#1 Mistake Worship Leaders Make, and How to Avoid IT

So just what is the number one mistake worship leaders make? How did we miss it? The answer: Taking care of our physical bodies. As lead worshipers we can get so caught up in all the aspects of the ministry that we just simply let this area slip by. But believe me this is a very important step in preparing for worship. In fact it’s important for ministry and life period.

Scripture tells us that when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, The Holy Spirit comes to live within us. In fact our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit. Knowing that fact, it should be a God honoring priority for us to take care of our physical bodies.

How do we do that?

By exercising, eating well, and getting plenty rest. If we neglect any of these, our health will suffer. Which in turn will cause our service and our ministry to suffer.

To use a sports analogy: We practice and prepare through the week. Sunday, or whenever you service is, is game day!

Not to say in any way that church is a game or that we are performers, nothing could be further from the truth.

My point is this,

You must be prepared to give God your best! You must be in good health, to give your best. God deserves nothing less!

I have type 1 diabetes, so my health is # 2 only behind my relationship with Christ on my priority list. Neglecting my heath would be dishonoring to the God who created me, to my family, and to the ministry.

Try to do some sort of physical exercise 3 – 4 times a week. Whether it’s weight training, running, swimming, cycling, or whatever. Just get moving. Your body will love you for it. And you will be honoring God.

Eat a well balanced diet. I know this can be tough since we can be on the run so much. Food is the fuel for our body. If you put junk food in it, it will run like junk. Work at eating a well balance diet, so your body will perform at its best.

Try to get 7-8 hours of good sleep every day. I know some people can operate on less, some need more. But the point is, while you sleep your body refuels and repairs itself, neglect it, and your body will suffer. You need to be alert, clearheaded and well rested. Especially when leading.

Take care of your body. It’s the temple of the Holy Spirit. Exercise, eat well and be well rested. Honor God!

And now I would like to invite you to get a free copy of my mini-guide “Preparing to Lead Worship” at http://www.worshipleadingtoday.com

Jim Williams, Worship Leader, Worship songwriter

If You Didn’t Measure It – You Didn’t Do It! Part 1

If you’re going to spend money doing something, the only way to know if you accomplished your goal is to measure it. Here is a tool that works well to both define the problem and provide a yardstick against which to measure results.

The analysis breaks down into three main components:

• Need – What is the problem, and what is the result we expect from the money we are about to invest?
• Content – How will we move people to the desired result?
• Measurement – Did you actually meet, or better, exceed, the goals?

Need drives the entire process. You are not going to spend the money to do something that doesn’t need to be done. You have a situation or a problem – and it usually has a measurable cost – and you need to solve that problem, to eliminate, or at least significantly reduce that cost.

We may have to invest time or money to solve the problem, but if the problem is well defined and quantified, not only can we reduce or eliminate the problem with appropriately targeted communications; we can measure how well we did it. It could be increased sales, increased signups for a new program, or broader support within a community for a new service or idea. Whatever it is, it must have the necessary yardstick for success.

Let’s use an example to illustrate how this process functions and how well it can work.

Several years ago, a company was planning to introduce a new product into a saturated marketplace. The new product represented major innovations, and would likely have been very successful by itself, but the company needed to ensure that success and overcome several other issues. We’ll start the story of the launch in this article, and follow it through two more articles.

The NEED – The situation or problem:

• Moderate existing market share for existing product, #2 in sales
• Lack of respect for the company because of “me too” parity products in the past
• Low company sales force morale from carrying unexciting products
• Lack of personal contact by company executives with dealers across the country
• An exciting new product to launch, including many firsts, under a new brand umbrella, based on a new and very unfamiliar technology

The GOALS – what were the desired measurable results?

• Capture #1 sales position in the marketplace, as measured by published industry data
• Establish the new brand with dealers and consumers
• Build new levels of respect for the company brand and their sales force in the market place
• Dealer owners pleased with personal contact with company executives
• Retail clerks educated and excited about the new product, and motivated to sell the product and the company
• A memorable event to keep the company “top of mind” for the foreseeable future.

The Obstacles:

• Low respect for company in the market place – would dealers even listen?
• Large number of outlets and clerks to be informed/trained/motivated across the market, preferably in as short a time as possible
• The introduction would be in January/February, the worst time to travel a show around the country.

