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Students, backpackers, family vacationers, business buddies, budget travelers, and individual traveler have something in common: they all want to get the best travel deal possible. And while everybody wants to get the best price out of every travel deal they made, more and more people are searching and digging dipper to get the price they can afford.

You too can get the best travel deal the next time you fly to another country. Here are some of the ways of achieving it:

Timing is best factor in achieving the travel deal you desire. If you want a cheaper flight, schedule it during off-peak season. For example, if you want to travel to Europe simply for vacation and not after celebrations and festivals, don’t target dates where you have to rub shoulders with other travelers. Remember that during peak seasons, demands are high. As a consequence, air travel tickets, hotel accommodations, restaurant reservations, are rentals, and everything in the middle goes nowhere but up. Traveling during this season means high travel cost.

Your destination also affects the type of travel deal you can get. If in case you want travel in any country in South America, you can notice upon your online research how prices differ from one country to another. The best trick you can do is to choose the cheapest country. Oftentimes, type of accommodation is relatively the same with other high-rated countries.

One of the biggest and heaviest one-time-pain in your pocket is paying for the plane tickets. So, you would want to get the cheapest seats possible. But choosing one does not necessarily mean you have to seat on the tail or at the most isolated part of the plane. You can always check for discount air travel seats both online or on airline companies. Usually, these discounted tickets are only waiting to be tapped. Or, if you really want to get good travel deal easily, fly with small airline companies offering extra low airfare.

Getting a cheap travel deal does not mean savings up to the extent that you have to skip meals or deprive yourself of good foods. Common misconception of first time travelers is that great foods could only be acquired on fancy restaurants. This is totally wrong. You can enjoy your day eating local delicacies at very affordable prices. In Spain, if you want to taste the tapa, you don’t need to go to your hotel restaurant, you always have the option to roam around the city and locate very affordable dining places where tapas are served at cheap price. In Paris, you don’t have to seat next to all the tourists on a café. You can stroll the park and look for vendors of burgers, hotdogs or sausage. You can sit and watch the Eiffel Tower with a glass of wise you buy from local grocery.

A good travel deal could also be acquired even before leaving. And the best way to look for it is online. You can search hundreds upon hundreds of different travel sites that offer good travel deals. Since it always boils down to competition, these sites offer competitive travel deals. Soon enough with an extra effort on researching, you can get travel deals that would not hurt your budget.

There are other ways to get the best travel deal. You can take family package, travel package, holiday package, or even special packages. The key is, work your way through these travel deals and decide which among these work for you best.

Obesity in children has doubled for children between the ages of two and five since the 1970s. Alarming is an understatement; this is traumatic. Toddlers should not be overweight and according to an article I read today, nearly half of Americas children will be obese by the end of the decade. What could be the cause: accessibility to junk food and not enough exercise. But it’s not just America having this problem; every country in the world is having to deal with this epidemic.

If a child has two obese parents, chances are they will be obese due to heredity. Children watch and learn alot from their parents. If the parents do not eat balanced diets and/or get any exercise, the child may pick up those habits. We as parents need to set good eating and exercising examples for our children so they understand the importance of doing the right things for your body.

In today’s society, life has become much easier and as a result lazier. With TV, computers and video games, kids don’t spend as much time outside. Families don’t spend that much time at the dinner table together; the faster dinner gets on the table, the better. Home cooked family meals are quickly disappearing.

Another sobering fact about an obese child is all the health problems they will experience at a young age. Type 2 diabetes, liver diseases, heart disease, high blood pressure, and many more are supposed to be found in adults, not children. But there are more cases of these health problems showing up in children.

Parents need to pay attention to what their children are eating, not only at home, but also when they are away. We need to instill good eating habits early and set examples ourselves. Don’t buy foods with high fat content, sugar and artificial preservatives. It’s better to make cookies than to buy them from the store. Take time to make dinner, but don’t try to do it every night. Order out every once in a while.

We can change the future. Let’s help our children live long, healthy lives.

A nation that is rich in sights and attractions, Brazil is one of the best destination choices when you fly south of America. Brazil is the 5th largest and 5th most populous country in the world. Its territory spans from the Atlantic Ocean to the central and east of South America, dwarfing the neighboring countries of Argentina, Uraguay, and Paraguay in the south, Bolivia and Peru in the east, and Columbia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana in the north.

