One of the greatest economical digital cameras is the Samsung-DualView-TL225 priced at approximately $180. This camera comes with fairly good image clarity coupled with good zoom capabilities. This camera comes with a 2.5 inch LCD and viewfinder along with a CCD .3 inch photo sensor. In case you are aiming at clicking photos from close-range, then here is a worthy option. With inexperienced people in mind, the camera has a category for every ‘mode’ for the benefit of the consumer, as he or she can spin the button for the desired screen-selection. dcmeuk2

Polaroid-i1036 is another cheap digital camera that boasts of a great traits list for a reasonable cost of below $90. This camera is offered in red, blue, orange and white and delivers good execution, and this is unexpected in a camera which costs so less. Along with a 6 MP resolution, 3x ‘optical’ zoom as well as a 2.7 inch screen, this unit is a great offering at a price that hardly creates troubles in the finances.

The Olympus-Stylus-7010 costing about $190 is amongst the greatest low-cost digital cameras available. There are some unusual aspects that are known as magic-filters for exceptional artistic effects on the photos together with a fish-eye outlook. This camera’s zoom facet does work rather nicely, again taking into consideration the price-tag of the camera. The same could also be felt regarding the camera’s picture quality. Although, non-standard resolutions apart from 3 MP cannot be accessed in this camera.

From a philosophical standpoint this makes sense, as if someone needs what you were selling chances are they may wish to buy it. However, that is not exactly how it works. You see, people only buy what they want and not necessarily what they need. For instance no one needs to put alcohol, which is a poison to the human body in their body.

But they want to do to the fact that it makes them feel a certain way and takes the edge off. People spend money on what they want not what they need. If they needed it bad enough in that event their need is turned into a desire above and beyond their desire for other products or services, which they might use the unit of trade we call a dollar to purchase.

Sales managers should be sure to the salespeople that work under them understand this principle and to be sure to spend their sales time with the clients or prospects who most desire or are more interested in what they sell. If the sales personal wastes time on only goes prospects who are perceived to need what they sell, they simply will not make as many sales. This of course means your company will indeed make less money you see. Consider all those in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

I know with my kids, if I’m not hearing some degree of noise; [i.e. play], from them, it probably means one of them is not
feeling well, or they are coming down with a cold.

My world is blessed with two very artistic and rambounous boys; 5 years and 2 1/2 years old. With their play and with their
singing; [they love to sing Country music at the top of their lungs!]; they have the ability to raise the noise level in our house to a “heaven-bending” volume in 9 seconds flat!

And while I loved to hear them hard at play, the sporatic and unpredictable noise [play], posed challenges at times when I was doing sales calls, or when clients called with final questions about starting a business relationship with me.

Clients don’t wait, when they want to have questions answered and they don’t always call at the best times. Sometimes these calls would come through when the kids were eating or doing activities that were not so noisy. Great! But…. most of the time, they did not!

5 year olds are pretty predictable. You basically know when they are going to make noise. But, if you know anything about
the ‘terrible 2’s syndrome’, you’re already familiar with the unpredictability of when the next scream, or loud laugh will erupt!

Some clients understood. I would say: ‘yes I know you can hear kids in the background. That is why I do this business.
So I can be at home with them”. For other clients, that was not okay. I had some near misses and some fair size loses
in bringing people in, to work with me in my business because of this home-based situation.

Over the course of working out of my home, I have had many a conversation with other work at home Moms [WAHMs], and at times have doubled over in laughter at some of the ingenious, and sometimes silly tactics they’ve pulled just to get a moment of quiet when they needed to portray the illusion of “executive-office professionalism” for the really important calls.

Some of them would hide in the bathroom. Others would sneak downstairs, or sneak out into the garage. The funniest one
I heard was the hiding in the closet trick… so the kids would not be making noise right under-foot. That one really made me laugh, because I have pulled similar tactics just trying to get a moments peace! And, yes, I have to admit, I have used them
to make my business workable too!

