Muhammad Hamzah

Mengapa Ulama Berbeda Pendapat?

2006-06-16T14:43:00.000+08:00

Saya menangkap kecenderungan sebagian rekan dalam mensikapi perbedaan pendapat ulama, antara lain, sebagai berikut:

1. Bingung dan kecewa dengan para ulama. Bukankah Islam itu satu, Allah itu ahad, Nabi Muhammad itu Nabi terakhir, dan Qur'an pun satu, lantas mengapa kok terjadi banyak perbedaan pendapat. Andaikan ulama mau kembali kepada Al-Qur'an dan Hadis niscaya tidak akan ada lagi perbedaan pendapat itu.
2. Bersikap mencurigai perbedaan itu. Jangan-jangan ulama berbeda pendapat karena ada "pesanan" atau malah "tekanan".

Dalam merespon sikap-sikap seperti itu, saya akan sedikit menguraikan sebab-sebab perbedaan pendapat para ulama. Kita akan terkejut mendapati bahwa ternyata perbedaan pendapat itu justru karena berpegang pada Al-Qur'an dan Hadis; kita akan takjub mendapati bahwa perbedaan itu justru terbuka karena Al-Qur'an sendiri "menyengaja" timbulnya perbedaan itu. Kita akan temui bahwa ternyata perbedaan pendapat, dalam titik tertentu, adalah suatu hal yang mustahil dihapus.

Di antara sekian banyak "asbab al-ikhtilaf" para ulama, saya kutipkan sebagiannya:
1. Perbedaan dalam memahami al-Qur'an.

Al-Qur'an adalah pegangan pertama semua Imam Mazhab dan ulama. Hanya saja mereka seringkali berbeda dalam memahaminya, disebabkan:

a. Ada sebagian lafaz al-Qur'an yang mengandung lebih dari satu arti (musytarak). Contoh lafaz "quru" dalam QS 2: 228. Sebagian mengartikan dengan "suci"; dan sebagian lagi mengartikan dengan "haid". Akibat perbedaan lafaz "quru" ini, sebagian sahabat (Ibnu Mas'ud dan Umar) memandang bahwa manakala perempuan itu sudah mandi dari haidnya yg ketiga, maka baru selesai iddahnya. Zaid bin Tsabit, sahabat nabi yg lain, memandang bahwa dengan datangnya masa haid yang ketiga perempuan itu selesai haidnya (meskipun belum mandi). Lihatlah, bahkan para sahabat Nabi pun berbeda pendapat dalam hal ini. Ada ulama yang berpendapat bahwa tampaknya Allah sengaja memilih kata "quru'" sehingga kita bisa menggunakan akal kita untuk memahaminya. Soalnya, kalau Allah mau menghilangkan perbedaan pendapat tentu saja Allah dapat memilih kata yang pasti saja, apakah suci atau haid. Ternyata Allah memilih kata "quru" yang mngandung dua arti secara bahasa Arab.

b. Susunan ayat Al-Qur'an membuka peluang terjadinya perbedaan pendapat Huruf "fa", "waw", "aw", "illa", "hatta" dan lainnya mengandung banyak fungsi tergantung konteksnya. Sebagai contoh, huruf "FA" dalam QS 2:226-227 mengandung dua fungsi. Sebagian memandang huruf "FA" itu berfungsi "li tartib dzikri" (susunan dalam tutur kata). Sebagian lagi berpendapat bahwa huruf "FA" dalam ayat di atas berfungsi "li tartib haqiqi" (susunan menurut kenyataan). Walhasil kelompok pertama berpendapat bahwa suami setelah 'ila (melakukan sumpah untuk tidak campur dengan isteri), harus campur dengan isteri sebelum empat bulan, kalau sudah lewat empat bulan maka jatuh talak. Kelompok kedua berpendapat bahwa tuntutan supaya campur dengan isteri (untuk menghindari jatuhnya talaq) itu setelah lewat empat bulan.

c. Perbedaan memandang lafaz 'am - khas, mujmal-mubayyan, mutlak-muqayyad, dan nasikh-mansukh. Lafaz al-Qur'an adakalanya mengandung makna umum ('am) sehingga membutuhkan ayat atau hadis untuk mengkhususkan maknanya. Kadang kala tak ditemui qarinah (atau petunjuk) untuk mengkhususkannya, bahkan ditemui (misalnya setelah melacak asbabun nuzulnya) bahwa lafaz itu memang am tapi ternyata yang dimaksud adalah khusus (lafzh 'am yuradu bihi al-khushush). Boleh jadi sebaliknya, lafaznya umum tapi yang dimaksud adalah khusus (lafzh khas yuradu bihi al-'umum). Contoh yang pertama, Qs at-Taubah ayat 103 terdapat kata "amwal" (harta) akan tetapi tidak semua harta terkena kewajiban zakat (makna umum harta telah dikhususkan kedalam beberapa jenis harta saja). Contoh yang kedua, dalam QS al-Isra: 23 disebutkan larangan untuk mengucapkan "ah" pada kedua orangtua. Kekhususan untuk mengucapkan "ah" itu diumumkan bahwa perbuatan lain yang juga menyakiti orang tua termasuk ke dalam larangan ini (misalnya memukul, dan sebagainya).

Nah, persoalannya, dalam kasus lain para ulama berbeda memandang satu ayat sbb:

1. lafaz umum dan memang maksudnya untuk umum, atau
2. lafaz umum tetapi maksudnya untuk khusus; dan
3. lafaz khusus dan memang maksudnya khusus; atau
4. lafaz khusus tetapi maksudnya umum.

Begitu juga perbedaan soal mujmal-mubayyan, mutlak-muqayyad, nasikh-mansukh, para ulama memiliki kaidah yang mereka ambil dalam rangka untuk memahaminya (saya khawatir pembahasan ini malah menjadi sangat tekhnis, karena itu untuk jelasnya silahkan merujuk ke buku-buku ushul al-fiqh).

d. Perbedaan dalam memahami lafaz perintah dan larangan. Ketika ada suatu lafaz berbentuk "amr" (perintah) para ulama mengambil tiga kemungkinan:

1. al-aslu fil amri lil wujub (dasar "perintah" itu adalah wajib untuk dilakukan)
2. al-aslu fil amri li an-nadab (dasar "perintah" itu adalah sunnah untuk dilakukan)
3. al-aslu fil amri lil ibahah (dasar "perintah" itu adalah mubah untuk dilakukan) Contohnya lafaz "kulluu wasyrabuu" (makan dan minumlah) menggunakan bentuk perintah, tetapi yang dimaksud adalah mubah. Lafaz "fankihuu maa thaba lakum minn nisa'" (nikahilah wanita-wanita yg kamu sukai) juga menggunakan bentuk perintah. Nah, para ulama ada yg memandang bahwa itu adalah wajib (mazhab Zhahiri), dan ada yg memandang sunnah (jumhur ulama).

**

Ini lanjutan dari email yang kemarin. Semoga bermanfaat dan dapat memperjelas bahwa perbedaan pendapat dikalangan ulama itu bukan karena mereka memang suka berbantah-bantahan seperti ahlul kitab, tetapi karena teks nash sendiri memang membuka peluang timbulnya perbedaan pendapat.

Lanjutan sebab-sebab ulama berbeda pendapat:
2. Berbeda dalam memahami dan memandang kedudukan suatu hadis.
a. Kedudukan hadis

Para ulama sepakat bahwa hadis mutawatir itu merupakan hadis yang paling tinggi kedudukannya. Hadis mutawatir adalah hadis shahih yang diriwayatkan oleh orang banyak yang tidak mungkin berbohong. Masalahnya, para ulama berbeda dalam memahami "orang banyak" itu. Sebagian berpendapat jumlah "orang banyak" itu adalah dua orang, sebagian lagi mengatakan cukup empat orang, yang lain mengatakan lima orang. Pendapat lain mengatakan sepuluh orang. Ada pula yang mengatakan tujuh puluh orang (Periksa M. Taqiy al-Hakim, "Usul al-'Ammah li al-Fiqh al-Muqarin, h. 195).

Artinya, walaupun mereka sepakat akan kuatnya kedudukan hadis mutawatir namun mereka berbeda dalam menentukan syarat suatu hadis itu dikatakan mutawatir. Boleh jadi, ada satu hadis yang dipandang mutawatir oleh satu ulama, namun dipandang tidak mutawtir oleh ulama yang lain.

Begitu pula halnya dalam memandang kedudukan hadis shahih. Salah satu syarat suatu hadis itu dinyatakan shahih adalah bila ia diriwayatkan oleh perawi yang adil. Hanya saja, lagi-lagi ulama berbeda dalam mendefenisikan adil itu.

Nur al-Din 'Itr menyaratkan tujuh hal, Al-Hakim menyaratkan tiga hal. Yang menarik, al-Hakim memasukkan unsur : tidak berbuat bid'ah sebagai syarat adilnya perawi, namun Ibn al-shalah, Nur al-Din 'Itr, Al-Syawkani tidak mencantumkan syarat ini. Hampir semua ulama, kecuali al-Hakim, memasukkan unsur "memelihara muru'ah (kehormatan diri)" sebagai unsur keadilan seorang perawi.

Artinya, walaupun para ulama sepakat bahwa salah satu syarat suatu hadis dinyatakan shahih adalah bila hadis itu diriwayatkan oleh perawi yang adil, namun mereka berbeda dalam meletakkan syarat-syarat adil itu. Boleh jadi, satu hadis dinyatakan shahih karena perawinya dianggap adil oleh satu ulama (sesuai dg syarat adil yang dia susun), tetapi tidak dipandang adil oleh ulama yang lain (karena tidak memenuhi syarat adil yg dia yakini).

Persoalan lain adalah, bagaimana melakukan tarjih (memilih mana hadis yang paling kuat) diantara dua hadis yang saling bertentangan. Boleh jadi, sebagian ulama mengatakan hadis yang satu telah menghapus (nasikh) hadis yang satu lagi. Namun, sebagian ulama berpendapat bahwa boleh jadi hadis yang satu bersifat umum, sedangkan hadis yang lain bersifat mengecualikan keumuman itu.

Bagaimana bila teks hadis terlihat seakan-akan bertentangan dengan teks Qur'an. Sebagian ulama langsung berpegang pada teks Qur'an dan meninggalkan teks hadis (ini yang dilakukan mazhab Zhahiri ketika tidak mengharamkan pria memakai cincin dari emas), akan tetapi sebagian lagi mengatakan bahwa hadis merupakan penjelas maksud ayat, sehingga tidak perlu meninggalkan salah satunya, tetapi menggabungkan maknanya (ini yang dilakukan jumhur ulama ketika mengharamkan pria memakai cincin dari emas).
b. makna suatu hadis

Hadis Nabi mengatakan, "La nikaha illa biwaliyyin" (tidak nikah melainkan dengan wali). Namun mazhab Hanafi memandang bahwa huruf "la" dalam hadis diatas itu bukan berarti tidak sah nikahnya namun tidak sempurna nikahnya. Mereka berpandangan bahwa sesuatu perkara yang ditiadakan oleh syara' dengan perantaraan "la nafiyah", haruslah dipandang bahwa yang ditiadakannya itu adalah sempurnanya; bukan sahnya. Sedangkan mazhab Syafi'i berpendapat adanya huruf "la nafiyah" itu menunjukkan tidak sahnya nikah tanpa wali.

Contoh lain, apakah persusuan diwaktu dewasa juga menyebabkan status mahram? Sebagian ulama mengatakan iya, karena berpegang pada hadis Salim yang dibolehkan Rasul menyusu ke wanita yang sudah dewasa (padahal si Salim ini sudah berjenggot!) sehingga terjadilah status mahram antara keduanya. Namun, sebagian ulama memandang bahwa hadis ini hanya khusus berlaku untuk Salim saja (sebagai rukhshah) bukan pada setiap orang dewasa. Apalagi ternyata ditemukan hadis lain dari Aisyah yang menyatakan bahwa persusuan yg menyebabkan kemahraman itu adalah disaat usia kecil (karena bersifat mengenyangkan). Hanya saja, sebagian ulama memandang cacat hadis Aisyah ini karena ternyata Aisyah sendiri tidak mengamalkan hadis yang dia riwayatkan sendiri. Aisyah justru berpegang pada hadis Salim.

Hal terakhir ini menimbulkan masalah lagi: jika suatu perawi meriwayatkan suatu hadis, namun ia sendiri tidak mengamalkan apa yang diriwayatkannya, apakah hadis itu menjadi tidak shahih ataukah hanya perawinya sendiri yang harus disalahkan. Sebagian ulama memandang bahwa hadis itu langsung cacat, sedangkan sebagian lagi memandang bahwa hadisnya tetap shahih hanya perawinya saja yang bersalah karena tidak mengamalkan hadis yang dia riwayatkan sendiri.
**

Ini lanjutan dari dua mail sebelumnya. Sekedar mengingatkan, pada dua email sebelumnya saya sudah menunjukkan bahwa semua ulama berpegang teguh pada Al-Qur'an dan hadis, namun Al-Qur'an dan Hadis memang "membuka peluang" adanya perbedaan pemahaman dan perbedaan pendapat dikalangan ulama.

Pada mail kali ini saya akan menyampaikan sebab ketiga para ulama berbeda pendapat, yaitu perbedaan dalam metode berijtihad (manahij al-ijtihad atau turuqul istinbath).
3. Perbedaan dalam metode ijtihad
A. Sejarah singkat

Sejak masa sahabat sudah ada dua "mazhab" di kalangan mereka. Pertama, mereka yang lebih menekankan pada teks nash secara ketat. Diantara mereka adalah Ali bin Abi Thalib dan Bilal. Kedua, mereka yang menaruh unsur rasio dan pemahaman secara luas dalam memahami suatu nash. Kelompok kedua ini diantaranya adalah Umar bin Khattab dan Ibnu Mas'ud.

Dalam perkembangan selanjutnya, kedua kelompok ini menyebar dan memiliki pengaruh masing-masing. Kelompok pertama berkumpul di sekitar daerah Hijaz, sedangkan kelompok kedua berkumpul di daerah Kufah. Sejarah kemudian menceritakan kepada kita bahwa Imam Malik bin Anas tinggal di Madinah (termasuk daerah Hijaz) dan Imam Abu Hanifah tinggal di Kufah.

Imam Malik berada di lingkungan di mana masih banyak terdapat sahabat Nabi. Sedangkan Imam Abu Hanifah, sebaliknya, tinggal di lokasi di mana sedikit sekali bisa dijumpai sahabat Nabi. Fakta geografis ini menimbulkan perbedaan bagi kedua Imam dalam merespon suatu kasus.

Imam Malik bukan saja lebih banyak menggunakan hadis Nabi (yang dia terima melalui sahabat Nabi di Madinah) dibanding rasio, tetapi juga menaruh amal penduduk Madinah sebagai salah satu sumber hukumnya. Imam Abu Hanifah sangat membuka peluang penggunaan rasio dan sangat selektif (artinya, dia membuat syarat yg amat ketat) dalam menerima riwayat hadis (lebih-lebih sudah mulai berkembang hadis palsu di daerahnya). Sebagai jalan keluar dari sedikitnya hadis yang ia terima, maka Imam Abu Hanifah menggunakan Qiyas dan istihsan secara luas.

Imam Malik memiliki murid bernama Imam Syafi'i. Yang disebut belakangan ini juga nanti memiliki murid bernama Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. Ketiganya dapatlah disebut sebagai pemuka "ahlul hadis" di Hijaz. Sedangkan Imam Abu Hanifah memiliki murid bernama Abu Yusuf dan Muhammad (nanti Imam Syafi'i berguru juga pada muridnya Muhammad, namun Imam Syafi'i lebih cenderung pada kelompok Hijaz). Kelompok Kufah kemudian dikenal dengan sebutan "ahlur ra'yi".

Harus saya tambahkan bahwa mazhab dalam fiqh tidak hanya terbatas pada empat Imam besar itu saja. Tetapi banyak sekali mazhab-mazhab itu (konon sampai berjumlah 500). Hanya saja sejarah membuktikan bahwa hanya empat mazhab itu yang bisa bertahan dan memiliki pengaruh cukup luas di dunia Islam, ditambah sedikit pengikut mazhab Zhahiri dan mazhab Ja'fari.
B. Metode Ijtihad

B.1. Imam Abu Hanifah

1. Berpegang pada dalalatul Qur'an
1. Menolak mafhum mukhalafah
2. Lafz umum itu statusnya Qat'i selama belum ditakshiskan
3. Qiraat Syazzah (bacaan Qur'an yang tidak mutawatir) dapat dijadikan dalil
2. Berpegang pada hadis Nabi
1. Hanya menerima hadis mutawatir dan masyhur (menolak hadis ahad kecuali diriwayatkan oleh ahli fiqh))
2. Tidak hanya berpegang pada sanad hadis, tetapi juga melihat matan-nya
3. Berpegang pada qaulus shahabi (ucapan atau fatwa sahabat)
4. Berpegang pada Qiyas
1. mendahulukan Qiyas dari hadis ahad
5. Berpegang pada istihsan

B.2. Imam Malik bin Anas

1. Nash (Kitabullah dan Sunnah yang mutawatir)
1. zhahir Nash
2. menerima mafhum mukhalafah
2. Berpegang pada amal perbuatan penduduk Madinah
3. Berpegang pada Hadis ahad (jadi, beliau mendahulukan amal penduduk Madinah daripada hadis ahad)
4. Qaulus shahabi
5. Qiyas
6. Istihsan
7. Mashalih al-Mursalah

B.3 Imam Syafi'i

1. Qur'an dan Sunnah (artinya, beliau menaruh kedudukan Qur'an dan Sunnah secara sejajar, karena baginya Sunnah itu merupakan wahyu ghairu matluw). Inilah salah satu alasan yang membuat Syafi'i digelari "Nashirus Sunnah". Konsekuensinya, menurut Syafi'i, hukum dalam teks hadis boleh jadi menasakh hukum dalam teks Al-Qur'an dalam kasus tertentu)
2. Ijma'
3. hadis ahad (jadi, Imam Syafi'i lebih mendahulukan ijma' daripada hadis ahad)
4. Qiyas (berbeda dg Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Syafi'i mendahulukan hadis ahad daripada Qiyas)
5. Beliau tidak menggunakan fatwa sahabat, istihsan dan amal penduduk Madinah sebagai dasar ijtihadnya

B.4. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal

1. An-Nushush (yaitu Qur'an dan hadis. Artinya, beliau mengikuti Imam Syafi'i yang tidak menaruh Hadis dibawah al-Qur'an)
1. menolak ijma' yang berlawanan dengan hadis Ahad (kebalikan dari Imam Syafi'i)
2. menolak Qiyas yang berlawanan dengan hadis ahad (kebalikan dari Imam Abu Hanifah)
2. Berpegang pada Qaulus shahabi (fatwa sahabat)
3. Ijma'
4. Qiyas

Kalau kita susun empat Imam mazhab itu menurut banyaknya menggunakan rasio maka urutannya adalah:

1. Imam Abu Hanifah
2. Imam Syafi'i
3. Imam Malik
4. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal

Kalau disusun menurut banyaknya menggunakan riwayat:

1. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal
2. Imam Malik bin Anas
3. Imam Syafi'i
4. Imam Abu Hanifah

(Bagi yang ingin mendalami metode ijtihad para ulama saya merekomendasikan Muhammad Salam Madkur, "Manahij al-Ijtihad fi al-Islam", Kuwait, al-matba'ah al-'Asriyah al-Kuwait, Jami'ah al-Kuwait, 1984)

Demikianlah sebab-sebab para ulama berbeda pendapat. Kalau saya boleh menyimpulkan maka ada dua sebab utama:

1. Sebab internal, yaitu berbeda dalam memahami al-Qur'an dan Hadis serta berbeda dalam menyusun metode ijtihad mereka
2. Sebab eksternal, yaitu perbedaan sosio-kultural dan geografis

Persoalannya sekarang, bagaimana kita mensikapi perbedaan pendapat di antara ulama? Kalau kita sudah tahu bahwa keragaman pendapat ulama itu juga merujuk pada al-Qur'an dan Hadis, maka silahkan anda pilih pendapat yang manapun. Yang lebih penting lagi, janganlah cepat berburuk sangka dengan keragaman pendapat di kalangan ulama.

Jangan sembarangan menuduh mereka sebagai ulama pesanan ataupun ulama yang ditekan pemerintah. Juga jangan cepat-cepat menilai salah fatwa ulama hanya karena fatwa tersebut berbeda dengan selera ataupun pendapat kita.

Mengapa kita harus mengukur dalamnya sungai dengan sejengkal kayu? Sayang, kita suka sekali mengukur kedalaman ilmu seorang ulama hanya dengan sejengkal ilmu yg kita punya.

Di sisi lain, ulama pun tetap manusia biasa yang tidak lepas dari kesalahan dan kekhilafan. Rasulullah sendiri mengakui bahwa akan ada orang yang salah dalam berijtihad, namun Rasulullah mengatakan tetap saja Allah akan memberi satu pahala bagi yang salah dalam berijtihad, dan dua pahala bagi yang benar dalam ijtihad.

Masalahnya, Apakah kita punya hak untuk menilai salah-benarnya ijtihad ulama itu? Bukankah hanya Allah Hakim yang paling adil?

Al-Haq min Allah!

Nadirsyah Hosen adalah dosen Fakultas Syariah UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta

Antara Syari'ah dan Fiqh

2006-06-16T14:37:00.000+08:00

Di bawah ini saya tuliskan sedikit penjelasan tentang Syari'ah dan Fiqh. Seringkali kita tidak bisa membedakan keduanya, sehingga kita menjadi "alergi" dengan perbedaan pendapat. Atau, biasanya, kita "ngedumel" kepada ulama yang punya pendapat lain, seraya berkata, "kita kan umat yang satu, kenapa harus berbeda pendapat!".

Dari penjelasan di bawah ini nanti akan terlihat bahwa kita bersatu pada masalah Syari'ah dan dimungkinkan untuk berbeda pendapat dalam masalah Fiqh.

Syari'ah memiliki pengertian yang amat luas. Tetapi dalam konteks hukum Islam, makna Syari'ah adalah Aturan yang bersumber dari nash yang qat'i.Sedangkan Fiqh adalah aturan hukum Islam yang bersumber dari nash yang zanni.

Penjelasan singkat ini membawa kita harus memahami apa yang disebut Qat'i dan apa pula yang disebut zanni.

1. Nash Qat'i

Qat'i itu terbagi dua: dari sudut datangnya atau keberadaannya dan dari sudut lafaznya.Semua ayat al-Qur'an itu merupakan qat'i al-tsubut. Artinya, dari segi "datangnya" ayat Qur'an itu bersifat pasti dan tidak mengalami perubahan. Tetapi, tidak semua ayat Qur'an itu mengandung qat'i al-dilalah. Qat'i al-dilalah adalah ayat yang lafaznya tidak mengandung kemungkinan untuk dilakukan penafsiran lain. Jadi, pada ayat yang berdimensi qat'i al-dilalah tidaklah mungkin diberlakukan penafsiran dan ijtihad, sehingga pada titik ini tidak mungkin ada perbedaan pendapat ulama. Sebagai contoh: Kewajiban shalat tidaklah dapat disangkal lagi. Dalilnya bersifat Qat'i, yaitu "aqimush shalat" Tidak ada ijtihad dalam kasus ini sehingga semua ulama dari semua mazhab sepakat akan kewajiban shalat.

Begitu pula halnya dengan hadis. Hadis mutawatir mengandung sifat qat'i al-wurud (qat'i dari segi keberadaannya). Tetapi, tidak semua hadis itu qat'i al-wurud (hanya yang mutawatir saja) dan juga tidak semua hadis mutawatir itu bersifat qat'i al-dilalah. Jadi, kalau dibuat bagan sbb:

Qat'i al-tsubut atau qat'i al-wurud: semua ayat Al-Qur'an dan Hadis mutawatir
Qat'i al-dilalah: tidak semua ayat al-Qur'an dan tidak semua hadis mutawatir

2. Nash Zanni

Zanni juga terbagi dua: dari sudut datangnya dan dari sudut lafaznya. Ayat Qur'an mengandung sejumlah ayat yang lafaznya membuka peluang adanya beragam penafsiran. Contoh dalam soal menyentuh wanita ajnabiyah dalam keadaan wudhu', kata "aw lamastumun nisa" dalam al-Qur'an terbuka untuk ditafsirkan. Begitu pula lafaz "quru" (QS 2:228) terbuka untuk ditafsirkan. Ini yang dinamakan zanni al-dilalah.

Selain hadis mutawatir, hadis lainnya bersifat zanni al-wurud. Ini menunjukkan boleh jadi ada satu ulama yang memandang shahih satu hadis, tetapi ulama lain tidak memandang hadis itu shahih. Ini wajar saja terjadi, karena sifatnya adalah zanni al-wurud. Hadis yang zanni al-wurud itu juga ternyata banyak yang mengandung lafaz zanni al-dilalah. Jadi, sudah terbuka diperselisihkan dari sudut keberadaannya, juga terbuka peluang untuk beragam pendapat dalam menafsirkan lafaz hadis itu.

zanni al-wurud : selain hadis mutawatir
zanni al-dilalah : lafaz dalam hadis mutawatir dan lafaz hadis yang lain (masyhur, ahad)

Nah, Syari'ah tersusun dari nash qat'i sedangkan fiqh tersusun dari nash zanni.

Contoh praktis:

(a) kewajiban puasa Ramadlan (nashnya qat'i dan ini syari'ah),
(b) kapan mulai puasa dan kapan akhi Ramadlan itu (nashnya zanni dan ini fiqh)
Catatan: hadis mengatakan harus melihat bulan, namun kata "melihat" mengandung penafsiran.
(a) membasuh kepala saat berwudhu itu wajib (nash qat'i dan ini Syari'ah)
(b) sampai mana membasuh kepala itu? (nashnya zanni dan ini fiqh)
Catatan: kata "bi" pada famsahuu biru'usikum terbuka utk ditafsirkan.
(a) memulai shalat harus dengan niat (nash qat'i dan ini Syari'ah)
(b) apakah niat itu dilisankan (dengan ushalli) atau cukup dalam hati (ini Fiqh)
Catatan: sebagian ulama memandang perlu niat itu ditegaskan dalam bentuk "ushalli" sedangkan ulama lain memandang niat dalam hati saja sudah cukup
(a) Judi itu dilarang (nash qat'i dan ini Syari'ah)
(b) apa yang disebut judi itu? apakah lottere juga judi? (ini fiqh)
Catatan: para ulama berbeda dalam mengurai unsur suatu perbuatan bisa disebut judi atau tidak.
(a) riba itu diharamkan (nas qat'i dan ini syari'ah)
(b) apa bunga bank itu termasuk riba? (ini fiqh)
Catatan: para ulama berbeda dalam memahami unsur riba dan 'illat (ratio legis) mengapa riba itu diharamkan
(a) menutup aurat itu wajib bagi lelaki dan perempuan (nash qat'i dan ini Syari'ah)
(b) apa batasan aurat lelaki dan perempuan? (ini fiqh)
Catatan: apakah jilbab itu wajib atau tidak adalah pertanyaan yang keliru. Karena yang wajib adalah menutup aurat (apakah mau ditutup dg jilbab atau dg kertas koran atau dengan kain biasa). Nah, masalahnya apakah paha lelaki itu termasuk aurat sehingga wajib ditutup? Apakah rambut wanita itu termasuk aurat sehingga wajib ditutup? Para ulama berbeda dalam menjawabnya.
dan lain-lainnya

Jadi, tidak semua hal kita harus berbeda pendapat. Juga tidak semua perbedaan pendapat bisa dihilangkan. Kita tidak berbeda pendapat dalam hal Syari'ah namun boleh jadi berbeda pendapat dalam hal fiqh. (mengenai sebab-sebab ulama berbeda pendapat silahkan lihat tulisan saya "Mengapa Ulama Berbeda Pendapat")

Kalau ulama berbeda dalam fiqh, nggak usah diributkan karena memang wilayah fiqh terbuka beragam penafsiran. Juga tidak perlu buru-buru mencap "ini bid'ah dan itu sesat" Apalagi sampai menuduh ulama pesanan. Perhatikan dulu apakah perbedaan itu berada pada level syari'ah atau level fiqh.

Wa Allahu A'lam.

Nadirsyah Hosen adalah dosen Fakultas Syariah UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta

Bagaimana Memahami Hadis Nabi?

2006-06-16T14:31:00.000+08:00

Oleh : Nadirsyah Hosen

Setelah dua hari berturut-turut saya memposting mengenai "Bagaimana memahami al-Qur'an" dan "Bagaimana memahami konsep mutawatir, ijma' dan qat'i al-dalalah", tiba saatnya saya memasuki wilayah yang paling seru, yaitu "Bagaimana memahami Hadis Nabi". Saya bilang ini topik yang paling seru karena hampir semua gerakan pembaruan Islam dimulai dari topik ini, yaitu bagaimana memisahkan antara Hadis yang valid dengan Hadis yang tidak valid. Perbedaan pendapat di kalangan ulama juga terjadi akibat masalah Hadis ini. Mengapa hal itu bisa terjadi?

Pertama, tidak seperti al-Qur'an, Hadis Nabi tersebar dalam sembilan kitab Hadis utama atau primer (kutubut tis'ah) dan sejumlah kitab hadis sekunder. Tentu saja sulit untuk melacak kedudukan atau keberadaan suatu Hadis dibanding melacak satu ayat al-Qur'an. Kedua, tidak seperti al-Qur'an yang telah diterjemahkan dan juga banyak kitab tafsir yang sudah diterjemahkan pula, 9 kitab Hadis utama tersebut belum seluruhnya diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia. Kemusykilan semakin bertambah mengingat kitab syarh (penjelasan) dari masing-masing 9 kitab utama tersebut belum pula diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia. Soalnya memang repot menerjemahkan berjilid-jilid kitab-kitab tersebut, dan kalaupun sudah diterjemahkan, apa ada penerbit yang mau menerbitkan dan apa ada pembaca yang mau merogoh koceknya untuk membeli puluhan jilid kitab-kitab tersebut? Bukankah kita lebih senang belajar sesuatu secara instant?

Tetapi, baiklah, dengan resiko mengundang perdebatan dan disalahpahami, saya akan memilih topik-topik yang menarik untuk disajikan kehadapan Isnetter.

1. Sembilan kitab Hadis utama

Saya akan sajikan daftar sembilan kitab Hadis utama. Mohon diingat bahwa urutan atau hirarki 9 kitab Hadis ini berbeda-beda tergantung pandangan ulama tertentu. Maksud saya, boleh jadi ada yang menaruh Shahih Bukhari di urutan pertama, namun ada pula yang menaruh Shahih Muslim di urutan pertama. Begitu selanjutnya. Karena saya tidak bermaksud membandingkan keutamaan satu kitab dari kitab yang lain (perlu tulisan tersendiri soal ini), saya sajikan saja daftar ini apa adanya sesuai abjad nama pengarang (penerbit dan tahun diterbitkannya sesuai yang ada pada saya), tanpa mempertimbangkan hirarki mereka.

Abu Dawud, Sulaiman, "Sunan Abi Dawud", al-Maktabah al-'Ashriyah, Beirut, 1952.
Bukhari, Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad bin Isma'il al-, "Shahih al-Bukhari", Dar al-Qalam, Beirut, 1987.
Darimi, Abu Muhammad al-,"Sunan al-Darimi", Dar al-Kitab al-'Arabi, 1987.
Hanbal, Ahmad bin, "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad", al-Maktabah al-Islami, n.d.
Ibn Majah, "Sunan Ibn Majah", Dar Ihya al-Turas al-Arabi, 1975.
Malik, Imam, "al-Muwatta'," al-Syirkah al-'Alamiyah, 1993.
Muslim, "Shahih Muslim", Dar Ihya al-Turas al-'Arabi, 1972.
Nasa'i, "al-Sunan al-Nasa'i," Dar al-Basya'ir al-Islamiyah, 1986.
Tirmizi, Abu 'Isa Muhammad al-, "Sunan al-Tirmizi", Dar al-Fikr, Beirut, 1980.

2. Bagaimana cara memahami ke-sembilan kitab tersebut?

Jikalau dihadapan kita ada satu teks Hadis yang terasa sulit kita memahami maksudnya, maka bukalah kitab syarh Hadis tersebut. Masing-masing dari 9 kitab di atas memiliki kitab penjelas (syarh) yang ditulis oleh ulama yang tidak diragukan integritasnya. Sebagai contoh, kitab Fathul Bari li Ibn Hajar dipandang sebagai kitab syarh utama terhadap Shahih Bukhari, disamping kitab 'umdatul qari'. Kitab Imam Nawawi yang men-syarh hadis-hadis yang terdapat dalam Shahih Muslim juga dipandang sebagai kitab yang dijadikan referensi utama dalam memahami Shahih Muslim. Contoh lain, Sunan Abi Dawud di-syarh oleh tiga kitab, salah satunya adalah 'Aunul Ma'bud. Jadi sebelum kita terburu-buru mengomentari suatu hadis, marilah kita lihat syarh Hadis tersebut.

Disamping itu, terdapat pula kitab-kitab yang men-syarh atau menjelaskan Hadis-hadis berdasarkan topik tertentu. Jadi, tidak khusus kitab shahih bukhari saja, misalnya; tetapi satu hadis ttg satu topik dari sejumlah kitab hadis. Kitab hadis model ini antara lain adalah Subulus Salam, Nailul Awthar, dan lainnya.

Jadi secara metodologis, ikuti langkah berikut untuk memahami sebuah Hadis.

apakah hadis tersebut terdapat dalam sembilan kitab hadis utama?
ika iya, bagaimana komentar ulama dalam kitab syarh utama ttg hadis tersebut?
jikalau keterangan itu belum cukup, bagaimana kitab hadis sekunder dan kitab syarh sekunder bicara ttg hadis tersebut?

3. Apakah semua Hadis dalam Shahih Bukhari dan Shahih Muslim itu Shahih semuanya?

Ini topik yang menjadi perdebatan ratusan tahun yang lalu. Berbeda dengan pemahaman kebanyakan ummat Islam, Ibn Hajar sebagai pen-syarh utama menganggap tidak semua Hadis dalam Shahih Bukhari itu bernilai Shahih. Saya sebutkan dua saja contohnya:

hadis Bukhari no. 115, kitab al-'ilm ttg pembelaan abu hurairah. Ini adalah hadis mawquf (ucapan Sahabat Nabi) bukan Hadis marfu' apalagi shahih.
fathul bari (1:47) mengomentari bahwa "iman itu perkataan dan perbuatan, bertambah dan berkurang" adalah ucapan para ulama di berbagai negeri sehingga jatuh pada hadis maqthu', bukan hadis marfu' apalagi shahih.

Imam Nawawi dalam Syarh Shahih Muslim juga berpendapat tidak semua hadis dalam shahih muslim itu bernilai shahih. Syaikh al-Albani, yang dijadikan rujukan oleh sebagian kawan-kawan di Isnet, juga berpendapat serupa. al-Albani mendha'ifkan hadis dalam shahih muslim ttg kalau seorang makan-minum sambil berdiri lalu diperintah Nabi untuk memuntahkan makan-minum tersebut.

Namun harus diakui secara umum, hadis-hadis yang terdapat dalam shahihain (shahih bukhari dan shahih muslim) bernilai shahih. Karena penilaiannya besifat umum (aghlabiyah), maka penelitian secara khusus akan kedudukan satu hadis dalam shahihain harus dilakukan. Maksud saya, seringkali kita langsung menshahihkan suatu hadis hanya karena diriwayatkan dalam dua kitab ini dan mendha'ifkan hadis sejenis yg terdapat dalam kitab lain (Sunan ibn majah, misalnya). Padahal belum tentu riwayat yang sampai pada Ibn majah lebih jelek ketimbang yg diterima Bukhari. Bahkan boleh jadi, satu hadis dalam sunan al-tirmizi lebih valid ketimbang dalam shahih muslim. Secara teori 'ulumul hadis, hal ini dibenarkan.