10 Most Popular Brazil destinations:

Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro,
Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro,
Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo,
Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro,
Tijuca National Park, Rio de Janeiro,
Iguacu Falls, Foz de Iguacu, Parana
Pantanal Wetlands, Pantanal, Mato Grosso
Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro,
Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pao de Acucar), Rio de Janeiro
Pelourinho, Salvador, Bahia

If you plan to travel to any of these places or plan take Brazil experience elsewhere, here are some of the things you should remember.

Do’s:

1. Try to learn as much Portuguese as you can. Yes, Portuguese. If you happen to visit other South American countries and have learned Spanish in the process, well, you can’t use it. Try to learn some word- the usual conversational phrases and sentences. Remember that although you can survive with English in large cities, most people living in rural areas would not be able to understand you.

2. Avoid dark and isolated places especially if you are alone.

3. Carry only the basics. In this way, you can avoid the eyes of petty criminals.

4. Know your destination before leaving. This rule applies before you leave the United State and upon arrival at your hotel. Keep a map if you must and don’t allow anyone to know you are lost if ever you caught in the situation. Knowing where you are going leads to a safer Brazil travel.

5. Bring necessary clothes and survival stuff. Bring long pants, long-sleeved shirt, eyeglasses, cap or hat to avoid mosquito bites. To further attracting illnesses from insects like dengue, leishmaniasis, and malaria, do bring insect repellant. Or, if you are planning to stay out overnight, bring mosquito nets, insect sprays, and necessary prescription medications.

6. Take taxi instead of busses. Bring money pouches strap around your neck. If you are driving your car, always keep the door locked.

7. Respect the locals.

8. If you are a victim of crime, report immediately.

9. Brazil like any other places has rules to follow. Obey them to keep you out of trouble.

Don’ts:

1. Never bring excessive valuables and show it to public. As much as possible leave your rings, necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelries in a safe place. You can rent a purchase deposit box to keep your valuables safe.

2. Don’t carry money and credit card you don’t need because you can never tell when pickpocketers attack. Although Brazil has several safe places for tourists like Rio de Janeiro, it is always wise to keep your money in safe place. Try to carry enough cash for the day or at least one credit card with you. Leave the rest in you hotel.

3. Don’t swim in any fresh waters.

4. Avoid eating street foods and drink only bottled water. Don’t handle any animals.

5. Don’t bring to your hotel room any strangers you meet outside.

Whatever time of the year it is, you have probably set a working direction for the rest of the year, including clear-cut objectives. Your first-iteration plan to reach them should be in place. This now (whatever time it is – if you are thinking about it) seems like an ideal time to rethink the whole thing, doesn’t it? In our sped-up 21st century world, plans are subject to change just as soon as – or perhaps even before – they are written.

If you haven’t already done so, now is an excellent time to review your company’s year-end results and plan for the coming year. If you’ve already created your annual plan, you may want to look at it in a new light.

A typical approach to planning suggests multiplying last year’s quantitative results by an acceptable growth factor. Industry standards vary, often from 5% to 25%. Add to that number scheduled enhancements to your product line plus solutions to key problems you’ve been meaning to address, and that’s your plan.

Those of you who’ve been following my articles know that I advocate a different approach to this process: Step 1) Learn whatever you can from last year’s results – something many of us forget to do. For example, make 1998 the year you act on the knowledge that it takes six months to train your field reps, not the six weeks you used to allocate. Step 2) Set targets which will excite you and your team and get you out of bed every morning; Step 3) Figure out how to reach the targets in Step 2.

A well rounded strategy which will provide a platform for continuous growth should impact these critical factors:

* revenue and profit
* product development
* customer satisfaction
* quality
* intellectual capital
* productivity
* strategic relationships
* new customer growth
* employee retention.

For each factor follow the three step analysis. Step 1. What can you learn from last year’s experience in each area?

What did you do right – what worked – what should you do more of? What did you do wrong – what didn’t work – what should be stopped immediately?

Also, ask what is missing from this area. In other words, what could you add – or eliminate – which will make a big difference in your organization’s effectiveness. Random examples of what might be missing: an organizational knowledge manager, periodic competitive analysis, a report of market share, an employee training plan.

Step 2. What results are you committed to produce in each area?

