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Even if you have brilliant ideas, they’re worthless unless you share them. So, being able to communicate effectively is as important as being able to come up with great ideas. However, not everyone is good at communication, and they need practice to be capable of it.

Suppose a situation arises when, due to external reasons, you need to immediately double your company’s output. But your managers are unable to get the work done by the employees, who are unwilling to go that extra mile for the company. This results in loss of both money and reputation for the company.

So, what’s the problem? It’s not that you’re not paying the employees, nor are they deprived of other benefits. So the real problem here is the lack of communication between employer and employee.

It is often forgotten that internal communication is an integral part of business communication strategy. The entire focus being on external communication, the firm and its managers busily paint rosy pictures for customers. This leads to a strong marketing side, certainly, but rather weakens operational strategy.

Another problem cause by miscommunication and/or lack of communication is the growth of the negative-grapevine. This unofficial channel of communication can lead to disaffection, causing profits to decrease.

To ensure growth, you need to have channels of both internal and external communication. The whole communication system should be of one piece and purpose. No loose talk can be permitted. Whatever is communicated, whether to the customers or the employees, must be carefully crafted in order to attain the goals that have been set.

If you focus on your target segment’s needs, you are likely to be able to set up an effective communication strategy. They care about your goals, but only o far as they benefit from it. So identify with their needs and communicate your goals in terms they empathize with.

If you welcome suggestions and encourage feedback, your employees get a chance to constructively put forward their suggestions, but this will also suppress the grapevine and allow them to feel involved.

When you receive the feedback or suggestions, react in a positive way. Assure your employees that their complaints are being noted and positive actions shall be taken. Make sure your message isn’t lost in a maze of jargon and can be understood by your target audience. To sum up, to achieve your goals, you must communicate your ideas clearly.

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Maintain a Positive Attitude During Hard Times

Often there are times when everything seems to go wrong despite one’s hardest efforts. During these times, a positive attitude will assist a person to regain his stamina and come out of the rough patch easily.

You should never blame yourself for things that naturally seem to go wrong in life. These incidents cannot be avoided. You should always remember that tomorrow brings the hope of a new day.

Most days turn out to be positive for people, but there will always be occasional pitfalls when nothing seems to go right. Just take the failed day in your stride and move on ahead with the assurance that a better day will soon come.

Always let go of the distress of today and keep faith in the anticipation that tomorrow brings. Most of the days in an individual’s life bring about positive results. If you can maintain a positive attitude regardless of what might happen, the bad days will be kept to a bare minimum.

Always remember that a positive attitude will help you recover quicker in times of distress. Some bad days will motivate you to have an even more positive attitude so that you can learn from the mistakes of today for a better tomorrow.

The situation may be extremely difficult. But a positive attitude will help you overcome irrespective of how bad the situation is and you will definitely regain your confidence and self respect.

Hard times will always appear in life. But they seem less hard when life is viewed optimistically.

No matter how a hard life may seem at some stage, a positive attitude will help you keep your head clear and allow you to think steadily so that you can find the right solution.

Even at work, a positive attitude will help you keep your calm and you will be able to do all the tasks that need to be done to improve the situation. You will be able to end your day on an optimistic note.

Even when you are sick or in despair, a positive attitude will help you recover quicker. The illness or the disappointment will pass sooner. You should not break down simply because you don’t feel fit and fine. Real strength and stamina come from learning to be optimistic and believing that time will soon change for the better.

No one is flawless. Making mistakes is a natural part of life. You have to learn from your wrongdoings and be prepared for the future. You should not always blame yourself and lose your composure when something goes wrong.

Make this a positive learning opportunity for the future. It is easy to maintain a positive attitude during smooth times. It is only when you can do the same during rougher times that you can achieve happiness and success much faster.

What You Need to Be on the Top

Have you noticed a certain kind of radiance and aura surrounding people who are successful and doing well in their lives?

Some people have one particular skill that they tap on for their success while some people have a whole range of plus points that work in their favor in their professional life and otherwise. Its important to identify things that you are good at and concentrate on them and to know how to work them in your favor.