4. Perbedaan kriteria menetapkan hadis shahih atau bukan

Boleh jadi, ada satu hadis dinyatakan shahih oleh satu ulama namun dinyatakan dh'if oleh ulama lain. dari sinilah kita bisa menjelaskan mengapa terjadi perbedaan pendapat ulama padahal masing-masing mengaku berpegang pada hadis shahih. Sebagai contoh, masalah azan subuh dua kali atau satu kali ternyata terdapat hadis yang sama-sama mendukung pendapat-pendapat ini. Kitab subulus salam dan bidayatul mujtahid berbeda dalam mendha'ifkan atau menshahihkan hadis-hadis seputar topik ini.

Celakanya, kadang kala ummat Islam tidak mau memahami perbedaan kriteria ini sehingga setiap ibadah yang dijalankan berdasarkan hadis dha'if dipandang bid'ah. Masalahnya kita belum sempat mencek kembali apakah benar ibadah yg dijalankan kelompok lain itu berdasarkan hadis dha'if. Boleh jadi mereka mengamalkannya berdasarkan hadis shahih yang kita dha'ifkan atau didhai'fikan ulama tertentu. Walhasil, ujung-ujungnya, kita pandang bid'ah semua orang yg berbeda pendapat dengan kita. Bid'ah bukan lagi perbuatan yg menyimpang dari sunnah Nabi, melainkan perbuatan yang "kita anggap" menyimpang dari sunnah Nabi. "Anggapan", "asumsi", bahkan "tuduhan" ini telah mencabik-cabik ukhuwah islamiyah diantara kita. Ketimbang mengatakan, "masalah in i tidak ada hadisnya sehingga amalan ini adalah amalan bid'ah!", mengapa tidak kita katakan,"saya belum mendapati dan meneliti ttg hadis tersebut. Sepanjang sepengetahuan saya amalan tsb tidak didukung oleh hadis yang shahih. Tetapi ok-lah saya akan teliti dulu."

Semua ulama sepakat bahwa salah satu unsur keshahihan hadis adalah apabila diriwayatkan oleh perawi yang adil. Namun, apa syarat-syarat seorang perawi dinyatakan adil ? Para ulama berbeda pendapat soal ini. Imam al-Hakim berpendapat bahwa mereka yang memilki kriteria sbb: islam, tidak berbuat bid'ah, tidak berbuat maksiyat sudah dipandang memenuhi kriteria adil. Sementara itu, Imam al-Nawawi berpendapat bahwa kriteria adil adalah mereka yang islam, balig, berakal,memelihara muru'at, dan tidak fasik. Ibn al-Shalah memang hampir sama dg Nawawi ketika memberi kriteria adil, yaitu : islam, balig, berakal, muruat, dan tidak fasik. Namun antara Imam al-Nawawi dan Ibn al-Shalah berbeda dalam menjelaskan soal memelihara muru'at tersebut.

Perdebatan juga muncul, berapa orang yang harus merekomendasikan keadilan tersebut. Apakah cukup dg rekomendasi (ta'dil) satu imam saja ataukah harus dua imam utk satu rawi. Unsur lain yang jadi perdebatan adalah masalah bersambungnya sanad sebagai salah satu kriteria keshahihan suatu Hadis. Imam Bukhari telah mempersyaratkan kepastian bertemunya antara periwayat dan gurunya paling tidak satu kali. Sedangkan Imam Muslim hanya mengisyaratkan "kemungkinan" bertemunya antara perawi dan gurunya; bukan kepastian betul-betul bertemu. Perbedaan ini jelas menimbulkan perbedaan dalam menerima dan menilai kedudukan suatu hadis.

5. Mengapa Hadis Nabi bisa berbeda-beda

Ada sekelompok ummat Islam yang menganggap bahwa perbedaan pendapat mustahil muncul kalau kita kembali kepada al-Qur'an dan Hadis. Saya justru berpendapat bahwa perbedaan pendapat yang genuine muncul justru karena para ulama berpegang tegus pada al-Qur'an dan Hadis. Ini disebabkan al-Qur'an dan Hadis sendiri membuka pintu atau peluang perbedaan pendapat itu.

Sebagai contoh, apa yang harus kita baca di saat kita ruku' dan sujud dalam sholat? Hadis pertama menceritakan bahwa Nabi membaca, "Subhana Rabbiyal A'zim" ketika ruku' dan "Subhana Rabbiyal A'la" ketika sujud. Hadis ini diriwayatkan oleh Huzaifah (Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadis Nomor 1.036). Akan tetapi Siti Aisyah (radhiyallahu 'anha) meriwayatkan hadis lain (Shahih Muslim, Hadis Nomor [HN} 752, Sunan Abi Dawud, HN: 738, Sunan al-Nasa'i, HN 1.038). Dalam hadis ini, diriwayatkan bahwa Rasul membaca "Subbuhun quddussun rabul malaikati war ruh" baik ketika ruku' maupun ketika sujud. Yang menarik, ternyata Aisyah meriwayatkan pula bahwa Rasul membaca teks lain, "Subhanaka Allahumma Rabbana wa bihamdika Allahummafighrli" (Shaihih Bukhari, HN 752 dan 3.955).

Jikalau benar bahwa perbedaan pendapat tidak akan terjadi kalau kita berpegang pada Hadis Nabi, maka bagaimana dengan fakta ini? yang mana yang benar ? Yang mana yang sesuai dg sunnah Nabi dan yang mana yang bid'ah? Beranikah kita bilang Huzaifah berbohong? Beranikah kita bilang bahwa Siti Aisyah, isteri Nabi, lupa teks mana yang sebenarnya dibaca Nabi? Bagaimana mungkin dari satu perawi (Aisyah) terdapat dua teks yang berbeda. Bagi saya, jawabannya simple saja. Semua ummat Islam yang membaca teks yg berbeda tersebut adalah benar karena mereka punya dasarnya. Namun siapa yang paling benar, serahkan saja pada Allah swt.

Begitupula banyak persoalan klasik dan cukup sederhana sebenarnya namun telah membuat umat Islam tercerai berai dg tuduhan bid'ah [bukankah setiap bid'ah itu sesat dan setiap kesesatan tempatnya di neraka?]. Contoh lain, ketika anda sujud, yang mana duluan anda jatuhkan ke bumi: tangan anda atau lutut anda. Syaikh al-Albani mengatakan tangan dulu dan yang menjatuhkan lutut dulu telah berbuat bid'ah. Syaikh Bin Baz berpendapat yang mana saja yang paling mudah untuk anda. Boleh lutut dan boleh juga tangan dulu. Ternyata kedua pendapat ini sama-sama ada riwayat yang mendukung. Ternyata pula kedua ulama besar yang berbeda pandangan ini sama-sama mencantumkan pandangannya dalam buku yang berjudul hampir sama, yaitu sifat sholat Nabi atau bagaimana sholat Nabi. Lalu yang mana sebenarnya cara yg dipilh Nabi atau sifat/model sholat Nabi?

Saya tanya kawan saya, seorang bule yang baru masuk Islam, "Brother, ketika kamu sujud, tangan dulu atau lutut dulu yang kamu jatuhkan karena ada dua hadis yg berbeda soal ini." Kawan saya dengan mantap menjawab, "Jikalau memang dua-duanya ada Hadisnya, itu menunjukkan bagi Rasul tidaklah penting tangan atau lutut dulu. Semuanya boleh saja. Bagi saya yang penting ketika sujud bukanlah soal tangan dan lutut itu tetapi bagaimana kita tundukkan diri kita sedemikian rendah, kita sujud mengakui kebesaran-Nya, kita buang semua ego kita dan kita serahkan diri kita di bawah kendali Allah swt. Bukankah ini jauh lebih penting kita diskusikan, Brother?"

Saya terpesona. Seringkali perbedaan hal yang kecil-kecil membuat kita kehilangan waktu untuk merenungi esensi ibadah kita. Seorang muallaf mampu mengajari saya akan hal ini. Alhamdulillah.

Contoh berikutnya, ada Hadis yang diriwayatkan oleh Abu Dawud bahwa ketika Nabi mengakhiri sholat dengan menoleh ke kanan beliau membaca, "Assalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh" dan ketika menoleh ke kiri membaca salam "assalamu 'alaikum wa rhmatullahi" (tanpa "wa barakatuh"). Lihat Sunan Abi Dawud, HN 846. Hadis lain meriwayatkan bahwa baik ke kanan maupun ke kiri, Nabi menolehkan mukanya sambil membaca salam "tanpa wa barakatuh" [Sunan al-Tirmizi, HN 272; Musnad Ahmad, HN: 3.516, 3.549, 3.656, 3.694, 3.775, 3.849, 3.958, 4.020, dan 4.055; Sunan al-Tirmizi, HN: 1.302, 1.130, 1.303, 1.305, 1.307 dan 1.308].

Yang mengejutkan, Sunan Abi Dawud [HN: 845] juga meriwayatkan "tanpa wa barakatuh", padahal pada Hadis Nomor [HN} 846 dia meriwayatkan dengan "wa barakatuh". Sekali lagi, yang mana yang benar? Kenapa pula Abu Dawud mencatat dua hadis berbeda ini dalam kitabnya? Yang mana yang bid'ah dan yang mana yang sunnah. Mungkinkah kebenaran itu tidak satu tetapi berwajah banyak? Mungkinkah yang kita anggap bid'ah selama ini ternyata juga dipraketkkan Nabi?

Sebelum kita terburu-buru mengecam dan membid'ahkan saudara kita, maukah kita barang sejenak menahan diri sambil mempelajari argumen kawan-kawan kita yg berbeda pandangan. Kalaupun setelah kita menelaah argumentasi mereka dan kita tetap tidak sepakat dan menganggap argumen kita lebih kuat, masihkah kita tega menganggap mereka berbuat bid'ah padahal mereka melakukan itu beradasarkan pemahaman mereka akan riwayat (yang kebetulan tidak kita terima) dari Nabi sebagai ekspresi kecintaan mereka terhadap Nabi?

salam hangat,
=nadir=

Nadirsyah Hosen adalah dosen Fakultas Syariah UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta

Profil PerusahaanBerdasarkan Produk [KOPI]

2006-06-03T17:05:00.000+08:00

Profil PerusahaanBerdasarkan Produk [KOPI]
No.
Nama Perusahaan
Alamat
Telepon
Facsimile
Pimpinan
1.
PT. Mitra Tulus
Jl. Sumba No. 29
315298

2.
FA. Mujur Abadi
Jl. Butung 81
317159

3.
PT. Platon
Jl. A. Bakar Lambogo 101
452476

4.
PT. Pantja Niaga
Jl. Bali No. 108

Abdas Soedarma
5.
CV. Sumber Nusantara
Jl. KH A Dahlan 14
321770

Sakura Tunto
6.
CV. Gumer
Jl. Gn. Merapi 160
310955
316703
Drg. Nieniek L
7.
PT. Mega Putra Sejahtera
Jl. Gn. Latimojong 131
317327

8.
PT. Toarco Jaya
Jl. Lasinrang 15
853921

9.
CV. kopi Jaya Enterprise
Jl. Veteran Selatan 212
854580

10.
Fa Litha & Co
Jl. Gn. Merapi 139
310640

Litha Brent. SE

Bersedekah Di Hari Jum'at, Pahalanya Lebih Besar?

2006-06-01T16:34:00.000+08:00

الْخَامِسَةُ وَالْعِشْرُونَ أَنّ لِلصّدَقَةِ فِيهِ مَزِيّةً عَلَيْهَا فِي سَائِرِ الْأَيّامِ وَالصّدَقَةُ فِيهِ بِالنّسْبَةِ إلَى سَائِرِ أَيّامِ الْأُسْبُوعِ كَالصّدَقَةِ فِي شَهْرِ رَمَضَانَ بِالنّسْبَةِ إلَى سَائِرِ الشّهُورِ .

وَشَاهَدْتُ شَيْخَ الْإِسْلَامِ ابْنَ تَيْمِيّةَ قَدّسَ اللّه رَوْحهُ إذَا خَرَجَ إلَى الْجُمُعَةِ يَأْخُذُ مَا وَجَدَ فِي الْبَيْتِ مِنْ خُبْزٍ أَوْ غَيْرِهِ فَيَتَصَدّقُ بِهِ فِي طَرِيقِهِ سِرّا وَسَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ إذَا كَانَ اللّهُ قَدْ أَمَرَنَا بِالصّدَقَةِ بَيْنَ يَدَيْ مُنَاجَاةِ رَسُولِ اللّه صَلّى اللّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلّمَ فَالصّدَقَةُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْ مُنَاجَاتِهِ تَعَالَى أَفْضَلُ وَأَوْلَى بِالْفَضِيلَةِ .

وَقَالَ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ زُهَيْرِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ : حَدّثَنَا أَبِي حَدّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ عَنْ مُجَاهِدٍ عَنْ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ قَالَ اجْتَمَعَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ وَكَعْبُ فَقَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ : إنّ فِي الْجُمُعَةِ لَسَاعَةً لَا يُوَافِقُهَا رَجُلٌ مُسْلِمٌ فِي صَلَاةٍ يَسْأَلُ اللّهَ عَزّ وَجَلّ شَيْئًا إلّا آتَاهُ إيّاهُ فَقَالَ كَعْبٌ : أَنَا أُحَدّثُكُمْ عَنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ إنّهُ إذَا كَانَ يَوْمُ الْجُمُعَةِ فَزِعَتْ لَهُ السّمَوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَالْبَرّ وَالْبَحْرُ وَالْجِبَالُ وَالشّجَرُ وَالْخَلَائِقُ كُلّهَا إلّا ابْنَ آدَمَ وَالشّيَاطِينَ وَحَفّتْ الْمَلَائِكَةُ بِأَبْوَابِ الْمَسْجِدِ فَيَكْتُبُونَ مَنْ جَاءَ الْأَوّلَ فَالْأَوّلَ حَتّى يَخْرُجَ الْإِمَامُ فَإِذَا خَرَجَ الْإِمَامُ طَوَوْا صُحُفَهُمْ فَمَنْ جَاءَ بَعْدُ جَاءَ لِحَقّ اللّهِ لِمَا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِ وَحَقّ عَلَى كُلّ حَالِمٍ أَنْ يَغْتَسِلَ يَوْمئِذٍ كَاغْتِسَالِهِ مِنْ الْجَنَابَةِ وَالصّدَقَةُ فِيهِ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ الصّدَقَةِ فِي سَائِرِ الْأَيّامِ وَلَمْ تَطْلُعْ الشّمْسُ وَلَمْ تَغْرُبْ عَلَى مَثَلِ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبّاسٍ : هَذَا حَدِيثُ كَعْبٍ وَأَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ وَأَنَا أَرَى إنْ كَانَ لِأَهْلِهِ طِيبٌ يَمَسّ مِنْهُ .

Pidato presiden bush

2006-05-31T10:32:00.000+08:00

Sifat : Rahasia
Waktu : Rahasia
Tempat : Rahasia

Ehm ehm …….

Kepada yang terhormat Direktut CIA, FBI, Direktur Bank Dunia, ADB, IMF, CEO Haliburton, Exxon Mobil, freeport, Bangkir2 Internasional, Dan semua yang telah membantu kami membiayai perang irak, Afganistan, serta menyebarluaskan kakuasaan Imperium global, Direktur media dan televisi CNN, ABC, NBC, yang telah membantu propaganda kita, kami ucapkan terima kasih

Hari ini adalah hari yang sangat penting karena pada hari ini saya akan melaporkan keadaan indonesia, negeri yang mayoritas penduduknya islam, yang dulu kita takuti itu, sekarang sama sekali tak berdaya di hadapan kita.

Karena kini tak ada satupun yang perlu kita takutkan dari negeri itu, laporan Intelejen mengatakan bahwa tak ada satupun bahaya potensial yang akan menggangu kepentingan kita di negeri itu.

Kita tidak perlu takut kepada angkatan bersenjata mereka, karena senjata yang mereka gunakan adalah kiriman dari negeri kita, lihatlah ketika kita jatuhkan embargo senjata, tentara-tentara mereka seperti maung ompong ha ha ha ha (penonton tertawa), yang lebih lucu lagi kemarin presidennya sendiri yang memelas pada kita untuk menghentikan embargo itu ha haha. (penonton tertawa).. kasihan-kasihan.

Tak perlu takut pada generasi mudanya, rupanya faham materialisme, budaya konsumtif, hedonisme, individualisme, yang kita ajarkan itu lewat iklan-iklan kita, tayangan-tanyangan televisi kita, film-film kita, propaganda-propaganda kita, sudah tertanam pada hati dan pikiran sebagian besar dari mereka, jangankan memikirkan negeri atau umatnya lebih-lebih agamanya, kini mereka hanya memikirkan kesenangan diri mereka sendiri, bayangkan saja Negara semiskin itu penduduknya menempati urutan tertinggi dalam urusan berbelanja baju ke Singapura, mengalahkan jepang, australia, dan cina sekalipun. ha ha ha (penonton tertawa ).

Tak perlu takut tentang pelajar-pelajarnya, karena mahasiswa-mahasiswa terbaiknya selalu kita rekrut dan kita pekerjakan di perusahaan-perusahaan minyak atau tambang kita, dan kita menyuap mereka dengan gaji yang besarnya sama dengan loper koran di negeri kita ha ha ha. ( penonton tertawa ). Bayangkan orang-orang terbaiknya hadirin.

Tak perlu takut kepada pemimpin politik dan pejabatnya, karena sebagian besar dari mereka adalah orang yang gila jabatan dan sangat mudah untuk di suap, untuk uang dan jabatan, mereka bisa kita minta untuk melakukan apa saja sesuai keinginan kita. ha ha ha ha ( penonton tertawa ).

Tunggu,tunggu, Ada kabar yang lebih menggembirakan lagi, menurut laporan Intelejen yang saya terima, bahwa umat islam di sana telah terkotak-kotak menjadi banyak kelompok dan golongan. Tiap-tiap kelompok menjatuhkan yang lain dan mengganggap kelompoknya yang lebih baik dari yang lain, ada bibit kebencian yang besar di antara mereka yang dapat kita manfaatkan. sangat mudah bagi Intelejen kita yang berpengalaman untuk mengadu domba diantara mereka.

Hutang mereka sudah sangat besar dan hampir mustahil bisa mereka bayar, 22% APBN mereka habis untuk membayar hutang kepada kita, sehingga mengurangi anggaran pendidikan mereka, kesehatan mereka, dan pelayanan sosial mereka. Sehingga di negeri itu banyak penduduknya yang kelaparan, miskin, sakit dan tak mampu berobat, ini merupakan keuntungan bagi kita. Karena semakin lama jika kondisi tidak berubah, maka akan tercipta generasi yang lemah dari negeri itu. Yang tidak akan mampu melawan kita, seperti yang selama ini kita harapkan.

Kekayaan negeri mereka hampir semuanya kita kuasai, lebih dari 96 % ladang minyak mereka telah kita miliki, tambang batu-bara, tembaga, emas, yang beroperasi di negeri itu hampir semuanya adalah milik kita. Lebih dari itu mimuman-minuman, makanan-makanan, buku-buku, walau banyak yang ngopi, komputer-komputer, software-soffware mereka, walau banyak yang ngebajak, bahkan odol dan sabun yang mereka gunakan adalah produksi perusahaan2 kita. ha ha ha (penonton tertawa),

....Indonesia merupakan ladang dollar kita yang harus tetap kita pertahankan bagaimanapun caranya, 200 juta lebih penduduk negari itu merupakan konsumen bagi produk-produk perusahaan kita.

Singkat kata Indonesia telah kalah dari kita baik dari segi Ekonomi, militer, politik, budaya,Teknologi, dan lain-lain dan lain-lain

Untuk menjaga agar kondisi ini tetap berlangsung, maka saya sarankan agar lebih mengefektifkan promosi budaya konsumtif dan hedonisme kepada mereka, kepada agen-agen CIA agar memecah belah umat islamnya, tebarkan kecurigaan dan fitnah di antara mereka,biar mereka terus berkelahi dan tidak punya waktu untuk melawan Imperialisme kita, terus rekrut generasi muda terbaiknya agar bekerja untuk perusahaan-perusahaan kita, sehingga tidak akan banyak gerakan yang menentang kita.

Sebelum mengakhiri pidato ini, saya ucapkan terima kasih atas kerja sama yang luar biasa ini, kepada seluruh pihak yang telah ikut serta membantu usaha kita, perusahaan-perusahaan Multinasional, Televisi dan Media masa, Bank Dunia, IMF, CGI, Negara-Negara sekutu, Economic Hit Man, Mafia Berkeley, yang terhormat pejabat korup indonesia. Dan lain-lain, dan lain-lain.

Sekian dan terima kasih.

President USA
George W. Bush

NB; sifat sangat rahasia, boleh di buka kepada public 25 tahun yang akan datang.

Sumber : Milis FoSSEI

MUI Fatwakan SMS Berhadiah Haram

2006-05-31T10:23:00.000+08:00

Jakarta, CyberNews. Ijtima Ulama Komisi Fatwa se-Indonesia Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) memfatwakan bahwa SMS berhadiah yang saat ini semakin marak, haram hukumnya karena mengandung unsur judi.

"Itu karena hadiah undian SMS di sini bersumber dari akumulasi hasil perolehan dari SMS, di mana tarif SMS tersebut di luar ketentuan normal," kata Ketua Komisi Fatwa MUI Ma`ruf Amin kepada pers di Jakarta, Selasa.

Fatwa itu adalah salah satu fatwa hasil keputusan Ijtima Ulama di Pondok Pesantren Darussalam Gontor, pada 26 Mei 2006 yang dihadiri lebih dari seribu ulama.

SMS berhadiah tersebut, ujarnya, termasuk judi karena mengandung unsur mengundi nasib dengan cara mudah, pemborosan, menghambur-hamburkan uang untuk permainan yang tak jelas, membahayakan pihak lain yang menderita kekalahan, membangkitkan fantasi, ketagihan dan mental malas tak berbeda dengan judi.

Fatwa lainnya yang juga dikeluarkan, ujarnya, masalah nikah di bawah tangan yang hukumnya sah karena terpenuhi syarat dan rukun nikah, tetapi haram jika terdapat mudharat berhubung tidak dicatat resmi pada instansi berwenang.

"Pernikahan ini berdampak negatif terhadap istri atau anak yang akan dilahirkan terkait dengan hak-hak mereka seperti nafkah, waris dan lainnya yang sulit dituntut untuk dipenuhi akibat tak tercatat resmi," katanya.

Ijtima Ulama juga memutuskan pembiayaan pembangunan dengan utang diperbolehkan dalam keadaan darurat, dengan ketentuan dimanfaatkan secara efisien bagi kelangsungan pembangunan dan haram untuk disalahgunakan.

Utang itu, ujarnya, juga wajib menggunakan skim yang tak bertentangan dengan syariah seperti skim ribawi, namun jika belum memungkinkan untuk sementara dapat menggunakan skim konvensional.

Fatwa-fatwa lainnya antara lain soal transfer embrio ke rahim titipan, urainya, baik hasil inseminasi buatan berasal dari sperma suami dan ovum isteri namun jika bukan rahim istri yang memiliki ovum itu maka hukumnya haram.

Sedangkan pengobatan alternatif dibolehkan jika tidak mengandung syirik atau sihir. Fatwa lainnya adalah pemingsanan (stunning) pada binatang ternak sebelum penyembelihan hukumnya halal namun tak dianjurkan. Sedangkan penggunaan organ tubuh manusia untuk pangan, kosmetik, dan obat-obatan hukumnya haram.

Sementara itu penggunaan mikroba yang keluar bersama kotoran bayi setelah terjadi pembiakan beberapa kali untuk proses produksi pangan dibolehkan.

Fatwa lainnya soal pengelolaan sumber daya alam (SDA), yang pada dasarnya adalah milik Allah dan diamanatkan kepada manusia, diserahkan pengelolaannya kepada negara untuk kemakmuran rakyat. "Karena itu pengelolaan SDA harus efisien dan memperhatikan kelestarian alam serta keberlanjutan pembangunan," katanya.( ant/Cn08 )

Hiduplah Di Atas Garis!

2006-04-20T10:48:00.000+08:00

Live Life Above The Line

Ungkapan yang baru saja Anda baca, pertama kali saya temukan ketika membaca buku "One Minute Millionaire" karya Mark Victor Hansen dan Robert G. Allen.

Live life above the line terjemahannya, menjalani hidup di atas garis kehidupan.

Garis kehidupan?

Ya. Garis kehidupan. Anda membacanya dengan sangat tepat.

Setiap dari kita memiliki garis kehidupan.

Tidak percaya?

Sekarang, lakukan ini.

Buatlah sebuah garis lurus secara horisontal.

Berilah nama "Garis Kehidupan" untuk garis yang baru saja Anda buat.

Nah, kini Anda sudah punya garis kehidupan.

Mungkin Anda tidak akan percaya hal ini. Tapi tulislah sesuatu di bawah garis yang baru saja Anda buat.

Saya ingin Anda menulis di bawah garis kehidupan Anda kata ini: blame.

____________________________________
BLAME

Anda dapat mengganti kata blame dengan kata "menyalahkan/mencela". (Bagi Anda yang tidak tahu, blame adalah bahasa Inggris yang berarti "menyalahkan/mencela".)

Anda telah menuliskannya dengan baik. Sekarang, coba bertanya kepada diri Anda.

"Apakah saya pibadi yang selalu hidup di bawah garis kehidupan?"

"Apakah saya pribadi yang selalu menyalahkan (mencela, menggerutu, Anda tambahkan saja sendiri kata yang mewakili) terhadap setiap kejadian yang tidak sesuai dengan keinginan saya ?"

"Apakah saya selalu menyalahkan diri sendiri, orang lain, lingkungan, waktu, nasib, atas setiap peristiwa [buruk, tidak mengenakkan] yang terjadi pada diri saya?"

Jika ya, selamat!

???

Karena Anda baru saja mengetahui hal yang paling penting tentang diri Anda.

Dan yang paling menggembirakan adalah: Anda mengetahui bahwa saat ini Anda telah siap untuk "hidup di atas garis".

Apakah Anda merasakan energinya? Kesenangan hidup di atas garis?

Bersiaplah untuk melompat ke atas garis kehidupan Anda, dan sambutlah ....

LEARN

____________________________________

Setiap kali Anda mengalami peristiwa yang tidak sesuai dengan keinginan Anda, berhentilah sejenak untuk sekedar mengajukan pertanyaan:

"Pelajaran apa yang bisa saya ambil dari peristiwa ini?"

Mulai dari saat ini, berhentilah menyalahkan diri sendiri.

Berhentilah menyalahkan orang lain, waktu, nasib, dan pihak-pihak yang bisa tidak ada kaitannya dengan kejadian Anda dan peristiwa yang Anda alami.

Mulailah belajar.

Dan saya sangat haqqul yakin jika Anda bukan orang yang ***** [maaf, kata ini diedit] untuk mulai ... belajar.

OK. Kita akan berbicara lagi .... nanti.

Take Care

Makassar, 20 April 2006

Hamzah
Kekayaan HATI

Perlakukan Benih Kekayaan HATI Anda Dengan Semestinya

2006-04-13T13:32:00.000+08:00

Assalamu Alaykum wr. wb.

Salam Sejahtera!

Bagaimana kabar Anda saat ini?

Jika Anda sudah membaca ide tentang benih kekayaan Anda yang saya sampaikan 15 Maret 2006 lalu, maka saat ini Anda semestinya sudah bersiap-siap untuk melihat keadaan benih kekayaan hati Anda.

Bagaimana kabar benih kekayaan HATI Anda?

Apakah sudah tumbuh berkembang?

Jika ya, berarti Anda telah memperlakukan benih kekayaan HATI Anda dengan sangat baik.

Anda telah menanamnya, menumbuhkannya, dan mungkin saat ini sudah menikmati buahnya.

Ini berarti, Anda telah menginvestasikan benih kekayaan HATI Anda.

Anda tentu tahu begitu banyak orang yang seperti Anda. Mereka memiliki benih kekayaan HATI.

Tapi mereka kelihatannya tidak seperti Anda.

Sebagian dari mereka mungkin lebih senang menukarkan benih kekayaannya dengan sesuatu.

Sebagian lagi mungkin dengan senang hati membuangnya ke tong sampah. Menyia-nyiakan benih kekayaan HATI-nya.

Oh ya. Dari tadi saya berbicara kepada Anda yang telah menginvestasikan benih kekayaan HATI-nya.

Jika Anda sedang membaca ide ini dan merasa belum menginvestasikan atau merasa ingin mengetahui cara menginvestasikan benih kekayaan HATI, silahkan unduh (download) file-file yang ada dalam group ini.

Pertanyaan atau komentar apa pun tentang menginvestasikan benih kekayaan atau tentang Kekayaan HATI secara umum bisa Anda kirim langsung ke email saya: kekayaanhati@yahoo.com.sg

Saya akan berbicara lagi dengan Anda.

Take care

Salam

Makassar, 13 April 2006

M. Hamzah

Owner Kekayaan HATI

FUUUUUUUUUUUL

2005-07-08T21:06:00.000+08:00

Minggu ini terasa fuuuuuuull.

Habis menjalani perjalanan darat terjauh (+500 km) 1-4 July 2005.

Mengatur wawancara dengan candidate untuk ngisi salah satu posisi di ktr

jika akhwat BETE apa yang diharapkan dari pasangannya ??

2005-07-07T09:52:00.000+08:00

yah kalo gi bete mungkin pengennya:
- didengerin curhatannya, masalah2 yang ada kenapa sampe bete
- yang jelas jangan dicuekin, nambah bete
- dinasihati yang baik, dihibur
- disayang-sayang dunk (butuh tatih tayang :-p)

yang jelas jangan dicuekin deh, kalo didiemin sih gak papa... tergantung sih, biasanya kalo perempuan marah maunya didengerin dulu, abisin dulu marahnya gitu...
ntar baru deh bisa mikir rada logis... [ini sih cha_n banget ... ]

yup.minta diperhatikan abis!!!

kan dia lagi pengen keluarkan uneg2nya,butuh seseorang buat tempat berbagi,
tul ndak?

makanya kaum laki2 harus bisa menjadi teman yg setia sebagai pendengar aja dulu, kalo sang wanita sedang BT. Karena udah merupakan characteristic wanita, kalo ada masalah selalu ingin menceritakan masalah atau mengungkapkan apa yg sedang menggundah- gulanakan perasaannya. Kaum wanita ngga bisa utk menyimpannya (sekecil apapun problem tsb) and harud diungkapkan/diexpresikan, tapi ini jangan dianggap sebagai keluhan atau wanita suka mengeluh. Pengungkapan masalahnya ini juga ngga harus ditanggapi dgn mencari solusinya (kadang2 aja). Wanita sudah feeling pleased if they can expressed things have bothered them ...

akhwat sih digodain aja dikit juga dah baik lagi...

kalau ana yang diharapkan dari pasangan kalau lagi BT ;
- pinjamin bahunya untuk tempat bersandar, mengadukan keluh kesah.
walaupun ga bisa kasih solusi permasalahannya, paling ga udah dengerin apa yang jadi masalah ana
- pinjamin lengannya, untuk peluk ana.
rasanya tenang banget kalau dipeluk. serasa mendapat dukungan. kayaknya menghdapi masalah hidup ini ga sendirian. ada orang yang berjalan seiring dengan kita .

dari dulu, setiap kali ada masalah ana selalu rindu ada seseorang yang memeluk ana untuk menenangkan. terutama yang paling ana harapkan itu dari mama. tapi sayang, apa yang terjadi tak selalu seperti yang kita harapkan. mama ana seorang wanita yang bekerja. jadi tak punya waktu untuk ana.
mungkin suatu saat nanti ana bisa menjadi ibu yang baik buat anak-anak. minimal ana ada saat mereka butuh.

hiks,hiks, kok malah jadi curhat ya.......

Basically, wanita senang jika :

didengarkan, didengarkan, didengarkan, diperhatikan, dihug,

ada tempat bersandar, ada tempat berlindung

Makanya cepetan pada nikah ya Ikhwah fillah

Sini Ami hug semuanya

Wanita adalah....

2005-07-06T15:06:00.000+08:00

Wanita adalah.... Dia yang diambil dari tulang rusuk. Jika Tuhan mempersatukan dua orang yang berlawanan sifatnya, maka itu akan menjadi saling melengkapi. Dialah penolongmu yang sepadan, bukan sparing partner yang sepadan. Ketika pertandingan dimulai, dia tidak berhadapan denganmu untuk melawanmu, tetapi dia akan berada bersamamu untuk berjaga-jaga di belakang saat engkau berada di depan atau segera mengembalikan bola ketika bola itu terlewat olehmu, dialah yang akan menutupi kekuranganmu. Dia ada untuk melengkapi yang tak ada dalam laki-laki : perasaan, emosi, kelemahlembutan, keluwesan, keindahan, kecantikan, rahim untuk melahirkan, mengurusi hal-hal sepele... sehingga ketika laki-laki tidak mengerti hal-hal itu, dialah yang akan menyelesaikan bagiannya... sehingga tanpa kau sadari ketika kau menjalankan sisa hidupmu... kau menjadi lebih kuat karena kehadirannya di sisimu. Jika ada makhluk yang sangat bertolak belakang, kontras dengan lelaki, itulah perempuan. Jika ada makhluk yang sanggup menaklukkan hati hanya dengan sebuah senyuman, itulah perempuan. Ia tidak butuh argumentasi hebat dari seorang laki-laki... tetapi ia butuh jaminan rasa aman darinya karena ia ada untuk dilindungi....tidak hanya secara fisik tetapi juga emosi. Ia tidak tertarik kepada fakta-fakta yang akurat, bahasa yang teliti dan logis yang bisa disampaikan secara detail dari seorang laki-laki, tetapi yang ia butuhkan adalah perhatiannya... kata-kata yang lembut... ungkapan-ungkapan sayang yang sepele... namun baginya sangat berarti... membuatnya aman di dekatmu.... Batu yang keras dapat terkikis habis oleh air yang luwes, sifat laki-laki yang keras ternetralisir oleh kelembutan perempuan. Rumput yang lembut tidak mudah tumbang oleh badai dibandingkan dengan pohon yang besar dan rindang... seperti juga di dalam kelembutannya di situlah terletak kekuatan dan ketahanan yang membuatnya bisa bertahan dalam situasi apapun. Ia lembut bukan untuk diinjak, rumput yang lembut akan dinaungi oleh pohon yang kokoh dan rindang. Jika lelaki berpikir tentang perasaan wanita, itu sepersekian dari hidupnya.... tetapi jika perempuan berpikir tentang perasaan lelaki, itu akan menyita seluruh hidupnya.... Karena perempuan diciptakan dari tulang rusuk laki-laki, karena perempuan adalah bagian dari laki-laki... apa yang menjadi bagian dari hidupnya, akan menjadi bagian dari hidupmu. Keluarganya akan menjadi keluarga barumu, keluargamu pun akan menjadi keluarganya juga. Sekalipun ia jauh dari keluarganya, namun ikatan emosi kepada keluarganya tetap ada karena ia lahir dan dibesarkan di sana.... karena mereka, ia menjadi seperti sekarang ini. Perasaannya terhadap keluarganya, akan menjadi bagian dari perasaanmu juga... karena kau dan dia adalah satu.... dia adalah dirimu yang tak ada sebelumnya. Ketika pertandingan dimulai, pastikan dia ada di bagian lapan gan yang sama denganmu. Sumber: Unknown (Tidak Diketahui)

Marketing Channel: Radio (HT)

2005-04-29T10:58:00.000+08:00

hey david i have a very good ham radio right here. its an ICOM MODEL 746 if you want to see what it looks like.it will also transmit on the cb radio frequencies. but dont tell anyone its ill eagle but i allways thought ill eagle was just a sick bird anyway.

haha anyway beleave me when i tell you that people around the country and even in other parts of the world can hear me. one time i had an ebay auction for something i just got on the radio a little bit and acted like i was talking to someone about this auction on ebay i saw and gave out the item # the page hits on the auction went through the roof. and the item sold for an above average price.

you should hear me talk to myself on the radio im real good at it. thats because some of the best conversations i have had have been when i was alone haha.

seriously i would be more than willing to do this. i would need to know the websight. a little about the product. i can go on your websight maybe that would work. it would be great if your websight has a counter so we can tell how effective i am.

steve

Marketing Channel:Creating Buzz

2005-04-29T10:53:00.000+08:00

Well, while you are getting your strategy going you can sell to us all here, and your friends, and your family and your neighbors, building the buzz.

What about some art of war marketing where you pay 20 people a sum to go into one resteraunt through the month and get them to ask for your product by name with their food.