Remember, these results should be bold and dynamic. They should inspire everyone responsible for making them happen to do whatever it takes to get the job done. These targets or measures work best when they are objective and quantifiable. They must be achievable, however difficult that might be. Some examples of bold results: a 50 percent increase in sales; top of the list in prospect mind-share; 100 percent customer repurchases; three new products shipped by June; customer problems resolved in half the current time, a career path in place for each employee, zero turnover.

Step 3. How are you going to achieve these goals?

Your implementation plan has a number of components:

Who is accountable for each factor? Which executive? Which managers? What department? Some factors map directly onto a functional department, like revenue to marketing/sales. Those are the easy ones. Less obvious are factors like intellectual capital or customer satisfaction – they don’t fall under one clear domain. Nevertheless, one person has to pick up the ball. Along with their teams, whoever accepts accountability for specific the targets and goals will answer the remaining questions.

What strategies and tactics have a good chance to produce the results? Remember, if you’ve set bold objectives, you probably do not yet know how to reach them. That’s what makes them bold in the first place. You are inventing the answers, making them up.

The approach to some targets will be simple, others more complex. While there are no guarantees of success, each target should have an identifiable path with a good probability of getting your company to where you want it to be. That path will define one or more initiatives to be put on a timeline. The path will also include milestones – checkpoints to measure the ongoing success of the initiative.

What structural and procedural changes will you make relative to this factor? Some examples are adding two salespeople, creating a quality czar, establishing new reporting lines, eliminating paper memos, making a large capital investment, acquiring a component vendor, or having a monthly new business quota. Each structural and procedural change will give birth to its own initiatives, which also need to be time-lined.

Does this initiative have any staffing implications? Do you need to increase headcount, create new job descriptions or add specific managers? Where a factor maps directly onto a department – such as revenue or customer service – what is the annual staffing plan? If there is a staffing increase, make sure the financial considerations are fed back into the budget.

Taken together, all the factors, targets, accountable parties, initiatives, structural changes, timelines, measures and milestones add up to a strategic plan for the year.

Can you live without addressing all of these factors?

Of course you can – but will you prosper, and for how long? Increase sales, but neglect quality – what will happen to customer satisfaction? Improve product quality but neglect employee retention? What will happen to quality next year? And then what will happen to sales? Focus on profits but not new customers or strategic relationships – next year’s sales (and profits) decline, and so on. Each factor’s improvement synergistically contributes to your company’s survivability and prosperity.

Last issue: Can you do everything at once?

You probably don’t have the resources for that. But the solution can not neglect any of your critical factors – we’ve just looked at the outcome of that approach. Instead, create another breakthrough. Create a breakthrough in planning which commits your company to some level of advancement for each of the factors. One that ensures they all receive some level of attention so that each is moving forward, although maybe not all to the same degree. To reuse a well-worn phrase, if you are not making progress in each area, you are loosing ground. ground.

If you love Hollywood, you surely would associate Argentina with Madonna’s portrayal in Evita. If you know your history and geography, you would recognize Argentina as the passageway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And if you like to travel, you would recognize Argentina as one of the more favored tourism spots in South America.

Argentina has a total area of 3.761-million squire km and 99% of which is land. After Brazil, Argentina is the second largest land mass in South America and 8th in the world. Its bordering nations are Chile in the east, Bolivia and Paraguay in the north, and Brazil and Uraguay in the west. The Atlantic Ocean is in the eastern and southern part of the country.

With its size and location, Argentina is home to several tourist attractions that would boldly define the uniqueness of the country.

The Iguazu Falls, part of the Iguazu National Park in the province of Misiones, Litoral showcases the beauty of water and the spectacle of nature. The falls produce 70-meter plummet and is taller and twice as wide as the Niagara Falls. The horseshoe-shaped falls is the result of a volcanic eruption. Surely your travel in Argentina is not complete without paying a visit to Iguazu Falls.

Also in Misiones is the San Ignacio Jesuitic Ruins. This religious community founded by the Jesuits aimed to bring the Christianity to the locals. He 17th century ruins will show how the community has survived and has lived in during its time.

The Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires is Argentina’s pride and one of few structures that has gained the country its reputation and rights to be called as the “Paris of South America.” The opera house is finished in 1907 with a touch of French, Italian Renaissance and Classical Greek. If no show is presented, visitors can see tour the opera house’s interiors.

