, market response and demand. If you receive a good response, you can plan the next phase for the app. Repeat Step 1 through 9 for the next phase. This time, you should be able do them a lot faster and more efficiently. If the app is not received well in the market, find out what is hampering growth and have a plan of action.

Online Home Based Business – 4 Steps To Building A Thriving Internet Business

There are literally thousands of people every day who decide they want to start their own online home based business, but almost none of them really know what it takes to become successful. Because of this, people either embark on the very steep learning curve of about a year before achieving any kind of success, or they flat-out quit. If you are serious about starting your own online business and becoming one of the rare success stories, then today is your lucky day, because I am going to give you four extremely valuable tips that will help you become one of the lucky few who actually earn a great living using nothing but the Internet.

My FOUR important tips for building a successful online business are:

#1 – Be patient from day 1

One of the biggest mistakes a newbie makes is the expectation that they will make thousands within a few days or weeks. The main reason is because there are so many people out there trying to sell you the dream lifestyle that so many people think occurs automatically when you start an online business. The reality is that this is far from the truth, as becoming successful online is as tough as it is when starting an offline business. The thing to realize is that each and every person who starts a business has the potential for becoming successful, but the key is to understand that it will take time and lots of hard work before it occurs. If everyone who started an Internet business became rich overnight, then we’d all be rich and let’s face it, that’s just not how it is in life.

#2 – Start building a list of leads

If you’ve ever signed up for a free product online, you’ve had to enter your name and email address before you were given access to it, well this is an example of someone who was building a “list”. Building a list of targeted leads is a very important, if not the most important thing you will do online in order to become successful. The purpose of this “list-building” is to have a list of people to whom you can advertise to on a regular basis, and as you may expect, the more people on your list the more opportunity you will have to make sales. Whichever niche you decide to enter, create a free eBook that you can giveaway in exchange for people’s email address and names, then start aggressively building your email list.

#3 – Quality content = success online

This is simple, the more quality content you put out there for people to use, the more success you will achieve in with your online business. There is so much free garbage out there that in order to get ahead of the crowd you have to commit to giving out only really good stuff. Don’t worry though, as giving out high-quality content isn’t going to prevent people from buying from you, but it will in-fact get you much more business.

#4 – Persistence is key to online success

As I mentioned in #1, you have to be patient, and more importantly you have to be persistent. Sure, you may not make a single sale during your first few months online, but if you just keep plugging away and having faith that you will be successful, eventually you will surpass the hump and become a success.

Business From Home Internet Moms Start – 8 Steps to Start Your Free Home Internet Business

I am not in a situation to invest in my business from home internet mom’s start. I hear this from every newbie’s who are willing to earn money.

If you belong to this than you are under one of the below criteria:

1. You seriously don’t have money to invest in your business from home internet mom’s start. I was in the same criteria when I got started. Or

2. You are not willing to spend money or take risk in your internet business, this mean you want to see the money first then you will invest in this business.

90% of the people come under 2nd criteria; first they see money driving their way than they will think to invest money.

This article is for those who are serious enough to take action in starting their business from home internet moms start even though they don’t have money to invest.

Welcome abroad, I was in the same situation of no money to invest but keen to get started in my business from home internet mom’s start. I started my online business with my small petty cash which I use to get from my parents for college expenses, with this I purchased the domain name and hosting and got started.

Earlier days, ISP connection was very expensive, now as the technology grew, the prices came down extremely, where I now provide hosting services to my customers sitting at my home desk.

Hey! I am not here to tell you about my history, here are the steps which will help you to start your own business from home internet moms start within 7 days without spending a penny, and after you are confidence enough to make your living with the profit you earned will help you to invest in your internet business and keep growing gradually.

Apply these 2 steps now:

Steps 1 – Research your product

You make money by selling products. Join affiliate programs in your interested niche and make commission by promoting people’s products.

Choose the best affiliate programs which gives 50-75% commission for selling their products, you just need to register for free and start selling it, and the best affiliate programs are associate programs, click bank, commission junction.

Step 2 – Create small courses in the form of paper book which can be delivered through emails.

Provide small online courses of 7 to 10 days related to your niche for free for people to understand your products. Make them realize what your quality content can be able to help them and don’t forget to mention your affiliate links in the e course.

Step 3 – Design and develop your own simple mini-site, freesitetemplates.com, and other thousand of free website templates choose anyone and develop your own mini-site, with quality content.

Some amazing mini-site software can make your life more comfortable like Instant site maker.

Step 4 – Setup your auto responder for follow-up

Free auto responder setup with freesutobot.com, a Weber, getresponse.com to follow-up with your potential and regular customer and keep passing useful information related to your affiliate products in the form of e-courses to see success in your business from home internet mom’s start.

Step 5 – Open up your free online store

Without domain and hosting you cannot let people to come to visit your online store. You will get many free hosting service provide, what they want in return from you is display their ads on your website. Geocities.com, cjb.net.