Seems to me this can be a good buzz product.

Can you create a buzz with bloggers? Let me think today some and I will try to come back with ideas.

I do know that you can make more use of your site if you are willing to spend time. Or...perhaps I could send some people your way in the next 3 months. Hmmm...thinking here.

I will be back late tonight with some ideas and an order for your stuff.

JscottGecko

Marketing Channel: Free Sample and SBA

2005-04-29T10:47:00.000+08:00

Fall 99 times, get up 100. You will make it.

Are you targeting the end consumer or do you want a distribution deal? Here are some ideas if you are targeting the end consumer. For these, though, you'll probably need more than one product.

As for concrete what to do next:

- Have you tried partnering with some of the recipe sites like allrecipes.com If you know a few people that have tried your ketchup they can post recipes listing it as an ingredient

- Better than that you post those same recipes to your Ketchhot site

- Do you know if there are any shopping engines like shopping.com that list products individually.

If you're targeting other businesses you could try going in person to local small retaurants, the chamber of commerce, a chef or cuisine school. You could probably start by giving one bottle away for the chefs to try then checking back with them to see if they would like to place an order.

Also the SBA sponsored agencies are big on B2B's. In fact they prefer them. Maybe one of their centers could help with contacting restaurants and other small businesses in the area. Not the SCORE office, but one of their Centers.

Can't think of any other ideas right now. You are now on the road to success, you've encountered the first major roadblock. You can get past, through, over, or around it, just look for the detour signs.

4tun8

Marketing Channel: Radio and Trade Show

2005-04-29T10:41:00.000+08:00

I had the opportunity to see Bill Rancic interviewed a couple weeks ago. He spoke about how he and his friend sold their cars and put together their money to start the Cigar business. They had no money for advertising. He knew he needed to let people know about his new business. The general rule is that if your target market is under 3,000 people use targeted fliers, brochures, and mailers. If you target market is greater than 3,000, mass media is the way to go.

He wrote to local radio programs and asked if he could have time to tell people about this new business. He was given his first opportuntiy by a well know radio personality, who gave him three minutes. That three turned into 5, which turned into a half hour! They took sold more subscriptions that day than they had to that point! One person even bought a twelve month subscription- so Bil told his partner they would at least be in business for one year! lol

He kept writng to radio shows, and got on many, some even nation wide, and that was what helped launch his cogar business!

Radio may not be the outlet for you, but I think you should give it a try. Trade shows have limited returns. You need to be able to get in front of people ( or in their ears!) and tell them how amazing your product is!

I'm long winded here- sorry!

Thats is how we launched TIR, my first business. We set up at a trade show, which was lame for business, but great because we made a lot of strategic connections there. We met a new magazine publisher who offered us free advertising space in his first two issues.

We also met a local celebrity who fell in love with our service. As you know TIR was a contractor referral service that had a thorough screening process, and her mother has been ripped off by contractors the year before, so it really hit home for her. She had us on her radio prgram (which was our exact target audience) two different times, as well as wrote about us in her column in the AZ Repulic a twice. She called to ask for help for her friends, and we were always more than happy ot help. We became good friends! She helped us reach far neyond what we could have ever afforded in advertsing alone, plus she brough the reliability of her name.

emorgan26

PMKS

2005-04-20T20:57:00.000+08:00

PALM OIL PROJECT NORTH LUWU
KUNJUNGAN
LUWU UTARA
PT. UNGGUL
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PENDIRIAN PABRIK
RESPON POSITIF
MASYARAKAT
DINAS KEHUTANAN DAN PERKEBUNAN
BUPATI
INFORMASI KELAPA SAWIT DI LUWU UTARA
DATA
PETA
KOMITMEN PEMDA UNTUK MENGELUARKAN
REKOMENDASI
PENDIRIAN PABRIK
PEMBUKAAN PERKEBUNAN
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PEMBUKAAN PERKEBUNAN
URUSAN ADMINISTRASI/PERIJINAN
KITA TELAH DAN AKAN MEMPEROLEH (KOMITMEN) BANTUAN DAN FASILITAS BAIK DARI PEMDA LUWU UTARA MAUPUN BADAN PENANAMAN MODAL PROPINSI
TAHAPAN KEGIATAN SETELAH REKOMENDASI
DIRIKAN PABRIK
PRO
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PETANI TIDAK LAGI MEMILIKI KETERIKATAN SECARA HUKUM DENGAN PTPN XIV DALAM MENJUAL TBS-NYA
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MEMBUKA DAN MENGELOLA SENDIRI PERKEBUNAN BARU SECARA BERTAHAP
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HASIL YANG DIHARAPKAN
MEMPEROLEH REKOMENDASI
KOMITMEN BANTUAN DAN FASILITAS DARI PEMDA

Kehilangan Arah

2005-04-18T19:48:00.000+08:00

I feel that I am loosing my direction

Or...

It's just a 'feeling'. Or maybe because the absence of "passion".

I do not know

(4) Rich Dad Coaching-Good Side

2005-04-18T19:34:00.000+08:00

That's interesting, I've actually had an opposite experience from what was described here. I explained to them exactly the areas where I wanted to focus on (i.e. starting real estate investing and owning my own business) and the coach they assigned me to already owned several properties and 4 businesses. He gave me very valuable information and I've certainly made a lot more than the $2400 investment I made at the time. I will say though that this was about 3-4 years ago and my coach is no longer involved in the program. However, I still keep in touch with him today. While I do feel bad for kimark and his experience, at the same time, if I'm paying $2800 for an appointment, you better believe I'm going to do everything possible to make that appointment and as for me, they made it very clear that if you missed 2 appointments you were out. Do you need a coaching program to be successful? No. However, most people don't have the mentality and the personal development that's required to change your mindset from a poor or middle class mindset to a rich mindset. So you need something. Whether it's a coaching program with Rich Dad or somebody else, or books, or home study courses, whatever floats your boat, you need to make personal development a serious priority if you want to make the mindshift changes that are required to become rich. I do agree though, you should have a pretty good idea what you want to do before you take the Rich Dad Coaching program, in my opinion.

(3) Rich Dad Coaching-Bad Side

2005-04-18T19:32:00.000+08:00

I must agree with most of what is being said in the above statments. I am also terribly sorry for you Kimark. That really does reflect poorly on Robert Kiyosaki and what he is trying to teach the world. I have also investigated getting a coach as well. I didn't have a whole lot of BS with the person that I talked with, but he was giving the sales pitch of the whole limited time offer, not many people get in, must commit now stategy. I understand what they are saying, I use to go door to door selling 2000 dallar vacuum cleaners, and I use to use similar technics. You would tell your client that there is a limited time offer, if they buy now, that they will recieve 300 dollars off the price IF they sign TODAY, NOW. This creates a sisnce of ergency in what you are selling as well as savings.....the value has already been built. We must all realize that these coaches are also just trying to sell us something for them to benifite from as well...ie a comission and pay check. I too was extreemly disapointed with the coaching idea, even though I didn't go forward with it. I feel that there main task is to basicly to get you to set a goal for yourself and make you stick to it. I also figured if I spent 2800 on books and seminars that I could gain much more knowledge then I ever could from one of these salesmen/coaches. All in all, I would not recommend getting a coah. I also say to Kimark, to try and get a hold of someone in charge at the richdad company and ask to at least be semi compinsated for there extreemly poor and lack of help (which is kind if the definition of a coach, is to help you). If they are un willing to do anything, that looks bad on the company that they will not back up their product (or what they are selling).

(2) Rich Dad Coaching-Bad Side

2005-04-18T19:30:00.000+08:00

It's very late here and I am extremely tired, but when I saw this post I thought I should post. I talked with someone in rich dad about the coaching(Bob). He was extremely terrible at his "job", and gave many lies to hype up the program. I was actually ready to send money in for the program and get started, but this Bob characted kept telling me it's an extremely limited opportunity, he had to ask me all sorts of questions first. I probably spent 2 hours answering stupid questions, and then he said ok, you have passed our guidelines to get in the program. He said only 4% of people who tried to get in the program got in, which was a huge lie, and he was trying so hard to sell when there was no selling needed. After this long crapload of questioning he said, so are you ready to sign up? I said, I have to think it over and I'll get back to you Bob. He said, "well then I'll have to take the offer off the table." haha this guy was a joke. Had I not read the rich dad books and been very impressed with them, this Bob guy would have turned me off the whole rich dad company with his lies and BS. Very non-professional. When I called again to try and talk to someone else because I told whoever answered I did not want to speak with Bob, they said that was who handled the coaching and they put me through anyways. So my experience with rich dad coaching was luckily short lived enough where I did not put any money up. I asked to speak to a few coaches to get an idea of who I would be working with, and it was not allowed, and when I asked what type of businesses and investments the coaches were involved with you could tell he was fumbling and making up more BS. I understand that Kiyosaki wants his business running without him having to work it, but the way that is set up it reflects very poorly on him and makes his coaching business seem less than average at best. He talks all the time in his books about how important the members of your team are. This team isn't even near the playoffs man. He should be embarressed by it. I don't know if what I wrote makes sense, because I'm too tired to read it over and I've had a few drinks, but I would stay away from rich dad coaching.

(1) Rich Dad Coaching-Bad Side

2005-04-18T19:13:00.000+08:00

After going through the Rich Dad’s Coaching program, my wife and I can definitely say that it was a real waste of our money. The initial salesperson (Steve Martin – no joke) really over promised the program (for example saying they would work with us for 8-12 months if necessary to reach our goal, which never happened).

Here is how the program went:

- They sent us the Choose to be rich program (12CDs, video, workbooks, CF101 game).

- Every week our advisor “coach” Allison Timothy would tell us to read sections of the workbooks, do the assignments, listen to parts of the CDs, and play Cash Flow 101.

- Each week Allison would get on the phone with us for 30 minutes to discuss our progress, and basically chit chat. It is very difficult to accomplish much in 30 minutes. I guess that is why they promote calling in at any time to talk to one of their “team” of advisors, which we never did, because frankly, we never had a reason to.

- After six weeks, that was it. We missed two conference calls in a row, and apparently that means we violated the contract and got kicked out of the program. We appealed, but Rich Dad’s organization was not sympathetic. Even after we detailed how Mr. Martin encouraged us to use “other people’s money” (meaning our credit card!) to pay for the program! Foolishly, we got our limit increased on our one open credit card to pay the $2,800.

So to sum it all up: we are even deeper in debt thanks to Rich Dad Coaching. We did learn some valuable lessons however, such as:

- Buying the Choose to be Rich package ($200), and working through all the assignments, CDs, and such, would have been an excellent learning experience in-of-itself. Paying almost $3000 for someone to break it up into weekly assignments was a real mistake.

- When someone is trying to sell us something, and it sounds absolutely terrific, take a day or even a week to think it over, especially if they say things like, “you must be willing to start immediately!” (which is what we were told).

- Thinking that taking on more bad debt, in the hopes of someone or something helping me to get out of debt, is absolutely ridiculous. The solution to getting out of debt will always involve the basic, pain-in-the-ass fundamentals; reduce expenses, increase debt payments, and don’t take on more bad debt! (of course that is the most painful solution, so it is usually my last resort…..)

All in all, the Rich Dad Coaching program really failed us. Debt reduction is our primary goal/need, not investing, and the coaching program is only geared toward investing and business strategizing. The coaching program may work great for some people, but my suggestion is that unless you are in a position where your debt is under control, you have some investing experience (be it real estate, starting/running businesses, or otherwise, and you have money to invest), and you have some really clear concepts of where you want to go and how you want to get there, you would be better off not paying for the coaching program. Thanks for letting me voice my opinion.

Wawancara Aminah Wadud

2005-04-12T11:52:00.000+08:00

http://www.naseeb.com/naseebvibes/prose-detail.php?aid=3631

2005-04-12T11:30:00.000+08:00

Sangat menarik!

Ini ada kaitannya dengan peristiwa "Aminah Wadud"

Female-Led Prayers: A Step Forward for Women?

On March 18, 2005 Amina Wadud led the first female-led Jumu`ah Prayer. On that day, women took a huge step towards being more like men. But, did we come closer to actualizing our God-given liberation? 2005/3/28

This answer was kindly provided by Sister Yasmin Mogahed, a member of Ask About Islam Editorial Staff. Yasmin is an Egyptian-American journalist based in Wisconsin, USA. She is currently studying for a Master's degree in Journalism.

Salam, Sarah.

Thank you for your inspiring question!

Well, answering your question, I can say that I don’t think so.

What we so often forget is that God has honored women by giving them value in relation to God—not in relation to men. But as Western feminism erases God from the scene, there is no standard left but men. As a result, the Western feminist is forced to find her value in relation to a man. And in so doing, she has accepted a faulty assumption. She has accepted that man is the standard, and thus a woman can never be a full human being until she becomes just like a man—the standard.

When a man cut his hair short, she wanted to cut her hair short. When a man joined the army, she wanted to join the army, and so on. She wanted these things for no other reason than because the “standard” had it.

What she didn’t recognize was that God dignifies both men and women in their distinctiveness, not their sameness. And on March 18, Muslim women made the very same mistake

For 1,400 years, there has been a consensus of scholars that men are to lead Prayer. As a Muslim woman, why does this matter? The one who leads Prayer is not spiritually superior in any way. Something is not better just because a man does it. And leading Prayer is not better just because it is leading. Had it been the role of women or had it been more divine, why wouldn’t the Prophet have asked Lady `A’ishah or Lady Khadijah, or Lady Fatimah—the greatest women of all time—to lead? These women were promised heaven and yet they never led Prayer.

But now, for the first time in 1,400 years, we look at a man leading Prayer and we think, “That’s not fair.” We think so, although God has given no special privilege to the one who leads. The imam is no higher in the eyes of God than the one who prays behind. On the other hand, only a woman can be a mother. And the Creator has given special privilege to a mother. The Prophet taught us that heaven lies at the feet of mothers. But no matter what a man does, he can never be a mother. So why is that not unfair?

When asked who is most deserving of our kind treatment? The Prophet replied "your mother" three times before saying "your father" only once. Isn’t that sexist? No matter what a man does, he will never be able to have the status of a mother.

And yet even when God honors us with something uniquely feminine, we are too busy trying to find our worth in reference to men, to value it or even notice it. We too have accepted men as the standard; so anything uniquely feminine is, by definition, inferior. Being sensitive is an insult, becoming a mother is a degradation. In the battle between stoic rationality (considered masculine) and selfless compassion (considered feminine), rationality reigns supreme.

As soon as we accept that everything a man has and does is better, all that follows is just a knee jerk reaction: if men have it, we want it too. If men pray in the front rows, we assume this is better, so we want to pray in the front rows too. If men lead Prayer, we assume the imam is closer to God, so we want to lead Prayer too. Somewhere along the line, we’ve accepted the notion that having a position of worldly leadership is some indication of one’s position with God.

A Muslim woman does not need to degrade herself in this way. She has God as a standard. She has God to give her value; she doesn’t need a man here.

In fact, in our crusade to follow men, we, as women, never even stopped to examine the possibility that what we have is better for us. In some cases, we even gave up what was higher only to be like men.

Fifty years ago, we saw men leaving the home to work in factories. We were mothers. And yet, we saw men doing it, so we wanted to do it too. Somehow, we considered it women’s liberation to abandon the raising of another human being in order to work on a machine. We accepted that working in a factory was superior to raising the foundation of society—just because a man did it.

Then after working, we were expected to be superhuman—the perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect homemaker, and have the perfect career. And while there is nothing wrong, by definition, with a woman having a career, we soon came to realize what we had sacrificed by blindly mimicking men. We watched as our children became strangers, and soon recognized the privilege we’d given up.

And so only now—given the choice—women in the West are choosing to stay home to raise their children. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, only 31 percent of mothers with babies, and 18 percent of mothers with two or more children, are working fulltime. And of those working mothers, a survey conducted by Parenting Magazine in 2000, found that 93 percent of them say they would rather be home with their kids, but are compelled to work due to “financial obligations.” These “obligations” are imposed on women by the gender sameness of the modern West and removed from women by the gender distinctiveness of Islam.

It took women in the West almost a century of experimentation to realize a privilege given to Muslim women 1,400 years ago. Given my privilege as a woman, I only degrade myself by trying to be something I’m not, and in all honesty, don’t want to be—a man. As women, we will never reach true liberation until we stop trying to mimic men and value the beauty in our own God given distinctiveness.

If given a choice between stoic justice and compassion, I choose compassion. And if given a choice between worldly leadership and heaven at my feet, I choose heaven. I hope my words answer your question. In case you have any comment or you need more about the topic, please don’t hesitate to contact us again. Thank you and please keep in touch.

Salam.

The Science Behind the Veil

2005-04-12T11:08:00.000+08:00

The Science Behind the Veil

By Karima Burns (MH, ND) 19/12/2000

The moral duty of wearing the veil in Islam is an often-discussed topic among Muslim women. However, little has been written about scientific reasons that the veil is beneficial for society. There are, in fact, a number of health benefits that wearing the veil can provide, as well as many behavioral science studies that suggest that the veil is the best attire for women.

Protecting the head is very important from a health perspective. Results of medical tests show that 40-60% of body heat is lost through the head, so persons wearing head coverings during cold months are protected about fifty-percent more than those who do not.

Chinese and Muslim medical texts take this concept even further. In the Hua Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic on Internal Medicine), wind is said to cause sudden changes within the body, and shaking, swaying, and other movements that potentially upset the body’s equilibrium; thus, creating bad health. These texts attribute the common cold to wind elements entering the body and causing the typical symptoms of sneezing and a runny nose.

In the traditional Islamic medical texts of Al-Jawziyya, we can find numerous references to the "four elements" of fire, water, air, and earth, and how these affect the body in adverse ways. In particular, we are advised to stay away from drafts and to protect our heads in wind, breezes, drafts, and cold weather. All outdoor workers should wear some sort of head covering for this reason.

Protecting the head is even more important in warm weather. V.G. Rocine, a prominent brain research specialist, has found that brain phosphorus melts at 108 degrees; a temperature that can be easily reached if one stays under the hot sun for any length of time without a head covering. When this happens, irreversible brain damage, memory loss and loss of some brain functions can result. Although this example is extreme, brain damage can still be measured in small degrees from frequent exposure to and overheating of the head. Bernard Jensen, a naturopath and chiropractor, states that this is because the brain runs on the mineral phosphorus, which is very effected by heat.

Last, but not least, a veil or head covering should be worn by all public workers serving society to ensure cleanliness and purity. Workers in a number of professions wear "veils" - nurses, fast food workers, deli counter workers, restaurant workers and servers, doctors, health care providers, and many more. In fact, when we compare the number of workers who cover their heads to the number who do not, we find that more people probably cover their heads than do not.

Aside from personal and public health benefits of the veil, it has numerous other benefits to society. In Analyzing Visual Data, Ball and Smith discuss the acknowledgement of sociologists that visual representations are influential in shaping people's views of the world and their interpretations of life. Men use visual data to interpret their relationships with the women around them.

Many studies have found that when a person tries to rewire their instinctual perceptions, they are usually only rewired on the surface; their original perceptions still exist on some level. Brain studies show that we exist in a world of constantly varying light variables that force the brain to perform what is called "lateral inhibition;" consequently, it provides us with a "steady" image as opposed to a "true" image of what we see. Furthermore, lateral inhibition networks operate as part of the "unconscious" brain; largely, without providing any information to the "conscious" part of the brain about what they are doing. Therefore, the brain can provide varying perceptions of the world without our even being fully conscious of what it is processing.

Further studies cited in Encyclopedia Britannica show that how a female presents herself to society falls under the category of ritualized behavior through which animals provide specific information to other animals, usually members of its own species. Virtually all higher animals, including humans, use displays to some extent to do this, and the best-known displays are visual ones. Some biologists actually restrict the term display to refer to visual signals or gestures. These visual signals, which in animals can be simply a bright color or plume, encourage attraction. In humans, they are usually exhibited in ornamental hair, make up, or clothing.

In our society, most of the time attractive hairstyles and clothing are worn for the purpose of making the adorner more attractive (advertising and television have institutionalized this reality). The ever-changing variations in fashion tend to affect the brain because it typically has trouble constantly adjusting to changing shadows and forms in the world. Reasonably then, through "lateral inhibition," the brain automatically simplifies these images into the unconscious message that attractive hair and clothing are MEANT to attract. Joining these two concepts together, we can see how the human male could receive the signal of "attraction" from the brain before he has enough time to "block" it by "lowering his gaze."

Having to re-form an image already processed by the lateral inhibition network is a cause of stress for most people. Doing this day after day, after seeing many "displays," potentially causes a great cumulative stress on society.

In early times, stress caused the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in an outpouring of the hormones epinephrine, norepinephrine, and glucocorticoids that were essential to the life-preserving fight or flight reactions of primitive man. However, the nature of stress for individuals living today is different. It is only occasionally that one is confronted with unexpected, overwhelming, life-threatening stresses.

Present day stresses arise from many things; among these are the vast amounts of visual and physical input we are bombarded with in this "information age" of personal freedom. The problem we face in this is that the body still continues to respond in the same fashion as during primitive times, releasing large amounts of these hormones, which can be very harmful. They can cause an increase in blood pressure, damage muscle tissue, lead to infertility, inhibit growth, damage the hippocampus, and suppress the immune system.

The two most effective solutions to this problem are, first, to convince the advertising industry, and society as a whole, to alter the presentation of women to our males. The second and more viable way is to simply influence women to dress modestly, which will help ensure that they do not send inappropriate visual signals to men.

Covering the hair can also have a beneficial effect on the female psyche as well. Studies of women being interviewed for jobs show that there is a high correlation between what they wear and their perceptions of how successful they will be in their interviews.

There are many more examples of how what we wear can influence how we act. Wearing a veil can serve to remind women of their religious duties and behavioral expectations. It can also serve as a reminder to women that we are not only individuals, but also representatives and diplomats of our "Ummah."

A WISE YOUNG MUSLIM BOY

2005-04-11T11:52:00.000+08:00

A WISE YOUNG MUSLIM BOY
by Nadeem Abdul Hamid

Many years ago, during the time of the Tâbi’în (the generation of Muslims after the Sahâbah), Baghdâd was a great city of Islam. In fact, it was the capital of the Islamic Empire and, because of the great number of scholars who lived there, it was the center of Islamic knowledge. One day, the ruler of Rome at the time sent an envoy to Baghdâd with three challenges for the Muslims. When the messenger reached the city, he informed the khalîfah that he had three questions which he challenged the Muslims to answer.

The khalîfah gathered together all the scholars of the city and the Roman messenger climbed upon a high platform and said, “I have come with three questions. If you answer them, then I will leave with you a great amount of wealth which I have brought from the king of Rome.” As for the questions, they were:

“What was there before Allâh?”

“In which direction does Allâh face?”

“What is Allâh engaged in at this moment?”

The great assembly of people were silent. (Can you think of answers to these questions?) In the midst of these brilliant scholars and students of Islam was a man looking on with his young son. “O my dear father! I will answer him and silence him!” said the youth. So the boy sought the permission of the khalîfah to give the answers and he was given the permission to do so.

The Roman addressed the young Muslim and repeated his first question, “What was there before Allâh?”

The boy asked, “Do you know how to count?”
“Yes,” said the man.

“Then count down from ten!” So the Roman counted down, “ten, nine, eight …” until he reached “one” and he stopped counting.

“But what comes before ‘one’?” asked the boy.

“There is nothing before one- that is it!” said the man.

“Well then, if there obviously is nothing before the arithmetic ‘one’, then how do you expect that there should be anything before the One who is Absolute Truth, All-Eternal, Everlasting- the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden?”

Now the man was surprised by this direct answer which he could not dispute. So he asked,

“Then tell me, in which direction is Allâh facing?”

“Bring a candle and light it,” said the boy, “and tell me in which direction the flame is facing.”

“But the flame is just light- it spreads in each of the four directions, North, South, East and West. It does not face any one direction only,” said the man in wonderment.

The boy cried, “Then if this physical light spreads in all four directions such that you cannot tell me which way it faces, then what do you expect of the Nûr-us-Samâwâti-wal-‘Ard: Allâh- the Light of the Heavens and the Earth!? Light upon Light, Allâh faces all directions at all times.”

The Roman was stupified and astounded that here was a young child answering his challenges in such a way that he could not argue against the proofs. So, he desperately wanted to try his final question. But before doing so, the boy said,

“Wait! You are the one who is asking the questions and I am the one who is giving the answer to these challenges. It is only fair that you should come down to where I am standing and that I should go up where you are right now, in order that the answers may be heard as clearly as the questions.”

This seemed reasonable to the Roman, so he came down from where he was standing and the boy ascended the platform. Then the man repeated his final challenge, “Tell me, what is Allâh doing at this moment?”

The boy proudly answered, “At this moment, when Allâh found upon this high platform a liar and mocker of Islam, He caused him to descend and brought him low. And as for the one who believed in the Oneness of Allâh, He raised him up and established the Truth. Every day He exercises (His universal) power (Surah 55 ar-Rahmân, Verse 29).”

The Roman had nothing to say except to leave and return back to his country, defeated. Meanwhile, this young boy grew up to become one of the most famous scholars of Islam. Allâh, the Exalted, blessed him with special wisdom and knowledge of the deen. His name was Abu Hanîfah (rahmatullâh ‘alayhi- Allâh have mercy on him) and he is known today as Imâm-e-A’zam, the Great Imâm and scholar of Islam. May Allâh shower some of His Mercy in the same way upon our Muslim children who are growing up today. Âmeen.

[(Adapted into English from Manâqib Abî Hanîfah written by Imâm Muwaffaq Ibn Ahmad al-Makki (d. 568 Hijri).

Dar al-Kitâb al-‘Arabiy, Beirut, 1981/1401H.]

Last modified 01/25/03 04:52 PM - Iqra - ISSN #1062-2756

Cuaca

2005-04-11T09:54:00.000+08:00

Dua minggu terakhir ini, tepatnya akhir Maret dan awal April ini, cuaca di Makassar mayoritas mendung dan seringkali disertai hujan yang turun dengan deras meski tidka berlangsung lama.

Seingatku, selama musim hujan ini, baru Jum'at kemarin 8 April 2005, kami ke Masjid dengan menggunakan payung. Di samping hujannya bertepatan dengan waktu shalat Jum'at (12-13 siang), turunnya juga amat deras.

Selling and Closing

2005-03-17T14:07:00.000+08:00

This example of interactive selling and closing actually occurred.

A “supersalesman” was booked as a guest on a late-night talk show. The host had not met the guest before he was introduced by the announcer as the person who had just won a salesman-of-the-year award. For some reason, the host was suspicious and aggressive. He began the interview on a hostile note:

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Try to sell me something.”

The salesman responded quietly, “What would you like me to sell you?”

Pointing to the top of his desk, the host said, “That ashtray. Try to sell me that ashtray.”

“Why would you want an ashtray like that?” the salesman asked.

The host responded, “I’m a pipe smoker and it would help me keep things in order and keep the ashes off my papers.”

The salesman said, “Those are good reasons to have an ashtray like that. It will certainly help you keep your desk clean and orderly.” He went on, “What about that ashtray interests you?”

The host said, “It’s crystal, and has a nice shape, and is heavy, and will hold down my papers, and refracts the light in an interesting way.”

The salesman reflected back, “Yes, this ashtray is really attractive and weighty and will refract the light colorfully. How much would you pay for an ashtray like that?”

The host responded, “Oh, $15 or $20.”

The salesman said, “I can let you have it for $15.”

Case closed.

Minggu III (13 - 19) Maret 2005

2005-03-17T10:40:00.000+08:00

Senin 14 Mar 2005

Hujan deras sempat turun dari subuh hingga siang hari.

Selasa 15 Mar 2005

Rabu 16 Mar 2005

Kamis 17 Mar 2005
Ada angin surga berhembus ..... Maksudnya saya terima kunjungan "mendadak" dari Doel. Semapt ngobrol ttg 'jati dirinya' .....

List Price

2005-03-17T10:35:00.000+08:00

Never attempt to discuss your products and services as soon as you uncover a problem - you must also uncover the cost of the problem.

Here’s the choice you have to make. You can focus on selling your product or you can focus on solving your customer's problem. The bigger the problem the more profitable the sale will be.

There's a huge difference between transformational selling and transactional selling. Transactional selling goes like this: Here I am - here's what I'm selling - what do you think - how's my price - here's a better price.

Transformational selling is totally different and takes an entirely different pathway -one that is more profitable for you.

Look - up to this point I’ve focused on “sizing up” and quantifying your prospect/customer's problems. The logical next step is for you to present your product/service offering in similar detail and a quantifiable unique value propos

Here are some of his pearls of wisdom:
A. If nobody else does it - it's more valuable.
B. If you do it better than the competition - it's more valuable.
C. When you consider (A&B) above nobody can argue with the value you place on what you're doing, since you're the only one doing it that way.

You're in sales so I'm going to say this twice.
1. If you must discount, discount the value of something you’re willing to give away for free, but only after you have assigned a dollar value to it.
2. If you must discount, discount the value of something you’re willing to give away for free, but only after you have assigned a dollar value to it.

The next time somebody asks you, "How much does this cost" never tell him, always say, "It depends."

Then they'll ask you, "depends on what?" Now you can respond and tell them what it depends on including: The quantity they’re buying, what else the buying, the length of the
contract, the extended warranty, etc.

Sidang Paripurna DPR RI Ricuh

2005-03-17T10:17:00.000+08:00

Kericuhan antar wakil rakyat kembali terjadi. Kali ini terjadi dalam rapat paripurna DPR pada Rabu (16/3/2005) sore kemarin yang membahas sikap dewan tentang kebijakan kenaikan harga bahan bakar minyak. (Detik.com)

"Ricuh? Oh bukan, mereka itu sedang mempertontonkan kepada yang mereka
wakili bagaimana ber-demo...k[ekerasan]rasi!"

"Hey, siapa sih yang mereka wakili? Kamu, ya?"

"He, he, he ... [mimik dan intonasi Sin-chan] Gus Dur lu lawan!"

"Sidang DPR berlangsung ricuh? Ah, itu mah biaaaaasaaaaa!"

"Jadi, apa dong yang luar biasa? Nah, yang luar biasa, kalo mereka itu pada ramai-ramai minta penurunan gaji plus tunjangan -yang tak masuk di akalnya orang-orang miskin!"

"Ooh, itu bukan yang pertama kali dan ~pasti?~ bukan pula yang
terakhir."

"Kalau di desaku hujan air berbuah bulir padi. Maka di DPR-ku hujan
interupsi buahnya apa, ya?"

"Kamu itu! Udah tahu nanya!"

Minggu II Maret 2005

2005-03-09T09:02:00.000+08:00

Air di ktr macet selama dua hari (7-8 Maret 2005). Sempat beli beberapa galon untuk mengisi bak lt. II.

CPU yang sdh dipakai selama +/- 10 tahun kini sedang dalam perbaikan. Baru saja (8 Mar 05) meminta ongkos 1.8 mio. Belum lagi monitor yang rusak harus diganti (dengan yang bekas aja yah!). Kira2 makan ongkos 300rb-an.

Ambalat. Ambalat. Ambalat. Kata ini selama 4 hari belakangan mendominasi pemberitaan di mass media (cetak n elektronik) Indonesia. Apa hal yang sama juga terjadi di Malaysia ya?

Rabu, 9 Mar 2005
Conference call,

Kamis, 10 Mar 2005
Hujan deras turun dari subuh hingga pagi hari

Jum'at, 10 Mar 2005

Libur hari raya nyepi. Tp tetap masuk kantor untik membereskan laporan pajak. Baca-baca ttg palm oil. PUlang dari ktr singgah di Gramedia Panakukang beli buku Menjadi Sukses & Sejahtera serta Maketing Yourself by Hermawan Kertajaya

Sabtu, 11 Mar 2005

Seharian di MULTI. Discuss marketing strategy

Ahad, 12 Mar 2005

Seharian at home. Summary of Marketing Yourself by Hermawan Kertajaya

Minggu I Maret 2005

2005-03-07T14:40:00.000+08:00

Hujan masih sering turun di minggu pertama bulan Maret 2005, setelah selama +/- 3 minggu tidak turun hujan (February 2005).

Tarif pete-pete (angkutan kota/angkot) naik Rp500,-. Jalur Tallo-Sentral naik dari Rp1,000,- menjadi Rp1,500,-. Jalur Perumnas-Pettarani-Sental juga naik dari Rp1,000,- menjadi Rp1,500.

Mengunjungi pameran komputer di Manunggal (Kamis 4 Maret 2005).

Brosur MULTI telah selesai dicetak meski hasilnya agak mengecewakan.

Maret 2005

2005-03-01T10:58:00.000+08:00

Bulan Maret 2005

Apa ya yang menarik di bulan lalu....

Hmm...

Cuaca : (1) Hujan sudah sangat jarang turun, (2) Seringkali panasnya terasa 'lain'.

Work : Nuansa baru. focus pada reasearch and development (mgr). Normal salary

Network:

How To Reach Your Goals

2005-02-21T12:08:00.000+08:00

How To Reach Your Goals
By Paul Blackburn

The problem with most goals is that they are usually vague and general. We do not clarify our outcomes in detail and then determine exactly how we are going to get there. To get what you want, you need to know what you want and you need to know what you want before you can communicate it.

For really important goals, take time to answer the following questions in detail. Your goal will be well formed in both your minds eye and in your heart. This format will assist you in transforming your dreams and desires into achievable goals.

1. What do you want?

Your goal must meet certain criteria for you to achieve the best results. It must be stated in the positive (not what you dont want). It must be something initiated or controlled by you (not, I want someone else to do X). It must be as specific as possible (make an additional $500/week above my current level vs. more money).

2. What will achieving your goal do for you?

This will give you the underlying outcome behind what you want (at this point you can adjust what you want, or not). Look for the emotional DRIVER for your goal or be prepared to kiss it goodbye. If you do not have a powerful desire you cannot expect to be going past the established barriers in your life.

3. How will you know when you have it?

Describe what you will see, hear and feel upon achievement. Be very specific here and fill in as much detail as possible. Try describing a movie of your achievement.

4. How will others know when you have it?

Describe what an outsider would see, hear and feel (e.g., they will see me stand taller and move with deliberation). What will they notice different about you?

5. Where, when, and with whom do you want it?

Have a clear context for your goal. Be specific, and describe in detail where, when (time frame), and with whom (who will be there with you?).

6. What stops you from having it already?

This will help you identify the barriers to your achievement: the areas to be aware of and that must be handled in order to achieve. In particular look to the emotional "benefits" of NOT succeeding. Looking deeply in this area ALWAYS yields results.

7. How will your desired outcome affect other areas of your life?

This is a part many people overlook. It reflects the "ecology" of your life. How will this outcome affect the system that is your life? Note both positive and negative consequences of achieving this goal. It is also important to realise that some areas of your life will dramatically improve because of a victory in this one.

8. What resources do you already have that will contribute to getting your outcome?

Take stock of what you already have available to assist you (experience, friends, tools) in your quest. What do you have that could be used in a different way than normal? What can or could you trade for what you need?

9. What additional resources do you need in order to get your outcome?

What else do you need? Step back and be specific. Who can help and in what way could they do it? What "stuff" can you start assembling that will help? This will give you fuel for action, and resources to pursue.

10. How are you going to get there?

Is the first step specific and achievable? Is there more than one way to get there? What can you do to break it down into smaller steps? Be creative - you'll be amazed at what you can come up with..

Take the time necessary to take all of your goals through this process.
This works great for changing unproductive behaviors as well!

Work at it; the rewards will be worth it.

Paul Blackburn
Australia's Premier Success Coach-
for Free articles, Reports and Inspiration go to http://ultimatelifecoachwa.com/getezine.html
(You are free to reproduce this article provided it is in full with contact details)

Focusing on Your Unique Ability

2005-02-17T13:09:00.000+08:00

Focusing on Your Unique Ability
by Dan Sullivan

Ever notice how some people seem to be effortlessly successful at what they do? They are considered "geniuses" in their fields, and display such passion, energy, and skill that it is a pleasure to watch them succeed. I don’t believe that genius is limited to a chosen few. What these individuals have in common is that they have each managed to identify, focus, and cultivate their Unique Ability. Through focusing on Unique Ability, there’s an opportunity for every one of us to reach this level.

What is it?