Especially with regards to your professional life, it’s important that you should be doing something that you truly love. If you are not sure about what it is that you really want don’t be afraid to experiment. Look around. Spend time doing things that you haven’t done before. This will also enable you to discover your strengths, weaknesses and interests.

Before everything else, you need to identify what success means to you. Largely speaking there are two spheres in which people seek to be successful—personal (relating to friends and family) and professional (relating to your field of work). Some skills are however useful for both these spheres.

It’s important how you react to and act upon emotions. Its important to maintain your cool in all kinds of stress-ridden situations. People who maintain their calm are most likely to make logical decisions be in control.

Failures are a part of life. Learn to take them in your stride. It is ideal to learn from your mistakes. The key to success is that you should stop being afraid of failures. If you have a goal in your mind you have to persistent. Don’t give up.

You have to be innovative and think out of the box. When faced with a problem retain your cool and think of all possible ways to tackle it.

Don’t be afraid of fear. You might be afraid of doing new things and taking new challenges or of pushing yourself to new limits. This would also limit your success. Use your fear constructively. The curiosity might have killed the cat but it is good for you.

Ask questions, when you are not sure about what is happening. It’s important for you to get a clear picture of the happenings before you can even identify the problem and then eventually tackle it.

If you want to be successful, you need to inculcate level headedness patience. You need to be willing to learn from people around you and keep an open mind. Don’t be afraid to do new things and think beyond conventional framework.

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75. Crystal Lacquer

Crystal lacquer adds shine and protection to your photographs. This shine adds a soft elegance to any scrapbook page. However, crystal lacquer looks especially nice on more formal gift scrapbooks.

Basically paint your photograph with the crystal lacquer and let it dry. Be especially careful not to let the lacquer spill over the edge and ruin other parts of your scrapbook pages.

Crystal lacquer is available at most hardware and paint stores.

76. Drybrushing

Dry brushing is a technique used to highlight or shade objects or areas of a scrapbook page. Drybrushing gives the appearance of weathered wood. This can be used to increase focus to a certain photograph or to add a little energy to dull scrapbook pages. Drybrushing is a great technique for that old fashioned look.

To create this effect, dip a dry paint brush into acrylic paint. Next, wipe the brush back and forth on a paper towel. Then, lightly brush the item you want drybrushed. Set the item aside to dry.

77. Embossing

Embossing is basically painting using heat. Embossing adds color and metallic shine to items. Embossing can be used to add a metallic feel to a truck or train in a children's book or add a masculine touch to a graduation scrapbook.

To emboss an item, sprinkle the embossing powder over the surface you want embossed. Then, heat the powder until it melts. Aluminum foil placed over the object can be used to quicken the heating process. To reduce static cling and a mess afterwards, just place a dryer sheet on top of the item before you work. To clean up, simply brush away the remaining powder.

Embossing powder is available at most craft stores in a wide variety of colors and tints.

78. Scrap Metal

An interesting alternative to regular paper tags is using scrap metal. This adds a masculine touch that is great for those interested in cars, trains, airplanes, or metalworking.

Any bits of metal can be used. Using a metallic Rub on you can change or enhance the color of the metal to add a dramatic touch to your scrapbook page.

Simply, rub the product on the metal. Then cover the item in a clear embossing powder and heat. Optionally, you can stamp the item with black ink before you emboss for an even more dramatic result.

79. Beading

Beads can add color and design to a scrapbook. Beading can be as simple as gluing a few beads onto a scrapbook page or as complex as a sewn beaded design. Beads can be added abstractly to a children's scrapbook for a child-like look or carefully placed to make homey titles or artistic designs.

Beads, microbeads, and necklaces can be attached using twosided tape or Xyron adhesive.

Beads are available at your local craft store in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

80. Quilling

Quilling can be as simple as gluing a few precut strips onto a scrapbook page or as complex as artful designs. The design you create depends only upon your creativity and talent. Quilling creates an exotic handicraft look to scrapbooks.

Quills are available in specialty craft stores.

81. Embroidery

If you enjoy sewing and embroidery, you can use these skills to create amazing embellishments. These designs create great focus pieces for elegant gift scrapbooks.

Patterns can be either sewn directly into the scrapbook page or onto a piece of fabric. This fabric can then either be used as a background or pasted on the page.