Also in Buenos Aires is the La Boca, a fancy and colorful neighborhood located near the Rio Riachuelo. “The Mouth” when translated in English is filled with street performers, tango dancers, and tourists taking pictures everywhere.

Meanwhile, a trip in Cafe Tortoni, one of the oldest café where Carlos Gardel, the tango legend and Jorges Luis Borges, the writer spend their precious moments. The 1858 Café Tortoni is the focal point of Buenos Aires’ social life.

Cementerio de la Recoleta is Buenos Aires is the place to go on you Argentina travel if you want to see where Evita Péron lies- wife of the former president Juan Péron with a movie named after her and dedicated for her. Her final resting place is directed within Recoleta neighbourhood, a sophisticated mausoleums where other rich and famous Argentine lies.

Traveling in Argentina would introduce you to tango. And there is no better place to witness the local dance than in San Telmo. The place is once a lonely place for Spanish immigrants. This is where they sang and dance. Men dance with prostitutes. Soon, some respectable women joined in. And as time and people passed by, the dance soon became one of the most recognized in the world: tango. Today, San Telmo still resembles the old Spain with cobbled stone streets and historical buildings but most of all, San Telmo is a unique place where tango is most applaud.

Although traveling by air is the fastest way to move from places to place while traveling by car is convenient and comfortable and traveling by bus is the cheapest, not one of them can be compared to the unique experience trail travel could give.

Trail travel might not be the most popular way people move. This could be because of the length a trip could take compared to air traveling. Another reason could be the monotony of sights that might bring boredom to passengers. Another could be the price one single train travel could cost compared when taking a bus. All these contribute to the decreasing popularity of train travel but it does not mean that train travel is not good at all. In fact, with a little wit and personal creativity, one could enjoy train travel.

1. Expect to travel for long hours. In this way, you don’t have to look at your timepiece regularly or ask a crew with the most annoying question you also would not want to hear: “Are we there yet?” Keep in mind that if you are crossing state boarders, train travel could take more hours than driving your own car at your own phase. And sometimes, train schedules are not met so you don’t have to nag every crew with the train schedule.

2. Relax and enjoy the scenery. If you are traveling during daytime, you could see sights that might not be possible to see if you are traveling by plane, bus or car. Try to enjoy the scenery. You can even bring binoculars to help you see more views closer.

3. If you are a reader, this is the best time to read. Trains are more stable than bus. So if you would like to read without controlling the motion of your hand with the book, the train could provide you with stability. Bring a book of your favorite author. You can also consider finalizing your report if you are going to present it on meetings.

4. If you are not into sightseeing and reading, you can bring your portable CD player or iPod. Bring your most favorite albums you could bring. Or, if you have an iPod, you can store all your songs to your library. Make sure you have spare batteries.

5. Be friendly and polite. If a person asks favors from you, be more than willing to do it. Train travel would offer you new acquaintances and friends.

6. Do not intrude other people’s business in the best way you could. Respect other people’s privacy.

7. Talk to the crew nicely. Although they would not throw you off the train if you shout to them, doing such is not proper. They are well trained and very friendly, be nice to the crew.

8. Take time to meet other people. Since you expect to be on the train for several hours especially if you are crossing state borders, you wont be doing so much. You can roam around the train and meet other people. This is the best time to have someone to talk to.

9. If in case you are traveling with your children, make sure you provide them with lots of activities. Bring along activity books, quiet toys, color pens, crayons, papers, reading material, coloring books, and video games. In this way, you keep them entertained.

Rut — a routine procedure, situation, or way of life that has become uninteresting and tiresome… And not surprisingly, unprofitable.

They say a rut is a shallow grave with two open ends. The good news (good news?!) is that the ends ARE still open, which means if you act fast, you just might out of it. How do we get into these ruts anyway? Who would voluntarily lie down in that grave, shallow or otherwise?

Dr. Edward Debono suggests that thoughts are pathways literally “etched” in our brain as electrical connections that get strengthened each time we think them — thus limiting our mental options. Just like cow paths. It all begins when one of the cows wanders home from the field along a new path. Being cows, others naturally follow, nicely beating down the grass. The next evening our intrepid cow is a bit less bold, and follows her own freshly trampled path, fellow cows in lockstep behind her. And so on, night after night, widening the path into a footpath, which over time becomes hardened into a dirt road.