Oh I know… I hear some of you saying… why don’t you just get your kids into daycare, or find a babysitter or a Nanny
to take them. Well, that makes perfect sense of course. But for the many WAHMs who have given up jobs to work at home,
first, they do not want to be giving the majority of what they earn to those services; although they are very valuable services. And, second, there’s that guilt.

The guilt we feel because it was our choice to stop working at jobs and stay at home so we could be with our kids. That was a conscious choice we made. So when we start looking at having to farm our kids out to daycare, babysitters, or bringing in a Nanny, guilt; as to the purpose of why we were staying home in the first place starts to manifest.

So what is the solution? Is there really a solution to how to make sales with noisy kids in the house? Well, I don’t know
if this solution is for you… But I do believe I found the right solution for me!

I don’t have to hide in the closet anymore. I don’t disappear into the bathroom to talk muffled into the towels, lol! I no longer work 5 to 9 hours a day on the phone during play time, or any time, doing follow ups and sales calls.

Clients no longer call the house at unpredictable times, or at all for that matter. My kids no longer have to worry about how much noise they make in the house! And, I’ll still make a nice 5-6 figure contribution to my family’s income this year!

What did I discover to make my sales business work for everyone in the household? Well…. that’s another story that needs to be explained at another time!

My typing time is up – and my kids are calling me to come outside and play water-bomb balloons with them! Got to go ; )!

Tracey DePaoli is a work-at-home-Mom [WAHM] who got tired of building success at the expense of her family’s time. She has a successful business now that allows her the time freedom to travel, play and spend precious time with her two young boys – 2 1/2 and 5 yrs and her partner! She has been an avid Internet marketer and researcher of online trends for over 15 years. Discover more about how you can also earn a 6 figure income while at PLAY! Site: http://www.WeCloseYourSaleForYou.com

In a number of issues of YSS I have talked about the words you use in a selling
situation, but that is only part of the story.

It’s not just the words you use but how you use them that makes a difference.

And that reminds me of a joke.

You see there was this unfortunate man who broke the law and went to prison. He
was feeling very scared his first night alone in his cell.
After the lights went out he heard one of the other inmates in a cell quite a long way
off shout out “32″. Then all the prisoners burst out laughing. When the laughter
subsided he heard another inmate call out “66″. Once again followed by a burst of
laughter. This went on for some time before they all fell to sleep.

The man was intrigued by this behaviour.

The next morning during breakfast in the eating area the man gathered up his courage
and spoke to one of the older prisoners and asked him what was going on.

The older inmate said, “Many of us have been in here for a long time. There’s not
much you can do when the lights go out. So, to amuse ourselves we tell jokes. But
after a while we all seemed to know all the jokes, so it became easier to just give the
jokes a number and just shout out the number rather than taking all that time to tell the
joke.”

Ahhh. Now it all made sense.

So, for the next few weeks, the man listened to the numbers and found out what joke
corresponded to what number and which numbers got the biggest laughs.

Finally, one night he decided to join in. After about five or six jokes had been told “by
the numbers”. He shouted out “22!” Nothing happened? Dead silence. He thought that
maybe the others didn’t hear him. So, he waited till a few more jokes were numbered
and shouted out, as loud as he could, “66!” Again, just silence? This happened to him
about five times.

The next morning he just had to find out why no one laughed at his numbers. He went
to the old man again and asked him. “Why does no one laugh at my jokes?”

The old man replied, “Ahhh, it’s the way you tell them.”

On a serious note, the way you say something has a big bearing on how that statement
is perceived and reacted to.

Two studies that I know of have documented non-verbal aspects of communication.

Bob Birdwhistle, (“Kinesics & Communication”) and Albert Mehrabian both studied
non- verbal communication and came up with the following assessment. ( Note
Mehrabian has summarised his works and the work of some others in a book entitled
“Silent Messages”)

Communication is:
7% verbal,
38% tonal,
55% physiological.

That is, only 7% of the message received when you communicate with someone
comes from the actual words you use. Whereas, 93% comes from your tone and
actions.