82. Painted Tissue Paper

Painted tissue paper can add a colorful flair to your children's artwork or scrapbook page.

To paint tissue paper, punch or tear bits of tissue paper into various shapes.

Next, using watercolor pencils and a wet paintbrush thoroughly coat the tissue paper.

Then, dip the painted tissue paper in a mixture of Scrappy Glue and water and place it on white cardstock. Let the pieces dry completely. Use the dry colored tissue paper as a background, a border, or as a fancy embellishment.

83. Faux Painting

Faux painting can be created primarily with various colored sheets of paper. This can be used to add color and a dramatic flare to a dull scrapbook page.

Creating this effect is easy. Basically, tear the edges of three papers (a dark, a light, and a medium shade of the same color). Your middle shade of paper will be the base for your design, while the darker shade will be used as the shadow. Lighter shades act as highlights.

84. Faux Chalk Designs

To give a chalked accent to your items without the mess of the chalk, print images directly onto vellum. Next, color the back of the vellum with a marker. When you cut the letters out and turn them over, the letters have a very pretty, muted, chalk-like appearance.

This appearance creates a softening effect to loud scrapbook pages or adds an air of freedom and peace to an outdoorsy themed scrapbook.

85. Faux Metal Designs

To give a metal look to your scrapbook page, print the items directly onto vellum. Color the back of the vellum with a soft color of ink. Emboss clear. Repeat this process until the vellum has a shiny look.

This appearance creates a hardening or masculine effect to scrapbook pages. It may also be used to highlight a mechanical or metal working theme.

86.Faux Metal Rusting

Get the rusted metal look without the rusted metal. Coat a red or burgundy colored cardstock with brown chalk. Next, add tan chalk for a powdery finish. Then, using a sponge-tip applicator, apply bronze or rusty color metallic rub on. Finally, add black and tan chalk on top of the rub on to shadow and highlight the item.

This appearance creates a hardening or masculine effect to scrapbook pages. It may also be used to highlight a mechanical or metal working theme.

87. Frosting Charms

Frosting adds a unique tough to all of your metal charms. This creates a softened look suitable for baby and grandparent scrapbooks.

To create this frosted charm look, sprinkle embossing powder and glitter on the metal charms and heat. Repeat this process again, before the item has a chance to cool. Attach the charms to your scrapbook once they cool completely.

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CHAPTER 6: GETTING MEMBERS WITH AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

6.1 The Importance of an Affiliate Program to Membership Sites

Affiliate programs are important to membership sites for a number of good reasons. An affiliate program isn't really a program. It's a business arrangement. Affiliate programs are also known as associate programs, associates programs, referral programs and even bounty programs. Most affiliate programs are free to join. Affiliate programs are a way to earn money without producing your own product.

Affiliate programs allow a membership website to generate additional (other than the membership subscription) income by advertising products that are relevant to the site’s theme. For example, let’s say you own a membership website whose theme is golf. You would recommend products that you like yourself like golf books, magazines, videos and golfing gear. When you have an affiliate agreement with the merchants selling those products, they provide you with affiliate links which you paste into your site. Then when members click on those links and buy those products, you earn a commission. Affiliates programs can earn commissions in three ways: per click, per sale and per lead.

The members on a membership website are helped by the affiliate programs as well. They are given easy access to products that they would otherwise have to search the Internet to find.

On the other side of the aisle, you can let other companies post your ad on their sites and pay commissions for sales of your product or memberships. Sure, you may give away 10 percent of your profit to an affiliate; but 90 percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing. You’ll make up in sales quantity what you may lose in percentage of your own net. It’s quite worthwhile in the long run.

Use your e-zine to advertise your affiliate program. Always encourage your newsletter subscribers to forward the newsletter to a friend.

6.2 How Much & How to Pay Your Affiliates

Different companies pay different percentages and amounts for leads and sales. The differences paid for a sale can range from 75% down to 1% depending on the company and the product. What you decide to pay your affiliates will depend entirely upon what you are selling and to whom you are selling it. A good idea would be to check what other companies selling a product comparable to yours is paying their affiliates. However, how much you pay your Affiliates really depends on how much your product/service costs, its profit margin, how much you're willing to give up and what action you want to take place.