More time passes and the road is paved into a street, then an avenue, a two-lane highway, and ultimately an interstate. By the time you come roaring up the onramp in your shiny SUV, your direction is all mapped out in front of you. There’s no way to turn, and no where to go but towards the next exit.

If you want to chart a fresh direction you are going to have to grab the steering wheel and give it a hard, gut-wrenching yank to the right. And so it is with your thoughts and actions. Repeating them a few times all but insures you will comfortably repeat them indefinitely unless you take deliberate – possibly disruptive — action to do otherwise.

Here are 7 rut busters I use with my business coaching clients that you can apply immediately to get yourself and your business out of a rut.

1. Shift your mindset from self to customer. Most business people think of themselves first. They craft product and service offers from their own perspective and consider themselves the beneficiaries of their actions.

While that’s not wrong, to get out of your rut do this: put yourself into the mind of your customer. Who are these people anyway? What are they concerned about? What are they trying to accomplish?

If you were your customer, what would you think of that new product, marketing campaign, or mail piece? Are you selling your wonderful “stuff”, or are you providing them tangible, meaningful benefits. Ask, “If I were the customer, would I care?” And if not, consider, “What WOULD I get excited about?”

2. Shift your mindset from customer to client. A customer is someone who buys your goods or services. The original meaning of client is entirely different: someone who is under your care and protection.

Now that’s a switch, isn’t it? If they’re customers, your goal is to get them to buy something. But if you were to think of them as under your care – would you approach your business from another angle? How would you take care of them? How would you “protect” them? What new programs would you want to implement immediately?

3. Revisit your vision. Whenever I feel like I’m in a rut I return to my vision and I do 2 things. First, I make sure it still inspires me and that it is pointing me in the direction I want to go. Once sure, I put pen to paper and rewrite it. Not just once, but over and over. And I keep writing until I can’t write it anymore because I’m jumping up and down with a new idea I must do something about right away.

4. Conduct a Survey If you don’t know what to do next, ask your clients. (They are clients, aren’t they?) Conduct a survey about anything that interests you. Ask them what’s bothering them. Ask them what they’re stuck on. Ask them what they like about your company and what they’d like you to do next. Ask them about new features, or new products, or new services.

If you’re not happy with your current customers, conduct a survey among the kind of people you’d like to have as customers. And, if you can’t do that, conduct a survey online. Write an attractive search engine ad, promise something of value, and drive people to a survey page. Ask them anything you like – the answers will almost always provide you with a neat mind-shift.

5. Focus on building your strengths and dump your weaknesses. From the time we are little children we are taught to better ourselves by working on our weaknesses. This is often both frustrating and fruitless, and certainly not as much fun as practicing our strengths.

Try this on: What if you focused 100 percent of your energy on being world-class in those few things at which you are already very good, and out-tasked or outsourced those things at which you were mediocre. Imagine if you never had to face any of those things again and could spend all your time doing the good stuff. Would that change the way you felt about your business? Would that bust you out of your rut?

6. Not if, but how. Think of that wild and crazy idea you had recently. The one where you said to yourself, “That would be great, but there’s just no way.” Well, I know there’s no way – you just said so — but if there was a way, what would it be? Answer that question as if you believed it was possible – probable even — and then get busy making it real. That’s power, you know — turning your vision into reality. Talk about a breakthrough!

7. What are you willing to sacrifice? Some important things are more important than other important things, and trying to keep all those plates spinning in the air saps your vigor for the ones that truly matter. Dissipated energy – lethargy — is one of the reasons we lie down in that rut in the first place, and dropping a few of those plates can really help things break loose.

So let go. Make the sacrifice. Clear your plate and give up some of those precious things you’ve been holding on to. Focus your vitality on plans which will really rock your world. Ruts? Who needs ‘em.

You’ve made an unusual discovery – there’s not enough time left at the end of the day. The corollary, of course, is your list of important things to do never gets smaller. In any company, the CEO’s to-do list has the potential to grow infinitely.

What’s a senior executive to do?

This is not simply a personal problem. Your company’s future depends on what you do next. As you drive your organization beyond its current plateau, you must change the way you relate to your work. There are three stages to making the transition from chief-cook-and-bottle-washer (CC&BW) to CEO (source of the management and direction of the business). They are:

* Understanding your highest value contribution to your company and focusing on that role.
* Recognizing your position as a leader and owning the job.
* Delegating everything else, and holding others accountable.