Unique Ability is a set of habits and talents that you have been developing all your life. Over time, you have had the opportunity to apply these talents to many different situations. When you feel most successful, you are combining these special talents with your intelligence and applying them to what you really care about.

I believe that everyone in the world has a Unique Ability, but that most people spend about 90 percent of their time focusing on abilities that are not unique. Most of their best results come from the ten percent of time that they’re focusing on their Unique Ability.

When working within your Unique Ability, you exhibit superior skill, energy, never-ending improvement, and most important, passion. People often find themselves working in areas where they are merely excellent (skill, but no passion), or even competent (meeting minimum standards) or incompetent (no matter how hard they try they will never improve). By focusing on Unique Ability you’re drawing on a renewable resource which will always improve.

Why focus on Unique Ability?

Imagine the results you would have if, instead of working in your Unique Ability only ten percent of the time, you worked in it 90 percent of the time. Spending more time doing the things that you love to do and are great at brings you increased energy, increased confidence, and the ability to create more value for others, which will lead to more productive relationships.

Building a strong network of relationships is important if you want to grow your business and increase your capabilities. These relationships include your clients, prospects, suppliers, and even your team. They trust, support, and have confidence in you — but why? There’s a certain something that you bring to the relationship that creates value for them. Though you may not even have been aware of it, you are using your Unique Ability.

Identifying your Unique Ability.

Identifying your Unique Ability is often difficult. Since this talent comes so easily to you, you find it hard to see it as unique. Start by thinking about the things that you have a passion for and can do easily. Often, these are also the activities that bring you the best results. If you receive praise or thanks for something and your gut reaction is "really, it was nothing," it’s probably a sign that you were using your Unique Ability.

Another way to identify your Unique Ability is to send out a letter to ten people who know you well. Describe Unique Ability, and then ask them to write down what they think your Unique Ability is. While they won’t all say exactly the same thing, there is often a common thread through the responses that will point you in the right direction.

Building a supportive team.

Some of the best examples of people focusing on their Unique Abilities are in the field of sports and entertainment. In these industries, structures are set up to ensure that top performers can focus on what they do best — performing. For example, Tiger Woods has a whole team of people around him who provide the support he needs to focus on staying at the top of his game. He doesn’t carry the clubs. He doesn’t manage his travel schedule. He plays golf.

Period.

You can focus on your Unique Ability too by finding a team to support you. Learn to delegate the things at which you are incompetent, competent, and excellent to people who possess their own Unique Abilities in these areas. Surrounded by people working in their own Unique Abilities, you can focus on what you do best and enjoy the most.

Combining passion and success.

Once you’ve started to identify your Unique Ability, begin to think about improvements you can make that will free you up to focus on it more. Even if you start by eliminating those activities at which you are incompetent or only competent, your productivity will increase immediately. It is your passion for your Unique Ability that will allow you to continually improve your capabilities, leading to ever-increasing opportunities — and success.

Source: http://www.strategiccoach.com/ideas/artcl_uniqueAbility.shtml

5 Simple Reasons Most People Will Never Get Rich ...and How To Make Sure You Do!

2005-02-17T13:01:00.000+08:00

5 Simple Reasons Most People Will Never Get Rich ...and How To Make Sure You Do!
by Mike Litman

What did I learn about getting rich by interviewing over 20 self-made millionaires?
Well, after interviewing one famous self-made millionaire after another I realized many of the secrets that make them rich while others continue to struggle.

When you understand and do what self-made millionaires do, you get to become one of them. If you don't understand and do what they do you don't get to become one. It's really that simple.

Here are 5 simple reasons most people will never get rich and how to make sure you do:

~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~
Reason #1 - Waiting to start:
~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~

Most people don't want to wait for success. But, at the same time, they are willing to wait before getting started on the road to success.

Do you see the problem here?

The longer you wait to get started, the longer it will be before you get the money, success, and lifestyle you want.

Many people are waiting for everything to be perfect before they get going. Therefore, they never get going and never get the rewards.
No race has ever been won (or even finished) by someone who never left the starting line.

Don't wait to get going. Start today on the road to success.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~
Reason #2 - Being financially illiterate:
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~

The cornerstone of all wealth is understanding the difference between assets and liabilities.

The difference is this: Assets put money IN your pocket. Liabilities take money OUT of your pocket.

Most people think their home, car, and other possessions are assets.
But, the truth is that in most cases those things take money out of your pocket.

They COST you money. They don't MAKE you money.

Therefore, by the true definition above, those things are liabilities.

They take money OUT of your pocket each month.

When you have more money coming IN from real assets than you have going OUT to pay for liabilities, you will be financially free.

There is only one way to do this. Which brings us to...

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~
Reason #3 - Focusing on linear income instead of passive income:
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~

One of the millionaires I interviewed said it simply. He said, "if you're not making money while you sleep, you'll never be rich."

Linear income is what you get from a job. You work for an hour and get paid only one time for that one hour's work, and that's it.

Passive income is when you work once but continue to get paid over and over again from work you're no longer doing.

Investing in or creating true assets that provide passive income for you is your ticket to wealth.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~
Reason #4 - Not understanding or using systems for making money:
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~

A system for making money is anything that allows you to make money without your own effort. In other words, it's an automated way to make money.

All true assets are simply "systems" of one sort or another.

Once you create or invest in a proven system for making money, there is no limit to the money you can make.

Becoming a master of money systems can bring you riches beyond your dreams.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=
Reason #5 - Not being persistent or patient enough:
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

To finish any race you have to leave the starting line and follow through to the finish line.

Most people create their own failure by either not getting started or not following through, or both.

To get rich, successful, and happy you must have the patience and persistence to cross the finish line. You must not only get started, but also follow through.

This may sound obvious, but it's still the cause of most failure.

Only by joining the small percentage of people who are willing to do the 5 things mentioned above will you have the greatest chances for wealth and success.

It's really quite simple...Decide to do these things and you can get rich too. If you don't do them, then like most people you may never get rich.
Decide now to master the ideas mentioned above and begin your road to success now.

Then follow through and watch the difference it makes.

Choose: To Watch or To Do

2005-02-17T12:59:00.000+08:00

Quoting Patrick Cripe

quote:

I am glad there are people who CHOOSE to watch as i am also glad to see people who CHOOSE to do. the ones who watch...I will be available to you on this forum as time dictates. The one who do...I will be available to you ANY TIME. You will have my office T#, FAX, E-mail address, and if need be, a meeting place should a personal visit be warranted.

If you CHOOSE to watch...YOUR WATCHING YOUR LIFE GO BY!!!

I thought of this the other day and was going to wait to ask this but, I think Patrick has brought it to light. Many people on this site, myself included, read, ask questions, ask more questions, get the answers, know what to do and how to do it..........and don't. We still keep reading, questioning. The market isn't right, when I pay off the bills, when the kids are in school, when I get the raise.....Someday I'll start and be free. Someday.

But, their are others that read, go do it, and ask questions later.
I recently, after a year of reading, got off the fence and started getting invovled in Real Estate on many fronts. I am excited to work with Patrick Cripe to learn flipping, I am also learning about L/O, Due Diligence and many other essential skills from other mentors.

I know have a passion and purpose and feel energized and driven everyday. It is an amazing feeling that I haven't felt in awhile.

The point is, one day we wake up and say "That's it, No More, I'm finished" I AM GOING TO BE FINANCIALLY FREE NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES, FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION.

To the many readers out their: What made you get off the fence and start.

To everyone stuck in analysis paralysis: What is keeping you from starting TODAY!
"Knowledge is not power, knowledge combined with taking immediate action is Power!"
-Anthony Robbins

I look forward to everyones comments

Lance
< Message edited by PsyopRanger -- 1/6/2004 11:29:20 AM >

Financial Planning

2005-02-17T12:57:00.000+08:00

I just replyed to a couple of posts about this and decided to repost this in it's own thread.

Here you go:

You are the best person to invest your money. RK states that uneducated investors are dangerous so, get educated. An FP or Stockbroker is normally a glorified salesperson and some sell the "stock of the month" that gives them the best commission. Yes, if you are going to invest it is good to have a FP or broker to "assist" you. However, do not go to them and say "What should I invest in?" Use a team, when you invest talk with other brokers, CPA's, etc. to see how this investment will affect your overall plan. Investing is a systematic plan, not a product.

***Questions to see if a financial advisor can talk the talk***

Are you a CFP? If no, why not?
http://www.cfp.net/default.asp

Do you offer comprehensive financial and estate planning? As well as business continuation planning?

What is a 412(i) Plan. This is a alternative retirement account for S quadrant people.

http://www.neschooner.com/b_412i.htm

Have you ever done a 72(t) ruling for a client? This is withdrawing IRA funds prior to age 59 without tax penalty. http://www.72tinfo.com/moneymanager/content.asp?page_id=119

Do you offer Self Directed IRA's?
http://www.pensco.com/SelfDirected.asp

Have you ever done a Stretch IRA?
http://www.pensco.com/Stretch.asp

What type of investments do you personally own?

What type of Limited Partnerships, Hedge Funds do you offer?
Do you own positive cashflow real estate?

What are some good bear market strategies?

What is your experience with collars and straddle options?

Note: The websites listed above are for information only, I do not endorse the companies or know of their services.

***For Mutual Funds:***

What is a basic load and management fee for A shares? Why?

Are these funds actively managed or rebalanced yearly?

What type of discounts do you offer for bulk investments?

These will get you started. If a broker knows his stuff, he should be able to answer all of these without hesitation. You must also know the answers before asking the question.

***Financial Plans***

This is a question that comes up often on the "How...started" forum. So here is my best answer, everyone please fell free to add any additions.

As a Financial Planner I am somewhat biased on this subject. I have seen many people get ripped off by big name companies and Financial Advisors selling so called Financial Plans. Also do-it-yourself plans (suze ormand) often leave out a lot.

Heres my advice.

A good financial plan should state the following:

1. Your currrent financial statement, tax analysis, and net worth

2. Your current investments, insurance, estate plan, wills, etc.

3. Your surivivor needs for your family (insurance) and disability needs if you are
the breadwinner and become disabled

4. Your projected income needed to retire in future dollars, including inflation and taxes.

5. Depending on your age, a Long Term Care analysis.

6. An assett allocation model listing the types of investments suitable for your risk tolerance.

7. Recommendations for investments.

8. If you own a business, a business valuation summary and business plan

9. Depending on your estate size, a very good estate plan. I have seen many clients who think a "simple will" will do the trick. You can lose 80% of your net worth at death without a proper estate plan.

This is how a professional financial plan is done. It would cost you about $400 from a decent financial planner.

**Some stockbrokers, banks, financial advisors say that they do financial planning or they say they offer FREE Financial Plans. These are absolutely wothless. They are nothing but a cashflow analysis statement. They are really trying to sell you investments. The plan always comes first.

These are some of the best companies that offer financial plans for a good price: Waddell and Reed, American Express Financial and most Certified Financial Planners (They charge more). Note, I said that they offer good FINANCIAL PLANS, the investments that they want to recommend is a whole different subject.

Note: Most Financial Planners do not include real estate investments, only paper assets.

If you don't want to pay, try to find someone who uses the Financial Profiles software, it is ( in my opinion) the best in the business.

I also use a program called Wealth Forecasting which can run probabilties of your financial plan succeeding and can also list real estate income and real estate sales. Also look for plans with Monte Carlo simulations, these also give you probabilities of success.

Or even a simple spreadsheet will work at first!

This is just a starting plan, next you need to figure out short term, mid-term and long term goals. Put specific dates on when to accomplish these goals. Then decide which investment vehicle you will use to accomplish each goal. Break the goal down into action steps with dates from where you are now until your date to achieve the goal. Begin with an end in mind. Entrance and exit.

These should be looked at daily, or at least weekly. All the time tracking your progress. Put realistic time frames on your goals. (I.E. If you have no real estate experience, buying a 100 unit apartment complex in the next six months is not realistic.) Your first goal may be reading books on investing or real estate. Your second goal may be getting out of debt. etc, etc.

I call my plan the Fluid Financial Action Plan, becuase it's fluid and can change with my strategies, and it is an action plan to creat action. Taking action is the single most important step.

I also attach specific rewards to attaining goals.

*When I create a $1000 per month cashflow, I get a new set of Callaway Golf Clubs*
Then I would have a picture of some golf clubs, are you getting the picture?
I hope this helps people understand a financial plan and what it contains. I know that a lot of you out their probably have some other great ideas, please feel free to share them and how they help.

Sincerely,

Lance
< Message edited by PsyopRanger -- 1/19/2004 3:41:41 AM >

Stacy's "Wisdom"

2005-02-17T12:52:00.000+08:00

Lance:

I'm not sure specifically what you would like me to share. My journey is complex and involved. It contains all the high's and low's that most new real estate investors face.

The short version is, I'm probably not like most of the people who post to this board. The only RK book I've ever read is "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". I didn't feel it necessary to read the trilogy. I found this board after reading that book, and since then my life has been drastically changed for the better.

I only post to this board. I haven't ever spent any significant time looking/studying/responding to any of the other real estate investment boards. I haven't read any real estate investing books.

I became interested in real estate as a way to reduce my personal income taxes. We started out buying rental properties with the hope that the depreciation would offset some of our income. In addition, buying rental properties seemed to be a good way to "save" for retirement. I quickly decided that I hated rental properties. I like the depreciation, but I really, really can't stand managing them. I don't believe in management companies because frankly, in my experience, they are mostly rip offs that need to be micro-managed anyway. I figured if I was going to have to manage something, it might as well be the properties. At least I was able to control my costs a bit better.

Now, before I get blasted. I'm just stating my opinion. I believe that cash spends better in my pocket than it does other people's pockets. I'm very frugal, and I don't like feeling like I'm being taken advantage of by management companies. I guess if I ever acquire enough rentals to need a management company, I'll most likely create one of my own!

We started working preforeclosures as a way to continue in real estate without the focus to acquire rental properties.

I gained most of my sales experiences in the cemetery and funeral industry. I understand grief, and the grieving process, much better than most people. Dealing with homeowner's who are losing their homes is very must like dealing with someone who has lost a loved one. The transition for me was not all that difficult.

For most people, learning how to deal with homeowner's seems to be their biggest challenge. For me, it was a pretty easy transition. Learning the "business" of preforeclosures was more difficult for me.

Today, I am blessed with being able to continue to mentor people, and I enjoy the partnerships that I have established with people across the country. We currently work preforeclosures in about 26 states. At any given time, I am working about 50-60 preforeclosure deals at various stages of the deal.

We established Success Enterprises, LLC in 2000. Over the past 4+ years, I've gone from not even knowing what a preforeclosure was to where we stand today. It has not been easy, but it has been fun. For me, this is my passion. For me, it's not work, it's a game. For me, cashing out of a deal is not that big of a deal. In fact, it means the game is over. For me, the fun is still in chasing the deal. For me, the fun is helping others to realize the same dreams/goals that I have.

Nothing is more gratifying than to have a homeowner send you an e-mail thanking you for helping them, and at the same time, it is equally gratifying when someone you have mentored gives notice to their day job because they are doing enough deals that their day job has become a burden.

We specialize in preforeclosures. We also own rental properties, and we do sell properties outright, and via Lease/Options. We do take on a rehab project from time to time, but really they aren't usually the highest and best use of our time. Generally, our idea of "fixing up" a property is paint and carpet. Anything over that, we just flip the property to a rehabber.

As for what my system is, I guess I would say the basis was formed from posts from this board, and the school of hard knocks. I'm the kind of person who is open to the possibility that I don't know what I don't know. With that in mind, I'm always asking questions. "No" is not a word that works for me. I am constantly challenging myself to learn more than I knew yesterday about my business. This type of "can do" attitude has served me well. I have never suffered from "analysis paralysis". I guess I've always figured if someone else can figure it out, so can I. I'm more conservative than I would like to be. I always weigh the reward to the risk. If the reward is worth more than the risk, then I take the risk. If not, I pass on the risk.

I have continued to surround myself with really smart people. They make me look good. I am blessed to have a team of people who believe in me and my business. I tell people that I work "part-time" - I just get to pick which 12 hours a day I work.

My goal is to be done "working" in 5 years. Does that mean that I'll retire? No. It just means that in 5 years, I don't plan on having to be in the office everyday. Am I out of the rat race? Technically, yes, but I'd like to be a little more flush before I call it quits.

From time to time I am asked what has helped me find success. I guess I can sum it up pretty simply.

1. There are only two types of people in your life. Those that are part of your problem, and those that are part of your solution. The good news is these people get to show you who they are in your life. You just have to be strong enough to know the difference, and then deal with them accordingly.

2. There are only two types of friends. Your "party friends" and your "true friends". Know the difference. Your party friends will constantly tell you what can't be done. Your true friends will help you get it done.

3. Decide what is the highest and best use of your time. Don't get caught doing busy work. Don't convince yourself that busy work will help you find the success that you are looking for. We will always find time to do the things that we really want to do. If you want to be a success, you'll need to decide and then don't let anything get in your way.

4. Appreciate your victories - no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. The world will be very quick to bring you down. Take your moments when you get them.

5. Decide if you are a winner or a loser. If you decide that you are a winner, then start hanging out with winners. Successful people know to hang out with successful people. It doesn't matter if they are real estate investors or not. Just being around successful people puts off an energy that you won't find anywhere else.

Success breeds success.

Well, that's about it. I hope this is what you were looking for. I wish each of you much success!

Stacy
< Message edited by successenterprisesllc -- 1/29/2005 9:20:24 PM >

The Case of Potentially Successful Women

2005-02-17T12:48:00.000+08:00

The Case of Potentially Successful Women
By: Teresa King

Once upon a time in a land called the "real world" two single women worked side by side in a "real job."

One was dressed in obviously expensive clothes with her hair done to perfection. The other wore clothes that were nice, but just did not have that touch of "success" written on them.

Each woman had dreams.

The fancy dressed woman felt that by dressing for success, she would more likely get promotions, she would look successful so she could feel successful, and/or catch a rich husband.

The more conservatively dressed woman was doing something else. She had already looked into the firm she was working for and knew her chances of promotion were slim next to none, no matter how hard she worked.

One day, the two women on impulse decided to have lunch together. They looked at the clock then hurried down the stairs and down the busy street to a local restaurant, high heels clicking on the hard gray pavement.

While they were waiting for their order, the conservatively dressed woman asked her co-worker, "How can you afford to dress the way you do on our salary and get your hair done each week? That must cost you a fortune."

Before she could get her answer, the waitress asked them for their order.

The successfully dressed woman ordered coffee and salad for $3.50

The conservatively dressed woman ordered soup and sandwich at $7.95.

"Aren't you hungry, that isn't enough to feed a starving fish," mentioned the conservatively dressed woman.

The successfully dressed woman smiled. "Well, I know to be a success, you must dress for success, and I do plan on being successful. I cut in areas that are not as important to me as becoming successful."

"How interesting. Hey, I'm planning on starting my own business so I am saving in most areas to be able to do that," volunteered the conservatively dressed woman.

"That's wonderful, so am I."
Just then the waitress put their orders on the table and refreshed the coffee. "Anything else?" she asked.

"No, thanks," they each replied.

Just then the waitress chimed in, "I couldn't help but over hear your conversation, I am working at night on the internet learning to build my own business," and handed them each a business card.

"Really, you mean work at home?" asked the successfully dressed woman, as she politely looked at the card.

"Yes, I will not be a waitress much longer."

Later, after their 20 minute lunch, each woman left a dollar tip, the successfully dressed woman left the business card on the table, the conservatively dressed woman, took her card with her.

The waitress, smiled as she cleared the table and dumped the two dollars into her company supplied uniform's pocket and picked up the discarded business card, then placed it into her stack of business cards in her pocket.

On the way back to the office the successfully dressed woman stopped and got a mocha latte for $3.00.

That night, the successfully dressed woman was having dinner with a young man who had asked her out to dinner and a movie.

That night, the conservatively dressed woman, had a can of beans, and sat in front of the television, which she had turned up louder as she could barely hear it over her washing machine.

The waitress ate at the restaurant getting her free meal from the company, then quickly changed her uniform to a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, threw the dress in the company laundry basket and rushed home to her internet business.

What is the moral of this story?

Answer One.. Become a Waitress; it has a lot of perks.

Answer Two.. As long as you dream and plan all will be well

Answer Three..Dress for Success and over tip your waitress

Answer Four.. Not only Plan your future, but do something about it.

Who do You believe will be the most successful? Read all answers before selecting:

Answer One..
Don't be ridiculous, women can't be successful

Answer Two..
The dressed for success, she is getting a free dinner

Answer Three..

All of them as they are thinking about their future

Answer Four..

The conservatively dressed woman as she is planning to improve her position in life, she under tips waitresses and she took the business card

Answer Five..

The waitress, she is not only planning her future she is doing something about her future.

ANSWER....

It's a tough call, but this author believes our industrious waitress will become successful because she is actively doing something about her dreams.

This author also believes that the other two women have potential, for they are thinking about their future.

The true moral to this story is: Read as much as you can on making a better future for yourself, apply what you can do and work toward it. Yes, dressing for success is one step. Yes, saving money, is another step. There is no one single way to become successful as it takes a variety of things. However, no matter what you decide, do something.

Teresa King
(c) March, 2002

Re: *** MILLIONAIRES CLUB

2005-02-17T12:44:00.000+08:00

Re: *** MILLIONAIRES CLUB
Posted: Feb 8, 2003 2:17 AM

Reply

Sorry I didn't have time to answer my own questions before, so here it is:

1) How long did it take you?

I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was 16. I dabbled in many businesses starting in my teens; been through all the trials-- Amway, MLM, Direct-Marketing, you name it, I was trying it. I started an Internet company in 97 and sold it prior to the dot-com bust when I was 31 years old. I am now 33 and still own Internet companies. I become a millionaire at age 31 and it took 3 years (from business survival to business success)

2) What strategies do/did you employ to become a millionaire?

Own your own business. My strategy (like real estate) is to build Internet real estate and leverage the power of the web. The more real estate you own (Assets which are income producing websites) the greater your income. While others focus on Real Estate, I focus on intellectual and technological real estate. For example, the last project I initiated took 2 months to complete and generates $2K per month in net profit. Dismal in my book, yet $2K/month is an extra $2k jacked onto my monthly net income.

3) What is your long-term plan?

My plan is to retire at age 35. (That's just 2.5 years!) I'd like to write a screen-play, or even to standup comedy in retirement. By 35, I hope to have liquid cash to the tune of $10 million. 5% interest on $10mm is $500,000 per year.

4) What advice do you have for those starting out ... in general?

TUNE OUT THE NEGATIVE PEOPLE. Negative, toxic people are everywhere. Unfortunately, many of them hang out here dealing out their limited world vision. You must learn to TUNE THEM OUT. These people dwell in their own little negative world and their personal misery loves your company. If you're friends are negative, you need to say goodbye. Your dreams, motivations, and desires are the lifeblood of your ability to take action. Those are killed by the negative, no-net-worth know-it-alls out there who will do anything to bring you down.

5) What do you think about RK and his books?

RK is so overdone now I want to puke. Yet, his basic fundamental principles are true. He exposed what I thought my secrets were. His directional guidance is invaluable. What he says is aiken to the old "Go West Young Man!" -- he just merely points you in the right direction; you are to make your own path -- no one will make it for you.

6) What is your financial status? Net worth? Assets? Liabilities? (answer what you feel you can).

Last month I cleared about $60,000 (+/- a few K). My NW is in the 3.5-5MM range depending on which business valuations you use. I am debt free except my home mortgage which I could pay off in a heartbeat but choose not too. If it wasn't for some creative tax strategies, I would have owed about $240,000 in taxes this year. Lucky for me, the check I wrote the IRS just 3 weeks ago was only for $46,000.

7) What pitfalls would you like to highlight for others?

Never stop learning. I read countless books on all types of topics. You can never stop learning. Also, if you aren't reading while your sitting on the toilet, you are wasting a lot of time. You can read a book in 1 week by just reading while managing the throne.

Also, don't take advice from people who have less than you and are not successful in their field of advice.

8) What is your favorite quote or slogan?

The best revenge in life is massive success... Les Brown

9) What is your favorite book?

Anthony Robbins; Awaken the Giant Within
Rich Dad Poor Dad was good too.

10) If you would recommend 1 thing to aspiring people, what would it be?

Look in your environment for opportunities. Anytime you say "I wish there was a way I could..." or "it would be easier if ..." . These thoughts that live in your mind are your key to finding business ideas and business opportunities which can be exploited.

11) What factor do you think was critical in your success?

Listen to your customers; they will ultimately tell you the direction you should be going.

12) Anything else you'd like to say?

Don't let anyone suck the life out of your dreams.

And I wish I didn't have that 4th cup of coffee -- I cant sleep.

Free MBA from Toilet University!

2005-02-17T12:38:00.000+08:00

Free MBA from Toilet University!
Posted: Jul 14, 2003 2:59 PM
Reply

The last week I have been especially chatty and I'd like to share with you one principle of success which I hold very important. For those who may have missed it....

FREE MBA Education for Toilet University.

I've mentioned it numerous times and thought it deserved its own thread.

Toilet University is a priceless asset:

Class is every day, yet, doesn't suck up your free time.

You are the only student.

Class is FREE.

Class topics are unlimited and 100% soley chosen by you.

Class times are whenever you want.

Class times are as long or as short as you want.

No exams.

Class is held in the privacy of your own home.

Here's how it works:
1) Go to the library and check out books on topics which interest you and which will foster your personal and financial goals.

2) Everytime you hit the bathroom for a seat, open the book and read. Each lesson is 5 minutes, perhaps longer depending on your bathroom preferences.

3) You educate yourself daily.

4) You educate yourself for free.

5) You educate yourself by "creating time" -- not enough time in the day to educate yourself? WRONG.

A good portion of my education (outside of University sponsored "BS's" which in my opinion were in fact "BS") came from Toilet University.

=)
Michael

8 Steps to Overcome Fear and Build Wealth

2005-02-17T12:20:00.000+08:00

8 Steps to Overcome Fear and Build Wealth

Your Formula For Success

The world is full of opportunities. Nearly anyone with a truly strong desire to succeed at something can succeed. People with enormous disabilities have overcome them to become world class athletes, corporation presidents or famous role models. Yet many other healthy and educated people have difficulty coping with life's problems. They never seem to get out of first gear. Out of 100 people who start in the working world at age 20, only five will be financially independent by age 65. That's a fact, as shocking as it may seem.

Only 5 percent of the population of our country, our great country filled with opportunities, ever reach the status of being truly financially independent! Now how can that possibly be? Surely they have the drive and desire to succeed when they graduate from school armed with fresh knowledge and a lot of spunk. But what happens in those 40 or so years in between? Why is it after all those years of learning experiences and hard work, they're often no better off than when they started out?
After years of studying what makes people successful, I've concluded there are eight basic key elements individuals either have or lack that affect their chances of reaching a high level of success. But let's first define success. Success is not the accumulation of money and material things, although to some this may be part of it. Success is the process of reaching a plateau in life where happiness and piece of mind are achieved; where one feels they have the choice and opportunity to do whatever it is they feel they personally want to do with the rest of their life, and the satisfaction that they have accomplished most of what they have set out to do thus far.

The process of achieving success for every individual is different. Obviously the processes for Donald Trump and Mother Teresa are going to be vastly different. But both believe their process is the right one. Your individual values will plot the route you'll personally take. But to achieve true success as in my definition just given you, you'll need to develop all eight of the key elements I'm about to tell you about. Apply these key elements to your life, your career and your business and you cannot fail. Study these key elements over and over until you fully understand how they can play such a critical role in success. Once you understand them, everything else will seem to fall into place so easily. Once you apply them, you'll be amazed how simply success can be achieved.

Key Element #1 - The Right Attitude

Have you ever gone into a store or other business only to be waited on by a person who was unfriendly, rude or otherwise distasteful? Have you ever called a company and been greeted by a voice on the phone that was cold, nasty or short with you? Of course, we all have. We then wonder why that person is the way they are. We say they have a bad attitude. Why are they that way? They may just be having a bad day. Maybe things have gone wrong at home. But usually it's because they are dissatisfied with their job. They're bored and they feel they really don't want to be doing what they're doing. They don't feel they're appreciated for their work and their wages often reflect it. What these people don't seem to understand is they're probably getting paid only what they're worth. You see, they don't understand the secrets to success.

They believe they should be paid more than they earn. They want to be paid a good salary before they will do good work. They don't understand they have this formula backwards. They don't understand that they need to earn their wage in the way of good service to others before they will get paid a good wage in return for what they have done. The quality of their service is what determines their worth, not simply their presence at a job. The same applies to a business. If a business does not provide a good service to a community, it will not prosper or receive a good income. What one receives is in direct proportion to what one provides in the way of service. If you serve your community well by providing good quality products and services at fair prices, then you will receive in return a good income and repeat business from your customers.

Those that refuse to give or do more than they're paid for seldom receive more than they give or do. You cannot receive more than what you earn for very long. Many people go through the motions of putting in their time at work or at their business but their minds are focused somewhere else. Their efforts are only half-hearted and a "that's good enough" attitude is often the norm. A clerk in a store often feels the only way they can increase their income is to work more hours or get a second job. But what about if they changed their attitude? Becoming more helpful to customers, learning more about ways to help their employer increase business, doing things they aren't required to do; wouldn't an employer recognize these key elements in an employee? And wouldn't it make that employee indeed more valuable to that business? Apply these same principles to a business that is competing with other similar businesses. By offering to wash the windshield of a gas customer's car, by giving away some insignificant item free of charge, by keeping your store sparkling more than anyone else's and by simply saying to the customer, "Thank you for your business. We surely appreciate your coming into our store!" All other things equal, wouldn't these things give you the edge over your competition?

Your attitude about what you do and how you do it will affect your success. Remember, the person of least value to an organization is usually the first to go when hard times hit. The same is true for businesses. Are you a vital part of your organization? Is your business a vital part of the community or is it just another place to shop? You can change your life by changing your attitude. Your environment is a reflection of you. What kind of attitude do you have? What is the degree of service you provide to your employer or your community? To increase your service, read good books on your field, listen to tape programs. They can be extremely motivating. But just like anything that needs attention, it must be kept up. Just as you'd mow and fertilize your lawn, you need to constantly strive to maintain and improve your attitude and career. Model successful people. What are their contributions to society? What have they done better than anyone else in their field? Most of all, keep a positive, self-expectant attitude in every situation.

Key Element #2 - Non-Conformity

Another reason so few people today succeed is that they go around acting like the 95 percent of the people who are unsuccessful. They conform. And they conform to the wrong group. We learn conformity at an early age. We're taught by our parents, from childhood, to act like the other children. Our schools teach us to do everything the same. There is no encouragement to break from the group and become an individual. Everyone must think and act alike. Our military is even more rigid. Anyone who differentiates from the norm soon learns they must pay the price. Then, before long, they're on their own, practicing what they learned. They became part of social groups that act alike.

They get up in the morning, go to work, get together with others of similar interests for some social activity perhaps, have a few drinks, go home, watch TV for a few hours and go to bed. Whatever fits comfortably into their schedule without too much effort is what is usually done. And conforming to the activities of others for companionship and social grace seems the thing to do, not to mention the easy way out. New businesses open and try to be successful by copying similar businesses. Sure, they change their name and paint their walls a different color but very few are truly different. Then when someone does open a business with a completely new concept, it very often meets with raving success. The pattern begins of everyone copying the leader, it never occurring to them to be imaginative and different themselves. How many restaurants open every day serving the same basic items as everyone else.

And only when a place that's refreshingly original opens does someone say, "Gee, I should have thought of that." And they should have. Because it usually only requires a desire to offer something different. Something that only required thought to conceive. Conformity is a major cause of failure. Non-conformity breeds imagination and creativity and keeps the mind working. Most inventors, self-made millionaires, philosophers and great people of history have been nonconformists. Their strong desire not to be like everyone else has driven them to create new ideas and better ways of doing things. You need to step out of that all-too-familiar circle of comfort to achieve greatness. Or will you be content at age 65 to look forward to living on that social security check and conforming to the surrounding groups as you have since you were young? Will you be content to look back and say, "I shoulda..." or "I coulda... ." But by then it will be too late!

Key Element #3 - The Ability To Think And Reason

I'm not a really religious person to tell you the truth. But I do know there are certain Universal Laws that make things work. They always apply and can never be broken. They always work under any circumstances and they are there to insure that this wonderful world operates the way it is supposed to operate, in spite of how mankind tries to change it sometimes. The law of gravity, for instance, makes certain that things stay put. The law of cause and effect states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every action you take there will be a result from it. This is where you begin your thinking and reasoning process. If you produce a quality product, people will most likely buy it. If you produce an inferior product, they will avoid it. If your service is good, you can expect a good demand for it. If your service is poor, the demand will be poor. Good action, good result. Poor action, poor result. Any attempt to try to gain money or wealth without providing an equal amount of value to the community will only result in eventual failure. It can't be any other way. It's a law. And those who have tried to break these laws have had to answer to a higher power at some point in the future. So success or failure is only a matter of following the Universal Laws. Learn to think and reason out your problems knowing that for every action you take, there will be a reaction.

When you are faced with a truly difficult problem, find a quiet spot where you can think without being interrupted. Take a pad and pen and start writing down all of the aspects of the problem. Then concentrate on solutions. Write down anything that pops into your head, no matter how far fetched it may seem. Soon you'll be surprised to find that the ideas begin to come quite quickly. If they don't, try again the next day, rephrasing the problem. State the problem as a positive question, such as, "What can I do to increase my business?" Don't state it negatively, such as "How come I'm not doing well?" Ask yourself the questions with the expectation of receiving an answer. You'll be surprised how often you'll get one. Seek advice from people who are likely to be able to give you an educated answer. When faced with a difficult problem, people will go to the most unlikely sources to find an answer. They'll ask their friends, relatives and next door neighbors, many of which know less than they do, before they'll ask someone who is likely to know. If you'll only think, you'll be surprised at how far ahead of the crowd you'll be. Be as creative as your mind allows you to be. Create new ways of tackling an old problem. Create new ways of bringing value to your customers. You don't need to compete with other businesses. You only need to create a better concept.

Key Element #4 - Vision

Our lives are the result of the pictures in our minds. What we visualize in our minds can guide us through life to a world of happiness and success or to a life of crime, misfortune, confusion and frustration. Programming our minds for good purposes can be a powerful tool for reaching our goals in life. You can tell what a person is thinking about most of the time by observing the quality of their life. Did you ever look at it this way before? A person of modest means limits their vision to what they feel they're capable of, usually very little. And that is what they settle for most of the time. A person living a life of crime is always focused on their next victims. Whereas, a person of wealth and accomplishment has pictures of great goals, undaunted by mental restrictions. And that person usually achieves most of those dreams. They need only have vivid pictures and realistic expectations and the belief they can achieve whatever they set out to achieve. Vision is taking a thought and being able to turn it into a dream by imagining the steps in your mind. Then it's simply a matter of turning that dream into a goal.

Then that goal into reality, one step at a time. It's been said "what the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." What thoughts for your future can you conceive in your mind? Do you honestly believe you can reach that goal? Then there are no roadblocks to success. Only detours perhaps. But life's challenges only make you stronger. Are you at a job you hate to go to every day? Then set a dream in your mind. Create a vision. See it becoming a reality. Set about a plan, believe you can achieve, and don't stop until you're there. Opportunity is everywhere yet millions of people are leading empty, meaningless lives and struggling simply to exist. What pictures are in your mind? Are you in control of your destiny or are the circumstances of the moment controlling you? Don't look at life for short-term satisfactions. See it as a long-range project with the pot of gold at the end because that is what it really is. You will become what you consistently think about.

Key Element #5 - Goals

If you asked most people today if they have goals, most would probably name off a few resolutions they might still remember they set last New Years. Very few could be really specific. Some people's goals might be simply to get through the day. Hardly anyone realizes the importance of goals in achieving success on a long-term plan. And by goals I mean precise, clear-cut, well thought out, written goals for short and long-term success. Probably no more than five percent of people in this country have them. And the five percent that do are most likely the five percent that have already achieved or will achieve financial independence before age 65. Studies have proven this to be true. Probably the single most important factor in achieving success is goals. People with goals know exactly where they are going. They know how they are going to get there.

