Utah Skies Astronomy Resource | The Amateur Astronomer's Resource: "Thursday, April 20th, 2006 - The annual Lyrid Meteor Shower is upon us... with the peak taking place in the wee hours of Saturday night / Sunday morning. Skywatchers ought to see a dramatic increase in meteor activity the next several nights. The Lyrids are the second major meteor shower of the year. Coming in mid April, viewers must dress appropriately to enjoy the display as the Earth passes through the path of the comet Thatcher. The radiant of Lyrid meteors is in the northern constellation of Lyra (hence the shower's name). Visible from April 16th to April 22nd, the Lyrids currently peak on April 21st and 22nd, with the morning of the 22nd between midnight and dawn being best time to observe. Expect to see about 15 meteors per hour... though the Lyrids have spiked to 100 per hour on a few occasions. Check out Gary Kronk's Comets & Meteor Showers page for more great info."
Who knew there were two different type of marchmallows? Not me certainly.
Marshmallow: "Marshmallow (Althea officinalis)—the herb, not the white puffy confection roasted over a campfire—has been used for centuries as both a food and a medicine. Its botanical name comes from the Greek word 'altho,' which means 'to cure.'"
Convincing weblogic to keep the generated java file
<weblogic-web-app>
<jsp-descriptor>
<jsp-param>
<param-name>compileFlags</param-name>
<param-value>-g</param-value>
</jsp-param>
<jsp-param>
<param-name>keepgenerated</param-name>
<param-value>true</param-value>
</jsp-param>
<jsp-param>
<param-name>workingDir</param-name>
<param-value>/tmp/javasource</param-value>
</jsp-param>
</jsp-descriptor>
</weblogic-web-app>
The voting has begun for the Utah Quarter.
Vote early, vote often. I am hoping for the train design myself.
Utah Arts Council: "The period for open comments on Utah's Commemorative Quarter designs is now open! This survey will be available through May 8th for your suggestions. The final design selection will be made by Governor Huntsman and announced to the public May 10th. "
Keep in mind that:
The greatest historical event in transportation on the continent occurred at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869, as the Union Pacific tracks joined those of the Central Pacific Railroad.
Do you think governor Huntsman's announcement on May 10 is a coincidence?
Run Windows and Mac OS Both at Once - New York Times: "The software is called Parallels Workstation for Mac OS X, although a better name might be No Reboot Camp. It, too, is a free public beta, available for download from parallels.com. You can pre-order the final version for $40, or pay $50 after its release (in a few weeks, says the company).
Parallels, like Boot Camp, requires that you supply your own copy of Windows. But here's the cool part: with Parallels, unlike Boot Camp, it doesn't have to be XP. It can be any version, all the way back to Windows 3.1 — or even Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS/2 or MS-DOS. All of this is made possible by a feature of Intel's Core Duo chips (called virtualization) that's expressly designed for running multiple operating systems simultaneously.
In the finished version, the company says, you'll be able to work in several operating systems at once. What the heck — install Windows XP three times. If one becomes virus-ridden, you can just delete it and smile."
Myths About The MoonThis page has a lot of links to myths regarding the moon from around the world including:
African: Mawu
Algonquian (Native American): Full Moon Names
Aztec: Coyolxauhqui
Hinduism: Soma
Roman: Diana
Greek: Artemis
Maori: Rona
Inuit: Anningan
Japanese: Tsuki-Yomi
Maya: Ix_Chel
Mamaiuran: Iae
Chinese: Heng-o
Sumerian: Sin
The Myth About Price
In today's competitive business environment, it often seems that the most important aspect of someone's buying decision is price. People constantly ask for lower prices, compare our prices with the competition, and badger us to give them a better deal. Regardless of what you sell, you probably face price objections on a regular basis.
I will never dispute that price is a factor in every sale. However, it is seldom the primary factor. If price was the only reason people bought goods and services, high-end boutiques and companies that sell premium products would not exist.
That means we need to learn how to resist the temptation to offer too much of a discount, too quickly. Here are a few ideas that can help.
Do your research. If you cold call on companies then conduct some preliminary research BEFORE you call them. Find out as much about that company as possible. Thoroughly browse their website, ask for a copy of their annual report, and talk to other people in the company if possible. Figure out what problems they are facing and determine exactly how your product or service can help them solve those problems. The more information you have about your prospective customer, the more relevant you can make your sales presentation to their specific situation.
Adapt your presentation. Most sales people try to tell their prospect everything about their product or service during a sales conversation. Instead of taking this shot-gun approach, adapt your presentation so that it addresses the specific issues your prospect or customer faces. Remember to focus on the benefits of your product/service, not the features. Too many sales people ramble on about the features of their products and services. But people don't buy features they buy a solution to their problem. Position yourself as an expert and demonstrate to people how your product or service will help them solve their particular problem.
Establish the value of your product/service before you discuss price. The sooner price is brought up in the sales interaction, the more of a focal point it will become and the more difficult it will be to demonstrate your value. When price is presented too early in the conversation, everything that is said afterwards comes across as trying to justify that price. I encounter this regularly in my business because one of the first questions most companies ask me is, "How much do you charge for a presentation?" I have learned to redirect this question until I have fully assessed their situation and presented a relevant solution. If someone insists on an immediate price - and it does happen from time to time - I never get the sale. You need to increase the value of your product or service in your customer's mind before you actually discuss the dollars associated with it. This does not mean telling your customer everything about your product though. It means taking the time to thoroughly assess their situation and position your offering in a manner that shows them how they will benefit.