Previous articles, Time Well Spent, deals with transition one; Visions of Leadership addresses transition two. This article examines the problem of delegation – giving the work away.

The Issue

You have doubtlessly concluded your next level of company performance requires a managerial change. And hopefully, you have realized the changes necessary are with you. As CEO (or, on a divisional or departmental level – senior executive) your jobs include holding the vision; inspiring your senior management and your staff; fostering key relationships with customers, vendors, investors and the public, etc.

You now need to let go of some cherished things like product design, hiring, perhaps day-to-day sales – many things you handled in the past, often out of necessity – and focus yourself on your role as CEO. What about all these things you used to do? Delegate them. Assign the job to someone else. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, why write a whole article on it?

Do you delegate? Of course you do. But do you delegate the important things? The things you “know” you could do better? The things you are “best” at? Probably not. The question is, should you?

Your highest value contribution

Think about your highest value contribution to your company. Which of your activities generate the most revenue, profit, market share, etc.? Where do you get the most bang for the buck? Like most chief executives, your greatest leverage is in mobilizing the forces around you – your senior staff and your employees, plus key customers, prospects and vendors. Everything else becomes secondary to that in terms of impact.

So the answer is yes. You should give away even the things you are “best” at. And then make sure they are done right. Make sure they are up to spec and delivered on time.

The cost of holding on

Now, the thorny part. Many executives refrain from delegating responsibilities they’ve labeled “critical”. They fear the job won’t be done correctly. Or no one else can do it as quickly, and it won’t get done on time. Or the right attention won’t be paid. Or something. Or something else.

Give it up! The growth of your organization will be stifled to the extent that you hold on to critical functions. Your company will suffer in the exact areas where you think you are the expert!

Product design? You hold up the development of a key component, because you are the expert, yet you are away at a customer meeting. Staffing? Two engineers can’t be hired because you haven’t signed off and are out of town at a meeting with investment bankers. Sales? Negotiations on an important deal are held up because you are in Asia meeting with a vendor.

You become the choke point on each of these vital functions. And you feel – of course – “I have to be involved.” No you don’t. To the exact degree you have not developed your staff to assume these functions, the growth of your company will be retarded.

Aside from fear the job won’t be done as well, there is another, more insidious reason senior executives (particularly entrepreneurs) do not delegate. If you aren’t doing the “important” stuff, you become redundant. Dead weight. Overhead. If you have a great VP of Sales, or a Chief Technologist, what will you do?

You feel this way because you haven’t completed transitions one and two: you haven’t taken the trouble of understanding how you personally create value in your company, and you haven’t fully assumed the role of leader. Once you make these transitions, you won’t have time for the rest. Delegation, not abdication.

Many executives delegate like this. They say, “John, would you take on this project? It has to be done by next Thursday. Thanks.” That’s it. Then, when the job comes back incomplete, they are infuriated. What happened? They left out accountability. They neglected the structure for making sure things happened according to plan.

There are five components to successful delegation.

1. Give the job to someone who can get it done.

This doesn’t mean that person has all the skills for execution, but that they are able to martial the right resources. Sometimes the first step in the project will be education. Maybe your delegate has to attend a seminar or take a course to get up to speed.

2. Communicate precise conditions of satisfaction.

Timeframe, outcomes, budget constraints, etc.; all must be spelled out. Anything less creates conditions for failure. It’s like the old story about basketball – without nets the players don’t know where to shoot the ball.

3. Work out a plan.

Depending on the project’s complexity, the first step may be creation of a plan. The plan should include resources, approach or methodology, timeline, measures and milestones. Even simple projects require a plan.

4. Set up a structure for accountability.

If the project is to take place over the next six weeks, schedule an interim meeting two weeks from now. Or establish a weekly conference call, or an e-mailed status report. Provide some mechanism where you can jointly evaluate progress and make mid-course corrections. This helps keep the project, and the people, on track.

5. Get buy in.

Often timeframes are dictated by external circumstances. Still, your delegate must sign on for the task at hand. If you say, “This must be done by next Tuesday,” they have to agree that it is possible. Ask instead. “Can you have this by Tuesday?” To you this may seem a bit remedial, but the step is often overlooked. Whenever possible, have your delegate set the timeline and create the plan. You need only provide guidance and sign off. As General Patton said, “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

If you skip any one of the above steps, you dramatically reduce the likelihood things will turn out the way you want them to. On the other hand, if you rigorously follow the steps, you greatly increase the odds in your favor. Isn’t this more work than doing it myself, you ask. No – it isn’t.