Yet if this is so important, why don't more people set goals? For one thing they doubt that something so simple can work. Their only attempt at setting goals is on New Year's Day and we all know those don't work. Millions believe that what ultimately decides their destiny are external forces and circumstances surrounding them. They refuse to believe they, themselves, play a major part in controlling their lives. And they just don't care to put in the effort to plot a plan for life because they have so many more important things to do, like watching the ball game or painting the garage floor. They don't realize they could have almost anything they want if they would just decide what they want and take action to get there.

Here are the steps to take to set your goals. Make a list of the things you would like to accomplish over the next five years. This could include things you want to achieve quickly. Be specific. List things you realistically want to accomplish but don't be afraid to list goals that may seem out of reach to you at this time. Six months or a year from now you'll be surprised as to how real those goals will become. After each goal, put a deadline as to how long you give yourself to reach that goal. For example, you might list goal number one as: I want to have a net worth of $250,000. I want to achieve this goal within five years from today. Read your goals over every day, once in the morning and once before you go to bed. Believe in your mind you can and will achieve these goals. Soon they will become a part of your belief system and your mind will begin working to find ways to get you there. People do this every day on a smaller scale. They set their minds on getting that new car or that new washer and dryer and they don't stop until they get them. But they don't think they're capable of getting larger goals. If it works for the small things, why won't it work for the bigger things if your plan is better?

Key Element #6 - Burning Desire

Having goals is an important step toward reaching your dreams but you must also have a burning desire to get there. Without it your goals will only be written words on a paper. What we can do and what we will do will make the difference between failure and success. Immigrants come into this country with nothing and realize the American Dream while many Americans are still dreaming of it. And that's because of that burning desire that brought them to this land of opportunity in the first place. They will do whatever it requires and will work as many hours as they have to in order to succeed. While many Americans are saying, "Why should I work when I can collect unemployment or welfare," these people are not content to just get by.

They're building those dreams, and that burning desire is what's driving them. Get out your list of goals. After each goal, make a list of the reasons you need to reach that goal. Is it so that your kids can have an education? Is it for your secure retirement? Is it so your parents can live comfortably for the rest of their lives? Is it for your personal satisfaction? Is it so you can start to live the good life? Is it so you can further your education? What are your reasons? Make them as emotional as you can. Pour your heart out into those reasons. A true burning desire will drive you toward that future more than any amount of wishing and hoping. And the stronger that desire is, the more quickly you'll reach your destination.

Key Element #7 - Plan of Action

All of the best intended goals and the strongest desires are useless without a plan about how you intend to accomplish your mission. Many people have good intentions but they just get caught up in everyday living. They soon realize a year or two has passed and those goals are still sitting in the desk drawer because they failed to set up a plan of action. Often we procrastinate because we're not sure of what we should do or how we should get started. There are those of us who just waste away the hours and the days doing things just for the sake of passing the time. Isn't it interesting that the people that should be the most concerned with trying to increase their incomes are the ones that spend the most time in front of the TV? Did you know that one out of five people in this country watch Wheel of Fortune every day? Millions have their TV on all day long. Many watch 5-6 hours of non-educational TV every day. Think of what they could accomplish if only part of that time was used productively to increase their knowledge.

And many others spend hours reading for entertainment, but what they read is of almost no educational value. If just a small part of that time was used for reading material of an educational nature, how much farther ahead would they be today? And this material I'm talking about doesn't have to be about how to harness nuclear energy or some technical subject like that. Just something the reader can gain a bit of knowledge from. Perhaps a business related book of some sort or something to do with a particular sport or hobby might make that reader's all-around knowledge a little more complete. But the best way to keep from wasting away time is to have a specific plan of action to accomplish those goals you've set. Get out those goals one more time. After each goal and after each reason you need to achieve those goals, make a step-by-step list of how you intend to get from where you are to where you want to be. If one of your goals, for instance, is learning to fly a plane, you might list your steps this way:

1. Check phone book for nearest flight school.
2. Go to airport and get information on costs, schedules, instructors.
3. Get required medical exam.
4. Schedule first lesson.
5. Finish course within six months.

List every small step you need to take. Then take that first step immediately. Not next week. Not next month. But today or tomorrow get going. What this does is put your plan into action. Taking those first steps cements the goal in place making it more real in your mind. Five years from now you will be the sum total of your thoughts and actions up until then. Where will you be?

Key Element #8 - The Ability To Act On Your Plan

The one thing that keeps people with good intentions from reaching their level of success is fear. Fear can cripple you and hold you back all of your life. It can keep you from trying different things, meeting people, doing things you want to do or just getting out of bed in the morning in some extreme cases. Fear has many faces. It can surface as a fear of injury, fear of what other people might think, fear of failure, fear of the unknown. There are as many reasons to fear doing something as there are to actually do it. But there is one thing that will counteract fear every time. And that is ACTION. Action is the antidote for fear. Whenever you are afraid to do something, you must take action immediately before that fear can build. What will happen is you will meet that fear head on and discover that most fears are unwarranted. This is not to say you should jump foolishly into a situation. Of course you must use caution. But never let a fear hold you back. Most people operate on 10 percent or less of their full ability and fear is a contributing factor.

Think back on your life. How much further ahead would you be today if you had acted on past situations? Did you let opportunities pass you by because of fears of acting? Remember that there is no such thing as failure. There are only results. And if the results you get from doing a particular thing aren't what you wanted, then you now know how not to do something. This should be viewed as a learning experience, not a failure. The next time you'll be that much closer to knowing the right way of doing it. Most successful people fail miserably all of their lives. They just have the ability to view it as a lesson and pick up the pieces and do it again and again until it turns out the way they want it to. They look at their mistakes simply as ways they shouldn't do something. Face your fears head on. You'll be much stronger for it. What's always been of interest to me is how so many people love the idea of a challenge. They play sports for a challenge. They buy board games so that they can challenge their neighbors and friends. They play video games and watch Wheel of Fortune for the challenge of coming out a winner. But yet in the game of life when the stakes are real, they will do almost anything to avoid life's challenges. I guess they feel safe in their unreal world, but that is where they ultimately end up living. That unreal world where only the superstars, their soap opera idols and the men and women from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous live the good life.

Do you want to fantasize that good life or do you want to be a part of it? It's up to you. No one can make that decision for you. Another quick point. All of the ingredients in this success plan are useless unless you have the energy to carry out your plan. Eat right. Get rest. Cut down on alcohol. Get exercise. You don't want to run out of steam half way up the ladder of success.

So there you have it. The eight key elements to working your plan. Let's go over them once more.

1. The Right Attitude - Approach life with a cheerful and optimistic attitude. Leave the negative attitudes for the losers in life.

2. Non-Conformity - Remember that conformity is a major cause of failure. Be innovative. Look for better and more interesting ways of doing things.

3. The Ability To Think And Reason - Writing down your problem and then concentrating on finding several solutions will put you miles ahead of the average person. It's surprising how many people today simply don't take the time to think.

4. Vision - Take a thought. Work it around in your head until it starts to take form as a workable idea. Then watch it grow in your mind into a plan of action. Remember that some of the world's greatest ideas started as a single vision in someone's mind. Walt Disney had a vision. Can you think of others?

5. Goals - Nothing is as important to success as the creation of goals. Let your mind dream. Then decide if you want those dreams to become a reality. Unsuccessful people make their lifestyle fit their wages. Successful people make their wages fit their lifestyles.

6. A Burning Desire - Nothing will drive a person to turn their goals into reality more than a burning desire. A burning desire is a wish so strong it dominates your thinking to a point of being almost an obsession. Simply hoping to achieve isn't enough. You need to want it so badly you can almost taste it.

7. A Plan of Action - Write down the steps you need to take to carry out your plan. Be specific. Make your steps small. It makes it easier to do if your steps are easy ones.

8. The Ability To Act On Your Plan - Take action on your plan immediately. Don't procrastinate. Face your fears head on. When thought and reason do not neutralize fear, action will. If your energy level is low, do something about it. Change your habits. See your doctor. See a nutritionist. Get exercise.
Best Wishes for Success . . . See You On The Fast Track
< Message edited by PsyopRanger -- 1/16/2005 11:03:33 PM >

Donald Trump's 7 Rules of Success

2005-02-17T12:17:00.000+08:00

Donald Trump's 7 Rules of Success

Just got this from Newsweek (Donald Trump's 7 Rules of Success)

1. You have to be born with enough brainpower

2. Once you have that, you have to love what you're doing. I've never seen anyone succeed who didn't love what they were doing.

3. You cannot stop. If there is a concrete wall in front of you, you have to go through it. You can never, ever give up or even think in terms of giving up.

4. Confidence is a very important thing. But confidence isn't something you just develop by saying "I'm going to do this or that." You really have to believe it.

5. I love pitting people against each other. My whole life is based on that. It brings out the best in people and the worst in peopole If the worst comes out, you don't want them working for you.

6. You have to remain cool under fire and let criticism roll off you. Good leaders handle conflict easily and bad ones are eaten up by it.

7. You must work well with others and be loyal to your team. Disloyalty is the worst of all traits. I seldom use the words "You're fired!" in business, unless somebody is really scum and stole from me."

When Business Cards Aren't Enough:

2005-02-17T11:57:00.000+08:00

When Business Cards Aren't Enough:
7 Unusual, Uncommon and Unexpected
Networking Secrets to Help Boost Business
by Scott Ginsberg

There comes a time in every small businessperson’s life when common networking practices like handing out business cards, attending various meetings and schmoozing with potential clients only goes so far. Eventually, the same old techniques get overused to the point that they become insufficient.

But how many times have you gained new business, created a great relationship or watched your website hits skyrocket because you did something unusual? Or uncommon? Perhaps even unexpected? Maybe you were on the right track.

The following is a list of atypical networking techniques that will help boost business. WARNING: They will stretch your courage. They will test your expertise. And they will challenge your creativity. But when business cards aren’t enough, alternative ways to develop and maintain mutually valuable relationships are your ticket to networking success.

What’s Your Story?

How did you get your start in business? Did you “fall” into your line of work? Perhaps there was an interesting anecdote, epiphany or event that caused the birth of your business. If so, this is called “Your Story.” Now, it’s not your Elevator Speech or your 30 Second Commercial. It’s your story. And it’s a fundamental tool for helping people and potential customers get to know you.

Here’s the key: write it out. Practice saying it aloud. Make it funny. And tell it to everybody. Not only does this create a memorable presence, but the more you share it with people, the more they will share Your Story with other people. Why? Because people don’t remember things, they remember stories. And after a while, the word about Your Story will spread.

Mix the Medium and Wow People

When I receive an email from an organization or business who has a question, wants to work together or just wants to chat, I do something called Mix the Medium. Here's how it works:

1) The exact moment I finish reading the email, I obtain the person’s phone number (if I don’t already have it.) If there's no email signature, I look at their email address or go to their website. If all I know is their company, I call Directory Assistance or look them up on City Search. Basically, I do anything I can to get their phone number within the next two minutes.

2) Then I call them right back.

3) I then say, "Hi, this is Scott Ginsberg. I was in the office when your email came through and I thought I’d call you back!" I say with a big smile on my face.
PEOPLE LOVE THIS. I have never done this without completely blowing the caller away. They respond with such excited phrases as "Wow, that was fast!" or "I'm impressed you called back already!" In fact, I recently received an email from a friend of mine who just changed jobs. He was writing to say hello and wish me a Happy New Year. And since I hadn’t heard from Jake in quite a while, I Mixed the Medium and called him right back. Five minutes later he booked me to do one of my speaking programs for his new organization!

Network en Masse

Speaking of speaking, here’s another untapped networking resource: local groups, organizations and associations. But I’m not talking about joining; I’m talking about giving a speech. It’s what I call “Networking en Masse.”

Small businesspeople are successful because they’re experts on something. So whether you’re in sales, printing, tech consulting or retail, find a way to transform your expertise into an informative, concise and entertaining speech that will help other people like yourself boost business.

Contact the meeting coordinator of your local Chamber, Rotary Club, Networking Group or Trade Association. They always need speakers. Offer the group a free 15-20 minute program. Include valuable tips, stories, illustrations and examples from your own business experiences that are of interest to the members. By speaking, you position yourself as an expert, validate your credibility and increase your company’s visibility.

Write as an Expert

Another underused networking tactic is writing articles or tip sheets about hot topics in your industry. You don’t even have to be a freelance writer or a journalist – just a business professional who can effectively convey his or her expertise in the form of a short article. Similar to speaking, writing articles in a publication read by your target market is the perfect way to position you and your company.

Here’s how to get started with this tip: Go to Google, type in your topic of expertise and the word “article.” For example, if you work in phone book advertising, type in “phone book advertising article.” (Be sure to use the quotation marks.) Hundreds of hits will come up. Read through a few dozen of them. This will give you an idea of what hot topics other people in your industry are writing articles about. Then, find out which online databases, ezines, newsletters or websites syndicated the articles you just read. By localizing these sources, you can contact the editors and inquire about article submission guidelines. (And if you get the opportunity to publish articles online, you can easily email the article link to other people who would benefit from reading your work.)

Don’t Fear the Big Shots

You’d be surprised how approachable some of the so-called “Big Shots” are. Great example: At a National Speakers Association Convention in July of 2004, I had the pleasure of attending a session with Seth Godin, best selling author of Unleash the Ideavirus and Purple Cow. Now, in addition hearing him speak, I’ve also been a frequent reader of his books and articles for years. And a few months after seeing him live I thought, “What the heck…maybe I’ll just drop him an email.”

So it came to pass on October 8th, 2004, that I emailed Seth Godin. I told him how much I enjoyed his speech at the convention and that his work was a big influence on my own books and speeches. I also told him to check out my website, www.hellomynameisscott.com, for it was an example of the kind of idea he so passionately supported.

What did I have to lose, right?

To my surprise about a half hour later, he wrote me back. “Thanks for the kind words, Scott! I blogged your site. Good luck.”

Little did I realize that Seth Godin publishes one of the top ten most frequently read blogs in the world. As a result, I received over 70,000 hits on my website in one day! This resulted in some great new contacts, several exciting business opportunities and the birth of my own blog, which is now a critical part of my business! Which brings me to my last networking tip.

Blog For Bucks

If you don’t already have a blog for your business – get one. A blog is an online journal on which you can post comments, links, stories and articles. This popular new medium through which to share your feelings, experiences and emotions is a free and fun way to network with other online professionals. After I talked with Seth last year, I started the blog for my business, and it’s become a valuable tool to stimulate personal dialogue with potential customers. It’s also a great way to let your customers know what’s going on in your life.

For more information go to www.blogger.com; or do a search for any of the various blog providers.

The commonality of these unusual, uncommon and unexpected networking techniques is this: you must do what nobody else is willing to do. Sure, handing out business cards and attending meetings are all good techniques. But everyone does that. So are you willing to practice telling Your Story? Would you call people right back when they’re expecting you to email them tomorrow? Do you have the courage to give a great speech, write a helpful article or start a blog that shares your expertise? And are you willing to get in contact with a Big Shot?

I hope so – because eventually, business cards just aren’t enough!

One of the Biggest Obstacles to Building Wealth: Yourself

2005-02-16T12:19:00.000+08:00

How to control your emotions and stop making bad decisions about your money

I think we all basically have the same goal here: Creating financial habits that empower you to live a financially abundant and financially responsible life!

I want you to take a look at how your emotions may be sabotaging your finances. If your financial habits are not as wise and consistent as you’d like them to be, I challenge you to get to the root of the problem.

It would be very easy for me to simply give you a list of steps to take to improve your financial picture. In fact, you probably already know “what” to do: Spend less, save more, and take steps to increase your passive income assets.. Still, you may find that you are not doing those things. So the question really is, “Why aren’t you living a financially abundant life right now?”

Here is a secret a discovered the hard way a few years ago...

The secret lies in your behavior – and more importantly why you do what you do. Often, it is our emotions that sabotage our success – and in the area of finances, unchecked emotions can destroy your ability to make smart choices about your money. Emotions such as anger, depression, insecurity, jealousy and a sense of entitlement can tempt you to spend money you don’t have and cause significant financial stress. But you can take control of your emotions and get your finances on the right track.

Of the following statements, which ones are true for you?

- When I am feeling down, shopping makes me feel better.
- I get a temporary emotional “high” from buying things I want.
- I sometimes buy things because they will make me appear to have money (i.e. electronics, clothes,
expensive cars, jewelry, etc.)
- My financial situation feels hopeless, but I keep spending more anyway.
- When others around me buy certain things, I feel compelled to buy something at least as good or better.
- I buy certain things because I think they will make people like or respect me more.
- I am ashamed of my personal financial situation.
- I sometimes hide my purchases from people close to me.
- I spend money on others even when I have to go into debt to do it.
- I spend money on others in order to influence them in some way (i.e., to keep them in my life, to have
control over them, to get them to like or love me).
- I manipulate others to spend money on me.
- I feel I should have what others have even if I don’t have the money they have – and this feeling causes
me to do or buy things I cannot afford.
- I am driven to prove that I can achieve more than someone who has wronged me. (For example, you are
out to prove your worth to an ex-spouse, estranged family member or friend. I call it the “If they could see
me now” syndrome!)

These statements are just a few ways that your emotions can control your financial decisions. If you remain on a path controlled by your emotions, you will never enjoy the emotional, spiritual and financial health you are meant to have. The first step to eliminating poor financial choices and making smart financial choices is to identify the emotions that are currently sabotaging you.

Which of these emotions are you dealing with?

- Anger
- Hopelessness
- Sadness
- Jealousy
- Entitlement (I deserve to have what I want when I want it!!)
- Depression
- Insecurity
- Fear
- Shame
- Guilt

You don’t have to overcome the emotions overnight, but you can make a decision right now to stop making emotional decisions. For example, if your significant other breaks off your relationship, you can recognize your own propensity towards shopping when you are upset and make a decision to do something less expensive with your time. When you are feeling insecure, you can make a decision not to go out spend money you don’t have in order to impress others and make yourself feel more important.
When a friend or family member buys that nice, new car or house and you feel compelled to compete with them, remind yourself that you are too smart to dig deeper into debt just to satisfy emotions that are unhealthy.

It takes a mature adult to be able to overcome these emotions. I watch people drive new cars to work all the time and have to tell myself "They don't understand the difference between and asset and a liability."

Pain and Pleasure

Anthony Robbins (actually Freud) taught me that we are all directed by pain and pleasure

Moving away from pain
Moving toward pleasure

One way to overcome emotional sabotage is to take a few moments before you make any financial decision and think:

"Will this ultimately bring me long term pain or pleasure?"
"Will this help or hurt my goal of building wealth?"
"Am I doing this simply for gratification or is this a necessity?"

Taking a few moments before making financial decisions can have a huge impact on your life.

One of the most mature things you can do as an adult is to identify your own fears, insecurities, and negative emotions – and make a decision to not allow them to control the choices you make. This decision applies to your finances, as well as to your health, relationships, career and spiritual life. People who live based purely on how they feel never achieve their potential. Sometimes you don’t “feel” like doing what needs to be done, but a mature person does what they know is right even when they don’t feel like it. That is how you build character, and it is also how you build wealth.

In today’s fast paced world, people want shortcuts, the easy way, they want to get rich quick.
You can even see examples of this on these boards!!!

Building wealth is a lifelong process that takes maturity, discipline, continued learning and taking action.

One of the best actions you can take is learning to control your emotions when it comes to money. This one step alone can mean the difference between success and failure.

See you on the fast track.

Lance

When to quit, when not to quit

2005-02-16T12:03:00.000+08:00

I think what a lot of newbies miss, myself included, is the importance of a comprehensive plan and system. Without a plan, it may seem as though there is no light at the end of the tunnel and you might give up.

I'll use myself as an example. When I started in corporate America after school I had no intention of staying for more than 5 years. When my peers asked me what I would do, I said I didn't know but I knew that I would be doing something else. This is what I like to call a DREAM. This is not a plan.

So I quit at 4.5 years and I had a list of reasons. Bottom line is it was premature, I had no plan. This caused us to rob our business and stunt its growth. All because I had no idea when things were going to get better and thought SURELY me being there 100% of the time would make all the difference and the business will support us. Not so.

After about 6 months getting by with no plan we decided to put one together. We showed it to the banks. Their feedback, we don't want to lend you money because you have no contingency plan. So we went back to the drawing board. We learned from the experience. We did a COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. Not an in our mind plan or a one page plan, a complete plan including backups, and allowing for different scenarios.

Based on that plan we now know when we can exit the E quadrant, when we can move the business from S to B, and how much we can invest in paper and real estate.

When you think about quitting, look at your PLAN. If you don't have a plan, you are NOT ready to quit.

_____________________________

"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - Saint Francis

=====================================================================================
Quit what?

Quit an investment that's dragging you down? Now. Immediately.

Quit trying to reach your dreams. When you die.

Quit wasting time? Now.

Quit a program, process, or business you've started out on? When you've exhausted your means and opportunities to make it work.

It's too open-ended a question.
===================================================================================

I agree with Jason (who is in butt kicking mode right now! lol). I don't understand what is meant by quitting.

To me "quit" is a four letter word.

It is one thing to use an exit strategy in a business or investment situation, but there's no such thing as a quitter who is successful. People who want to just "try things on" and then cut bait and run when the going gets tough do not have what it takes to be successful in life.

The key is to make the best decision you can, and then committ to see it through. People laugh at me because I am always reading, learning, and checking out different possibilites. But after I have made a thorough investigation, I am then able to decide if I am going to move ahead with that. Once I decide- there's no looking back.

"I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature."
- John D. Rockefeller

"Always bear in mind, that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing."
- Abraham Lincoln

"There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen."
- Wayne Dyer (learn more)

====================================================================================

AN E-BOOK THAT WILL DOUBLE YOUR SUCCESSRATE!

2005-02-16T11:45:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone out there in money making land! I have just finished a book I have been working for many years about the real science of achieving any goal you set for yourself, whether it be starting a successful buisness, or traveling exotic places in the world. This book will open your eyes to what has been missing in the your goals all along!!!

I have used the same tools myself to get out of the rat race permanently, and qiute frankly, we need more people who want to accomplish financial freedom as well. My income is at least $6,500 a month, and thats when I don't lift a finger (when I do, it is more like 10-$15,000)!! I was determined to make my life work on my terms! And that is exactly what I accomplished! Creating the plan was easier than I thought... but following it and making it work is another story! Nobody ever tells you about that!! They tell you the technical steps they took to get there, which, don't get me wrong, is very informative and helpful.

But they never tell you how to deal with pressure, fear, lack of motivation or inspiration, finding your niche, developing determination, and never giving up (no matter how bad you think it is, or how bad you think you failed). Thats the book I wanted to create, something to get to the meat of success, and how it is really accomplished within you!!

So if you want a copy, leave a post, E-mail, or PM. Your information will not and cannot be misused, or given to anyone else in anyway. I can't stand when people do that to me either!! Happy Wealth Building!

< Message edited by #1 achiever -- 2/15/2005 4:10:10 PM >

_____________________________

Are you finally ready to pursue your dreams? Then find us..........

William Martinez
Goal Coach and Life Enhancement Specialist
CEO of Goalkeyper Corp.
www.Goalkeyper.com
info@goalkeyper.com

How Do You Find a Business Mentor?

2005-02-14T10:49:00.000+08:00

I've always thought of the process of finding a mentor as more of an art than a science. Meaning I can give you all the steps, you can follow through with each one thoruoghly and faithfully, and yet you still might not find a mentor. This is not to say that it is a lost cause but just be aware that this process takes time and there are no easy answers. To lift your spirits a little though - mentors are all over the place and once you've done it a couple time you'll find that they are easy to find. I say this as someone who has sought out mentors and who acts as a mentor for others.

Firstly, you have to be careful how exactly you approach them. Most mentors will happily share their knowledge, but they've been disappointed so many times in the past. So you''l find that they are very guarded. They simply don't want to waste their time. Also, you need to remember about finding a mentor is that in the beginning it must be a one-way relationship. You must be willing to give more value to the mentor then they are giving to you. The more you give them, the more they'll want to help you. And that is how you really benefit from the relationship. They must WANT to help you. They must like you, trust you, and believe in you. Otherwise you won't get their full attention and unfiltered advice.

One other invaluable skill is to learn to "read" people. Unfortunately there are LOTS of False Mentors out there too who will drag you down with them. I find that going to cashflow games and local investment clubs has helped me invaluably with this skill (plus my wife has been a great help too). You need to learn how to find the "good" people from the "bad" people. That is to say which people really know their stuff and which people are all smoke and mirrors. Trust me, this is hard to do sometimes but once you've got the scent it becomes easy. Again, the only way to "get the scent" is to meet LOTS of people.

One last point. Often people think that the mentor will just start handing deals to them. This is not how it works. First you have to develop a strong mentor relationship, showing how you've learned the lessons they've taught. Then you can move to being a partener were you'll start doing deals together. If the "mentor" want to start handing off deal immediately, be careful. They are probably bad deals.

Good Luck!
Charles

Below is an example of how I found my last mentor:

I met a gentleman in the local REI (Real Estate Investment Club) who has millions of dollars worth of RE. I identified him as a potential mentor almost a year ago. Using my "scent" he seemed like a real investor. I asked a couple other members about him and listened to the questions he would ask in seminars and my "good feeling" was confirmed. Now I just had to find the opportunity. Like I said it took me almost a year. I'd meet him in passing several times but never tried to "press" a relationship. Then at a holiday luncheon the opportuntity presented itself. I was sitting with an investor friend at this luncheon. The mentor sat with us too because my friend was his eviction lawyer (in NJ you must use a lawyer for evictions if you have the RE in a corp. entity). They talked shop for a few minutes and this gave me a chance to start asking him RE questions (by beginning with eviciton/tenant discussions). BY the end of the conversation I found out he had a RE Book he want to sell. I suggested he but it ito eBook format and sell on several forum (like eBay). This of course intrigued him so he offered to take me to lunch and get more info.

At lunch I know he felt obligated to give me RE info but I didn't want that just yet. I politely turned the conersation to his needs. We spend almost two hours talking about selling online (FYI - I am an eBay seller). By the end of the lunch he impressed with my online knowledge. I offered to help him get started since I could do things in a fraction of the time it would take him. He gave me all of his materials (which were VERY) and I got him up and running.

At every meeting now he seeks me out and introduces me to his associates (real RE investors). They see our freindly relationship and of course now they are willing to discuss subjects or deals they have openly. Most importantly he has offered over and over that he wants to help me "fast track" my RE investing. Now the next step is crucial. I have to start trying things and showing him that I am using the knowledge he gave me. Once I can successfully implement what he taught me we can potentially move from being a RE Mentor to being a RE Partener (figuretively and literally).

You see? By only focusing on how I can help him in the beginning it set the tone for the relationship. I now have someone who will not only happily help me, but because he sees us as equals he's committed to getting me to his RE investing level.

_____________________________

Good Luck,
Charles
aka The Vending Guy

=====================================================================================

I know a lot of people look to seek out the elusive Mentor. The one who has achieved it all and now sits poolside helping anyone and everyone achieve the same thing. While this may be true in the networking industry (as that's likely the biggest appeal of the business model), it simply doesn't happen in traditional business that often.

However, here is something that does work. Find mentors, plural. Don't look for the one with the yacht, the private jet and your number on their speed dial, instead look for other successful businessmen and women in your community. How do you do this? There are hundreds of ways to find business owners: library, online, chamber of commerce, business networking clubs, tradeshows, etc. Then mail off an "informational interview" letter. In a 1-page letter, summarize why you are contacting them, complement them on what you like about their business/product/website/etc and ask them to join you for lunch... compliments of you.

Now you may find the above as a bit of work (I don't know and I don't want to assume), but it's well worth it.

I have gotten thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of coaching and I've even gotten referrals all because I built friendships with some local successes. The cost? Initially, I would take them to lunch. Once every couple of months, we'd go for lunch or dinner. I paid for the first 2-3. Then we built a mutual respect friendship so now it's back and forth. Meaning, with each individual, there was a financial investment of under $100... that investment now has helped in building me, which in turn took me from the 21 year old "bar star" and minimum wage line cook to now a 24 year old who hasn't woken up to an alarm clock or handed out a resume for al long time (and won't ever have to again).

I now work with the type of mentors that many seek for... but I wouldn't have had the opportunity to work hand in hand with these business leaders when I was still in still rough-cut. More importantly, I have friendships esstablished with a handful of other business owners. This opens up referal swaps, joint venture opportunities and a lot more.

Consider the above. Build a list of 20-30 business owners, put your letter together and go for coffee, lunch, dinner, etc and be ready to learn.

Do You Have Vision?

2005-02-04T15:48:00.000+08:00

Do You Have Vision?

The standard for success across the globe is having a
vision that compels you to succeed. Motivation is the key
in accomplishing all your goals and with the right
motivational tools you can achieve just about anything.

No matter how many years you spend in a classroom or from
what social class or lifestyle, motivation is the common
factor among those who are high achievers.

Finding the tools to put meaning and purpose in your life,
developing a vision, and becoming highly motivated can lead
you towards a successful and exciting life. While
recognizing obstacles and learning to remove them can make
your vision a reality.

Here are five powerful motivational tools that will
accelerate your success:

1. The individual who is extremely motivated and successful
has been motivated by a vision. The quest for freedom is
the basis for motivation. Total freedom is not necessarily
desirable or possible, but the pursuit of that ideal is
what motivates us to succeed.

People who develop a vision control their own life and
destiny. With no vision, your life and destiny are
controlled by outside forces. You must change your
thinking habits in order to change your life, and you
change your habits by keeping the desired results in sight.

2. Develop a major goal, but take a specified path to get
there. You'll have many smaller goals to reach before you
get to the final result.

By learning to accomplish these smaller goals, you'll be
motivated to take on the larger challenges. Get into the
habit of finishing what you start. An unfinished project
is of no value. Leaving things unfinished is a habit that
must be changed.

3. Find support through friends, acquaintances, and
co-workers. If you surround yourself with motivated,
visionary people you will naturally develop the attributes
that helped them get that way. Mutual interests and
like-minded associates can be excellent motivational tools.

4. Another motivational tool is failure. Failure teaches us
to keep trying until we get it right. No one ever became
successful without prior failures. Failure is a by-product
of imagination and creativity. It challenges you to take
risks and teaches you to keep trying until you get it right.

The fear of failure is a common factor among those who
procrastinate. If you want to succeed in reaching your
goals, you must be willing to take a risk and lose.

Many people trade joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment for a
job that is considered conventional and safe. The
unfulfilling job is not the failure; not pursuing your
dreams is the real failure. Developing a vision requires
conquering your fears and finding motivation from within.

5. The power of your dreams is the primary factor in
becoming motivated. Productivity will be the result of
developing habits and attitudes that keep you on the right
track.

By changing bad habits and focusing on your specific goals,
motivation will come to you even when you wish you could
quit and times are tough.

By identifying the behaviors that you need to change,
developing a vision of what you would like to achieve, and
striving to attain that goal, you will become a naturally
motivated, highly efficient, productive person.

Do not let fear of failure stop you from having the freedom
to choose the lifestyle and destiny you desire. True
motivation is not a learned skill; it is developed due to a
need or desire to make our dreams a reality.

If you want to find inner motivation, you must identify
your goals and set out on an unwavering path to achieve
them.

Can you tell I'm reading the 8th Habit by Stephen Covey

Lance

لناجح هو من يعرف رؤيته في هذه الحياة ويدرك سبب وجوده على هذه الارض
Translation:

The successful is the one who knows their vision in this life and realizes their reason for their existence on this Earth

Karena ini Merupakan Sebuah Perjalanan

2005-02-04T14:34:00.000+08:00

1. Tetapkan Tujuan

Mau ke mana?
Hati-hati dalam menetapkan tujuan. Di depan sana ada objek yang bersifat ilusi/fatamorgana dan ada pula yang hakiki/real.

Lihatlah tujuan anda dengan jelas

Pusatkan perhatian pada tujuan tersebut.

2. Siapkan 'bahan bakar'

Mengapa Anda ke sana?

Ada 'bahan bakar' yang dapat diperbaharui (dapat habis) dan ada pula yang tidak dapat diperbaharui alias 'abadi'.

'Bahan bakar' adalah impian Anda. Bahan bakar sering disebut dengan MOTIVASI.

3. Kuasai Rute Perjalanan Anda

Anda harus menguasai rute perjalanan Anda sebelum Anda memulai perjalanan

4. Miliki pemandu yang telah menjalani rute yang akan Anda tempuh.

5. Miliki teman perjalanan yang supportif.

6. Mulailah melangkah.

7. Jangan lupa untuk sesekali beristirahat dalam perjalanan Anda.

8. Perbaharui terus informasi Anda.

The Answer To "How Do I Get Started".

2005-02-04T14:18:00.000+08:00

Imho, the REAL answer to the above question is:

1. Begin with changing our 'ATTITUDE' (listen to Earl Nightingale, he keeps emphasizing
how important it is to have a good attitude if you
want success)

2. Continue with 'KNOWLEDGE' (one of the ways is by being an active member of this
forum. We all love this forum, don't we )

3. Start with 'ACTION' (no one ever succeeds without doing anything )

4. Add 'LOVE' into what you do (this is one of the main ingredients to success)

Yes, I want to add more to your list

1. failure cannot cope with persistence
2. definiteness of plans
3.know your why
4. willingness to learn
5. self-control

Here is another one...

1. Write down your “WHY”.

Why are you really in this business that you are in? What made you start your business? Why are you doing this? Is it because that you want to be your own boss? Is it because you wanted more freedom and time to spend with your family? More money? Is it because you wanted to control your own destiny? What ever your WHY is, you need to know it so that it keeps you going when things are not going well for you.

2. Write down your goals.

Athletes, successful business-people, lawyers, doctors, and great achievers in all fields use goal setting. Statistics show people who write down their goals have over an 80% higher success rate of achieving them. Short-term goals are usually simpler and easier than long-term goals.
Why? Well, writing them can help you have more frequent victories, and building momentum with each one you complete. If you do that, you can have more excitement and more motivation as you reach those goals on time. When you do reach you short-term goals, don't forget to reward yourself and celebrate.

3. Expand your knowledge.

Expand your knowledge by taking courses, reading books, e-books, and attending learning events. Tele-classes are enjoyable, convenient, and fun for learning and discussing ideas with a group that have the same interest. Associating with people in your field instead of people who will tell you that you can’t make it, will help you a lot in your drive to your goal.

4. Visualize what you want.

People who visualize things have a guiding vision in their head, heart, and soul. Visualization is the ability to create clear, detailed and accurate images in your mind, of events that you want to create as physical reality.

5. Replace negative self-talk.

Know that you are the creator of your thoughts and beliefs. Replace negative self-talk and change it to positive self-talk. You need to talk to yourself that you can succeed. Tell yourself that you are a winner and that you will make your business a success. People will try to brain wash you that your business may not work. You need to not listen to them and tell yourself everyday that you will succeed. Family and friends do that the best.

6. Make sure that you are persistent and consistent.

The lack of persistence and consistency is one of the major causes of failure. Many people are good "starters" but very poor "finishers" of everything they start. They tend to give up at the first sign of defeat. When you start a business of any kind, you need to stay in the game no matter what. So how do you stay in the game when things are down? First, you need a definite purpose, which should be backed by a burning desire. You need to have a plan in place that is backed up by action. You also need to know your “WHY” that will keep you in the game, as explained in step 1.

7. Organize your planning

If you have a plan on how to make your business work, and your plan does not work well, then you need to try something else. I am not saying that you should try a different business, but a different plan. If that plan does not work, then you need to try something else. If this plan fails to work, then try another and so on, until you find a plan or an action that does work and brings you great results. The most successful people in all fields know that.

8.Take action.

Very important. When you take action, things are getting done. When you just think about an idea for a business and you don’t take any action then nothing gets done. Ever. Visualizing, persistence, goals, and positive self talk, none of that is important unless you start to take action toward what you are striving for.