You can see how all of these elements defined the measurement criteria. Sales can be plotted against the launch. Market share is a standard industry published statistic, and can be plotted against the time of the launch. Respect will be reflected in the attitudes of the retail clerks to the sales representatives calling on the stores and the how the products and the company are received after the launch. This, and how well the event was remembered, would show up in weekly sales call reporting.

Observable, accurate, and actionable. The hallmarks of good metrics.

This is the first of Three Parts of this story.

Part 2 is here: http://www.EzineArticles.com/?id=899065

Part 3 is here: http://www.EzineArticles.com/?id=886852

Copyright 2008 Dan Davenport

Dan Davenport is an award-winning business communications producer: Multimedia, video, print.

Goal: Bring excitement to business communications.

Look to http://blog.smallofficecommunicator.net to blog with us about small office communication ideas and answers – share your own experience with others and get answers to your questions.

Turn $50 Thousand Dollars Into $1 Million by Investing in a Franchise

If you want to get rich quick and you have money to invest you can quickly turn $50 thousand dollars into $1 million dollars by purchasing a franchise for a known product. Face it; if the franchise is for the right product, all the bugs have been worked out. All you really have to do is rake in the profit on their hard work.

When you are buying into a franchise, you will be required to follow the rules already set by the business. All you need to do is to provide the business and the workers. If for instance you are purchasing a franchise for a slurpy ice shop the ingredients and the machinery is provided for you. You do not even have to choose the décor for the business because it has already been done for you. A franchise is simply a cookie cutter business; all of the different locations are exactly the same. And if you choose a popular business, you can easily turn $50 thousand dollars into $1 million dollars.

The great thing about this business is you really only have to be responsible for keeping the building up to the standard codes and for your workers. If you have a building that does not have any health violations and hardworking dependable workers the franchise chain provides everything else, even the advertising. So if you choose a good manager for your store, then all you have to do is basically sit back and rake in the money. How much easier could it be to turn $50 thousand dollars into $1 million dollars?

If you need money now, like I mean in the next hour, try what I did. I am making more money now than in my old business and you can too, read the amazing, true story, in the link below. When I joined I was skeptical for just ten seconds before I realized what this was. I was smiling from ear to ear and you will too.

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All Work and No Play Makes For a Dull Student!

If you make the most of it, student life can be great. Not only do you get your first taste of independence, but there’s also an amazing opportunity to meet new people. The experiences you gain as a student stay with you for life and go towards shaping your future path.

Although many believe partying forms a large part of a student’s curriculum, in reality you are expected to work hard and often have tight deadlines to meet. From the moment you arrive, demands are high, with many courses requiring you to spend any ‘free’ time conducting research in the library or completing assignments.

And, as you progress throughout your course, you will find that the opportunity to socialise becomes less frequent, whilst the workload rises. Of course, you are studying and therefore expectations are that you have to work hard to earn your qualifications.

However, all work and no play makes for a dull student. That’s why it can be a good idea to make sure you take some time out and indulge in a bit of extra-curricular activity. This is especially important since a lot of studying requires individual effort and it’s essential to interact with other people, not least to maintain your sanity!

While heading to the pub is a popular pastime, there are many other things you can do to create a bit of excitement, as well as making friends. For example, why not round a group of likeminded people together and find some student games to participate in? It may be hard in the beginning, but if you put your mind to it, there are loads of activities which don’t involve downing mixed shots of alcohol.

Take ten pin bowling for instance. A fun way to wile away a few hours in the company of friends, bowling is a great student game. For the competitive spirited of you, you can challenge your fellow team mates to a bit of friendly competition, whilst at the same time saving money on gym membership by taking advantage of the calorie-burning exercise it induces!

If you look around, there are some attractive group deals available, which include things like shoe hire, food and drinks, meaning you don’t have to blow the student budget. And, for those who cannot bear to be away from the pub for too long, most centres come with a bar.

The other advantage of going ten pin bowling is that there are usually a range of other games and activities for people to do. For instance, many offer such things as amusement arcades, pool tables and even laser gun arenas.

Ten pin bowling is just one example of the many student games you can play. So, why not use your imagination and give the pub a miss the next time you plan to go out?