The time it takes to

1) establish the goals,
2) review the plan, and
3) monitor the progress,

is not equal to the time it takes to execute. That is how you gain leverage. This is how you multiply your efforts.

(Occasionally it does take longer to communicate something than to do it yourself. Delegate it anyway. The next time will be easier.)

Above, I’ve referred to projects. This is not to say delegation is reserved for discrete tasks and problems. You also delegate ongoing functions. The process is the same in each case.

As an exercise, ask yourself, what am I unwilling to delegate? Make a list of the reasons why not. Identify the best person in your organization – not you – to take on this project or function. Then call a meeting. Begin the meeting with step one, above.

If there is no one to whom you can give away key functions, you have to look carefully at your staff situation. It may be time to hire the right people. If you don’t have the revenues to support the staff additions, consider what is restraining your growth.

Review your relationship with your assistant or secretary. Have you let them take on there fair share of the workload? Are you giving them sufficiently sophisticated work to do? Are they ready to upgrade?

Some situations call for you to dive back in. Perhaps you are the only one in your company with some particular technical knowledge, or your insight will accelerate the design process, or you have the long-standing relationship with a vendor or customer. Go ahead, dive. Do your thing – briefly, complete the project and resume your leadership position.

Oh, one more thing.

The only point to delegating something is if it frees you for things which create greater value for your company. Don’t give away the hiring function if you are spending your time fiddling with the corporate web site. Don’t hire a Sales VP, if you are spending your time on purchasing. The greatest leverage you have is in leading your company. Lavish your time on that.

More women are in the market for organic skincare products. The trend toward organic is growing; Walmart has recently publicized its intention to increase its offering of organic food by 50%, and more people are extending their interest in organic products to organic skincare products in addition to food. After all, what you put on your body is just as essential as what you put into your body, since it is absorbed into the skin, and organic skincare products work effectively without all of the chemicals, which can cause health problems. Like all organic products, organic skincare products come from all natural products and contain no harmful chemicals.

Organic skin care products are held to the same standards as organic food products, and the US. Department of Agriculture has recently released guidelines concerning the labeling of organic products. If something is labeled 100% organic, it must contain all organic products. However, if a product is labeled as simply “organic” it can contain up to 5% of non-organic material. This small percentage is often not a huge concern for most consumers, but for very strict adherents to organic products, 5% can make a difference in whether they purchase the product or not. If the label says that the products is “made with organic ingredients” it must have at least 70% organic material in it. Depending on how adamant you are about purchasing organic skin products, you will want to inspect the label before buying. If you are shopping on the web, you can find out whether or not something is 100% organic by consulting the site or asking the webmaster.

All organic products, including organic skincare products are made from materials that are grown on soil that has been certified as pesticide-free for at least 3 years. Organic skincare products are made without:

· Synthetic pesticides
· Insecticides
· Herbicides
· fungicides
· hormones
· chemical fertilizers

There has been some talk that the FDA is warning cosmetic companies to eliminate dangerous chemicals in their products, or their goods will carry labels, similar to the warning labels on cigarettes. Many dyes and other chemicals found in non-organic cosmetics and skincare products are hazardous and carcinogenic, and as one proponent of organic skincare products comments, “If you knew what was in your skin cream or foundation, you would never want to have it anywhere near your face!” A traditional skincare treatment program places about 100 chemicals on a woman’s face, many of them hazardous. Organic skincare products can function the same way, but without the chemicals.

You can find organic skincare products which:

· exfoliate
· cleanse
· condition
· nourish the skin
· hydrate the skin
· moisturize
· purify the skin

Many organic skincare products are made from cold-pressed, unrefined oils, herb and flower extracts and from organic fruits, nuts and seeds. Peach pits can make an excellent exfoliating scrub to scour dead skin cells and renew one’s complexion. Citrus fruits refresh and revive the skin, and mud masks purify the pores. A popular choice is a cleanser with orange peel oil, calendula and marshmallow. You can also find an exfoliant with bergmont and orange, or a conditioner made of hazel, burdock, plantain and vitamins. A rosewater spray hydrates skin that becomes dry from indoor heating in the winter and the sun in the summer.