I love this topic

To get started, you must know that friends do not always make good business partners
Here are the Principles from How to Win
Friends and Influence People

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest, sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
4. Become genuinely interested in other people.
5. Smile.
6. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
8. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
9. Make the other person feel important
– and do it sincerely.
10. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
11. Show respect for the other person's opinion. Never say, “you're wrong.”
12. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and
emphatically.
13. Begin in a friendly way.
14. Get the other person saying, “yes,
yes” immediately.
15. Let the other person do a great deal of
the talking.
16. Let the other person feel that the idea
is his or hers.
17. Try honestly to see things from the
other person’spoint of view.
18. Be sympathetic with the other
person’s ideas and desires.
19. Appeal to the nobler motives.
20. Dramatize your ideas.
21. Throw down a challenge.
22. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
23. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
24. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
25. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
26. Let the other person save face.
27. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
28. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
29. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
30. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Cultivate a Mental Attitude that will Bring You Peace and Happiness, you will get started off to a good start if you have a good mental attitude
1. Fill your mind with thoughts of peace,
courage, health and hope.
2. Never try to get even with your
enemies.
3. Expect ingratitude.
4. Count your blessings – not your
troubles.
5. Do not imitate others.
6. Try to profit from your losses.
7. Create happiness for others.

Make it YOUR burning desire. Do what ever it takes to succeed.

Minggu I February

2005-02-04T11:47:00.000+08:00

Hanya mau komen ttg cuaca di Mks selama seminggu ini.

Hampir setiap hari hujan turun. Terutama pada waktu pagi, sore, tengah malam.

Rumah bagian belakang kemasukan air dan tergenang. Terutama jika hujan yang turun amat deras dan lama.

Janganmi dibilang halaman depan dan jalan depan rumah.

Langganan tergenang

Curah hujan mungkin lebi terkonsentrasi pada bulan ini

Awal baru

2005-02-02T10:07:00.000+08:00

Februari 2005 ini adalah awal yang baru khususnya dalam pekerjaan.

Telah menandatangani kontrak baru dengan pimpinan yang berlaku selama tiga bulan (hingga April 2005).

Jam kantor yang diperpanjang hingga pukul 18:00

Marketing Yourself 17

2005-01-31T11:02:00.000+08:00

Whether you are a model or photographer, whether you've signed with an agent or not, YOU are a business. Like any business, you need to market yourself. No matter how talented you are, if you don't market yourself, no one will know or care how talented you are. The best and most profitable way to market yourself is to network.

It is important that you understand the difference between marketing yourself and selling yourself. Selling is a short-term action for achieving short-term goals. Marketing yourself is about building lasting relationships. Someone once told me that her biggest/best clients came from a small network of people with whom she had established herself years ago.

How to start networking? Be proactive. Become active in one or more of the following:

1.     Non-profit or Charity Work. Find a cause in your community for which you are passionate. Volunteer your time or services. Often these groups have appreciation parties for all volunteers. This is the perfect opportunity to meet and mingle with some of the most powerful, influential and valuable business professionals and community leaders.

2.     Networking Groups. Networking groups meet on a regular basis to socialize and trade business leads. Many of these groups are restrictive, admitting only one professional from any particular industry into the group. It is important to attend meetings on a regular basis.

3.     Associations. Join professional associations, such as The Advertising Federation or your local marketing association. These groups generally meet once a month. It is important to attend meetings on a regular basis.

To build your own network of professionals, form relationships with people in key professional areas. For example, a model might want to have at least one good contact from the following list of professional services (in no particular order):

1.       Talent Agency

2.       Printing Service

3.       Videography

4.       Event Planning

5.       Ad Agency

6.       Clothing and/or Jewelry design

7.       Musicians

8.       Hair Stylist

9.       Makeup Artist

10.    Promotional Products Company

The idea of building relationships with these contacts is to be more than just a name or vague recollection of a brief meeting. Massage the relationship. Do things that will keep you in the minds of these contacts.

1.       Take your contacts to lunch once a month or every two months.

2.       Send short emails on occasion letting them know you'll be at a particular event and hope to see them there.

3.       Send postcards with your photo or logo and a short message to keep in touch or "Thanks for your support at the ... event."

4.       Always send gifts around holidays.

5.       Stop by the office with candies or another gift and leave with the receptionist. (Be sure your name, logo and/or business card is on the package--this is where a friend in the promotional products industry comes in real handy.)

It is important to remember is to become friends with these people, not mere acquaintances. Above all enjoy yourself. Have fun attending all the meetings and events. You will certainly be rewarded--in some way.

Rhonda Wood Chapin
KaDE Studios
www.kadestudios.com

Marketing Yourself 16

2005-01-31T10:46:00.000+08:00

Ten Tips for Marketing Yourself Online
by Larry Bodine
September 2003

There are many ways for law firms to market themselves online. The trick is finding the right approach. I prescribe only methods that I've tried so I know that they work. Here are an even 10 tips for marketing yourself online. 1. Let visitors sign up to get an e-newsletter on your Web site. If you only follow one tip in this article, let it be this one. It's the most effective tip of them all. Some sophisticated sites, like that of Hale and Dorr at www.haledorr.com, allow readers to pick from more than 35 newsletters with the ease of checking a box in the sign-up form. The approach has been met with great success by firms like Baker & McKenzie, which distributes its Global E-Law Alert to more than 30,000 readers.
I started my own e-letter, the LawMarketing Newsletter, a few years ago and have built up the recipient list to 6,500 names. It grows by about 25 names per week and just keeps getting bigger. On Tuesdays, I e-mail out my newsletter to readers all over the world and use it to promote new articles on the LawMarketing Portal web site, Webinars that I present, my consulting practice, and advertising messages. It's a one-to-one, personal communication with each reader.
E-mail newsletters are a tactic that many law firms have adopted. For starters, many law firms have print newsletters, and it's easy to re-purpose them for electronic distribution. The beauty of e-mail newsletters is that they do not entail any printing or postage costs; e-mail newsletters are cheap to create and distribute. Be sure to note in the newsletter that readers may "freely redistribute it in whole," which will widen your audience.
They also allow you to collect information about who is visiting your Web site. I recommend that law firm Web sites put a link to their newsletter sign-up page right on the home page. The link should lead to a sign-up form, which requests the reader's name, title, company, address, e-mail and phone number. Ideally, this information will be saved into a database, which can be used to distribute the newsletter.
2. Send the e-newsletter in HTML format. HTML newsletters are like sending a reader a Web site - all the firm's graphics, color, and branding are preserved in the newsletter. Sophisticated firms like Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff in Cleveland make sure the newsletter looks exactly like the firm's Web site and includes links back to the site.
The hidden beauty of the HTML newsletters is that they are trackable. Whenever a reader opens the e-mail or clicks on one of the links in the newsletter, it leaves an electronic marker which can be counted. This way you know exactly how many people actually ready the newsletter and which items they preferred.
HTML newsletters are for small as well as large law firms. Lorne MacLean, one of western Canada's most experienced family law attorneys, wanted to upgrade clientele. As part of an overall marketing campaign, he put a newsletter sign-up page on his Web site, www.bcfamilylaw.ca. The HTML newsletter was created by eLawMarketing.com at www.elawmarketing.com, which has created HTML newsletters for firms like Benesch Friedlander; Elarbee, Thompson, Sapp & Wilson in Atlanta; and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in New York. MacLean touched a nerve, because it turned out that that a lot of people were interested in family law issues. Readers get a newsletter with links to article like "Family Trusts - How to Attack or Defend Them in Divorce Proceedings," which are displayed on his Web site. The campaign increased his profitability by 200%, won a Your Honor Award from LMA, and gave him enough new business to hire two associates.
3. Become a content provider for AvantGo. AvantGo is a medium that allows users of PDAs or Web-enabled telephones to see your Web content. For readers, AvantGo is a free service that allows them to read the New York Times, Yahoo! and Web sites like the LawMarketing Portal on their handheld devices.
I've been an AvantGo channel provider for several years and use it as a fast-growing way to reach high-tech readers. For example, in January 2001, I had only 348 AvantGo subscribers, which grew to 882 in January 2002 and is now at 1,445 subscribers.
The content is a stripped-down version of what a company currently presents on a Web site, deleting the graphics, links, and a lot of the formatting. This makes viewing easier on the small-screen and low-bandwidth connection speeds of handheld devices. Subscribers sign up by visiting www.avantgo.com and downloading software to make the channel viewable.
AvantGo has the largest mobile audience, with eight million registered users worldwide. Companies like GM, American Airlines, and Microsoft provide content channels. Among the law firms is Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan, a 100-lawyer firm in Santa Monica, CA, which created its AvantGo channel in 2000. "We want our content to be available to anyone, in any way they want to find us," said Andrea Hodges, the firm's Director of Marketing. "We do a lot of litigation and transactions that are Internet-related," she said.
An AvantGo channel can be used for direct marketing, client relationship management, or e-commerce. Firms pay $1,000 and up to have a Marketing Channel, according to Daniel Pesikoff of AvantGo. For more information, see http://avantgo.com/products/businesses/marketing_commerce/.
4. Start writing a blog. America became familiar with blogs, which is short for "Weblogs," during the Gulf war, when readers would go online to follow the experiences recorded in blogs of participants at the front. A blog is an online diary, which displays the writer's entries in chronological order.
Blogs are the perfect platform for lawyers who always wanted to be newspaper columnists, or who would like to publish short capsules of thought without needing to write a full-blown article. You simply jot down your thoughts or observations and publish them instantly to the Web. The beauty of blogging software is that it requires no knowledge of HTML -- you just type text in an online box and click "publish." What's more, blogging is free. Just go to http://www.blogger.com/ and register to set up an account; you can be blogging within minutes. I created a blog and you can find it at http://www.lawmarketing.com/blog.html.
Your readers can find your blog by searching for you in Google. Web search engines are always looking for new material, and thus blogs come to the top of many online searches. One of the better-known legal blogs is written by Howard Bashman, head of Buchanan Ingersoll's appellate practice. He writes a blog on appellate law that gets 50,000 page views a month, including from appellate court judges. Bashman once spotted an error in an opinion and the judge read his blog and corrected the opinion the same day. Another well-known blogger is Ernie Svenson, the tech partner at Gordon Arata in New Orleans. His blog got more than 100,000 page views in first year, and is quoted in MSNBC, ABA Journal, and numerous other publications.
Among the blogs I like to follow are those of Rick Klau, V.P. of Vertical Markets for InterFace Software at http://www.rklau.com/tins/ and Jerry Lawson, President of NetLawTools at http://www.netlawblog.com/.
5. Optimize your Web site for Search Engines. It's no good having a Web site if no one can find it. You need to tune up your site with elements that Google, Yahoo! and other search vehicles look for.
Nothing beats hot, fresh content. Frequently-updated information is the primary thing that search engines look for. Web sites are supposed to be showcases for new information (not archives of past newsletters and old events), so you should update your site often. Take a look at your Web traffic statistics to see how many referrals you're getting from search engines now; if Google and Yahoo are not the top two referral sources, you need to put some new content online.
Also take note in your traffic logs of the terms that people are using to find your site. Take the most frequently used terms and make sure they appear in the material you put online. You should also add this information in your invisible code on the home page, and importantly, in the title tags. The information in these tags are not displayed to visitors, but they are directly sought out by search engines.
Several things can deflect search engines and send their roving "spiders" away, so you'll want to eliminate these offensive items from your Web site. Topping the list are Flash animation, JavaScript and frames; they provide nothing for search engines to index, and they'll lower your search engine rankings. Instead, put lots of text on your Web site -- this is fodder that the hungry spiders want.
"Link popularity" helps raise you in the rankings too. This refers to the number of other sites that have links back to your site; search engines consider them as votes for your site's popularity. You can tell how many sites link to your site by going to www.alltheweb.com, typing in your URL in the search box, and checking the results. The more links, the better. The way to boost your link popularity is by putting your content on other people's Web sites. Do this by writing articles for other Web sites, freely granting reprints, and getting involved with newspaper Web sites.
6. Make sure your site has the Three Things business clients look for. General counsel, business executives, and people who retain law firms do indeed go on the Web and will check out your Web site. It's especially important to set forth what they're looking for.
Most law firms make the mistake of setting up boring web sites that only talk about themselves The sites are built around the firm's internal structure, namely their practice areas. This is called "marketing your organization," and is not effective, because it focuses on what the law firm has to sell. Instead, law firms should "organize around the market," and build their Web sites around the interests of their visitors. This is effective marketing, but it focuses on what the visitors want to buy. It seems obvious, but most legal Web sites fail to do this.
Executives do not consider themselves to be customers of a practice group. Instead they see themselves as a member of an industry. Accordingly, law firm Web sites should display the following three things:
Experience with industries served.

List of businesses represented.

Examples of client success stories.

If your Web site features these three things, it will be an effective marketing vehicle.
7. Follow directional norms on the Web. This means that your Web site should use a layout that visitors expect to see. Many law firms experiment with cluttered, busy, or unconventional layouts. They succeed in looking different, but make the Web site difficult to use.
According to Web site usability principles, the Web site should mimic the layouts of popular corporate sites that viewers visit frequently. This way they will be accustomed to the layout of your site from the moment they arrive.
The optimal layout for a Web site is to:
Put your logo or firm name in the top left corner. This is where people start reading a book or newspaper, and where they start reading on your Web site.

Offer a set of navigation choices down the left site and across the top of the page. These choices should be "persistent," that is, they should also appear in the same place on all succeeding pages of the site.

The rest of the page -- the lower-right part -- should be full of content. This is where you should put news items, newsletter stories, and client successes.

8. Avoid Content Mistakes. There are certain things that appear on many law firm Web sites, mainly because the firm wants to put them there, but not because visitors want to read them. Again, turn to your Web traffic reports and see what people are reading.
Among the things that executives don't care about and don't want to read will include:
The Welcome From the Managing Partner. This is regarded as "happy talk" that adds nothing to a visit to the site. It'll contain the firm's mission, the high principles the firm adheres to, and a lot of other material no one cares about. It's a holdover from the early days of the Web (way back in 1996) when people thought it was necessary to explain what they were looking at.

The Firm History. Typically this is illustrated with sepia-toned photos of Model T cars and views of Main Street before it was paved. The firm history will start with Lawyer A, a white male who was probably the commander of the local fort. One day he met Lawyer B, who represented the general store, and they founded the law firm. Lo, these many years later, the firm is still here. All law firm histories are the same and few visitors want to read them.

A Links Page. Another holdover from the early days of the Web are the pages that link to other sites. This is a mistake, because all it does it take traffic away from your site. Further it assumes that visitors will use the law firm site to conduct research. This is usually not the case, because visitors will use travel and chamber of commerce sites to find out about the locale and will go to Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis for legal research.

9. Watch what you say about yourself. As a rule, clients hire lawyers -- not law firms. Therefore, the human face of the law firm makes a difference in attracting new business. Your Web bio is your initial introduction to visitors, and unlike random social contacts, you have total control over what you present in your online bio. Exercise this control so that your bio contains:

A color photo. It should be recent, so that when people meet you they don't note to themselves about how you've aged or put on weight. It should be high resolution so that publications can use it when they publish an article you wrote.

The industries you represent. Your list doesn't need to be exhaustive -- just four or five primary industries that you can talk intelligently about.

Representative clients. Potential clients want to know what other companies you've worked for, primarily to substantiate your industry expertise. Also, in-house counsel tend to know each other and like to be able to check you out with their counterparts at other companies. Many law firms list representative clients on their Web sites.

Business memberships. It is important to list your board memberships and trade association memberships.

Articles available on the Web site. If you list an article you wrote, be sure there is a link to it on the firm Web site. Visitors expect your Web site to be interactive, and if the article isn't available on the Web site, it's much less impressive.

10. See yourself as others see you, and Google yourself. You are being Googled by your colleagues, employees and your competitors. More importantly, your clients and prospective clients are Googling you to confirm their decision to retain you. They will certainly Google you before they call or ask for your brochure.
Type your own name in the search box at www.Google.com. The worst thing that can happen is that you turn up nothing. This means you are invisible on the Web. Nowadays, many people use the Web to look up phone numbers and addresses instead of the phone book, so to be missing on the Web is a truly notable absence.
Now, Google your firm. Let's act as if we were a client or curious executive, and Google your firm. Let's make the test more realistic, and not use the name of your firm. Why don't we type in "lawyer" and an industry, like "manufacturing" and a city like "Chicago." Does you firm appear in the first 10 links? If not, you're going to be pretty hard to find.
Now let's conduct some competitive intelligence: Google a competing law firm. Search for it the same way as we did before -- type in the exact name and see what happens. Do they come to the top of the list? Then type in a few terms that the firm is known for -- such as the names of their well-known lawyers or the clients they represent. Does this make their Web site pop to the top?

Market Yourself 15

2005-01-31T10:29:00.000+08:00

Market Yourself: Focus On The Follow-Up
Successful direct marketing campaigns require that you: Understand the corporate structure and operations of the company to which you are marketing yourself
Understand the reporting and budgeting constraints of your audience and assist maneuverability through these constraints
Speak quickly with conciseness and clarity
Create value and immediacy
Inspire
Interpret and integrate messages -- be quick on the "up-take" -- applying new information immediately to move process forward
Create a "safe space" where professionals want to share the "roadblocks" that may be standing in the way of making a deal happen
Innovate others to action
Self-motivate

Part Two: How To Follow Up

You've drop mailed and e-mailed your resume and voice mailed information about yourself to several people at several companies. Now what? Call and e-mail them again!
Resending your resume in attachment form with your email correspondence reinforces the probability that your information will be read.
Additionally, leaving another brief and succinct message on their voice mail about who you are and why you are calling will also help navigate the reader to your resume and move the process along (when speaking directly, apply the same standards).
In the construct of messages, consider the usual time a reader or listener has to review and respond to information. This is particularly important for e-mail messages. The electronic medium is a completely new medium for the dialog of words. And, while there are many things to consider when writing for an electronic space, one of the most important considerations is its pace -- the speed at which it moves.
E-space requires the writer to "get to the point" immediately -- a less formal, and more familiar, writing style. Informal messages can be just as compelling (if not more compelling), then the more formal styles of traditional print. What once might have been considered a curt and pushy writing style is now not only expected but also encouraged in order to save time. But balancing this deliberate "raw bones" style with a palatable message that your reader will embrace and act upon is not easy.
Example of a brief but well-written electronic note to someone that does not know you:
Dan, I understand you are looking for a Director of Human Resources with a technology focus. I am that person! As the Director of HR for Camden Software and, before that, with Dodger Technical Consultants -- I have seven years of strong experience in people management, corporate benefits and Human Resource law. I am very interested in meeting with you directly and am available the week of the 26th anytime after 2 p.m. EST. Attached is my resume for your review -- Look forward to your feedbk -- if I don't hear from you in the interim, will call you on Wednesday to follow-up.
Best,
First name
First and last name
Email address
Phone Number
Address

Give your recipient two days to respond before contacting them again -- then repeat follow-up procedure. If you have done your company homework (refer to Part One), and there is a need for your expertise, the company will contact you.
Good Luck.

Market Yourself 14

2005-01-31T10:17:00.000+08:00

The Top 10 Wild and Wacky Ways to Market Yourself for Big Visibility
Bea Fields
In today's competitive world of business, it takes moxie and pizazz to sell a great product, idea, or service. This list will provide you with ten unusual and creative marketing strategies which will help you to stand apart from the competition and to increase your visibility.
1. Celebrate the Wacky World Holidays with your Clients and/or Customers.

Did you know that August 17 is Number 2 pencil day? Send your clients Number 2 pencils with your name and logo embossed on the pencils. What about Homemade Pudding Day on September 19? Send your clients and customers your favorite pudding recipe, and invite them to your business to sample a "taste." If you are the owner of a toy store or a children's clothing company, you may want to set aside November 18 to celebrate Micky Mouse's Birthday. Creative marketing is the future of big business, and celebrating offbeat holidays will allow your customers and clients to experience something unusual and will set you apart from your competition. For a list of non-traditional holidays, visit www.earthcalendar.net.
2. Add a Company Mascot to your Business.
With the help of a few very clever cows, Chick-fil-A's unaided brand awareness has grown 81 percent, and its sales have increased nearly 120 percent since the mascot was added to the team in 1995. This attention-grabbing ploy, encouraging folks to "Eat Mor Chikin" has helped make this Atlanta-based company the third largest quick-service chicken restaurant company in the United States.
3. Throw a Gala for Hair Stylists in your Community.
What do hair stylists do while they are working their magic? They TALK! By throwing a memorable event for the hair stylists in your community, you can reach thousands of potential clients through fantastic word of mouth. Host a breakfast, lunch, or dinner and roll out the red carpet for this crowd, and watch new customers and clients flock to your place of business.
4. Host a Game Night.
Are you an investment advisor? Host a game night using the game "Cash Flow." Are you a Life Coach? Throw a party and play the game LIFE. Are you a cat groomer? How about a Cat-Opoly Night? For travel agents, try the game Route 66, taking your guests on a road trip across the country. Playing board games can create a rich and wonderful opportunity for interaction with potential customers, which can allow them to get to know you in a fun and non-threatening way and can create an opportunity for building rock solid strategic alliances.
5. Host a "Big Brain" Week-End.
Want to learn from the experts? Borrow experts one time per year to develop a cutting-edge marketing plan for your company by hosting a "Big Brain" Week-End. If you cannot afford a full marketing staff, you can borrow key experts for a quarterly brainstorming session which can enhance product and service ideas for your company quickly. You can pay a small per diem and travel expenses and pick the brains of 6-8 people who really know their stuff.
6. Sponsor a Night Light Golf Tournament (a golf tournament held in the evening after the sun sets.)
This grassroots approach can land you accounts, customers, and an amazing amount of visibility. Short on funds? Invite ten strategic alliance partners to help cover the costs. This collaborative effort will triple your visibility.
7. Put Yourself in the Dunking Booth!
Carnivals and festivals are great fun for the entire family, and one of the hottest attractions at these events is The Dunking Booth. By volunteering to be the person "dunked," you will have all eyes on you, and folks will be talking about you for weeks, creating "buzz" around your name, your products, and your services.
8. Fly a Kite!
Your company name, logo, and contact information on a wild and brightly colored kite can send your business to new "heights." Spend a windy day at the beach or in the park, and give away free kites to visitors. This approach can be valuable and can quickly expand your visibility.
9. Send Unusual Gifts and Freebies.
Giving unusual gifts and freebies is another way to set yourself apart from the crowd. Are you in the middle of an ice storm? Send leis to your customers to brighten up their day. Do you have a customer who is recuperating from a broken leg? Send a movie on video, a box of popcorn, and a pack of M & M's. Do you have a customer with a new baby? Send a basket with bubble bath, herbal tea, a cooling eye mask, and a set of ear plugs (humor works!)
10. Design Two or Three Marketing Goals with No Purpose in Mind Other than to Amuse Yourself and Your Friends.
Two of the biggest goals of marketing are to appear larger or more well known than you are at this moment and to have great fun! Gather your friends, and throw a Hula Hoop party, dress up for Halloween, or stand on the corner of town and interview folks with a question such as "If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?" Sound strange? You bet it does! Strange and mischievous approaches to marketing work, and people will stand up and take notice of what you have to offer. Cheers!
About The Author
Bea Fields, Southern Pines, NC, USA
bea@fivestarleader.com
http://www.fivestarleader.com

Market Yourself 13

2005-01-31T10:10:00.000+08:00

The Top 10 Ways to Market Yourself without Turning People Off
Category: Sales, Marketing, PR, Sales Management (AF52) Originally Submitted on 5/28/98.

1. Be really passionate about what you do.

If you're not excited, other people won't be either. When you're joyful about your work, hobby, etc., you're attractive to yourself. When you're attractive to yourself, you attract others. It's that simple.
2. Get over feeling you have to impress people.

Yes, you worked hard to know what you know and be where you are, but don't expect other people to appreciate that as much as you do. When you emphasize what you know or how far you've come, you run the risk of coming off as egotistical and patronizing. Worse yet, you can create such a distance between yourself and others that they'll write you off. Better to practice humility. On the other hand, when others know that you're a gold mine of talent or information about something and you hold back deliberately even when you've been asked to help, you can get the same unpleasant result. The key here is to place yourself in other people's shoes and find out what it is they care about.
3. When people ask what you do, use real life examples of how you have helped others solve a problem, improve their quality of life, stretch themselves, etc.

When you use real life examples, you tend to get rid of the complexity and jargon that so often turn people off anyway. Moreover, using real life examples enables the person you're talking with to relate what you're saying to his/her own situation, wants, or needs.
4. "Tell it to a wise person, or be silent."

This line from a poem holds a great truth. The person who is ready to hear your message is the person who can make the most use of it. With those who are not receptive, your message just bounces off into the air, or, worse, triggers defensive reactions in the other person.
5. Eliminate jargon from your vocabulary.

When you use jargon, however meaningful it is to you, you risk turning the other person off because what you're saying is too cryptic to be understood or you appear to be showing off. When you have a conversation with another person based on his/her point of view, you naturally ease into using his/her vocabulary. It's that person's vocabulary which has meaning for him or her, and that's what you want to connect with.
6. When someone does want you to explain a key concept, do so in a way that uses a situation, problem, or challenge in that person's life.

Key here is that you're making the explanation about the other person, not yourself.
7. Learn as much as you can about what's missing for the person.

Then, look to identify a way that you could help address what you need. When you focus on what you need rather than what's wrong, you naturally bolster people's self esteem. You also communicate powerfully that it's a fixable issue. Remember, even if your product or service has lots of features and benefits, only a few of them will ever be of interest to or relate directly to what is needed for someone. Again, you're making your message about what it is the individual wants and needs.
8. Be a model in the use of your product or service.

When you believe enough in something to orient your own life around it, you naturally communicate confidence in your product or service. This makes you and whatever it is you offer more attractive.
9. Be willing to talk about things completely unrelated to your product or service.

This creates the opening for accidental discovery, or serendipity. You never know what might come out of a seemingly innocuous conversation about hobbies, travel, fine dining, or television sports. One thing's for sure. When you take the time to invest in getting to know someone else for the simple pleasure of knowing them, you will likely find something coming back your way, sooner or later.
10. Practice exquisite listening skills.

When you listen, really listen, you put your own agenda completely aside and allow yourself to "be with" another person. That's a great gift that too many people don't fully appreciate the value of. When you do this, you may hear people saying things like, "Wow, what a great conversation we had," "That guy/gal really seemed to understand where I was coming from." And, when people feel fully understood and cared about, who do you think they want to do business with and send their friends, family and associates to?

Marketing Yourself 12

2005-01-31T10:08:00.000+08:00

Make marketing part of your daily routine.

Be persistent.

Market yourself while you do other things: leave business cards behind you as you do your errands; stuff envelopes while you watch television.

Let former colleagues know what you're doing and that you're available for work.

Join an association and attend its regular meetings.

Attend seminars and conferences.

Contribute an article about a subject in your field to a local newspaper.

Register your name and service with an online business directory.

Join an online discussion group.

Take on a college student as a marketing intern.

Be active in your community; it'll get your name out.

Market Yourself 11

2005-01-31T09:36:00.000+08:00

How To Brand And Market Yourself Online
by Aainaa-Ridtz A.R
Send Feedback to Aainaa-Ridtz A.R
More Details at: http://www.AainaA.com/

Branding and marketing are similar in nature. However in order to market a product, you would need that your product be easily identified in the industry or market you’re promoting. Hence you need to brand the product you’re selling. Branding is naming the product and going beyond it with the hope of making it a generic/standard “name” amongst your potential buyers.
In this issue, we will discuss on how you can easily brand and market yourself online. Branding yourself is not much different from branding a product. Marketing should however in this case, be as creative as you can, from blowing your own trumpet to creating your own identity.
How to create your identity
Creating an online identity is similar to creating a baby. Shaping a child to be successful starts from the roots, meaning you would need to inculcate certain characteristics or values. The same applies to creating your identity.
These are the basic checklist:-
1. Why create & position? 2. When to launch yourself 3. What your strengths and weaknesses are? 4. How to promote and market yourself.
Once you have an idea of how you’re going to brand yourself, marketing or promoting will be a breeze.
Why Create?
Creating or branding yourself is the most basic of promotion. Branding accords you the push you need to make you a star. The whole idea is to create this identity for business purposes. Not for selfish reasons.
The idea of branding yourself is to promote your name as a generically possible amongst the many in the chosen industry. Your name should be the “talk of the town” or “talk of the web” so to speak. This way, once you’ve achieved it, no matter what you sell, people would want to literally buy from you!
Positioning yourself, after creating your own brand or name which is easily remembered by the masses is another priceless step. If you have a product which is difficult to find either online or offline, it would be futile. Hence you would need to position your brand. In this case, you would have to position yourself only in the target audience you would like to be known.
As an example, Britney Spears is unknown perhaps in the Chamber Music industry although she may be very popular in the pop-music industry amongst her target audience of youths between the ages 12 and above.
You would have to carefully consider the industry where you’d most likely position yourself. Unless you’re a Royal Blood, you’d have to do a bit of work to position yourself in many industries. Once you have carefully chosen the industry where you’d like to be “famous” or making your brand a generic name, you’d have to … as examples:-
• Subscribing to forum sites and promoting/sharing your knowledge with the masses • Writing articles and compiling it using an e-book editor or by printing it into hardcopies in the form of booklets • Presenting yourself at virtual conferences or hold your own virtual conference by downloading Pal Talk {http://www.Paltalk.com/}
When to launch your brand, or yourself?
Once you have committed to creating your own identity, you can start planning your launch online. Ensure however, you have these as steps:
• Web Presence in order {in other words, your website must consist of at least 5 pages – The About You page, The Contact You page, The Services/Products page, The Resources page and The Order page} • Ensure also that your web hosting plan accommodates you a good bandwidth. A 100Mb space with 1GB bandwidth is not a brilliant idea, however a 100MB space with a 10GB bandwidth would be ideal. Your public perception of how fast your site is, is as crucial as how aesthetically designed your site is. A good web host that I would recommend is RatuHost {http://www.Ratuhost.com/} • Print your business cards, brochure and catalog of services and ensure that your domain name, your email and your contact info are legible. Point size matters when you’re printing your marketing collaterals. • Since hiring a PR Specialist would be costly to promote your brand, the best bet for promoting your self, would be yourself. • Wherever you go, make sure that you have your business cards with you. You never know whom you’ll meet at the right place, at the right time, or right time at the wrong place. Make this a ritual. • Dress well according to how you want to be perceived by your audience. If you’re promoting yourself as a clown, ensure that you are dressed in the finest clown attire. You have to be different from the rest! Dressing up like a corporate geek will not help you promote yourself as a clown. • Before launching your website, make a placeholder of your site without a “under construction” sign. To have this “under construction” sign would mean to downgrade your image. You have to ensure your audience of your professionalism no matter what the costs are!
What your strengths and weaknesses are?
You can turn your weaknesses into strengths if you know how. Defining your strengths and weaknesses will help you in positioning your brand. Whilst undertaking a SWOT Analysis, you would be able to determine what your strengths and weaknesses are.
S – Strength: Make a list of all your qualities that you are excellent in. W – Weakness: Make a list of all your qualities that you would like to excel in, and how you can merge it with your strengths to promote yourself.
O – Opportunities: Define the boundaries where you can create opportunities. Where does your opportunity lie? List it.
T – Threats: List the threats of branding yourself, your product or services. Who in the world is similar to you? If you’re similar to another entity, ensure that you’re way different from them. You have to ensure that you cannot be duplicated or copied in any way. That you are unique in your own way, and strongly positioned.
How to promote and market yourself, your brand
Promoting is an art. So is marketing it. Having a creative approach would be best in marketing.
As an example, if you’re a Preacher, you would do best by branding yourself as a Man of the People instead of the Man of God. By branding yourself as a Man of God, you would project your strengths and hide your fallibilities. And as all men are subjected to the temptations of the flesh, by positioning yourself as a Man of the People would put you at a level whereby the populace would be able to relate to you rather than take you as a Saint that has never done anything politically incorrect!
• If you’re promoting yourself as a Preacher, ensure that the branding of yourself is molded as a Guide rather than the “Know-it-All Preacher Man”. People are more open and approachable to a Guide than to a Preacher especially in the 21st Century.
• Ensure that your business card is synonymously printed with no-insignia. To identify your self as a God-fearing person with a label of dogmas, would only limit yourself to the world so to speak, as all religion teaches the same Truth.
We’ll take another example…
If you’re a florist for example, you would not want to brand yourself as one. You would however brand yourself, as yourself, rather than branding your services or products. Once people know who you are and what you excel in as a florist or as a number one in getting the best Buxoro Roses in your part of the world, then people who are looking for Buxoro Roses, would look for you instead of looking for an online florist.
• Ensure that your marketing collaterals are printed on Buxoro-Rose scented cards in fine lettering, as Buxoro Rose Oils are indeed the most expensive rose oil in the world.
• Sign up with Industry specific sites, and propagate your expertise therein. One such site is Ali Baba dotCom (http://www.alibaba.com/)
To conclude, knowing what you want for yourself, and branding and positioning yourself should entail going beyond the brand. You should be able to ensure that your entity or you yourself play a crucial role between the masses and what needs to be delivered. For a more extensive consultation on how you can best market yourself online, you may write to AainaalyaA at www.enVogA.com

Business Card

2005-01-31T09:21:00.000+08:00

Using Business Cards to Market Yourself while Job-Hunting

Copyright 1999, Diana Ratliff
You're probably waiting until you find a job to get business cards. That's what most people do, right? They wait until they have a company and a position and an official title and so on before shelling out the money to get their own card, the official symbol of business legitimacy.
Well, if you haven't figured it out already, doing what MOST people do is NOT the way to get hired. Yes, there are procedures and applications and rules of protocol, but don't kid yourself. Whether your degree is in Home Economics or Mechanical Engineering, as long as you're looking for a job, you're in Marketing. And your product is yourself. You want prospective employers (or prospective customers, if you're planning to begin as an entrepreneur) to see you as someone with that something "extra".
Why not market yourself with personalized business cards?
Business cards are affordable, portable, versatile, and accepted everywhere. For less than $100, you can have your name, address and photo in front of 1,000 likely employers. Here are some tips to get you started (and, by the way, they're just as applicable AFTER you get hired, and need to get a new batch!)
Designing your card: Keep it simple, yet classy. Use a legible font and keep it large enough to read by the bi-focal crowd (nothing smaller than 10 points). Save the odd color schemes or clever graphics for another time (unless you majored in Graphic Design, of course!) Any experienced printer should be able to help you with card stock, color, fonts, et cetera, so don't be afraid to ask for their suggestions. A simple way to make your card noticeable but still professional is to use colored ink on colored card stock, such as maroon ink on ivory or gray or brown ink on beige.
Leave the card uncluttered. The most essential information on a typical business card is your name, your company, and your primary phone number. Recent grads should substitute their degree (e.g. M.B.A., Harvard University) for the company name. If you do include other numbers (such as fax, pager, or cell phone numbers), put your primary number in bold text. It's most visible if it's located at the lower right-hand corner of the card.
Put a photo of yourself on the card. Did you know that business cards with photographs are less likely to be thrown away, and more likely to be placed on top of any pile of cards? This is especially important if you have a unisex first name (such as "Pat" or "Chris") or if you're trying to enter a "relationship" field such as real estate or counseling.

Networking with your business card: Carry your card with you everywhere. You can't always have a résumé with you, but you can certainly carry a business card. You never know when you're going to meet someone with knowledge of a possible position. A simple way to add enormous psychological impact to your card is handing it to someone with both hands.
Mind your manners. Don't pass out cards during a meal, or corner someone to "talk business" at a purely social function. (Ask for permission to send a card and a résumé to their place of work.) If you meet someone you'd like to give your card to, ask for two or three of theirs (explain that you want to be able to refer others to them.) They'll likely ask for your card in return.
Stay organized. Develop a system for storing cards at events, such as putting your cards in your left pocket and cards you receive in your right. Jot notes on the back of cards you receive to remind yourself of information they requested, what common interests you discovered, what qualities they're looking for, et cetera. (Excuse yourself to somewhere private - a break area, or even a restroom!- if you want to write notes discreetly.)
Treat cards with respect. Keep your own cards clean and crisp by using a cardholder. When you receive a card, take a moment to look at it, then store it carefully in an attractive holder, also.

Your consistent use of a well-designed business card will show other business people that you're both professional and serious about your career. Get in the habit of using them as an excellent promotional tool.

