The Content Composer Org

You’ve read that you should have a blog. If you are new to the Internet and you barely know what a blog is you may be a little bit confused. Don’t worry, there is a solution and it is very simple; and simple is what I’m about.

Let’s say that you have a product to sell, a hobby to promote, or just want to set up a family web site. There are many choices for setting up blogs, but they all have their drawbacks. I set up a bunch of free Blogger blogs a year or so ago and one day I received an email from them notifying me that they “all” had been canceled.

I was locked out and could not get in. Needless to say, a lot of work went down the drain. You see, the problem with Blogger blogs is that they are hosted on “their” servers and you have no control. Of course, you can have a Blogger blog hosted on your server, and I have used that method, but it is severely limited in options.

The simplest and easiest way to set up a website for “any” purpose what so ever is to set up a Wordpress blog.

There are several reasons why I prefer Wordpress.

* It’s Free

* It’s Easy

* It Has Hundreds of Beautiful Themes

* It Has Hundreds of Plug-Ins

There are basically two ways to set up a Wordpress blog. Both are extremely easy to do.

1. Using Fantastico via Cpanel (If You Have A Reseller Account). It Takes About 5 Minutes.

2. Upload The Wordpress Files via Your FTP Software. It Also Takes About 5 Minutes.

I have several Reseller accounts so I usually use the Cpanel method. However, uploading your files via FTP does have one advantage. I’ve noticed that sometimes Cpanel does not update to the latest version of Wordpress properly but I never have any problems updating by FTP.

Save yourself some trouble, use Wordpress.

Steve McArthur Steve has a Wordpress blog where he writes about problems that people new to the Internet have when trying to start a new Internet business. Tips and Tricks for Folks That Are New To The Internet http://stevemcarthur.com

For the past 30 years, Memorial Day weekend always found me, my brother, my dad, my nephew and several cousins enjoying our annual fishing get-away in Ontario. We’d drive about 8 hours to a beautiful lodge. We would fish for three days, we’d eat a lot and we would share some fellowship that we didn’t often get in the hectic “real-world.”

It’s a weekend that all of us looked forward to all year. And after 30 years of staying at the same lodge, we got to know the owners and staff there too. They’re old friends with whom we share a special bond, even though we only see them once a year.

But, this year was different.

For a variety of reasons, we decided to not go on our annual fishing trip this year. At first it was a hard decision. None of us wanted to be the first to suggest we break a 30-year tradition.

Instead of driving to Canada this Memorial Day weekend, I drove to Park Rapids with my wife and dogs and two nieces.

We had a great time.

So, even though I am somewhat saddened by breaking a 30 year family tradition, I was thrilled to spend time with my wife and nieces.

It’s easy to get caught up in our traditions, our habits and our usual routine. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

But, at the same time, change can be a good thing.

Breaking out of our routine and our traditions can help us experience new things we might have otherwise missed. It can help us see new ways to do things more effectively and often with more fun.

Every time we make a decision, we make a sacrifice. The sacrifice is all other paths we might have chosen.

But if we hold too tightly to our traditions and routines, we also make a sacrifice. We give up many opportunities that can enrich our lives and the lives of people we serve.

So, be willing to make some sacrifices in your routine so you can learn and experience new things. Break out of your habits and traditions once in awhile and walk a different path.

You’ll be glad you did.

Kevin Stirtz has developed a unique concept called “Blow Up Your Business.” He speaks to groups of professionals and business owners who want to attract more customers and put more money in their pocket. Kevin can be reached at http://www.KevinStirtz.com or 952-212-4681.

I saw a recent article announcing that Canadian scientists will soon begin searching Lake Simcoe in the province of Ontario for a “lake monster” named Igopogo.

Much like the Loch ness monster, Bigfoot,Ogopogo, and the Abominable snowman, Igopogo has never been verified to actually exist beyond the random sightings of residents, boaters and –of course– some fishermen.

Indian legend handed down from the early nineteenth century,and some sightings in the 1950’s and 60’s have helped to fuel the speculation that a serpent like animal lives beneath the lake surface. Sonar and shaky Bigfoot like videotape have also given more added “proof” that Igopogo exists.