Many women who use organic skincare products say that their skin feels even more fresh and pure after using organic products, and that they do not want to switch to their old non-organic brands. Another advantage to using organic skincare products is that, since they are made from plant oil, herbs, flowers and fruit, they often combine skincare with a pleasing fragrance. This means that you can combine skincare with aromatherapy. The orange and bergamont skin cleanser not only refreshes your skin but can lift your mood as well!

Every management authority on the circuit says that loyal customers and their repeat purchases are the cornerstone of your long-term successful business. The reason is obvious: it is less costly to get your existing customers to buy more than it is to find new ones. The lower cost of sale leads gives you higher operating margins, which you can then invest in other business building activities, and so it goes.

Since I’m bringing this up at all, you’ve got to ask yourself, “Is this old saw true?”

For incremental growth up to around 20 percent per year, the answer is yes. It’s true.

Spend your energy selling more to your top customers and you’ll do just fine. And 20 percent year after year is definitely nothing to sneeze at.

But what about faster growth? Massive growth, mega growth, breakthrough growth? What if you’ve just got to take over your market, fast?

To get revenue increases of 50 percent, 100 percent, or more, that expert wisdom is just plain wrong. To get quantum growth in your business you’re going to need more people buying your products and services – and lots of them.

Product development mastermind Doug Hall conducted research using the Scan Database, which contains over 9400 products with Universal Product Codes. Hall’s statistical model shows that new customers are 2.8 times more important to rapid revenue growth than repeat purchasers.

It’s not hard to understand when you consider this question: How much money can each customer or customer spend with your company? Can they double their spending? Maybe. If that’s true, you might squeeze that 100 percent growth from your loyal base.

But is that reasonable to expect? Perhaps for one year. But repeatedly? That’s just not likely, and companies that focus all their attention on retention are eventually going to see revenue growth stall or decline.

But can you double your customer base?

Yes, you can. And you can do it repeatedly. It doesn’t matter whether you call them customers or clients, the equation is the same: it’s easier to geometrically grow the customer base than the money each customer spends.

Of course, the strongest companies do both. They increase the spending of each loyal customer, and aggressively court new ones. But because they think it’s more cost-efficient, too many entrepreneurs focus on developing repeat business and limit their new customer activity. Don’t get caught in that trap; while you’re creating loyalty, your competitors will expand around you and with their riches, drive you right out of the market.

Developing new customers is not easy, but here are few steps to get you on the road and keep you there.

1. Continually focus on getting new customers. Develop automatic referral processes like Quantum’s Envelope Referral System. Schedule low cost or free informational seminars. Build strategic partnerships. Create affiliate marketing programs. Use direct marketing techniques: mail, email, telephone, and so on.

2. Remember that your goal is total customer growth. This means that while you’re adding new customers, be sure not to lose the ones you already have. And that means those customers are not dormant – a customer who’s not spending isn’t much of a customer at all. Any solid customer growth plan also includes a re-sell, up-sell and cross-sell program in addition to the customer acquisition plan.

3. Redefine your Unique Client Value position to include the “next niche over.” When you’ve exhausted the customers in your specific niche (defined by your Core Marketing Message and your Unique Client Value) it may be time to move into another market space. The easiest niche to segue into is one that shares characteristics with your current market. That’s why we call this the “next niche over.” Sometimes all it takes is a small tweak to your product offer or the way you package it. Sometimes, you only have to alter the marketing message and collateral.

4. Dramatize the Differences. At some point you must take customers from your competitors; that means you can’t have a me-too offering. You’ve got to be better, you’ve got to be different, you’ve got offer something they don’t have. Unless your competitors really stink their customers won’t become your without a compelling reason. And just because your mousetrap is better they won’t come running, you have to let them know, communicating your commanding value clearly and often.

5. Create segmented offerings to make the differences more pronounced. Just as you use “silver, gold, platinum” pricing to segment your own customer base, do the same to distinguish yourself from your competitors. If you need a low-end offer, remove the frills, strip down the packaging, if possible make the product “virtual,” digital, or downloadable. On the high-end, make your product super-premium. Bump up the quality of your materials. Add personalization. Add intimacy and service elements that competition will be afraid to offer.

Follow these five steps and you will be on the road to quantum growth. Remember – that as you’re driving new customers to your door you must make sure to build loyalty at the same time. In another article we’ll talk about ways to do just that.