You make be doubting the validity of those figures and frankly I do too. However, I
sure know that when I was growing up that if my mother shouted out “Gregory !!!!”,
it meant more than just my name. I knew I was in trouble for something.
Similarly, think about some of the comedians you know that stand up on stage and
make a living out of insulting people or making fun of them, yet they rarely offend
people. It’s all in the tone they use !

Think about the intonation we use in uttering a sentence. Basically, we have three
choices. As we say something we can finish the sentence with:
An upward voice intonation
An unchanged voice intonation
A downward / deeper voice intonation

Try it for yourself. Lets pick a sentence to say. ” You want to buy this “

If you repeat that sentence and speak the last two words in a higher pitched voice it
sounds like you are asking a question. In fact there are languages ( e.g. Italian ) where
you indicate you are asking a question by the intonation of the sentence. And guess
what, these languages use that same higher-pitched voice tone to indicate a question is
being asked.

Next, say that sentence keeping your voice tone constant. Different, isn’t it. That tone
is indicating you are making a statement.

Finally, utter that same sentence again but say the last two words louder and deeper.
This is command tonality. This command tonality is well utilised by hypnotists and
can, of course, be used in hypnotic sales techniques too.

How is this useful in selling ?

Well, when you make a comment like ” This product is the one you want”. It has very
little positive impact if you utter it with a question type tonality. In fact, it sounds like
you are asking a question and are not really sure if it’s a good product or the best one
to use.

You have probably been told by your sales manager or in a sales training course to be
positive when you are in a sales call and assume you are going to make the sale. This
spills over into your tonality so that you make statements with a statement tonality or
a command tonality rather than using a questioning tonality.

Mind you, you can use questioning tonality to your advantage. Say your customers
tells you she is using Acme brand material ( your competitor ). If you reply with “You
are using Acme brand?” with that upward inflexion in your voice, I can just about
guarantee you that your client will ask “What’s wrong with Acme brand?”. To which
you can just reply “Oh, nothing.” They will, of course, still be wondering what’s
wrong with that brand.

Careful use of the command tonality can be very effective in selling too but it’s use is
too big a topic to cover here in this eZine.

Let’s talk about what you do with your body when you’re presenting ideas to people.

Michael Grinder from the USA teaches about patterns of communication. He says
there are two patterns namely Credible or Approachable.

The Credible Style of communication is best for sending information; to increase
importance; to express vehemence. This Credible style uses the downward intonation
at the end of each sentence ( or at least holding the tone constant ). In terms of body
position this style is characterised by stillness. The head is held still, the body is
straight, the arms should be at the side or parallel to the ground with weight on both
feet and toes pointed forward.

The Approachable Style of communication is used when you are seeking information.
It uses a more rhythmic tempo with upward voice intonation at the end of each
sentence. In terms of physiology it is characterised by much more movement. The
head often bobs; the body leans forward; hand gestures abound; weight often shifting
from foot to foot.

When you want to get your message across, and have your best chance of being
believed, communicate using the Credible Style.

When seeking information and establishing rapport use the Approachable Style.

Of course, like many other sales techniques, it takes practice to master them.

By the way, I just thought of another joke. 66. ( Are you laughing?)

Happy practicing. Here’s to YourSalesSuccess.

Greg is a salesman. He’s been selling for 23 years and has negotiated supply contracts in the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore and Japan. He has sold as much as $7million in a year. His worst result over 23 years was 94% of budgeted sales at 99% of budgeted profit. He’s now semi-retired at 46. He has a desire to help other salespeople live a good life, free themselves of money worries and retire early. OK. Greg can sell but teaching and coaching is another matter. He has been trained in one-on-one coaching skills acquiring a “Professional Development Certificate in Coaching Practice” from the Psychology Department of the University of Sydney. He is a Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming ( NLP ). Naturally, he has attended many sales training courses at home and overseas and is an avid reader of sales books.

Over the years Greg has become more interested in helping people that helping companies.

More info, click here ==>http://www.sellingandpersuasiontechniques.com

So if prospecting can be so much fun, why don’t salespeople these days do more of it? Why are so many of even veteran salespeople so firmly stuck in an existing customer rut?