Paul McIndoe writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

Chart Numerology

It is becoming more and more popular to look for a personalised chart. Numerology can certainly offer you just that.

In fact you can easily find numerous sites on the Web today offering free Numerology charts.

But have you stopped to consider exactly what you’re probably getting?

The technological age has made much progress, computers being in the forefront but it has also quashed many freedoms.

Charts, whether they are based on Numerology or Astrology etc are after all metaphysical subjects.

Being Metaphysical means that these subjects are based on observation and experimentation rather than theory.

Surely for all their benefits computers cannot observe or experiment. Only a human being can do this.

I hear some of you saying that you agree with me, but that a computer program can be written by a human and therefore a chart can be still be relevant even though it originates from computer software.

I’m not saying that a Numerology chart created wholly from computer software will be completely wrong. I’m sure that it will pick up core elements and work out the correct numbers.

But when the whole chart is put together how can a computer give a correct overall picture from the sum of many pre-written component parts?

Only a human can interpret the sum of all the parts correctly.

So what do you get from a Numerology Chart?

The most important number in anybody’s numerology Chart is their Destiny number.

This is worked out from your date of birth and represents the lessons that you have to learn during this lifetime.

It shows you your potential, strengths and limitations.

More can be discovered by using your name as it appears on your birth certificate and translating that into numerical form.

You can discover your Soul Urge (how you’d like to be), your Quiet Self (how you dream of being) and your Expression (your talents and abilities and how you present to the world at large!)

So we’re already working with a possible 4 different numbers in different positions in your chart. Numerologically what does this mean?

Software produced charts will correctly calculate the right numbers but can they then relate each number to each other?

Maybe some numbers are harmonious in those positions but maybe some are not and then how do you know how to act for the best, to ease that disharmony?

Only a personal Numerologist with experience of how the numbers interact can correctly portray an individualised chart.

A detailed chart will then go on to include events from your past.

I find this very important, because if the past isn’t presented at all, or is presented incorrectly, how can a client have any faith in anything written about times to come?

Aswell as Karmic lessons, any Arrows of Pythagoras, Sub-cycles and Peaks- a chart will also include a detailed look at the present year you are on.

To me, the mass produced charts are entertaining but don’t tell all and fundamentally do not help you understand yourself and your potential.

Neither can you email the software at a later date and ask questions about what is written in your chart!

Numerology is the sacred ancient art of numbers.

If you do ever require a personalised chart. Please choose Numerology, but treat yourself to a comprehensive chart written and interpreted by a real person.

‘To thine own self be true’

Let me be your personal Numerologist. All of my readings and insights are worked out by me. I don’t use software at all. I put my 14 years experience and psychic flashes into everything I do. It costs nothing to join my free newsletter which you can subscribe to at my site http://www.oceannumerology.com

Loan Modification Marketing Series – Ad Campaign Tracking and Analytics

Tracking your marketing and advertising campaigns is incredibly crucial to their effectiveness. You need to track who and where every lead comes from, which leads ended up paying you and how much, how much money and time went into each marketing and advertising effort, which leads were better than others in non-monetary ways, how many referrals have come from each lead source and how frequently, and more.

Build a spreadsheet that organizes everything. Compare the return on investment (ROI) for each marketing effort. Analyze and compare which marketing efforts are the most successful and profitable. Focus your future dollars and energies on these. Cut anything that doesn’t seem to be providing high returns (though, don’t be too quick to cut out the leads groups and other long-term networking efforts).

With regard to your pay per click (PPC) ad word campaigns and search engine optimization (SEO), there are really cool applications, called analytics, that collect, organize, and measure more information than you ever dreamed possible. Do not run any ad word, banner, or other online marketing campaign without using an analytics program or service. If you’re tech-savvy, then give one of the free ones a go, such as Google Analytics. If not, then pay for a service to do this for you.

A good ad campaign with solid analytics (assuming you have a competitive company, sales person, product, service, and pricing, obviously) can literally have a monthly ROI % in the 1000s, and an exponential monthly growth factor. These are very powerful tools when used correctly. If you want dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of clients every month, then you seriously need to make web 2.0, ad words, SEO, a blog, and analytics a central part of your business model and marketing plan. These kinds of results are absolutely possible, but you need to do them right to have that kind of success.