Let’s say that your product is priced at $100.00. Let’s also assume that it cost you $10.00 to make it. This leaves you with $90.00 profit is you sell it yourself. The question is how much of this do you want to give away to the person that made this sale possible? Let’s say you offer 50% to your affiliates. It still costs you $10.00 to produce the product so now you will be making $40 profit on the sale. A lot less for sure but 40 is better than the nothing you would have made without the sale.

The other problem is how to pay your affiliates. Money exchanging hands on the Internet presents a whole new set of problems, doesn’t it? However, that problem has been solved for you. Paypal is set up to handle receiving, as well as, sending payments and it takes the money exchange problem out of the equation. When a Paypal account is set up, the bank account of an individual or company is verified, as well as, their credit card information. Paypal provides a quick, safe, easy and secure way to transfer monies between individuals and companies.

6.3 Age-Old Question Is MLM a Viable Membership Model?

If you think you want to get involved with MLM, do your research first. The challenge with MLM businesses is that people at the top are most often the winners. The biggest majority of people at the bottom end up spending money and time to get involved and end up losing whatever they put in. Multi-level marketing (MLM) is a marketing and distribution structure. People at the top sell to those below them, who in turn sell to those below them. The higher up you are in this structure, the more money you can make. Be sure to check with at least a few other people who've entered at your level (who you identify on your own, separate from people the MLM promoter refers you to), and see what they have to say. Find out what they have to say on how - and if it’s possible - to be successful.

There are advantages to Multi-level marketing. First, the start up cost is usually very low and that is a big plus to the work-at-home mom (for example) who has limited funds to launch an online business. It is a way to get started in an online business with a very small personal investment and that is a very appealing thing for many people. Pre-packaged tools and products are provided and that saves a lot of money and relieves the need for warehousing.

Also, sales techniques are given and for the newbie to Internet marketing this is a very attractive advantage.

There are also disadvantages to Multi-level marketing. Many (if not most) people lose money in MLM activities, because they can’t sell the product as effectively as they thought they could. And then there is the problem of credibility. It can become an issue, especially if you start treating friends like they’re customers.

6.4 Preparing Your Affiliate Marketing Materials

There are at least forty affiliate directories providing searchable database's to help webmasters find affiliate programs suitable for their sites. Think of them as the Google of the affiliate world.

Each directory has their own submission policies but in general they will not accept adult or porn sites, or a MLM (a company that pays commissions on more than 2-tiers. Many won’t accept gambling sites and most won’t accept submissions from affiliates themselves, submits need to come from the program owner.

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The phrase “in the child?s best interest” is widely used in the family court in child custody proceedings. But it is used in many arbitrary senses by the family court or judges. Also, its meaning is slightly vague. The child custody law differs from state to state, thus, there is no uniform legal yardstick which determines what would be best for the child.

Some states make provision and insist on joint custody of the child while others do not. It is being found that some states are amending the existing laws and adopting a preference for joint custody while the others are amending the law to provide for joint custody only if the couple agrees to it.

Like most of the other states, child custody in California is decided depending on the health, safety, welfare, education of the child. He should also be brought up in a congenial atmosphere which would allow free play of creative impulse in him. The child must have frequent and continuing contact with both parents.

But the Constitution of California does not put forth a preference or presumption for or against joint custody or custody to one parent, therefore leaving the parenting plan decision up to the discretion of the family court or judge. In 1979, it adopted a presumption for joint custody but later amended the law in 1994 and made provisions for joint custody when both parents agree to it.

As per the American Bar Association website, other states like Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, Vermont and Washington also allow joint custody only if the parents agree to it. States which put forth a presumption for joint custody are District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Texas. There are a handful of states which specifically do not authorize joint custody.

There is a rising trend in favor of joint custody. Many countries are amending their laws. New bills are being passed and new legislations being introduced which would allow for joint custody. It is believed that this is being done in the best interest of the ward.

But in case either of the parents is unfit for taking responsibility or can not fulfill the requirements of the child then this idea is given a miss. But all states have not yet amended their present system and made place for joint custody.