I believe the answer is partly because the effort to professionally prospect for new business is darn difficult and time consuming and partly because too many salespeople are content with their current income levels.

But I believe that there is another reason: Sales managers don’t require their sales forces to prospect. I believe a certain amount of prospecting should be a condition of employment for every sales force.

BENEFITS OF PROSPECTING

1. Market intelligence: There’s no better way to find out the intimate details of competitors’ service levels than to call on your competitors’ customers.

So on every prospect call ask one or two key questions to find out how your company stacks up against the competition. Over the years, I have learned a lot about the art of asking good questions from Art Sobczak, author of the popular monthly newsletter, Telephone Selling Report (800-326-7721). Sobczak describes The Fundamentals of Question Types:

Open-Ended

These get feelings, ideas and emotions — not one or two-word answers. Often begin questions with “how,” “what,” “why.”

For example: “How do you like to schedule deliveries?”

Or, “What do you do when…?”

Closed

These elicit one or two-word answers. Their best use is to get specific information. Not recommended for frequent use since they’re conversation-killers.

“What is the size of one of your typical orders?”

Add-On/Layering Questions

Responding to what the prospect said with other questions designed to prompt them to continue speaking. For example:

“Oh?”

“Then what happened?”

Parrot Questions

Repeating, as a question, what he or she just said.

“You’re having a problem getting on time deliveries? How do you mean exactly?”

Instructional Statements

You’re not asking for information, you’re telling them to give it to you.

“Tell me more,”

“Give me some idea of…”

“Please tell me…”

“Please explain…”

When you use these questions, make sure that you know where you’ll go when you get answers.

Building professional relationships. I know of no better way to establish a professional relationship with prospects you are not currently selling than to make prospecting calls on them. One of the main keys is to a successful prospect call is bringing your prospects some information that will help them be more successful.

An example: “I attended a conference last weekend and heard an expert present an economic forecast for this market. One of the most insightful statements he made was…”

If the prospect shows interest, end the visit by asking: “Would you like for me to make you a copy of his handout?”

Avoid saying something like, “Tell you what I’ll do, I’ll make you a copy of his handout and bring it by.”

If you put your offer in the form of a question, and the prospect answers, yes, you’re then in a position to in essence to do him a favor.

Discover opportunities. While on prospect calls, keep your eyes and ears open. You never know when you’ll discover an opportunity to supply a special need the prospect’s current supplier is not able to fulfill.

At one of my seminars recently, a salesperson told me that while on a prospect call the prospect asked him, “Do you guys have a special order department? I’m having a heck of a hard time finding a reliable supplier.”

New business: Perhaps the best reason to insist that your salespeople make prospect calls is to make sure that your company is in control of its destiny. When one or more exiting customers slow down, have their credit suspended or go out of business, it’s awfully nice to have already built a strong relationship with a prospect to keep your sales moving forward.

Try this: Sit down with your sales force and identify several creditworthy prospects and assign them to your salespeople and agree on a game plan. Then follow up with them each month and check on the progress each salesperson is making. This process will make you a better sales manager and your salespeople will become better.

For more information on Bill Lee’s Gross Margin book and his newest book, 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot, go to www.BillLeeOnLine.com. Or call 800-808-0534 to order via voice mail.

Bill Lee is a South Carolina-based sales trainer who works with salespeople who want to improve their sales and gross margin. He is author of the book Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line. $29.95 plus $6 S&H. His newest book is 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot. $21.95 plus $6 S&H. http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com Or call 800-808-0534 to order via voice mail.

They pay on what is called a “straight commission” basis. If you sell, you eat, and if you don’t you starve.

It is, perhaps, the ultimate form of merit pay: literally, you have to merit it, not through effort, but through results.

Most companies love to pay this way, because it all but eliminates their risks. They can be assured of several things when someone accepts straight commission compensation:

(1) They’re self-confident, and confident people sell more than the insecure.

(2) They’re willing to take total responsibility for their achievement; a rare attribute in today’s workers.

(3) They’re need and want less supervision and hand-holding.