Market Yourself 9

2005-01-31T09:17:00.000+08:00

HOW TO BRAND AND MARKET YOURSELF AND YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS ON A 'SHOESTRING BUDGET' OR EVEN FOR FREE
by Craig Lock
Here are some tips in writing some articles to "spread the word" about your business, as an internet marketing strategy... and especially on the smell of an oily rag"...
Me write an article! Yes, you can, because you know more about YOUR business than anyone else on this planet. And most importantly, I don't believe that you have to be a "pro" writer to write good articles.
HOW TO GET STARTED?
To "kick off"... Firstly pick a subject that YOU KNOW - a topic that pertains (nice word that!) to your area of business. You are the "expert" in it. Then write to HELP others by sharing your unique knowledge or experiences. I believe, it's the BEST MARKETING TOOL available.
And (can I begin a sentence with "an and" - yes)...You DON'T have to be a good writer to write articles.
My advice is just find your "natural style" by writing as you speak; as practicing writing in your "natural style" breeds confidence. Then submit your articles to ezines and announcement lists, like: Article Announce (the "original flagship" of article announcement lists), Free Content, Publisher Network, Netwrite Publish Announce, FreeEzineContent, Free-Reprint-Articles and Article Publish.
First you have to subscribe to these lists (check them out under Google search engine.
You can also submit your articles to high-traffic web sites, that take article submissions, like internet entrepreneur Rick Beneteau's www.marketing-seek.com, Marnie Pehrson's www.ideamarketers.com and also www.zinos.com. Check out some others on the net for yourself.
We find these marketing methods by far the most effective means of getting traffic to our various sites (and one thing then leads to another)...and best of all, this form of BRANDING your business in cyberspace costs nothing, but a little time and effort!
Lately, all our marketing has been done through writing articles based on my experiences and knowledge (in internet marketing, writing, money and self help) and submitting them to the above-mentioned article announcement lists.
Often from there they get picked up by ezines with large readerships - from 10000 ...to even ones with millions of subscribers. True! These big ezine publishers are continually looking for new and quality content, particularly ORIGINAL and valuable material that can help others.
My advice is... Write about what you KNOW - your areas of knowledge and expertise, based on your unique life experiences. We find this strategy of SHARING relevant and practical information most effective of all in drawing traffic to our various web sites...and best of all, it helps others "out there in the vast void/realm of cyberspace". That is one of the main reasons why I write my various articles. * Here are some other points in writing articles for the www:
Firstly,
* Identify your target audience.
* Keep your title reasonably short* *.
* Keep your paragraphs short.
* Get to the point quickly (enough waffle with maple syrup, Craig!).
* Target your article to your audience with "valuable and focussed information".
* Use the occasional exclamation mark (!) to get your readers attention (not too many, mind you!).
* Make sure your article flows properly. Re-read and re-read to see how it "speaks" to the readers mind.
* Try to be concise in your wording. Brevity is the hall-mark of good writing...or so say many of the teachers of writing! (Though I don't necessarily agree with that last statement - always breaking the rules eh, Craig!).
* Be credible (big word, eh?) at all times. I try to write my articles in a "conversational style with dashes of my funny/weird humour".
* Put some thought and effort into your heading - again to get your reader's immediate attention.
* Use bullets in your articles - its makes the points easy to follow (as I've used in this section).
* Conclude with a strong message. The final paragraph should contain a message that summarises your article, or gets your reader to take further action.
* Offer a free report with your article - this is an easy way to collect a list of adresses for marketing your product(s). An instant target market!
* Finally, make sure your layout is good (not one of my strong points!), as this greatly enhances your prospects of getting published.
Some prominent article writers say one should write differently to one's natural style, when writing for the web. I say, DON'T. Just write what comes naturally...and BE YOURSELF. Though you may have to be somewhat briefer than usual, if you are a "waffler", like this writer. People want immediate information online and have limited time usually (and attention span online, like this writer).
It's the "instant coffee, er sorry, generation.
The internet is such an amazing medium for communication. I've just submitted this article and it's been published almost instaneously (big word!) in a few places (some article announcement lists). So YOU TOO can write articles on your chosen subject in your internet marketing efforts. MORE TRAFFIC = INCREASED SALES
Your writing will improve with confidence... so just take that FIRST STEP, that leap of faith and watch what happens.
Writers and internet marketers - Grab this moment in history well.
"Carpe diem" (seize the moment!).
Happy writing and...
Just GO FOR IT in the year 2004.
Craig Lock http://www.craiglock.com
Craig Lock's books are available at: http://www.bridgeniche.com/get-motivated-now/index.html
All proceeds go to needy and underprivileged children - MINE
The "original" Online Creative Writing Course
P.S: As the ancient Chinese philosopher said so well, "A journey of a thousand miles starts with a ... broken fan belt and a flat tyre"...er sorry...a single step.
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." - Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe (German philosopher)
"There are two ways of spreading light - to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." - Edith Wharton
More articles on ONLINE-BUSINESS
The Basics of Ezine Publishing
How to Build an Online Business Part 1
How to Build an Online Business Part 2
How to Build an Online Business Part 4
How to Build an Online Business Part 5
How to Work at Home and Keep Your Sanity
Let's Get Back to Business
How to Build Credibility Online
How to Brand and Market Yourself and your Online Business on a 'Shoestring Budget' or even for FREE
Your E-Business Strategy: Is It Love Or Fear?
5 Top Tips For Attracting Targeted Traffic
Creating Content: The Easy Way

Market Yourself 8

2005-01-31T08:48:00.000+08:00

Guerrilla Marketing Yourself
Whether you know it or not you're marketing yourself every day. And to lots of people! You're marketing yourself in a quest to make a sale, warm up a relationship, get a job, get connected, get something you deserve. You're always sending messages about yourself.
Guerrillas control the messages that they send. It's all about intention. Guerrillas live intentionally Non-guerrillas send unintentional messages, even if those messages sabotage their overall goals in life. They want to close a sale for a consulting contract, but their inability to make eye contact or the mumbled message they leave on an answering machine turns off the prospect.
Guerrillas send no unintentional messages
Unintentional messages erect an insurmountable barrier. Your job: be sure there is no barrier. There are really two people within you -- your accidental self and your intentional self. Most people are able to conduct about 95 percent of their lives by intent. But that's not enough.
It's the other 5 percent that can get you in trouble -- or in clover. I'm not talking phoniness here. The idea is for you to be who you are and not who you aren't -- to be aware of what you're doing, aware of whether or not your actions communicate ideas that will help you get what you deserve.
Who do you market to without even realizing it?
Employees. Customers. Prospects. Teachers. Parents. Children. Bosses.Prospective employers. Mates. Prospective mates. Friends. Sellers.Landlords. Neighbors. Professionals. Members of the community. The police. Service people. Family. Bankers. These people can help you or stop you from getting what you deserve. You can influence them with how you market yourself.
The three big questions to answer
To market yourself properly, answer these three questions:
1. Who are you now? If friends described you, what would they say? Be honest rather than complimentary.
2. What do you want out of life? Be specific.
3. How will you know when you've reached your goals?
If you can't answer these questions, you're doomed to accidental marketing, spending your life reacting instead of responding, the odds against you reaching your goals.
How do you send messages and market yourself right now?
With your appearance, to be sure. You also market with your eye contact and body language, your habits, your speech patterns. You market yourself in print with your letters, email, website, notes, faxes, brochures and other printed material. You also market yourself with your attitude -- big time. You market yourself with your ethics.
How people judge you
Again, you may not be aware of it, but people are constantly judging and assessing you by noticing many things about you. You must be sure the messages of your marketing don't fight your dreams. What are people using to base their opinions, to make their decisions about you?
* Clothing * Hair * Weight * Height * Jewelry * Facial hair * Makeup * Business card * Laugh * Glasses * Title * Neatness * Smell * Teeth * Smile * What you carry * Eye contact * Gait * Posture * Tone of voice * Handwriting * Spelling * Hat * Thoughtfulness * Car * Office * Home * Nervous habits * Handshake * Stationery * Availability * Writing ability * Phone use * Enthusiasm * Energy level * Comfort online
You're fully aware of your intentional marketing and possibly even invest time, energy and imagination into it, not to mention money.
But you may be undermining that investment if you're not paying attention to things that matter to others even more than what you say: keeping promises, punctuality, honesty, demeanor, respect, gratitude, sincerity, feedback, initiative, reliability. They also notice passion -- or the absence of it. They notice how well you listen to them.
What to do now
Now that you know these things, what should you do? Although Ben Franklin himself said that three of the hardest things in the world are diamonds, steel and knowing yourself, here's a three-step plan to get you started on the road to self-awareness and self-marketing acumen:
1. Write a positioning statement about yourself. Identify just who you are and the positive things that stand out most about you.
2. Identify your goals. Put into writing the three things you'd most like to achieve during the next three months, three years and then ten years.
3. State your measuring stick. Write the details of how you will know when you've achieved your goals. Be brief and specific.
To guerrilla market yourself, simply be aware of and in control of the messages you send. Do that and your goals will be a lot easier to attain.
(C)2000 Jay Conrad Levinson

Market Yourself 7

2005-01-31T08:43:00.000+08:00

Marketing is distinct from sales. Marketing is all about creating awareness about you and your business and creating demand for your product and services. It is a more long-term strategy; selling is more immediate and tactical. Selling occurs when you are connected (in some format) to a potential customer and they are considering purchasing from you.

The perfect brochure, the coolest looking business cards or the eloquently worded biography are great marketing tools; they will, however, not get the business on their own. They are only tools. YOU will get the business. And you can.
Here's how to get started marketing your services.

Define target market

Find niche markets and work them.
If you have experience in a particular industry, focus on it. If its government contracts, work that area; go to those conferences, mixers, and seminars. Present a seminar that markets your services to a particular group of people or companies.

It may seems antithetical, but the more narrowly you define your market, the stronger a reputation you can build as a solution provider. Find a need and fill it.
Many 4D developers have built successful businesses focussing on small- to mid-size companies. Large companies tend to have their own development staff in house. Doctors' offices and universities have large amounts of information that needs to be organized and readily available to staff. Think of other organizations with similar needs and target them.

Advertise

Trade journals. Advertise in trade journals or in conference brochures targeting the market you have defined.
Yellow pages display ad.

A current 4D developer had success with this and got a couple small clients that way. The ad ran under Computer Programmer. Ads can be costly, but will work for you even when you are on vacation.

Network

No matter how uncomfortable. Remember - everyone, even those who appear very confident, has a basic fear of other people. Knowing this will make it easier for you to approach and strike up conversations with strangers.

Do informational interviews with successful developers. Find out what they did that worked and didn't work.

Develop an "elevator pitch". This is a statement that captures in 30 seconds or 1 minute what it is that you do. Develop a longer one (5 minutes) for when you have more time to talk about yourself.

Attend Chamber of Commerce mixers. Call your local office for more info. You can attend mixers in different cities if you are a member of one Chamber of Commerce.

Attend monthly user group meetings. Get a handle on what some of the new problems or successes are and how can participate in solving them.

Attend conferences your clients or potential clients attend. Get out there. Be visible. Set up a booth. Mingle with the attendees and business. No matter how uncomfortable.

Network with individuals who may have leads to potential clients. Don't underestimate anyone. Think of everyone as a potential client or lead to client. Tell them about your services.

Market your services

Brochures and business cards

As you design your brochures, try to make them distinguishable with a unique logo or color highlight. That will make it stand out and be more memorable. Keep them simple brochures and cards simple and elegant with lots of "white space". Make sure you include what makes your company special in addition to the services you offer. Include client success stories when you have them.

Announcements

Draft a letter and send it to everyone who knows you (friends and relatives included) telling them about your services and what you are up to. Announce to the world you are in business for yourself. Include your brochure and a few business cards.

Ask your friends, family and associates for referrals. See if they would be willing to pass your brochure on to others, call them and recommend you or set up a time for all of you to talk.

Mailing campaigns (snail and email)

Draft another letter to send potential customers. Try to find a specific person to whom to address the letter. Depending on the type of organization, the person with whom you'll want to talk may vary. In a small company, the owner or President is probably the decision-maker. In mid-size companies, the IT Director may be the appropriate one.

Call the switchboard and get the name of the person you've identified. Mail the letter so it arrives mid-week. People tend to overwhelmed on Mondays. Wednesdays tend to be light mail days and by then, most folks have made some progress on their week's tasks. They are more likely to have time to deal with things that aren't demanding their immediate attention.

Follow up with them within a week of mailing. Start out with "I sent you a brochure a few weeks ago. Have you had a chance to review it?" They may not remember it specifically. This is the chance to use your 1 minute "elevator pitch" to explain what you do. Believe that you are doing them a service by informing them about you; that you will be able to help them solve a business problem they have.
Ask if they are the person who makes decisions about IT projects. Once you've reached the right person and told them what you do, ask what issues they are dealing with that you might be able to help them solve. If it sounds like there is a potential match of their needs and your services, set up a time for you to meet. Look at your calendar and propose two options. People like having choices. "Would Monday or Thursday work better for you? What time is best?"

Bulk snail and email campaigns

Consider buying lists of people or companies that could benefit from your services.

Put together an email ad targeting the companies that you believe you can help with your services.

Leverage your success - "productize" your solutions

If it seems that one particular type of company needs your services, it's likely that others do too. Call or write to similar companies. Tell them of your success with helping their competitors and suggest that your services may be helpful for their business too.

Once you've developed a solution that works in a particular situation sell it to other organizations. They are probably dealing with the same issues as your original client and you can make money without having to "reinvent the wheel".

Market Yourself 6

2005-01-31T08:39:00.000+08:00

10 Tips for Marketing Yourself and Your Business
by Rob Engelman © 2002
If you are like most independent contractors and/or executives of small businesses, you spend sleepless nights worrying about how you will acquire customers and grow sales. Therefore, marketing your business effectively becomes a critical component to your overall success.
Even if your company does not have a formal marketing or business plan yet, there are many cost-efficient things you can do to market and promote your company's products and services. Here are 10 simple, tactical ideas to put your marketing efforts on the right track:
Focus on Your Core Competencies
Know your target market and the value your product or service will bring to them. Focus your sales and marketing efforts towards these groups. Avoid spending time trying to acquire customers you cannot properly serve.

Develop a Clear and Concise Message
Create a 30 to 60-second statement that clearly explains what you do, for whom, and why your target audience should buy from you. Have this message become your company's mission statement and raison d'être. Practice your message and notice how your target audience reacts to it.

Create Collateral Materials
Nothing says you are a viable business more than having a company logo, business cards, stationery, brochures, and possibly even a web site. Keep it all simple, and do not order more than a 3-6 month supply of printed materials. Once these pieces are in place, do not be shy about using them.

Join Networking Groups
Join or form one or two networking groups with individuals you do not know very well. Tell people what you do and who your target market is. Help others by connecting them with potential suppliers or employers. In time, they will return the favor to you.

Network Every Day
Networking is not limited to groups and networking meetings. Carry your business cards with you at all times and be prepared to talk about your company's mission statement at a moment's notice. Your next hot prospect might be standing behind you at the grocery store.

Leverage Your Current Customers
Happy customers are your best sales people -- ask them to provide testimonials and/or references for prospects. Consider establishing a customer referral program, and provide free/discounted services or a monetary reward for every customer that they recommend.

Develop Alliance Partners
Form strategic partnerships with others who sell a complimentary product or service to your target market. These alliances can be as simple as sharing contacts and leads, or they might take on a more formal structure. Either way, the goal is to broaden your reach beyond your own network.

Become an Industry Leader
People like to buy from subject matter experts. Therefore, look for opportunities to share your skills and talents by writing articles or lecturing on a topic within your area of expertise. Even teaching a night course at the local college or community level will give you additional exposure.

Don't be Afraid to Try
If you are serious about growth, spend time outside your comfort zone and try new things. Sometimes new ideas will work, and other times they won't. Either way, the process will teach you something new and valuable about yourself and your business.

Brainstorm with Others
You are in business for yourself, but that does not mean you need to have all the answers yourself. Whether you are a natural born marketer or one that sees marketing concepts as completely foreign, kick around ideas with others whose opinions and values you trust. You never know where your next “big idea” will come from.

These are just 10 tactical ways in which you can easily market yourself and your business. There are many more ideas that can work as well. Use these approaches as the building blocks to acquire customers and grow sales. However, for the best results, it is recommended that you incorporate your tactical initiatives into an overall marketing or business plan that acts as the compass/guidepost for your company's day-to-day activities.

Market Yourself 5

2005-01-31T08:32:00.000+08:00

Marketing Yourself & Your Business
In this article I describe the seven steps I recommend you take to develop an effective marketing plan that will enable you to successfully grow your business, keep the customers you have and win new ones.
Whether you’re a small, medium or large organisation, the key to successfully marketing your business is simple - understanding who is going to buy your products or services and why.
And it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been operating, you still need to constantly monitor and review your customer base and performance to see why you’re winning new customers or perhaps why you’re losing others.
The good news is that the process is easy and doesn’t take long.
And remember, just because you rely mainly on word-of-mouth recommendations, such planning is just as important if you’re to continue growing your business in today’s potentially volatile and increasingly uncertain economic environment.
Step One - How Your Business is Performing
Irrespective of how well a business has performed, I always recommend to my clients that at the end of the financial year they take a good look at how their business has performed by asking themselves - Have I increased sales? Do I have more customers? Have I achieved my business objectives?
If the answer is yes, I then encourage them to ask -
Where has that new business come from?

How have my customers found out about my products or services?

What type of customers have I won, from what geographical areas, across which demographic types?

What was the main reason these customers bought my products or services?

If your business hasn’t grown during the year, then it’s equally important to ask yourself - How many customers have I lost?

What products or services are performing the worst and why?

Am I losing business to competitors and if so which ones in what areas?
What have I done differently this year compared to other years when my business was growing?

What impact have external factors had on my business?

Are these factors going to continue?

Armed with all this information, you’re then ready to move on to Step Two.
Step Two - Understanding What Makes Your Customers Tick
In reality, most small businesses won’t have specific research results or documented feedback from their customers. Instead, most will have to make a variety of intelligent assumptions from the information they do have.
You can do this by thinking back to what new and existing customers said when they first contacted you or re-contacted you. You can also think through any comments they may have made during the course of your contact with them.
The information you need will have been shared with you or your staff by customers at some time during their conversations or contact with you over the year. The challenge is for you to remember them.
Going forward, I certainly recommend to my clients that they develop a formal process for obtaining and recording customer feedback. A very effective way of doing this is to contact your customers directly – either in writing, by telephone or email - to ask them to participate in a brief customer survey.
Alternatively, you can prepare a short survey form that you leave with customers every time you complete a job. If you choose this method, make sure your survey form looks professional and includes detailed not open-ended questions.
For example, don’t just ask your customers why they buy your products or services. Rather, ask them what is the key driver for them purchasing your products or services and then give them a choice such as price, locally-based, reliability, word-of-mouth recommendation. The more detailed the choices, the more insight your survey will provide.
And remember to make their participation in the survey as easy as possible by including a self-addressed envelope. You may also want to consider a small incentive for them to participate such as the chance to win a discount voucher for your services or products. The other attraction of this type of research is it allows you to build an accurate database of your clients’ details.
Of course the cost of this type of research will vary depending on the size of your business. In some instances, it may be more effective to employ someone to undertake the research and produce a detailed report with recommendations about how you can more effectively market your business to ensure you get the most ‘bang’ for your business development ‘buck’.
Step Three – Developing Key Messages that Deliver Results
Having identified what makes your customers tick, you now need to make sure the key selling messages you’ve been using, and this includes by word of mouth, are
aligned with the buying decisions of your customers.
For example, maybe you’ve been focusing on the fact that you’re local, provide discount packages and accept credit card payments whereas your research shows that a high percentage of your customers use you because you’re a family run business and have been in operation for more than 20 years. This indicates that your key messages need a bit of work.
The best way to understand whether your key messages are the right ones is to look closely at the reasons why your customers buy your products and services. See if you can identify a maximum of five reasons why the majority of your customers chose to work with you.
Once you’ve done this you can then review your marketing materials in detail to see if the statements you have made, both in writing and verbally, reflect the five main reasons why people buy your products or services. For example, your customers may have bought your products and services because you were the cheapest, you were recommended by word-of-mouth, you’re local, you’re an accredited member of the professional association for your particular industry or you accept credit cards
In contrast, in your marketing literature - be it an advertisement, on your web site or via word-of-mouth - you may have been highlighting the fact that you offer a 24 hour, 7 days a week service, use a specific brand of products and that you’re a family-run business.
In addition, your key messages may also relate to you offering a value for money price and that you accept credit cards. If this is the case all you need to do is re-prioritise your key messages as you appear to have got most of them right.
The important thing to remember about key messages is that you can use them to maintain the customers you already have but also to break into new markets or areas. For example, traditionally you may have won a high percentage of your business because you’re the cheapest but you may want to try and change that perception to try and attract higher spending customers.
One way you could do this is to introduce different levels of service and then communicate this to your customers – simply and effectively.
"Offering a value for money price, Company A provides a choice of two service levels – Silver and Gold. Our Silver Service is for the majority of our customers who want service of the highest quality at a value for money price. In contrast, our Gold Service is for those customers who have a more flexible budget and want specialist services that include unique features."
Moving on, you’re now ready to look at how effective your chosen marketing tools have been.
Step Four – Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Marketing Tools
Once you’ve completed your review of key messages you now need to think about what return each marketing tool has provided over the year. For example, if you’ve spent 75 per cent of your marketing budget on an advertisement in the Yellow Pages yet this has only generated 5 per cent of your new customers then you may want to rethink your approach.
In contrast, you may have spent only 10 per cent of your marketing budget on advertising in the local paper yet this may have generated 35 per cent of your new business. If this is the case it might be worth increasing your spend in this area next year.
The best way to complete this review is to draw up a table that shows how much a particular marketing tool cost and what you got in return. This return can be measured in increase in business, average customer spend, number of customers, increased phone enquiries or anything that enables you to understand what you got back from your investment.
And remember to review all of the marketing tools you’ve used during the year including word-of-mouth recommendations, membership of Professional Associations, business entertainment and any other business development activities.
In assessing the return you derived, remember to be ruthless. You need to make a value judgment about each tool by asking yourself was the investment worth the return? You may also want to compare the effort required to implement each marketing tool against the return you got. For example, booking a Yellow Pages advertisement and providing the copy is easier than writing an article for a supplement in the local paper but which one delivered the best return?
Step Five – Aligning Your Marketing Tools with Your Plan for Growth
Now you’re beginning to get down to the nitty gritty - deciding where to invest your marketing budget for the coming year based on what you know about your customers, your market and your business objectives.
This particular step is a very personal one as the outcome depends very much on your individual business, your achievements during the past year and your resources going forward.
The important thing to remember when planning a marketing program is to clearly understand the implications of such a plan and what impact it will have if it delivers optimum results.
It’s no good implementing a fantastic marketing plan that significantly increases the number of customer enquiries and projects you win if there is no one available to deal with these enquiries and if you could not cope with the increase in business as a result of only a small percentage of these enquiries being translated into new projects.
And talking of how these enquiries are handled, one of the most important things all businesses need to remember is that marketing is not just about advertising, web sites or promotional activities.
It’s about everything you do or use to represent your business - from business cards and company vehicles signage to who answers the phone, how they answer the phone, turning up on time for appointments, returning calls and answering your emails as well as what messages your customers hear when they can’t get through to you.
The question you need to ask yourself is what sort of perception does it create when a customers rings through and the phone is answered by someone who sounds totally distracted with another task or by someone who appears to know nothing about the business or the movements of the person the customers wants to speak to.
And don’t think just because you have email that you’re dealing with customer enquiries efficiently. If you don’t answer these emails within at least 24 hours, the perceptions you create are just as bad.
If a customers thinks you don’t value their call or email and that you’re a bit of an amateur running a business half-heartedly then they’re not going to be inspired to give you their business.
A quick and easy way of getting round these sort of challenges is to ensure you have adequate and capable resources in place to answer the phones.
Having completed your thorough review of what results your marketing activities have delivered, you’re now ready to align the marketing tools you’re going to use this year with your plans for growth.
The best way to do this is to draw up a table that includes a column for each of the following: Marketing Activity

Investment

Anticipated Return

Target Customer Group (Customer Buying Driver Fulfilled)

Key Message

Timeframe

Responsibility

The end result is a clear, concise Marketing Plan that clearly shows what activities you’re going to invest in, what impact they are likely to have on your business, how you can measure their return, when an activity is going to take place and who is responsible for making it happen.
Step Six – Anticipating the Risks to Ensure Your Plan is Flexible
Once you’ve completed Step Five, you have only two more things to do before you’re ready to get out there and grow your business. The penultimate step is to have a look at the external forces and other risks that might negatively impact your Marketing Plan.
The reason for this is to anticipate changes that might occur during the year that will impact your business. By anticipating them you’ll make sure you’re not caught unawares and can respond accordingly.
The sort of things you should be looking at include: Increased material costs

Interest rate rises

Arrival of new competitors

Discounts or special packages being offered by your competitors

Increased marketing activity by your competitors

Potential for negative press stories about your industry or sector

Likelihood of legislative or regularly changes to your industry

Impact of future tax changes to your industry.

Step Seven - Congratulations –You’ve Done It
Well there you have it – nearly all done. In just a few hours you’ve developed a strategic Marketing Plan that is based on detailed feedback from your customers, which is aligned with your business plans for growth and which also allows you to respond quickly to market changes resulting from factors outside of your control.
And the good news is that this entire process can be completed in a just a few hours provided you can get the peace and quiet you need to ensure your research and thinking is clear, strategic and relevant.
There is just one more step to go. Making it all happen. The final action you need to do is to prepare a timeline or schedule of when you need to do certain things by. This schedule, for example, might include such items as: Book Yellow Pages advertisement

Renew membership of your professional association

Conduct quarterly customer survey

Write editorial for local newspaper supplement

Submit entry for local industry or business awards

Prepare content for direct mail campaign, provide copy to printer, commence distribution of leaflets, and so on.

The advantage of having a detailed timeline is that you don’t have to try and remember everything. You have it all documented, are clear about what you’re doing and when you have to do it by. You can also get other people to help ensure the specific tasks are done on time.
As you can see, there is nothing mystical or magical about developing a Marketing Plan. There is, however, something very frightening about not spending a bit of time and effort to do this kind of planning – your competitors may just start luring your customers away because you’re out of touch with their current thinking and the drivers that make them buy a particular product or service.
Author: If you’d like more information on effective marketing or how you can audit your current marketing activities, contact Janet Saunders at Professional Corporate Strategies Pty Ltd, 71 Broadwater Drive, Saratoga, NSW 2251, Tel: 0438 191 328, Email: janetsd@bigpond.net.au
Created on: 22/01/2003
Last Modified: 08/12/2004

Marketing Yourself 4

2005-01-31T08:29:00.000+08:00

Marketing Yourself: Non-Verbal Communication
In addition to what you say, what you do communicates volumes of information about who you are. Communication experts believe that a large part of communication occurs non-verbally. That means the smile on your face and the firmness of your handshake when you say, "Pleased to meet you," says more than your words alone.

And, once someone forms an impression, the tendency is to look for evidence confirming the original opinion and to ignore contradictory messages. That means if you've created a positive impression, people will focus on things that support that favorable impression. If, however, you've created a negative impression, you'll have to work twice as hard to overcome that belief!

Remember that everything you do creates an impression:
your facial expressions
the "look in your eyes"
your eye contact (or lack of it)
your hand gestures
your posture
the way you comb your hair
the clothes (even the shoes!) you wear

Making an Entrance
There's no need for extravagant Hollywood flare, but a good entrance establishes your confidence and ability to do the job. The most important thing to remember in creating a presence is to believe that you belong where you are and have something of value to offer. A characteristic of successful people is that they naturally expect others to respond positively to them.
When entering someone's office, don't poke your head in the door. Walk in confidently. (Knock first, if appropriate.)
Anticipating a negative reaction sets the stage for an unsuccessful meeting.
A strong stride, a direct approach, an upright posture and a sense of energy are extremely important.

Body Language
What you do with your body can support and enhance the message your words convey–or detract from it.
Whether talking with one person or an auditorium full of people, maintain eye contact.
Keep your facial expressions relaxed and friendly.
When standing, maintain a balance to your stance.
Move purposefully; it exudes confidence.
Use your hands above the waist. Use both hands and make large gestures. Keeping your palms up is a positive gesture.
Let your hands fall to your side after using them and avoid crossing your arms, or holding your own hands either in front of you or behind your back.

When Your Hands Talk–Shaking Hands
Handshakes are an important physical means of communicating. An immediate, firm, confident and friendly handshake helps establish a positive tone for a meeting and provides a non-verbal opportunity to establish yourself.
Involve your entire hand in the handshake. Make eye contact; without it a handshake is half as effective.
Women should shake hands with each other just as readily as men. Never allow an important meeting to begin without a handshake. To do otherwise is to non-verbally discount yourself.
Some men think it's impolite to extend their hand to a woman for a handshake. A savvy businesswoman relaxes the uneasiness by extending her hand to a man right away.

Marketing Yourself 3

2005-01-31T08:26:00.000+08:00

Note: This essay was getting long (5 print pages already) so I broke it into two parts. The second part focuses on promoting yourself via blogging, publishing, knowledge sharing, Web directories, etc.
As I noted in my last essay on marketing, I started my career in a small company environment (and, yes, I walked to school up hill, both ways, in the snow, even in June). This experience taught me a lot about marketing when you don't really have a large budget. In this essay we are going to talk about how to market yourself as a consultant. And, as you'll see, this essay is really focused on the basics.
What is a Consultant? What is Marketing?
Once again we are going to start with a definition. A consultant is someone who sells his or her knowledge on an time or project basis. Sure, you knew that but it helps to normalize the playing field for all readers. Now let's return to our definition of marketing: Marketing is the creation of demand for a product or service. This now restates our problem as:

How do I create demand for myself?
or
What makes people want to give me $$$ for nothing more than me?

Now that we know the problem, here are some brief tips about how to tackle it.
1. It all starts from one happy customer.
When you get started consulting you will quickly find that customers want references. This is central to your overall marketing effort so when you get that first customer who agrees to pay you $$$ for something then go all out to make them happy. Even if you lose money it's still worth it. When I got back to consulting this time around I went all out for my first client and that's what you need to do. Once you have a happy customer, you can use them for a reference, get additional work from them, get a retainer relationship with them, use them to help get you additional work from referrals, etc.
2. Focus, Focus, Focus.
When people first start consulting, they often take on anything for money. I totally understand this but focus is key. When you start marketing yourself as described below, pick one, two or three things and then put efforts towards them. For me, it's software product marketing, PHP and blogging. For you it might be embedded systems programming, java and systems administration. Whatever you pick, you can probably consult on but you do need to pick something. You can do the other things for money but it's the ones that you focus on which make you a business.
3. What's our product literature?
In my last marketing article, I referenced product literature pretty heavily. Guess what? There is product literature for consultants too. Here is mine in all it's unvarnished glory:
My Resume -- http://www.fuzzygroup.com/resume.htm

My Writing Samples -- http://www.fuzzygroup.com/writingsamples.htm

My PHP Portfolio -- http://www.fuzzygroup.com/portfolio.htm

My Fan Mail -- http://www.fuzzygroup.com/fanmail.htm

My "Working with Me” -- http://www.fuzzygroup.com/workingwithme.htm

My website -- http://www.fuzzygroup.com/

A couple of points here:
Always, always put this kind of critical stuff in your root directory. Why? Because a lot of crawlers may not go any deeper.

Always link to this stuff right from your home page. Why? Again, crawlers.

Have simple urls. Damn simple. Why? Because Google shows me the url and I am likely to click on "workingwithme.htm" since I can guess what it is right from the name.

Don't have spelling errors, typos or broken links here.

Make it all straight .htm or .html pages. Why? Crawlers always index them. PDFs turn me off. Flash pisses me off. Please note that this is me only but there are a lot of people out there like that. I view these rich media types as options, not as required items. Also although Google can index PDFs, why rely on people having the correct plug-in, etc. And don’t forget that if the user runs a lot of browser sessions, GDI resources die and plug-ins don’t load.

4. Answer email fanatically.
People who responded to my last article may have noted that I was absolutely fanatical in responding to them. Everyone got at least a "thanks for saying thanks". Some got one or two pages of feedback on their personal marketing issues (Hi Gert!). Here's why: You don't want customers, you want fans. I'm going to cover this more in a future essay so I won't say more now other than to point out this:
People relate well to other people once dialog has been established.

People appreciate personalization.

Email gives you a cheap, easy way to personalize.

People remember personal attention.

You don't know what comes down the pike. Every single email could lead to consulting work.

Having fans is lots better than customers. Fans spend more money with you over time.
5. It's All About Follow Up and Persistence
I don't know anyone who really enjoys this part. Here is what I do for potential consulting leads:
Meet someone somewhere who might be a possible source of work.

Email them and thank them / jog their memory /etc.

Touch base with them after a few weeks via email again to see if they are still live. You might point out a url that's on topic for them, direct them to a blog entry you wrote, etc.

Try and figure out a reason to call them a few weeks after that. Why? Because email is all too easy to ignore or put off. Also if I know someone is trying to call me then I might answer their email.

The key here is simple: don't be afraid to be persistent. A lot of times in the past when I have hired consultants, I chose someone for no other reason then he or she happened to be in my Inbox. Scary, huh? That's the reality of people being very busy (see my other essay). If it's easy for people to hire you then they are a lot more likely to do so.
6. Assume People Have the Attention Span of a Gnat and Leave Your Site at Any Excuse
I can't tell you the quantity of "professional" websites that I have been on (and usually by web professionals selling web design services) where I see:
Spelling errors

Broken links

Grammar errors

Grammar errors may be ok (I actually don't think so but most people notice less than I do). Spelling errors are unforgivable. Broken links are even more unforgivable. And, while I am not perfect here myself, I do try very, very hard on this point. The way that I look at it is this: "If they can't maintain their own site then they don't have the attention to detail to consult for me". To me, in my consultant hiring days, it was just that simple. I don't care about the cool flash, the great images if the consultant can't handle the basics.
Oh and before you tell me that people don't ever comment on this, consider this:
Most people just won't speak up and comment.

A lot of people won't notice specifically that a word is incorrect but they walk away from the site with a "not right" feeling. This is called a subliminal perception in marketing speak (if my memory is correct) and it's very real.

Market Yourself 2

2005-01-31T08:19:00.000+08:00

Seven Tips for Marketing Yourself
by Allan Hoffman
Monster Tech Jobs Expert

During the boom, techies with in-demand skills might have been offered a job after a perfunctory interview. Now employers are increasingly selective, so technology professionals -- even with years of experience -- must face facts. To get hired you need to become a pro not just at coding Unix or C++, but at selling yourself to companies besieged with resumes.

This is no easy task for those who have forgotten how to pitch themselves to employers. "A lot of people are brand new to this," says Patti Wilson, owner of The Career Company, a Silicon Valley career management firm.
Here's our crash course in the art of selling yourself, with seven tips to help you cope with the job market's new realities.

Assess Your Soft Skills

In 1999, two years experience as a systems administrator might have gotten you hired. No longer -- not when you are competing against hundreds of candidates with skills similar to yours. Candidates must now assess their soft skills. "This is about doing a little bit of soul-searching," says Wilson.
Ron Peterson, branch manager at the St. Louis office of Bradford & Galt, the IT staffing firm, suggests techies ask themselves about, "core competencies," especially mentoring and team-building. "Intangibles are going to sell this individual," Peterson notes.

Develop an Elevator Pitch

The so-called elevator pitch is a brief self-marketing statement to be delivered at job fairs, conferences or other networking events. The pitch should echo the summary of a resume, according to Wilson, focusing on four key points designed to attract employers' attention. The pitch should sound informal and unrehearsed. To practice, deliver it to your answering voicemail, Wilson advises.

Learn to Network

As any salesperson understands, who you know is essential to finding leads. "Networking is about being able to connect from person to person to person," says Wilson. "It's about building a web of relationships, until you meet someone who's looking for what you do."

That means attending technical conferences, classes, job fairs, IT organizations and special networking events designed for techies. Even civic organizations, such as arts groups and other non profits, can be useful. Plan lunches or after-work meetings with former colleagues, recruiters and others.
"Try to be out there and make an effort to be known," says Wesley Jost, who has retooled his networking efforts after being laid off. "If you sit around and wait for something to happen, you're going to be disappointed."

Seek a Support Structure

In order to learn, or relearn, networking and interviewing skills, look to organizations offering workshops or classes, such as NOVA, a one-stop career development organization in Sunnyvale, California.