In August of this year, evidently a study funded by Discovery Canada science program, was to search the depths of Kempenfelt bay with sonar and underwater cameras searching for Igopogo, hoping to find the “dog like, horse faced, stovepipe necked, impish looking ,fishlike serpent”…..

No word yet as to the findings, but Toronto’s Molson ale plant is also being investigated for exceeding the seven percent alcohol content restriction for their beer.

It of course only figures that fishermen have been responsible for a number of these sightings, as we all know that bobbing about in the waters of a lake with copious amounts of adult beverages on board your vessel, (especially Canadian beverages) will most assuredly induce sightings of many mythical creatures, some folks even claim to have seen God.

But that’s another story.

I myself, never being one to scoff at or be a naysayer to the mysterious, am here today to announce the finding of another mysterious and legendary creature.

The Huckleberry fish.

Now, before you get on your search engine and start your quest for this heretofore elusive fish,
let me explain a little about the discoverer of this rare specie.

My five year old daughter.

Again, not to dispell the validity of her findings, but simply to inform the public I will give you her official “press release”.

According to the” my little toot” science program, the Huckleberry fish has been spotted in…someplace in Africa and resides in several lakes and rivers that flow through… oh…. let’s say Botswana…. It is a purplish fish that gets it’s color and flavor(evidently it is not catch and release) from the famed African Huckleberry. The “my little toot” science program hopes to use government grants, unused milk money, and any lottery winnings to help fund her research in Africa to prove that the Huckleberry fish exists. Her assistant and chief fish biologist,”dad” is expected to go along on the “investigation”, since he has a highly qualified propensity to fish aimlessly for hours, enjoys eating Huckleberries, and has been seen quaffing a few Molsons down from time to time.

I can assure you, that in her mind the Huckleberry fish exists and I am equally sure that it most certainly has nothing to do with the fact that she knows how much her dad likes fishing and huckleberry picking.

Either that or her kindergarten class has now been officially sponsored by the Molson brewing company.

Anyway, she informed me of this discovery just the other night and described the Huckleberry fish in depth, so I know it is real.

Nothing was mentioned about an “impish smile” though.

If you would like to fund the “my little toot” science program, be sure to send your lotto winnings, but please—no scratch offs, because that will only delay our research!!

In the meantime, we will be continuing our research of Bigfoot, since we had a recent sighting while investigating the Applegate Bigfoot trap here in Oregon.

We also found a bunch of empty Molson bottles—what a coincidence!!!!

A.J. Klott
Author, writer of fishing humor,and “fly tack” peddler.A.J. writes about the people,characters and modern day events that surround the fishing world. His first book is due out in December of 2005.
If you need a laugh or a fun gift, visit his website at:
http://www.twoguyswithflys.com

Diabetes Type 2 (adult onset)

Refined carbs/sugars are actually the biggest contributing factor to type 2 diabetes–that is, the type of diabetes people develop later in life. The major contributing factor to type 2 diabetes is eating too many refined carbs. Type 2 diabetes is one of the easiest things for your body to heal. Are you ready? It is so simple. Quit eating carbs. It really is that simple. I have yet to meet anyone who was a type 2 diabetic who could not totally control their blood sugar levels without any insulin just by cutting carbs out of their diet.

All Artificial Sweeteners are Hazardous to Your Health. Like most things, everything starts out as a good idea. When NutraSweet was first invented it was actually made from grapefruit rinds. All the studies were done on this sweetener. It passed with flying colors. Then DuPont bought the rights, examined it under a microscope and chemically made it in a lab because it was cheaper. But there was one problem, this new artificial sweetener is essentially formaldehyde. And at temperatures above 95 degrees (the human body is 98 degrees) the artificial sweetener actually changes to formaldehyde in the body. Formaldehyde is the chemical they use to put into dead people to keep them from rotting before they burry them.