(4) They’ll come to work, pre-trained; and of course

(5) They’ll pay for themselves right away, and cost-justify the company’s overhead.

If a straight commission sales rep doesn’t pan out, very little has been invested in him, so this means companies can give more job seekers bites at the apple, at a lower cost than if they were salaried.

And typically, straight commission payers are more willing to offer big commissions to the successful. So, the upside is significantly greater for the salesperson who can handle the challenge.

But can you hack it as a commission-only seller? Most people can’t.

First, they believe that a company that doesn’t guarantee them SOMETHING is either less than legitimate or is not confident enough that the job will produce a solid income for itself, let alone for the rep. Along this line, candidates often see salary, its size and related perks, as a vote of confidence in their skills. When the guarantee is big, there’s faith in the new hire, and this gesture instills confidence in the candidate.

But even more daunting to most is the fact that straight commission ushers in a variable reinforcement schedule. This month you may break the bank, but next month, you may have to borrow on your charge cards. Dramatic ups and downs aren’t warm and fuzzy for most folks who like to know they’re going to pay their mortgages or rent on time.

I believe the most important question is this one: If you had your druthers would you be in business for yourself or work on somebody else’s payroll? If you’re the independent type, then a straight commission plan could be your cup of tea, because it’s exactly how you’re paid when you’re completely on your own.

By the way, there’s another perk. In most commission jobs, employers realize they can’t insist you work their way, punching a conventional time clock. They must cut you some slack, allowing you a lot of freedom in how and when you work, because after all, they’re not paying you to warm a chair, but ONLY to succeed.

How you do it is really none of their business, and most of them, at least reluctantly, acknowledge it!

Have you wasted valuable time and money on promotion that doesn’t work? Have your announcements and news releases been ignored? Have you been too quiet about getting the word out how your product or service will help solve people’s problems?

Most of us are passionate about our work. We put a lot into coaching training; we know that we want to help others to create a better life or business. If only people would just know that we are the right choice.

The message? Be willing to put consistent time, passion and creativity into ongoing promotion that works.

Follow these ten promotion steps to bring new clients and sales:

1. Take personal responsibility for online promotion.

Online promotion works well for those of you who are bashful or reluctant to “sell.” No cold, or even warm calls. You promote straight from your home or office via ecommerce. Now, that’s convenience!

2. Delegate your Online writing articles promotion to your computer assistant.

Remember, even if you don’t want to spend your time promoting, you can learn it, then delegate it to your computer assistant. You write the tips and articles. Your assistant sends them out.

Here’s a sample of an ad I used for my high school assistant:

Start Right Away.

Need in office assistant with committed work habits who is comfortable Online, can use AOL, Windows 98, www.textpad.com to send monthly eNewsletter and articles. Good typist, good grammar, and can type short dictated messages. Able to use Textpad program and handle 3-4 X a week email promotions, which includes articles to promote products (books) and my service as a book and web coach. Must have own transportation and willing to work 6-9 flexible hours a week. This is a permanent part-time position. I expect person hired to commit to one year, and before leaving to train the replacement.

Your benefits? You learn how a successful Online business works, and will have all the tools down to start one of your own.

Pay? Start at $8hr. Regular raises when speed, reliability and skills are mastered. It would be wise for applicant to visit my Web site first too. I prefer an email introduction first to answer the above requirements. Then an in-person meeting at my office in La Mesa.

3. Develop Internet savvy.

When you don’t take this step, you will hang back, and stay stuck in fear. Action spurs you on. Take a free community college course, seminar or teleclass, or visit your library for help. In just three hours, I learned about search engines, and other basics. Contact mentors in this field. That’s what helped my Web sales leap from $75 a month to over $4500 a month.

Start with a professional email address, and then research in a book about Web sites with marketing pizzazz. Get your preplan ready, your home page headlines going, then your sales letter for your service or book.

You won’t need a Web site right away, but if you want to be a market leader, you eventually should have one.