To learn more about how to build a successful loan modification business and to access all the tools and forms you need to get started, please click here: http://StartALoanModBiz.com

About the Author
Matt Sparks is a successful entrepreneur, both offline and on. He is also a licensed mortgage broker, employing real estate broker, and Realtor. He has written books, articles, and blogs about small business, real estate, finance, New Urbanism, and sustainable cities.

(c) Copyright – Matthew R. Sparks. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

2010 FIFA Football World Cup

South Africa was awarded World Cup 2010 on 15 May 2004. The main opponents were Morocco and Egypt. The spectacle will be hosted in June/July 2010 in 9 South African Cities in 10 stadiums. Cities include Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein. Building of the stadiums has just started. Tickets for the World Cup tickets will be advertised in 2008.

Although this is still 4 years away, it is best to start making plans now. Whether you are visiting from abroad or live in South Africa, you will need to make plans for when the tournament begins.

South Africa draws thousands of international visitors each year. Combine this with the 2010 Football World Cup – billed as the biggest sporting event of all time – and you have a situation in which masses of people are going to be trying to book a limited number of flights, accommodation, tickets and more. Hotels around the stadiums have already set about 80% of their rooms to officials from around the world and so forth. If you are planning on staying in a hotel or anything of the sorts, you had better book as soon as possible. Even 4 years in advance the hotels are becoming fully booked!

In the 12 years since democracy, South Africa has staged more successful high-profile international events than many developed nations. South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the 1196 African Cup of Nations, and the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

The World Cup will provide an improved and advanced infrastructure, increased tourism through global exposure and referrals, the creation of permanent jobs and focused entrepreneurship, and probably the greatest benefit being the pride of a nation united under a rainbow.

Keep up to date on the FIFA 2010 World Cup

How You Can Make Real Money Online

When it comes to making money online there are many challenges. In effect there are many pieces to the puzzle. One piece is to identify a market. The next step you will need to take is to determine demand within that market.

Once you determine demand you will need research the competition and see what you are up against. Then if you decide that you can compete, you will now need to try and understand what that market wants and how hungry they are to get it.

Keywords are one way to determine what is being searched but you also need to understand the person behind the keyword so that you can communicate with them in a way that they will understand what results can be achieved.

If they can see the results for themselves then you will have to do little to convince them and furthermore it is always be better when they convince themselves.

In order to gain understanding you will need to start a conversation with your site visitors. Then you will need to listen. One place where conversations take place all the time is on forums.

Here you will get to see what questions are been asked and what concerns they have relative to any given issue.

In order to find out what they want you will need to be constantly testing and monitoring the results. This way you will be listening by watching their actions.

This way you will know what is working and what is not and will do a better job moving forward when it comes to getting them what they need.

If you are an affiliate your job will not be to sell but to pre-sell, warm the visitor up so they know what they can achieve.

All in all testing and experimenting will be the key to your success because this way you will at least build on the facts rather speculate based on theory.

Learn more Powerful Web Marketing Strategies That are built on results. Join our conversation

Lets help one another build a real business online

On the blog you will get Free Videos On How To Effectively Market Your Business online. You can ask questions and leave comments as we work through our marketing experiment

Follow along as we test marketing techniques to see what results you can actually get. This can save you time and money

Learn How To make real money online

http://www.moneymakingfacts.net/

Work From Home and Build Business Opportunities

Working at home has gained in popularity recently. There are many people that still have the “old school” views on working; work 40 hours a week earn your salary and after 20 years, retire. The pay is always the same no matter how hard you sell or how much time is spent working. Starting a business online is a no brainer; when one works smarter, not harder the money is practically poured into the bank account.

In order to get started, all that is needed to take advantage of the magnificent opportunities to make money online is a computer and a cable or DSL internet connection. There is no limit to the earning potential once those two items are in place. The first option to online money making is to set up a retail shop. When operating a retail shop, the highly guarded secret is to choose the most popular high valued items. However, if the need is to begin without a start-up fee, an affiliate program is a good basic start to make money without any stress.

Affiliate marketing is why you have loads of junk emails. Yes, once in a while you do look at the advertisements. Most of these affiliate programs have neither start-up costs nor investments. Just sign up for an affiliate program, select the products, and refer the products to consumers or refer them to a personal site housing many different affiliate products. Most of the programs test the referral skills, once passed a commission is earned; on a percentage basis.