Step 6 – Track your online visitors

Many hosting providers provide web statistic in their control panel and some you can get from statcounter.com which will let you track how many visitors coming to your website.

Step 7 – Bring targeted traffic to your website

1. Daily write your articles and submit to article directories.

2. Update your blogs regularly.

3. Participate in your niche forums

Step 8 – Upgrade your knowledge in your niche

EzineArticles.com will help you to focus on your niche market with providing articles which will educate what your competitors are using to make more profits. And keep your knowledge awareness on new topics which will help you to boost your business.

These 8 steps you need to study and keep repeating till you are capable enough to invest in your ownproducts where others will sell your products and you enjoy the profit with the help of others effort.

Starting Your Own Small Business – First Steps to a Successful Business

Starting your own small business can be a good start, especially if you do have a hobby and a passion that can be made into a profitable venture. Knowing some basics and some tips from those who are into a successful business, you can indeed put up and start your own small business and work on making it successful.

Whether you want to put up a cake decorating business, a hobby store, or a wedding organizing business, here are the first few steps that can help you in establishing a successful moneymaking venture.

– Decide what type of business you want to put up. If you have a hobby and you are good at it, you may want to consider putting up a business about it. Indeed, it is an advantage putting up a business on something that you love doing. Aside from having the interest, enthusiasm and motivation to do it, it is also an advantage that you are knowledgeable about it.

– Make your business plan. After you have decided on what type of business you want to engage in, start making your business plan. Your business plan will guide you on what you will need, what are your goals and how you can attain those goals. In starting your own small business, whatever business it may be, you will always need a business plan to plan out everything – from the investment that you will need, to making your strategy on how to make money out of your venture.

– Find a catchy business name. Finding a good name matters a lot in starting your own small business – and in any business of any size. Your business name alone can catch your client’s attention so take advantage of that. You may be thinking about very specific names for your business describing a single service, but you have to think about future expansion of your products and services as well.

– Prepare your start-up capital. Of course, money is one important requirement in putting up a business, how small may it be. If you already have saved an amount intended for your business, then that would be good, but if you need more sources of funds, you can avail of small business grants or loans though.

– Make your marketing plan. Determine who will you sell your products to and how you can reach out to them. These days, you don’t have to stick to the conventional ways of advertising or promoting your product. Take advantage of the internet. People find information and answers online so you can take advantage of that too. Moreover, advertising and promoting your business online is cheaper than the conventional way and of course, you can reach out to a wider audience online than off-line.

In starting your own small business, plan your business growth as well. In a competitive world, you also have to make sure there is growth in your business. Improve skills as well as your products and services. This way you will beat competition and really excel in your moneymaking venture.

How to Create Your Online Business – 5 Fundamental Steps

If you are eager to set your online business and establish a great presence on the net, start from the ground level and have your checklist ready. You want to create a successful business, so in order to make money online you need to put your eye for the detail at work and plan all the steps carefully. It is worth to spend time planning properly so you can launch a great site for your customers. Happy customers mean loyal visitors which will definitely buy again over time from you and this is what you want.

You will find bellow a succinct information about some of the essential steps you should take to ensure that you offer a great site to the world.

1.) Buy a domain name.

Try to choose a name that easily suggests people the type of your business. You can even use hyphens in the name if you want, the search engines will not penalize you for doing that. Say you want to offer supplements for pets for sale on your site. Your first choice would be petsupplements.com, but the registrar tells you that this name is already taken. Therefore you can try to register pet-supplements.com and find it available. Some people find hyphens very useful because the name becomes easily read. I recommend you to check out a good domain registrar with affordable prices and who offers coupons that you can redeem to get discounts when you buy a new domain name from them.

2.) Find a reliable web host.

Many offer web hosting, but I found out that many times they tend to be overpriced. Even the registrar of your domain name can offer packages including web hosting, but don’t sign up until you had searched all the available options. Find a great web hosting company which offers the best price for what you get and start by buying the cheapest package; if your business expands and you reach your traffic quota, simply upgrade to the next package offered by the web hosting company. Do not forget to check for coupons and use them when you purchase the package that suits your needs.

3.) Design a great website yourself or with the help of professionals.

The first impression your customers get is the most powerful and may decide their coming back to your site or not. Do not stuff it up from the beginning.

4.) Who represents your business?

People like to do business with people. If you personalize your website by adding your photo to the contact page, it will not hurt anybody, on the contrary, you give a face to your business and this will give more confidence to the visitors to deal with you.

5.) Create good About Us, Contact Us and Terms of Service pages.

These kind of pages are very important for your business. Take the time to create easy to understand content for them and display the contact options for your customers, such as your phone number, a fax number, email or ticket system, you name it. Such information should give you enough reasons to feel confident in your ability of creating a good website without having to spend a fortune. If your business idea or product is great and you present it to the world from a tidy website, your endeavors will be re-paid with the money that you deserve.