4. Visit the top Web sites in your field.

When I first started writing and sending articles, I sought out a book-publishing site whose ezine circulated to over 29,000-targeted people. I pitched three articles and they chose one on the right way to create a book’s back cover so they could sell more copies. Later, because they liked my writing, they included a column by me that I did no work for because it consisted of the many book writing and publishing articles I had already written. That’s a lot of free publicity, and still brings 10 or so new ezine subscribers to me each time.

Web sites are always looking for new material (your articles) to entice their visitors to come back, again and again. Notice their signals: “New material added daily.” In turn, they will post your key words, article description, short description about you, and a hyperlink back to your site. With regular submissions, you can be # 1 on Google.com and other search engines and like me, be listed on 3400 plus other Web sites. Start with a list of 12 Web sites and send one article under 800 words to them once a week. Take a nap while the sales roll in.

5. Run a search to find targeted Web sites..

Find the top ten Web sites in your field by using these search engines: www.altavista.com or www.Google.com. Once you get 10-25 articles published, your place will move up because the search engines spiders look for key words–within your article and its title.

Results? More Web site visitors and increased sales as well.

Here’s a great shortcut: Instead of searching for what you think is your specific market, use the keyword “business” in the “search for” blank without the quotations in the blank “search for” box, then search. Lists of several million Web sites on business come up.

Now for the fun part: Replace the keyword “business” with two words, “submit article” and then click where it says, “Search within these results.” This sub-search will generate a list of pages of Web sites that want your articles. Not all articles have to be about business. These sites have categories that include self-help, writing, personal growth, health, book coaching, and family.

You will reach business people who want your products and services and get a much bigger piece of the pie.

Remember, your prospective clients or customers who visit top sites are looking for information first. They will appreciate your articles, may even pass them on to friends and associates. Many will eventually order a book or consult with you. Web sites want your information. These steps lead to what looks like a marriage made in cyber heaven.

Part two of this article is available at www.bookcoaching.com/freearticles/article-32.shtml

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” and “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

Ask questions to find out if you can help/serve your potential client. By asking questions, you’ll be able to find out if your solution will help them at this point in time. It may be the right time and then again it may not. You’ll know by asking questions.

Ask questions to qualify. By asking questions you will find out if the person has a problem you can solve and if it is big enough for them to want to solve it now. If the answer is “no” to both questions then there will be no point in progressing with the sales conversation.

Ask questions to find the answers! Often we assume we have the answers. We have all the reasons and answers as to why a potential client should work with us. Telling someone what is good for them and why is rather presumptuous. So, instead of telling someone why your service is good for them, ask them questions and they will give you their answers.

Ask questions to gather information for your presentation. Assuming people have problems you can solve and they want them solved now, you can eventually present your solution. When presenting, I highly recommend you give a tailored presentation which specifically addresses the problems they have that you can solve. The only way to find out this information is by asking questions.

Ask questions and you will control the direction and the flow of the conversation. The person asking questions controls the conversation. Conversely, if you just launch into your solution presentation without asking questions, you have immediately lost control, and I assure you that your potential client will not be listening.

Ask questions to take away objections later on. The more questions you ask now the fewer objections there will be later on. There is a correlation. You’ll see.

Ask questions and you will build trust and rapport. Building this trust and rapport is a prerequisite — a very important step that needs to occur before someone will buy from you.

When asking questions I recommend you use the following 3-part framework.

Part One: Ask questions to uncover problems (that you can solve).

Part Two: Ask questions to get them to explain to you the impact/effect of the problem.

Part Three: Ask questions so they can explain the benefit of solving the problem

When you are asking questions, have no expectation of making a sale. Come from a place of simply wanting to help your potential client. This mindset will help you and the potential client discover if your services are the best solution to their problem.

Now there is a science to using this framework but we have to leave that for another time!

(c) Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation, 2005 You are welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end).

Tessa Stowe helps Coaches and Consultants stop struggling to sell, and instead attract clients like magic! Her FREE e-course tells you how: “Attract More Clients Naturally: 10 Simple Strategies That Work … Even If You Hate Selling!” Sign up now at http://www.attractmoreclientsnaturally.com.