Some people want to argue that it takes large amounts of artificial sweeteners to induce cancer in rats. And in the small quantities the sweetener is found in food it is not harmful to humans. To that I have this to say: I don’t know about you but I don’t want to put anything in my body that causes cancer in any quantity, large or small. Living in the world we do today you are being exposed to toxins that cause cancer. So anywhere I can easily eliminate getting additional toxins, I will.

The truth about supplements. I also share this and more with you in my free e-course that this article is a part of. Go to http://www.HealthyEatingDiet.com to get the full e-course. Dr. Jamie wants to help give you Permanent Results with his “non-diet.” He is also giving you dozens of valuable free gifts to “ethically bribe” you into helping him make his new book, “The Ultimate Non-Diet” a #1 best seller. For details on the book go to: http://www.TheUltimateNonDiet.com/free

Growing Cooperation in the World between Counties

I am increasingly unhappy with the bombing of any Country. The Governments of the world have to realise that all the Countries of the World are important and have their function in the whole development of the Planet.

Just as our body is made up of groups of individual cells, which form the organs of the body, so the planet is made up of a group of Countries that form the parts of the whole World.

No good can come to the whole, if the cells of the brain decide to bomb the cells of the heart. Each part of the body is needed to perform its own function. Likewise each country has to wake up to this realisation that it can evolve quicker if each of the other countries in the World cooperate and share.

It is only when the world starts to function as a whole and is working towards a common good that we will start to see real progress in the world.

Over the last few years the energy of Oneness has been growing in human consciousness. We are starting to realise that we are more than our physical bodies. Our consciousness extends out and affects all the things around us. It joins with our neighbour’s consciousness and forms the society in which we live.

We are all responsible for what happens in the world as we are all intimately connected on many levels. If you want to change your environment then you need to change your own thoughts and feelings.

Message channelled by George Lockett (C) Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved. Read HealerGeorge’s Blog: Journey into the Self
Yes, I can send you absent/distant healing: this will really help. Just follow the instructions on the home page of my web site at: HealerGeorge Web Site and Distant Healing

As you make your donation you will get the opportunity to put in your personal details, so I can focus the healing directly to you.
Or ask at question at: Ask HealerGeorge

With rhinoplasy being the second most popular plastic surgery procedure performed in 2004 (according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons), nose surgery is moving from the realm of the rich and famous into the homes of regular people like you and me. Now that this procedure is more accessible than ever, it’s only natural that you will be exposed to a lot of information about it – some true, some doubtful, some downright false. In this article, we’ll try to address some of the most popular misconceptions surrounding rhinoplasty.

1. Every plastic surgeon can do a rhinoplasty surgery – Technically, yes. Most plastic surgeons will have rhinoplasty on their list of performed procedures. However, that doesn’t mean that every plastic surgeon can achieve good rhinoplasty results. Rhinoplasty is a challenging procedure, both from a medical and an artistic point of view. A plastic surgeon must have a thorough understanding of the internal anatomy of the nose and the workings of the respiratory system, so that the reshaped nose is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also fully functional. Since the nose is such a major factor in our face’s overall appearance, the plastic surgeon also needs to have a strong sense of artistry, to create a nose that fits beautifully with the rest of the patient’s face.

2. Rhinoplasty is motivated by vanity – Despite the widely-held belief that people get nose surgery solely for cosmetic reasons, it’s not uncommon for this procedure to correct breathing problems (e.g. a septum deviation) in addition to enhancing the appearance of the nose. At the same time, it has been established that in patients who are unhappy with the appearance of their nose, having rhinoplasty may lead to a physical and emotional transformation that will enhance their self-confidence and ultimately their quality of life. From this perspective, the effect of rhinoplasty is comparable more to a therapeutic treatment than a selfish gratification for the patient’s vanity.

3. Rhinoplasty is painful – Unlike other plastic surgery procedures like breast implants or tummy tuck, rhinoplasty is not usually painful. Most surgeons perform rhinoplasty under general anesthesia, so you will be fully asleep and will not feel a thing. After the surgery, you will have a small nose cast for 7 to 10 days, during which you will most likely feel congested, as if having a cold. The area around your nose and eyes may be swollen and bruised (especially if your nasal bones have been reshaped); however, the overall discomfort you will experience after the surgery is minimal.