Know Your Audience

Selling yourself effectively means learning everything you can about a company, from the time you write a cover letter to interview day. "[Tech job seekers] need to have researched the company, be able to speak intelligently about the company, and offer their skill set to solve the company's problems," says Barry Mills, national recruiting director for MATRIX Resources, the national IT staffing company.

Be a Closer

Mills suggests techies use a traditional sales tactic for closing the sale. At the end of an interview, ask the interviewer, "Based on this interview, is there anything that would keep you from hiring me for this position?" As Mills notes, "It's very much a sales-type question." What's more, send a follow-up note to the individuals you've met at the company, thanking them for their time.

Practice Patience

Finally, don't be discouraged if finding a job takes weeks or months. "Practice patience each and every day," says Jost. "You won't be handed your job like you were a year ago." Put it this way: If you stop looking, you're out of the game. As any salesperson knows, perseverance is essential to closing the sale.

Market Yourself

2005-01-31T08:12:00.000+08:00

Market Yourself - Tips for High Tech Consultants
Someone asked on alt.computer.consultants about using client search firms. You don't need to, it's better not to. I don't. I highly recommend learning to market yourself. It's really not that hard.
Don't be worried about the fact that you're just a computer geek and you don't know squat about marketing. Being a geek is a big advantage in figuring out how to use the web for marketing, and the basics that you need to know about marketing you can learn from this page, maybe reading a book, asking around, and also just by trying some things out and learning from experience.
Also don't worry if you're shy. I haven't placed a single cold-call the whole time I've been a consultant.
After a few months doing solely 1099 and getting only one job that served my needs through a broker, I decided to make the break from agents and posted a page with a link entitled Recruiters - Please Read This Important Note at the top of both my resume and my company home page.
I have successfully worked on 1099 since April of '98 with only one broker job, and even on that job, I insisted on billing the client directly. I've had only one broker acknowledge actually reading that page since I put it up and still wanting to work with me under the terms I give - but I've had absolutely no trouble finding clients.

My Real Feelings about Recruiters and Headhunters
I want to say, though, that as much as it might seem that I hate recruiting agents, I don't. I don't hate anyone except those who work for evil and injustice. It's just that I find many of the agents who actually approach me to be both ignorant, greedy and pushy and completely unwilling to consider my needs as an individual or business. I maintain quite cordial relations with the ones that do maintain ethical and businesslike standards and take the trouble to understand me as an individual.
I won't recommend for or against particular agencies - and it's not the agencies as a whole I prefer, but the individual recruiters at them that I am happy to work with on occasion. Some of the agencies on my "approved list" have recruiters that would give free crack to kids if it would convince them to hire on.
I used to get jobs and contracts regularly through the agencies, but the last few years, the quality of the agencies has gotten far worse, both from my current point of view of someone looking for work, and also when I've done hiring at previous companies - most of the agencies either don't understand what the client is looking for, what skills the candidate has, or just don't give a damn because there is so much money to be made in this high-tech boom economy that all but the very best prefer to just harass any clueless kid into submitting a resume and fast-talking the client into hiring them so they can get their commission and move on to the next client and candidate.
Remember: We are intellectuals. We are professionals. The high-tech economy is being fueled by our hard labor and the sweat of our brows, not by those who would feed off us like the prostitutes and swindlers hanging around the gold mining camps.
We're not cattle. It is totally within our power to build wonderful lives for ourselves and our clients and products for our users on our own, if only we would admit to ourselves that we can and take the power into our own hands that we were born with.
If you're a recruiter reading this and you're offended, I'd like to take this opportunity to suggest you do something to work within your industry to police yourselves and set some kind of standards. You might find it helpful to consider how The Cluetrain Manifesto applies to you.
If you're a client and wondering what you can do to find programming talent in these tight labor times, well I'll post some thoughts on that too. I'm just a guy and there's only so much of me to go around, so you all can't hire me! I'm happy to post ideas on how you can locate qualified people - read on though, and think about how you can use the Web to find the consultants who've used the techniques I describe to make their presence known.
And consider whether your needs are really being met by the recruiters that you have actually worked with, and whether you would feel your investment was worthwhile if you knew the recruiter would have no qualms on placing a candidate with you that he knew would be unhappy with the job and just want to leave after a few months.
Or consider the recruiter who knew a friend of mine was totally unqualified for a highly technical QA position, so she totally fabricated a new resume for him, faxed it to the client and sent him into a three hour interview completely unprepared. My friend found out about the fraud when the client started asking for specifics on the wonderfully relevant job experience the recruiter claimed he had. He had half-hour interviews scheduled with six people, and stayed the whole three hours to explain the recruiter's fraud to each of them and to let them know he was actually completely unqualified for the position.
Think about it it.

Here's what you do:
Get a web page up.
Don't spend a lot of time getting the page up because you can improve it later. But be sure that somewhere in your page you at least mention the keywords for all the relevant job skills your firm offers. Also put META tags in all your web pages.
How to Use HTML Meta Tags

A corrollary to this is: get your own domain name. Businesses don't have addresses at AOL, HotMail, or Yahoo. Kids do, when they're fresh out of college, innocent, ignorant and ripe for the plucking by the headhunters. Businesses also don't host their corporate websites on GeoCities or even on their ISP (unless the ISP provides virtual hosting, which many of the major ones do not) - they have their own domain name with an easy-to-remember URL where the entire part that isn't "www." or ".com" is one word.It's particularly important if there's some possibility that you could ever move geographically and have to change ISP's, or if your ISP could go out of business - Iridium went bankrupt today, Yahoo could too someday, and then how would your clients find you? If you have your own domain name you can relocate to a different hosting service in a couple days if your old ISP or host should tank.
And yes, I know it's hard to find a good domain name these days but it's worth taking the time to find one even if you have to pay a cybersquatter. It took me three months to figure out GoingWare.com - but I only got serious about getting my own domain name after my ISP was down for a week!
Your domain name is your brand in the Internet age. Just ask Apple Computer how much the "Apple" brand is worth - or the fact that they got the Apple.com domain name and not the Beatle's record label Apple Corp, who thought that they had established the Apple brand name while the two Steve's were still in diapers.

Submit your web pages to all the search engines.
There are sites that will allow you to fill in a single form and submit your page to a few dozen engines simultaneously. I've also seen shrink-wrap software that does this.

Submit your site to all the web indices.
This is different than submitting to the search engines.Unlike search engines, these are maintained and categorized by humans so I highly recommend you take the individual trouble to register and submit at each one personally. Find all the places where they have consultants listed and get your company listed.

Your web site should include the resumes of all the principals
The "principals" might consist solely of yourself, and the resumes could be abbreviated, but the important thing is that they include the keywords in the job descriptions, skills listings, and meta tags. Submit the resumes individually to the search engines, and also to the "individual resumes" sites of the more legit places that let anyone browse a resume.Note that if a user has to pay a fee to see your resume, they're not likely to do so unless they're an agent, and agents tend not to be looking for people that they're client won't be wanting to put in a cube farm somewhere.
The vast majority of my clients find me because they do keyword searches on the net for my skills. For example, I got one job because I had the phrase "SCSI scanner driver" in my resume and that agent found it that was willing to do 1099 with direct billing. My current client found me by doing a boolean search at AltaVista for:

"live picture" and resume
because she wanted someone to write an imaging application, and figured someone who used to work at Live Picture, Inc. would do a good job.

Pay $20 to post your resume at The Software Contractor's Guild
It's the one website that I've seen that seems to be really set up to serve the needs of the consultant and not the headhunter. Agents can participate, but you can indicate you don't want to hear from them. Clients and employers can browse resumes and do skill keyword searches for free. You can post your resume there in HTML form, your home page link and email is directly visible on your page and they don't try to get in your way by handling things like bidding and billing and health insurance for you.Don't deal with those websites that try to pretend they're the consultants friend when actually they're just contract agencies implemented in CGI Perl scripts or Java servlets.

Write a brochure
You can write it yourself, and it's more important that you have one written at all than that you get it written well. That's because a brochure that doesn't exist isn't getting you customers.Do take the trouble though to lay it out neatly (use conservativily attractive fonts, author it with a quality page layout program, spellcheck it, have your friends and coworkers comment on it).
I do highly recommend getting a professional copywriter who is experienced in high-tech advertising to write your brochure, though. I did the first few drafts of mine myself and had the final one done by my friend Frances Cherman (http://www.cherman.com) who did just a wonderful job.
If you're willing to go to the expense and you're pretty sure you've got the brochure the way you want it, you can have it attractively (and expensively) offset printed on glossy paper. I just print mine in black and white on a good-quality laser printer; the only real problem with that is that my logo comes out in grayscale. I'm going to experiment with inkjet soon.
Remember, being a geek with a black and white laser-printed brochure isn't really a big disadvantage in this business, because you are a geek - you're trying to reach clients who want to hire geeks. I wouldn't suggest hand-printed brochures to a user interface artist; consider your market when making your choices.

Pay for print advertising
I've yet to see the results of this as I just placed my ad this week, but I just paid $500 for a full-color (CMYK) 1/12th page ad in the Linux Journal "marketplace" page.

Note that this looks poor because it is rendered at screen resolution - it looks really nice in print.
The price goes down to $300 per month if you run it continuously for several months and in black-and-white (I'm blessed with a logo that really has to be in color). Note that the linux journal has a readership of 63,000 and the vast majority of them are computer professionals.
There are lots of other magazines with such inexpensive ad pages in the back, just find one or two that your clients are likely to read.

Note that I do not recommend web banner ads or search engine result placement.
I've experimented with banner ads and found them really a waste of time. Leave that for the Fortune 500 and the porn sites. You can't afford banner ad placement that will get decent results.Have you ever seen a banner ad that you though might be worth looking into a few minutes later and went back to the page to look at again? Were you able to find it? Didn't think so. That's because the banner ads are rotated.
But in the case of a technical magazine the ad stays in place on the same page, on the newsstands for a month and in the reader's possession for years potentially, and many people get the tech magazines just to look at the ads. How many people browse the web to look at all the interesting banner ads?

Actually locate customers directly
I'm in Santa Cruz, where the zip code is 95060. I did an Altavista Advanced Search for
programmer and employment and 95060
and also searching for "jobs" and "software" and 95062 and all the other zip codes in the county. Then I found the web pages of all the local software companies. Look up the zip codes for the area you want to find clients at the Postal Service; many nations have their postal codes online - it shouldn't be hard to find postal codes for any location you want to find clients in.
AltaVista Advanced Search Tutorial

I created a Filemaker database with the addresses of all the companies, actually two entries each, one with a "To" item of "Human Resources Manager" and the other "Engineering Manager". They're all getting brochures with hand-signed cover letters and a reply card (stamped, not business reply mail) where they can write in their names and the name and address of anyone else who might want a brochure.
Another thing you can do is stop by a trade show that prospective clients might be exhibiting at and pick up the exhibitor list (you probably don't have to actually attend to do this, just get one in the lobby). Then send a brochure to "Engineering Manager" and "Human Resources Manager" at every company, perhaps "President" if they're small companies.
One more thing that is particularly valuable is to actually attend the conferences where they will give everyone who attends a list of those who also attended. Mail everyone who attended a brochure - a printed, hardcopy brochure via postal mail, not email spam.
Hey, that's what the headhunters do - after I attended the Usenix conference in San Francisco back in the late 80's I got a couple dozen phone calls at work, many of which my boss answered and took messages for, asking if I would like a new job. That was my abrupt introduction to the world of "executive placement firms".
At a job interview soon after, when I told one of the clients of the headhunter I eventually caved into that that was how she found me, he told me he had asked the headhunter how she found such great local talent. "It's a trade secret." she replied. It's no secret - not for you or for our clients to find each other; it's just a matter of taking the trouble to do a little research.

Be active on the net
Participate in the newsgroups where potential clients might hang out asking questions. Spend a certain amount of your time posting authoritative answers to difficult problems users are having. Have a signature file that gives a blurb about your consulting business:

Michael D. Crawford
GoingWare, Inc. - Expert Software Development and Consulting
http://www.goingware.com
crawford@goingware.com
Tilting at Windmills for a Better Tomorrow.
Don't be concerned as to whether the person your helping could be a client someday because your next client may be lurking, quietly watching the newsgroup for someone knowledgable to approach about getting some work done. Or maybe the person you help will go on to recommend you to a friend.Good deeds will ultimately come back to reward you (although I do strongly advocate that you take the time to help people out for sheer generousity); on the other hand, the annoying and unethical activities of the vast majority of recruiters I encounter come back to do them such damage as consultants like me writing web pages like this one as well as consultants trading tips on alt.computer.consultants on how to avoid the agencies.
Also participate in web page discussion groups.

Post genuinely useful web pages on your web site
Such pages will draw traffic and especially stimulate others to link to you. For example this page - Tips and Tricks for MacsBug - is useful to Mac programmers and when I moved it from my old ISP hosted site to my own domain at a web hosting service, I found at least 25 different pages on the net that had linked to it (if you search for your own web page URL you can find all the pages that link to it, so you can ask them to update the link when you move the page - but you won't have to, because you got your own domain name, right?)Also this page - The Santa Cruz County Computer Industry Index is helpful to job seekers and employers in my area
Both those pages get a lot of hits, get me a lot of favorable response and the localjobs page got me a $100 gift certificate to my favorite Santa Cruz restaurant (India Joze) from a grateful new employee of a local company.

Post your business resume on the newsgroups
There are places where you can perfectly legitimately post either your resume, as long as you are careful to say you're looking for consulting work from your own office as I do, or you can post a plain-ascii newspost brochure or blurb.In the San Francisco Bay Area, Craig's List is a good place both for posting such things and for looking for contracts (my very first gig once I started independent consulting full-time was from there). This is a "web community", there are many web communities world-wide. If there are any in your area, participate vigorously, and also find ones that may be elsewhere geographically but serve the interests of people like yourself or your clients.

If you have any more tips, please email them to crawford@goingware.com and I'll post them with proper attribution (or anonymously if you prefer).I'm particularly interested in URL's to resume pages and consultant listing sites that are designed to serve the needs of people who aren't dealing with headhunters and agencies - the main criterion is whether our clients can browse the site without having to pay and preferably shouldn't even have to register.
Regards,
Mike Crawford
GoingWare, Inc. - Expert Software Development and Consulting
http://www.goingware.com
crawford@goingware.com

Survei Perilaku Seks Remaja 4

2005-01-28T10:58:00.000+08:00

Psikolog: Remaja Lebih Merasa Aman Berhubungan Seks di Rumah
Reporter: Ahmad Dani

detikcom - Jakarta, Hasil survei yang menyatakan 40 persen remaja melakukan hubungan seks pranikah pertama kali di rumahnya sendiri merupakan fenomena menarik. Menurut psikolog Netty Hartati, ini menunjukkan para remaja merasa lebih safe atau aman melakukan hubungan seks di rumahnya sendiri.

"Sebab jika perbuatan mereka diketahui atau dipergoki oleh masyarakat mungkin keluarga akan menutupi. Tapi kalau di tempat luar, di tempat kos misalnya, maka masyarakat akan menyebarluaskan hal tersebut dan dapat menjadi aib," tutur Netty.
Menurut Dekan Fakultas Psikologi Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Syarif Hidayatulloh Jakarta ini, hal ini mengindikasikan peran orang tua dalam melakukan proteksi terhadap anak semakin melemah terutama dalam menanamkan nilai-nilai keagamaan.

"Ini juga menunjukkan adanya pergeseran pola hidup yang dijalankan orang tua dalam menjalani hidup dewasa ini," kata Netty ketika dihubungi detikcom melalui telepon, Jumat (28/1/2005) pagi.

Sekarang ini kedua orang tua cenderung terlalu sibuk. Mereka menugaskan kepada pembantu rumah tangga untuk menyelesaikan masalah keluarga. Selain itu kebanyakan orang tua sekarang lebih senang anaknya mendapatkan prestasi yang baik di sekolah dibandingkan taat dalam beragama.

"Meskipun kedua duanya perlu. Sehingga kalau boleh dibilang masyarakat sekarang sudah lebih hedonis dalam menyikapi kehidupan sekarang ini," ujar Netty.
Mengenai perlunya pendidikan seks, Netty menyatakan tak masalah tetapi di dalam koridor yang benar. Pendidikan seks boleh saja diberikan tapi dengan catatan pendidikan tersebut diberikan bukan dalam kerangka mendorong remaja untuk melakukan hubungan seks.

Jadi pendidikan seks yang diberikan seperti dampak negatif hubungan seks di luar nikah dan mengenai kesehatan reproduksi.

Anda punya komentar? Ingin berbagi cerita tentang fenomena ini? Silakan kirim ke redaksi@staff.detik.com.

Survei Perilaku Seks Remaja 3

2005-01-28T10:49:00.001+08:00

PKBI: Remaja Perlu Dibekali Informasi Perilaku Seks yang Benar
Reporter: Ahmad Dani

detikcom - Jakarta, Ketua Divisi Komunikasi Informasi dan Avokasi Perkumpulan Keluarga Berencana Indonesia (PKBI) Adrianus Tanjung menyatakan hasil survei yang mengatakan 40 persen remaja melakukan hubungan seks pranikah pertama kali di rumahnya sendiri perlu ditanggapi serius oleh semua pihak.

"Angka itu tinggi sekali. Dan sebenarnya hal ini membuktikan kepada kita bahwa kehidupan para remaja perlu dibekali dengan informasi perilaku seks yang benar," tuturmya ketika dihubungi detikcom melalui telepon, Jumat (28/1/2005) pagi.

Temuan ini menunjukkan pentingnya edukasi tentang pendidikan seks yang benar kepada para remaja. "Perkumpulan Keluarga Berencana Indonesia (PKBI) sudah membentuk Youth Center, semacam pusat tempat konsultasi remaja yang ingin mendapat info tentang pendidikan seks atau yang lainnya seperti penyakit menular seksual atau HIV/AIDS misalnya," kata Adrianus.

Menurut Adrianus, kita harus memberikan informasi penyeimbang dari pengaruh pengaruh negatif yang diberikan oleh beberapa media, terutama bagi remaja yang tinggal di di kota besar.

Faktor lain yang menjadi sorotan Adrianus adalah rendahnya pendidikan seks yang didapat oleh remaja kita sekarang ini. Sebab ketika si anak ingin mengetahui hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan perilaku seks kebanyakan orang tua melarang untuk menanyakaan hal tersebut karena masih dianggap sebagai suatu yang tabu. Atau mungkin juga orang tua tidak mengerti banyak tentang hal yang ditanyakan.

"Padahal seharusnya orang tua menunda menjawabnya bukan melarangnya sehingga ketika si anak merasa tidak mendapat informasi yang dibutuhkan dia kemudian bertanya kepada temannya yang belum tentu benar penjelasannya, di sinilah bahayanya," ujar Adrianus.
Dilanjutkan Adrianus, fenomena ini menunjukkan perlunya dukungan luas dari seluruh elemen masyarakat dan pemerintah untuk menangani masalah ini. Sebab ada tiga komponen yang diperlukan untuk menunjang informasi mengenai pendidikan sex yang benar, yaitu remaja, orang tua, guru dan masyarakat atau pemerintah. "Mereka harus berjalan bersamaan untuk memberikan informasi tersebut."

Adrianus juga menyarankan kepada para remaja harap tidak malu untuk menanyakan hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan masalah seksual kepada orang atau lembaga yang dapat dipercayai dapat memberi informasi yang benar mengenai hal tersebut.
"Biar para remaja terutama remaja putri tidak menyesal di kemudian hari," demikian Adrianus Tanjung.

Survei Perilaku Seks Remaja 2

2005-01-28T10:49:00.000+08:00

Kaum Ibu Kaget 40% Remaja Berhubungan Seks di Rumah
Reporter: Nurul Hidayati

detikcom - Jakarta, Kaget. Itulah reaksi kaum ibu membaca hasil riset DKT Indonesia-Synovate Research Reinvented yang menyatakan 40% remaja melakukan hubungan seksual pertama kalinya justru di rumahnya sendiri!

"Saya nggak nyangka," tegas Ny.Umi, ibu dua putri, pada detikcom, Kamis (27/1/2005). Menurutnya, para remaja tersebut "cukup pintar" memanfaatkan situasi saat orangtuanya bekerja mencari nafkah.

"Anak saya masih kecil memang, tapi saya kaget mengetahui itu. Saya mikirnya 10 tahun ke depan, pasti situasinya lebih mengerikan," sambungnya.

Karena itulah perempuan yang tinggal di Cimanggis ini akan lebih ketat lagi mendidik kedua putrinya. "Saya dan suami akan lebih dini menanamkan nilai-nilai mana yang boleh, mana yang tidak, mana yang benar mana yang salah. Saya rasa kejadian itu (seks pranikah, apalagi di dalam rumah), bisa dihindari bila ada penanaman nilai sejak dini," urai Ny Umi.

Kekagetan senada disampaikan oleh Ratna, ibu berputra satu yang tinggal di Senen, Jakarta Pusat. "Persepsi sebuah rumah yang selama ini identik dengan pengawasan orangtua rupanya sudah melebur. Kini justru di rumahlah para remaja bisa bebas. Apa yang dilakukan remaja sekarang sungguh berani," tandas perempuan pekerja ini.
Ny Sundari, ibu seorang putri warga Johar Baru, Jakpus, juga reaktif merespon survei itu. "Tapi riset itu bagus, bisa jadi warning bagi orangtua untuk waspada. Kalau putri kita kedatangan pacarnya, jangan sampai kita lengah. Demikian juga pihak orangtua yang cowok," kata pekerja bank ini.

Ny Ria, ibu dua putra, mengaku takut kejadian seperti hasil survei itu terjadi di keluarganya. Karena itulah dia akan memberikan pendidikan agama sebaik mungkin sejak dini. "Disampung itu juga pengawasan yang ketat," katanya.

"Meski anak saya semuanya laki-laki, kita tanamkan sedini mungkin bahwa hal seperti itu (seks pranikah) adalah dosa Pendidiksan seks sedini mungkin penting. Misalnya saja dikasih tahu bahwa anak laki tidak boleh mandi bareng sama anak perempuan," sambung wirausahawati yang tinggal di Pondok Gede, Jaktim ini.

Seperti diberitakan detikhot Rabu kemarin, survei menunjukkan, remaja di 4 kota besar Indonesia melakukan hubungan seks pertamakalinya di rumah. Jika 72 persen remaja pria merasa senang setelah melakukan hubungan seks, 47 persen remaja wanita menyesal.

Hasil survei tersebut disampaikan DKT Indonesia dalam breakfeast meeting yang digelar di Hotel Le Meridien Jakarta, Rabu (26/1/2005). Survei yang dijalankan oleh Synovate itu mengambil sampel remaja dari Bandung, Jakarta, Medan, dan Surabaya.
Penelitian ini dilakukan terhadap 474 remaja berusia 15-24 tahun dengan persentasi 50 persen aktif secara seksual dan 50 persen lagi tidak. Itu artinya sebanyak 50 persen orang mengaku sudah pernah menjalani hubungan seksual pranikah sedangkan sisanya mengaku belum pernah.

Metode survei ini adalah wawancara secara langsung dengan responden. Nah yang perlu diperhatikan, 40 persen dari remaja ini melakukan hubungan seks untuk pertamakalinya di rumah masing-masing atau di rumah pasangannya. Ini artinya kesibukan orang tua sangat berpengaruh, ataukah orang tua kini semakin permisif?
Anda memiliki putra/putri remaja? Bagaimana komentar Anda terhadap hasil riset tersebut? Dan upaya antisipasi yang Anda lakukan? Ceritakan pada kami di redaksi@staff.detik.com.

Survei Perilaku Seks Remaja 1

2005-01-28T10:37:00.000+08:00

Rabu , 26/01/2005 16:44 WIB

40 % Hubungan Seks Remaja Pertamakali di Rumah

Reporter: Puteri Fatia

Detikhot - Jakarta, Survey menunjukkan, remaja di 4 kota besar Indonesia melakukan hubungan seks pertamakalinya di rumah. Jika 72 persen remaja pria merasa senang setelah melakukan hubungan seks, 47 persen remaja wanita menyesal.

Hasil survey tersebut disampaikan DKT Indonesia dalam breakfeast meeting yang digelar di Hotel Le Meridien Jakarta, Rabu (26/1/2005). Survey yang dijalankan oleh Synovate itu mengambil sampel remaja dari Bandung, Jakarta, Medan, dan Surabaya. Penelitian ini dilakukan terhadap 474 remaja berusia 15-24 tahun dengan persentasi 50 persen aktif secara seksual dan 50 persen lagi tidak. Itu artinya sebanyak 50 persen orang mengaku sudah pernah menjalani hubungan seksual pranikah sedangkan sisanya mengaku belum pernah.

Metode survei ini adalah wawancara secara langsung kepada responden. Nah yang perlu diperhatikan, 40 persen dari remaja ini melakukan hubungan seks untuk pertamakalinya di rumah masing-masing atau di rumah pasangannya. Ini artinya kesibukan orang tua sangat berpengaruh, ataukah orang tua kini semakin permisif?

Setelah terjadi hubungan seks, 72 persen pria merasa bahagia. Sedangkan sang wanita 47 persen menyesal karena merasa terbujuk, takut dosa, maupun takut hamil.
Tidak banyak perubahan dari hasil-hasil survey serupa yang pernah digelar sebelumnya. Informasi seks tetap paling banyak didapat dari teman sebaya serta sumber lain yang juga dianggap terpercaya seperti film porno (35 persen).

Tentang pencegahan dan keamanan, dalam survey ini terlihat para remaja sudah paham akan manfaat dam kegunaan kondom serta mengetahui tentang berbagai penyakit menular seksual. Namun penggunaan kondom di kalangan remaja masih belum populer karena hubungan seks sering terjadi diluar rencana. Menurut penelitian ini juga, pengetahuan akan kondom tak mendorong mereka untuk melakukan kegiatan seks secara aktif. Lalu apa? Dikatakan pengaruh lingkungan dan minimnya informasi bisa menjadi penyebab.

Pada masa pertumbuhan, remaja sangat tertarik akan hal yang berbau seksual karena hal psikologis dan biologis. Kemana harus bertanya? Seperti telah dikatakan, teman adalah andalan utama. Minimnya informasi yang akurat itu membuat banyak yang mencoba learning by doing. Setelah pertamakali mencoba ternyata sulit untuk menghentikannya kembali.

Masa remaja juga sangat identik dengan krisis kepercayaan diri. Merasa tak ada yang dibanggakan, remaja mencari berbagai cara untuk tetap eksis di pergaulan. Artinya segela tuntutan pergaulan pastinya akan dituruti baik itu seks, mabuk-mabukan, dugem, sampai menghisap ganja. Dengan adanya pengakuan dari peer group, setidaknya remaja mendapat satu poin kepercayaan diri. Apalagi jika di rumah orang tua kurang terbuka dan perhatian, teman bisa menjadi pelarian yang paling mudah.
Bicara tentang perilaku seks, banyak hal yang memengaruhi curiousity remaja tentang hal ini. Kultur timur yang ada di bangsa Indonesia membuat banyak orang tua merasa tabu membicarakan seks dengan sang anak. Jadilah yang tadi itu, anak belajar dari pengalamannya sendiri dan sumber lain yang tidak terlalu bisa dipercaya seperti teman atau pacar mereka sendiri.

Kampanye yang dilakukan belakangan ini lebih banyak menekankan pada proses instan yaitu perubahan perilaku. Dengan jurus yang tepat perilaku memang bisa diubah dalam sekejap. Tapi apakah bisa bertahan lama itu masih perlu dipertanyakan.

Selain perubahan perilaku sebagai salah satu cara harm reduction, perubahan sifat atau karakter juga sangat penting. Remaja diharapkan tidak hanya sekedar tahu kalau hubungan seksual yang tidak aman dapat menyebabkan penyakit, tapi juga dituntut untuk menumbuhkan kesadaran akan gaya hidup yang sehat. Jika remaja sudah paham dan memiliki kontrol diri dan lingkungan maka keputusan yang bijaksana pastinya nggak sulit diambil. Apalagi dalam penelitian ini juga dikatakan, kesadaran remaja untuk tetap melakukan seks setelah menikah juga masih cukup besar (68 persen). (fta)

Leadership Credibility

2005-01-26T11:47:00.000+08:00

Yes! Unless you are willing to share the possible wealth that your idea can generate.
I would rather have part of something, instead of all of nothing.
You will need to find someone who is a business leader, or who knows of some, and get them as excited about your idea as you are. In the process, however, you may find that their experience will point out one or more failings in your idea. That's invaluable knowlege that will wind up saving you money in the long run.
Perform Internet searches at Google and DogPile. Try to find any information remotely like your idea and see what people are doing. Coming up with a truly unique idea is almost impossible these days. But, it can be done.
Good luck!
=David=

I agree with David. A book that will prove itself to be invaluable to you at this point is "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill.

Over and over again it is explained how you don't have to have the "specialized knowledge" in your head, but you need to be able to organize that knowledge. Or as Kiyosaki would say- Build yourself a team aroud your idea.

Here is an example given from Napolean Hill's "Keys to Success: The 17 Principles for Personal Achievement":
"Putting Definiteness of Purpose to Work"
"The first step from poverty to riches is the most difficult. The key is to realize that all the riches and all the material goods you acquire through your own efforts begin with having a clear concise picture of what you seek. When that picture grows to be an obsession with you, you will find your every action leads you towards its acquisition.

Andrew Carnegie's life again provides an excellent example. Once he knew he wanted to make steel, he fed that desire until it was the driving force in his life. He then turned to a friend, similarly broke but smart enough to recognize the value of his idea. Because he was impressed by the power of Carnegie's obsession, the friend joined forces with Carnegie. Their combined enthusiasm was sufficient to convince two others.

These four people became the nucleus of Carnegie's empire. They formed a mastermind group... Together they were able to find the capital necessary to pursue Carnegie's obsession, and each of them made a vast fortune as a result.

It was not sheer hard work that made these men succesful. You probably know several people who work as hard as you do at anything they try- perhaps even harder than you- and are never successful. Education isn't the reason either. Sam Walton never won a Rhodes Scholarship, but he made more money than anyone who ever studied at Oxford.
Great success is the result of one's understanding and using a postive mental attitude (PMA). Your mental attitude gives power to everything you do. Having a positive mental attitude means that your actions and thoughts further your ends; having a negative mental attitude means that you are constantly undermining your own efforts. As you build your desire into an obsession and develop definiteness of purpose, you will also build and develop your positive mental attitude.

It would be foolish to suppose that suppose that having developed your defintelness of purpose and PMA, you will immediately find that you have the resources that you need. The speed at which you acquire these will depend on the size of your needs and the control you exercise to keep your mind free of fear, doubt, and self imposed limitations."
< Message edited by emorgan26 -- 1/23/2005 5:20:29 PM >

How Can I Build System?

2005-01-26T11:19:00.000+08:00

Any business that focuses on service using employees CAN NOT BE RUN REMOTELY, unless you don't care about maintaining at least an acceptable level of performance. I would be willing to bet that most all such business owners are having a hard enough time keeping their businesses running smoothly and competitively being on-site every waking minute of the day. I speak from experience, and I had some of the best employees you can imagine. Besides, how would you handle problems? “I want my money back. This was a lousy job. I want to speak to the manager. The toilet won’t flush.”

In my opinion, you are focusing too much on the goal of living off of a residual income. You are not thinking enough about how to get there.
Here’s one way to look at it so you can see partly why this won’t work. Try picturing yourself as an employee working for a company that services computers for customers. You make a salary, but have no vested interest in the company. The owner is never around, but he expects you to be there for the customers, listening to their problems and fixing their systems. No matter how hard you work you receive the same salary. It doesn’t really matter if you do a good job, or a great job. But, your boss, the owner, is very concerned about the quality of work you do because it directly affects his profits. If you don’t do a great job, customers won’t be back and profits will drop. He may actually have to come in once in a while to make you work harder. Then you start to think, “Maybe I’ll just take home a disk drive or 2 to make up for all the overtime I’ve been putting in . . .”

Any time you perform a service for a fee, quality is a big concern. The only way to manage such quality is to be there to manage it. You can’t setup a system and have it take care of itself unless the people doing the work are compensated enough for their troubles that they take ownership of the problems. You will find that there is not enough profit in a computer service to properly compensate employees and keep you in a residual income.
Keep on thinkin . . .
=David=

My discussions with business owners have consistently led to the same conclusion - when you own a business, you need to be there to run it - maybe not every minute of every day, but at least on a consistent basis so you can solve problems as they appear and make sure the system is continuing to work as designed.

Systems are difficult to create. You have to take the things you do intuitively (assuming that you already know how to run a successful business) and document then in a way other people can follow. You may need 3 people to do something you normally do by yourself, which can be frustrating. You have to account for variability in your system - something that, as an individual, you do by nature. In other words, how will your system behave if you have 20% more or less business in one week than you do in the next?
The most reliable, steady systems are the simplest one. They ideally have loosely coupled steps, and each step is simple enough that a person can be trained in a very short time. Look at the front counter of Panda Express to see this principle in action! Achieveing this means keeping your product/service line very streamlined while providing a satisfying range of choice for your customer - a potentially difficult balancing act.

RP, as the owner of a business, I can tell you that it takes time to get your systems to the point that you could hand them over to someone.
Sometimes people buy ready made systems in the form of franchises and build their business that way. However, if you are starting from scratch it will take some trial and error.

It helps to start out with an extremely comprehensive business plan, but even then you will be honing your skills and the company's systems as you go along.
The good news is that after you have done it for 2-5 years and diligently learned from your mistakes and improve, you can take what you learned in one business and apply it to another, usually in the same industry.

This is a recurring theme on the boards regardless of whether you are doing REI, paper assets, or building a business. You work on it diligently for 2-5 years, then take what you've learned and apply it hundreds of time. That is what I have learned from experience and what I am hearing from some of the more successful players on the boards irrespective of their chosen method to build wealth.

I don't see that this is at all obvious. Donald Trump is involved in all his projects, though they are too large for him to manage alone. Judging from his book, it appears the only projects he ignores are certain pet projects of his employees that he basically suffers to encourage creativity and loyalty.

Bill gates is the Chief Software Architect of Microsoft, a job for which he gave up the position of CEO.

Is Michael Dell out on the golf course these days? I would be surprised if this were true - maybe, though.

Sam Walton continued to grow and strengthen his business to turn it into the largest retail powerhouse ever seen -- as far as I know, he did this until the day he died.

The "owners" of all the businesses you've mentioned here are the common shareholders, and they of course have no involvement in the businesses at all. If this is your goal, then perhaps your interest is really in being a common shareholder?

All of the businesses you mentioned, however, did start out small. Michael Dell was building computers in his college dormitory. Bill Gates was hawking systems software. Sam Walton was operating a five-and-dime store. Each of these guys built their little companies until they could take them public. After they did, they could each have walked away with the cash - that's what the investment bankers who took them public did - but they didn't, they stayed with their businesses until the end.
Maybe you should consider being an investment banker? This is a person who uses investor dollars to purchase shares in profitable businesses with good systems already in place. Then, when the time is right, they list their shares on the public exchanges with an IPO.

Anyway, I think it's a great question - can anyone here think of any notable businesses that continued to thrive and prosper under absentee ownership?

One of the methods in RD/PD has to do with developing intellectual property. This can come in the form of an invention, a new product, a book, etc. The concept is simple, but takes a MOUNTAIN of work to make happen. Work hard, once, then sell it over and over again.

This is the road I have started to take. Last summer I perfected a recipe for a super hot ketchup using fresh habanero peppers. People liked it so much that I started to research how to bottle and sell the new ketchup. Turns out that a "gourmet food company" is one of the easiest companies to get off the ground. I don't even need office space. Everything is outsourced to vendors. My labels were designed by a graphics designer. The labels were printed by a labeling company. My ketchup is manufactured by a contract pagkaging company (Co-packer).

Now I'm working on finding retail outlets for my new ketchup. I even won 1st place in a national competition, which is helping sales. I'm working very hard to lay the groundwork for a solid network of sales outlets for the product. Later, much later, I should be able to quit my day job and work more on marketing. Eventually, the sales may grow to be quite substantial. Hot foods are very big right now.

Anyway, that's my short story. I put it here to show how this type of business is geared to being run by just one person. It also runs without me because the stores and websites are selling for me. I get to work on the tasks I love best. Coming up with new products and naming them.

(If anyone is interested, I can point you in the right direction to starting your own similar company.)

=David=