Show tangible results. This is particularly important when you deal with C-level decision makers. High level executives seldom care about the details - instead they want a macro view of the solution. I fell into this trap when I was contracted to deliver a train-the-trainer session for a client. The VP dropped by the meeting room and after a few pleasantries I began telling him the details of what his trainers were going to learn. But he wasn't interested in this. All he wanted to know was whether or not we had prepared a detailed outline so his internal trainers could deliver the program consistently across the country. It would have been more effective for me to have said, "Mr. VP, when this workshop is completed your trainers will be able to teach your sales team exactly how to improve their sales. When you combine it with the follow-up program, it means that you will see an increase in your sales." Whenever possible, translate the benefits of your product/service into actual dollars. This approach is extremely effective in reducing price resistance. For example, if a company will save thousands of dollars in operating costs after implementing your solution then a purchase price of several hundred dollars seems worthwhile.
It amazes me how often sales people will automatically drop their price at the first sign of price resistance. However, most consumers, and certainly all corporate buyers, have learned that pushing back will save them money. What's even more interesting is that many sales people offer a discount BEFORE they are even asked. Not only does this affect your profitability, it also teaches your customer that you have price flexibility and conditions them to ask for further price concessions, now and in the future.
© 2006 Kelley Robertson, all rights reserved.
3 Marketing Myths that are Stopping you Succeed!
These 3 marketing myths can cause you to lose sales if you base your marketing decisions on them. We've given you some marketing tips to blast each myth and boost your sales.
Myth 1: People buy a product at the cheapest price they can find.
That is not true - if it was then companies like Rolex and would not exist - Timex would have put them out of business a long time ago. Despite the ease of research that the internet affords - buyers are generally lazy and don't undertake full research. Even on eBay where it is far easier to check the relative prices of a product - people often buy a product at a higher price than they could. So what causes people to buy? These are called buying triggers - the most common are:
* Confidence in the seller * A high perceived value * Recommendations * Ease of purchase
Blasting Myth 1: Establish your credentials - for example we have over 20 years of business consultancy experience - so we know what works and what does not work in a business.
Find ways of enhancing the perceived value of your product or service by adding extras or clearly demonstrating the value of it's purchase.
Ensure that you include some actual recommendations within your sales letter. Make it easy to purchase and receive your product by not introducing any barriers to purchase such as extra forms, obscure or complex payment methods.
Myth 2: Offering your customers numerous different options will boost your sales
When confronted with several options, most customers have difficulty making a decision. They often react by procrastinating - and going to a seller who offers a clearer product. Now by this we don't say add extras or up sells, just clearly state what is included in the product and don't offer options that not only confuse but making your selling and processing more difficult.
The human mind works better when offered the two options "buy", "don't buy".
Blasting Myth 2: Only offer one product - or product package per page. You can have a clear (and short) menu on each page to encourage multiple purchases. If you have more than one option for a product or service - then give them different names and present them each separately. For example you can call them "silver service", "gold service", "opal service" etc. This is what we did with our various marketing services and it works quite well.
You should always aim at a small, easily understood product or service range. You should be able to explain each of your products in one or two sentences. If you can't do this - how do you expect your potential buyers to understand what they are buying?
Myth 3: Everybody Needs My Product or Service
Unfortunately, most people don't believe that they do need a particular service of product. Obviously with items such as Ipods - your teenager will try and tell you they really, really, really need one, but this is peer pressure that has been built up with millions of dollars. Much of this was spent on research into what there market wanted - and they got it right!
If you believe this myth then you also believe that you can succeed without doing much marketing or selling. Unfortunately, despite what some marketers tell you - it does not happen that way. Undoubtedly there some very successful marketers around, but they will all admit that a great deal of market research, testing and reviewing of their offerings - happened before they became successful.
Building a successful business is hard work - most of it devoted to finding potential customers and then matching them with your products and services. Even if most people can use your product or service, you still need a marketing strategy to reach them and a persuasive sales message to close sales - because you can bet your last dollar - that where there a lots of potential customers - there are just as many sellers.
Blasting Myth 3: * Do your homework - find out where your potential customers are, what particular needs and desires they have and what they are seeking to solve these. * Look for a narrowly defined niche market where your product or service will solve a unique need of the customers. * Design your product or service to meet these needs. * Test, Change, Test, Refine, Test and obtain customer feedback.
Unless you are one of the millionaire marketers around - you will find many myths that you follow and potentially lose money on. Hopefully the ones above have helped you.
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© Copyright 2006 Biz Guru LLC Lee Lister, writes as The Biz Guru, for a number of web sites including her own www.BizGuru.us and www.clikks.com where she sells her informational products. With over 20 year's management and business consultancy experience with businesses large and small as well as being a serial entrepreneur, she now helps others set up, develop and market their businesses.
You might like to join our: Clikks Ezine: - aimed at the small businesses - click or brick with a web site presence. We provide business strategy and internet marketing assistance and products. clikks_ezine@aweber.com
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