4. Everyone will notice you had a nose job – If your nose requires a major change – like removing a large bump – people around you might indeed notice the difference in your nose. However, if your nose needs only a refinement of the bridge or tip, chances are the perceived change in your appearance will be less dramatic than you anticipate. After all, nobody is as intimately familiar with your facial features as you are, so making a minor change to them may not be very obvious to the outside world. Also, keep in mind that a good surgeon will avoid providing you with an “operated-looking nose”, and instead will strive to achieve a balance between your reshaped nose and the rest of your facial features, so they naturally complement each other.

5. Rhinoplasty will get you the nose of your dreams – While having rhinoplasty can dramatically improve the appearance of your nose, there are certain limitations to what a plastic surgeon can do, based on your given bone and skin structure. At the same time, there is a chance that you won’t be fully satisfied with the results of your surgery. Statistics show that between 10% and 15% of rhinoplasty surgeries require a secondary procedure, to either enhance or correct the results of the first. This is sometimes due to the nose healing and developing in ways that the surgeon cannot predict or control. In other cases, the patients’ dissatisfaction with the final results is due to poor communication with the doctor about the intended outcome of the surgery. However, this occurrence is an exception rather than the rule, since most patients report to be happier with their physical appearance after the surgery than before.

So what is the key to successfully achieving the nose of your dreams? Going back to point one – it’s carefully researching, selecting and communicating with your surgeon! How long has he or she been performing nose surgeries? What is their surgical accreditation? What does their safety record look like? Take a good luck at images of his or her rhinoplasty patients – does their reshaped nose measure up to your idea of beauty? Can you picture your own nose looking like that? If you do, the next step consists in ensuring that both you and your surgeon have a very clear understanding of what you expect your nose to look like and what is attainable from a medical point of view. Armed with good knowledge and a positive attitude, you’re on your best way to achieving a more attractive and confident YOU!

Dr. Kahn is a San Francisco-based plastic surgeon with over 25 years of plastic surgery experience. He is board certified in head and neck surgery and facial plastic surgery. Dr. Kahn specializes in rhinoplasty and has performed over 2,000 nose surgeries so far. To learn more about Dr. Kahn, visit http://www.sf-plastic-surgery.com

At some point you’re going to need to develop partnering relationships with other non-competing complementary tech providers in your area for partnering and subcontracting type of work. That way you can meet the needs of your clients for many different types of projects.

Partnering- How To Be The Virtual Solution for Your Clients

Sometimes you may be asked to do some work that you don’t have experience or skills in. For example, let’s say you’re a really good generalist and you’re good at setting up simple LANs, but all of a sudden your client merged with a company who’s got a sophisticated WAN infrastructure.

Help Your Client by Partnering

In order to be able to deliver the complete virtual IT solution, you need to have a Rolodex of people that can come in and fill in for things that are outside your expertise and beyond your comfort level.

How Can You Handle Customers Who Have Needs You Can’t Meet?

If you don’t yet have specialized partners or subcontractors that can assist in these areas, do you tell your future clients upfront you can’t help them, or do you search for the partners first? This is the chicken or egg dilemma. Do you get the clients first or do you line up subcontracting and partnering relationships first?

Identify The Needs You Can Meet

You should be able to map out most of the typical types of services that you’re going to provide to small businesses. Then, consider what your clients might need that you can’t provide.

Start meeting with potential partners and interviewing subcontractors to try to fill in your gaps. Ideally, you should have a rolodex of anywhere from three to five people that you have ready to go as the client’s needs arise.

The Bottom Line about Partnering

Always be upfront about this with your clients. If you have partners or subcontractors that can help deliver the full solution to your clients, tell them.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consulting 101. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg, co-owner of Computer Consulting 101, gets computer consulting businesses more steady high-paying clients. Now you can too with your free access pass to proven computer consulting secrets at www.Computer-Consulting-101.com

Once upon a time there was a factory that produced nuts, bolts and washers. There was a highly efficient production line dedicated to each, and each production line ended in an area called Assembly. In Assembly were a group of workers who put the nuts, bolts and washers together before they were despatched to the customer. Each worker sat at a bench. In front of them were three boxes, containing nuts, bolts and washers. They took the components, put them together and then dropped them into a fourth box situated on the floor behind them.