If you like the affiliate program, but would like to be more of a network, there are sites that have built-in affiliate networks. This is nice also because this way one does not need to brows site to site looking for affiliate programs with a decent percentage rate. The site houses all of the programs and it is easy to find and choose. After choosing the products you wish to sell on your site, you begin to make money by referring people to your retail store. Having an online store is essential when working at home, thus giving you an identity online. By having an identity online provides a platform for the affiliate products to be marketed and sold. Leveraging a variety of referral systems provide more money making opportunities; such as article marketing, blogs, PPC campaigns, and banner adverts, just to name a few. Affiliate marketing relies on the numbers, the more referrals made, the more money is made and the better the online money making opportunity.

To Learn More about Matthew Gruenke Author and Top Internet Marketer go to http://www.infofrommatt.com and also to learn more about Home Businesses go to http://www.mymysterywealth.com

Offering Choices – A Good Marketing Practice

Ever notice how easy it is for someone to say “No?” Make it easier for them to say “Yes” by offering choices in your marketing.

If you’re a Realtor, rather than asking a listing prospect if they’re ready to list today, ask them if they’d like to list for 3 months, or for 6 months. If you’re trying to get an appointment with buyer prospects, ask them if they’d like to view homes on Friday or Saturday. Or ask them if they’d like to schedule time to see 3 homes or 5.

If you’re selling shoes ask if they’d like them in brown or black. If you sell furniture, ask them if they’d like the couch, or would prefer the whole set, with chair and ottoman to match.

That’s called an “assumptive close” because you go forward assuming that your prospect is going to say yes rather than fearing that they’ll say no.

It serves two purposes – the first being a change in your own attitude and the vibrations you give off. Your fear of a “no” could actually cause it to happen! We all give off vibrations all the time, and the one you want to give off is confidence. Confidence in yourself, and confidence that the product or service you offer is a good thing for your prospect.

The second reason is that as humans we all want to feel in control of our lives. We don’t want to be forced into a corner and we intensely dislike the “Now or never” ultimatum. I know, a whole lot of marketers use it, and some customers fall for it – out of fear.

But as a smart marketer, you’re in the business of creating lasting relationships with your clients – not one time orders based on fear of loss. You’ll gain their respect and their confidence when you offer them choices – even if that choice is waiting until next week to order.

If you’ve done the right things to collect your prospect’s names, you’ll be reminding them again in a few days. You can even tell them so, if you like.

You can use the same psychology in your on-line marketing and postal mailings.

Rather than offering a yes or no choice, offer 2 or 3 ways to take advantage of what you have to offer. Depending upon your product, it could be colors, styles, sizes, length of service, amount of service, or combinations of products and services.

For instance, if you have information products, why not offer individual e-books or bundles of 2 or more? Explain the difference between your books so your prospect has a clear understanding of which is best for his immediate needs – or why he needs them all.

If you’re selling a newsletter, offer choices in the length of the subscription. Of course offer discounts for longer terms, but let that be their choice, not your demand.

Whatever you’re selling – be it your services or your products, find some way to offer your buyers at least three choices – “no”, “yes this,” or “yes that.” And don’t mention the first one. They already know they can say no.

One caution – don’t overdo it. Remember that your goal is to make it easy for your prospects to say “yes” to something. When you offer too many choices you make it harder, so they’ll fall back on “no.”

A recent test showed that grocery store shoppers who were offered samples of a new jelly/jam brand chose a flavor and purchased when there were 4 or 5 choices. When they increased the number of choices to 15 or 20, they didn’t buy at all. Making the decision was simply too hard, so they walked away.

So, balance is once again the answer. Avoid only one choice, avoid too many choices. Always make it easy for your customers to say yes, based on a few good choices.

Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter who specializes in making people feel good about buying products or services – or donating to worthy causes.

She has extensive experience in writing search engine optimized web copy, direct sales letters, postcards, space ad copy, press releases, and more. She is also available for marketing plan creation and editing services.

You can visit her at http://www.marte-cliff.com While you’re there, sign up for her marketing ezine. When you do, you’ll also get access to reports that will help you get better results from your own writing.