One day the factory recruited a consultant. Some people thought of him as a Work Study engineer. Others saw him as a Time and Motion expert. But, judging by his daily fee, he really was a consultant. This chap reviewed all of the operations. There was nothing he could do to improve the production lines; they were already very efficient. But when he arrived in the assembly department he had an idea that would make things better.

The consultant arranged to have holes drilled into each bench. These were special holes. At the bottom they were in the shape of the bolts. Above that they widened out to accommodate the washer. This meant that the assembly workers could put the nut, bolt and washer together using just one hand. Or, as the consultant explained, the assemblers could now do two jobs at the same time, which meant that they only needed half as many people. This was used by the consultant to justify his big fat fee. He took his cheque, thanked the management and left.

Some time later the factory management were talking to a CRM expert. He said that the most important asset they had was their customers. The CRM expert wanted to talk to the customers. In fact, what he really wanted was for the factory managers to go out and listen to their customers, but he had to sell the idea first. So, off he went to the biggest customer. In order to see the supply chain at first hand he decided that he should travel with the van driver who made the deliveries.

When they got to the customer’s factory he was introduced to the warehouseman, the buyer, the production engineer, the design team and the works manager. They had a long chat about the quality of the products, the timeliness of deliveries, the accuracy of the invoices and the layout of the quality certificates.

He was then given a guided tour of the works. They had one big assembly unit and one small pre-assembly shop. In the pre-assembly shop sat a group of workers at a big bench. On the bench sat one of the large boxes that the van driver had just delivered and three smaller boxes. Each worker was taking units out of the box, unscrewing them, and then placing the nuts, bolts and washers into each of the three smaller boxes.

But this is just a fairy story. Why? Because CRM and the whole Customer Relationship Management idea has been hijacked by the database manufacturers. What was once the simple but highly effective philosophy of getting feedback from your customers is now just another computerised three-letter-acronym database being sold by the likes of Oracle and Sieble. The database lineage probably began with MRP (material requirement planning), which begat MRPII (manufacturing resource planning), which begat ERP (enterprise resource planning) with SAP on the side (and nobody even knows what SAP stands for). It’s a fairy story because a “CRM expert” would never suggest listening to the customers.

Many years ago, back in the ’70’s, I worked for a firm that supplied M&S with clothing. It was the most successful company in its field, supplying M&S when it was at its height. Each week the boss would go into the stores and watch the ladies shopping. When one picked up a blouse, looked at it and put it back on the rail he would pounce and ask her “why”. And when someone decided to buy he’d pounce again. He knew what they were buying and why, and what they weren’t buying, and why. My boss didn’t do this just in the UK. Once a fortnight he and the head designer (there were over 100 people employed in the design studio alone) flew to New York on Concorde to see what the Americans were buying. He knew the customers and boy, did it show in our figures.

In my job I get to meet senior people who think that you can commission an outside agency to go out and listen to consumers. “But its so easy” I tell them. “Get out of your office, go to the tills and talk to the shoppers – those who are buying and those who aren’t”.

In b2b it’s a bit more complicated. Instead of having a point-of-sale (a blouse rack for instance) where decisions and transactions are made, there is a much more complex interaction between the supplier and the customer. Designers, production engineers, buyers, planners, logistics, marketing support, installation and service engineers, managers, sales reps and accounts are all bringing their influence to bear on the relationship. We’ve all seen a case where, after months of hard work by everyone, initiated by strategic marketing and business development and carried on right through the operation involving the production and quality people, the relationship with the new customer goes sour because of something that was said or done by the finance department – all because when the customer finally arrives in Accounts they magically transmute into a debtor and are treated accordingly.

We here at InfoQuest do b2b customer satisfaction surveys. We have a unique way of doing them, which gives our customers an average response rate of between 70% and 75%. That is, provided we are given good information to begin with. But it really frightens me how little our clients sometimes know about their customers. I’m talking about the basics here. And I’m talking about multi-nationals and blue chip businesses that the outside world might think of as being world class.

The first step in the survey is for our client to draw up a list of their most important customers. Its up to them whether this is based on biggest turnover, most profitable or greatest growth potential, but they have to be customers – not suspects, not prospects but live accounts. Then the client’s most senior person writes a personal and personable letter to each one, asking for their help. Then we call them, to make sure they are willing to take part, but not there and then over the ‘phone. Sometimes the comments we get include: – “sorry, we no longer buy from them”; “Mr X died three years ago”; “Miss Y left the company two years ago”; “We’ve never heard of XYZ Company”; “We used to have one of their machines – we asked them to quote for a new one but they never came back to us”. And it’s very, very frightening.

Years ago, when firms ran MRP systems, there was usually someone responsible for maintaining the Bills of Materials, to keep them up to date, to stop the buyers buying stuff that was no longer used on the factory floor. Businesses today need a similar system for their customers. I’ve only come across one firm that does this. The European Quality Foundation (EFQM) has a nine-part model for business. The most important part of the model (at 19%) is customer feedback. TNT, the logistics company, was the EFQM business of the year and they are the only folks I know that call their customers every three months, religiously, simply to make sure they’ve got the correct contact details. Why don’t everybody’s sales reps do this?

JOHN COLDWELL
Managing Director
InfoQuest Customer Relationship Management Ltd.
The Old Chapel
Chapel Hill, Clayton West
Huddersfield
HD8 9NH
UK
Tel.: +44(0) 1484 868390
Fax: +44(0) 1484 868391
E-mail: jc@infoquestcrm.com
Web: http://www.infoquestcrm.com

The egg, the symbol of birth, of life and, therefore, of spring has been celebrated by
numerous cultures at this time of the year. Eggs were given as gifts at spring
festivals in ancient Egypt, Greece, Persia and Rome. They were often dyed red to
symbolize the power of the womb. Eggs, of course, still play an important role in
our springtime holidays, but the real power comes from handling and eating eggs at
this time of year. It is said that at the exact moment of the Equinox an egg can be
balanced on it’s end because the earth is at it’s ultimate balance point (if you try it,
write me and let me know how it went!)

So what does the egg have to offer us nutritionally?

Eggs for Balance

Despite the decline in egg consumption, they still make ” … important nutritional
contributions to the American diet,” according to Dr. Won O. Song, PhD, and Jean M.
Kerver, MS, of the Food and Nutrition Database Research Center, Department of
Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University. They are nutritious,
tasty, versatile and convenient. Eggs are an excellent source of high-quality lean
protein and are far less expensive than most other animal-protein foods. Eggs also
provide significant amounts of several vitamins and minerals (vitamin A, riboflavin,
and others).

Although eggs contain a significant amount of cholesterol, they need not be
excluded from the diet. They just need to be eaten with education:

In 1 large egg, the yolk contains 5 grams total fat, 2 grams saturated fatty acids,
213 milligrams cholesterol, and 60 calories. The egg white contains 15 calories.

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. However, it is important that
you eat organic eggs. This is not necessarily cage-free or “free range” eggs.
According to Dr. Mercola of www.mercola.com, An egg is considered organic if the
chicken was only fed organic food and will not have bioaccumulated high levels of
pesticides from the grains (mostly bioengineered corn) fed to typical chickens.

For more detailed nutrition information, check out Nutrient Value of Eggs at http://www.enc-online.org/eggnutr.htm by the Egg Nutrition Center (ENC).

Heather Dominick is a New York State Certified Educator, Holistic Nutrition
Counselor accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners
and the creator of The Nutrition and Life Transformation Program. She
delivers Nutrition Keynotes, Wellness Workshops and Seminars at conferences
and companies. To receive bi-monthly Nutrition and Lifestyle Tips you can (a)
subscribe to her free e-Newsletter at http://www.individual-health.net or call 917-940-5337 to see how she may be able to help.