Bill Gates Said What?

Bill Gates is a pretty amazing guy.  We could all learn a lot from him.  Here are some quotes from Gates that I found online on life, investing and the future of technology and business.  Some of them have powerful messages.

1.  
2. 1.     "Patience is a key element of success."
3. 2.     "Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."
4. 3.     "It's fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure."
5. 4.     “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
6. 5.     "Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware, we would want to help out; we'd want to get involved."
7. 6.     "Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important."
8. 7.     "As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others."
9. 8.     "Until we're educating every kid in a fantastic way, until every inner city is cleaned up, there is no shortage of things to do."
10. 9.     "There is a certain responsibility that accrued to me when I got to this unexpected position."
11. 10.  "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."
12. 11.  "Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana."
13. 12.         "If you show people problems and you show people the solutions, they will be moved to act."
14. 13.  "The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."
15. 14.  "At Microsoft there are lots of brilliant ideas, but the image is that they all come from the top... I'm afraid that's not quite right."
16. 15.  "When the PC was launched, people knew it was important."
17. 16.  "The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don't really even notice it, so it's part of everyday life."
18. 17.  "I'm a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they're interested in."
19. 18.  "The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow."

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For affordable discount plans to reduce your Dental and health care expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more, visit: http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance). 

For Xpress Healthcare® business opportunity info, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

I Got a Lead! Now What?

I am frequently asked this question by new team members.  Whether they are acquired on or off-line, contacting your leads in a timely manner is vital to the growth and survival of your business.  We all use different methods, but here I will be share the process I use when I receive leads.  My methods are effective for me, but they may not be the best for everyone. 

If you’ve been building your online presence through your website, ads, social media and blogs, you are generating leads from them.  When those leads arrive, what should you do next?

Even if you only have a name and email address for the prospect, don’t wait to let them call you.  Also don’t start sending out dozens of emails to them.  Using autoresponders, you can send out several spread out over a month or so. 

It is important to qualify your leads.   There is a big difference between having a lot of leads and having a few who are well-qualified.  My personal qualifying criteria may be different from those other people have, and I have only a few.

·        Have they visited and reviewed at least one of my websites?

·        Can and do they follow instructions?

·        When you speak to them on the phone, are they pleasant?  If they are rude or negative, I don’t want them on my team!

·        I am seeking people with a positive attitude who have a vision of the future and know they can succeed with the business.

We can receive leads by email, via opt-ins from our websites, by phone, through a social media site or face to face. 

When I receive a lead through an opt-in with no phone number, I don’t just let them receive autoresponders and wait.  Autoresponders are great, but I don’t want to rely on them alone.  Our prospects need to know that we are real people.

I allow prospects to receive 1 or 2 of the autoresponders.  Then I look in my back office to see if they opened the autoresponders.  How much time did they spend on my website?  Once I’ve done that, I am armed with the information I need to write a PERSONAL email to let them know I’d be happy to answer their questions. 

If someone opted-in from my website and left a phone number, I allow the prospect to receive one or two autoresponders before phoning them.  I wait no longer than a couple days.

Before calling, I check my back office to look at the prospect’s activity.  This knowledge helps me know what to say in the conversation with the lead.   When I call, I identify myself and my company and tell them I received their inquiry about my business. Then I’ll say something like, “I wanted to follow up with you to see if you have any specific questions I can answer for you.”  If they have questions, I simply answer them.

I’ll ask if they had an opportunity to explore my website.  If not, I’ll tell them that nearly everything they want to know is addressed at my website. I’ll say lightheartedly, “My website explains it better than I can!  So, why don’t you go to my site http://mywebsite, and give me a call afterward so we can go over questions you have then.  Here’s my phone number….”

By sending them to the website, I am testing to see if the prospect follows instructions.  If they don’t call me back, I may send them a follow-up email after a few days, but I do not call them again.

Since many leads phone us, we must be sure to answer the phone professionally at all times.  Your two-year-old on your voice mail saying, “My mommy will call you back” is not professional.

No matter how you contact your prospect, be professional, but friendly, helpful, genuine, and reliable. Even if your lead never becomes a customer, they may recommend or refer you to others. 

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For affordable discount plans to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more, visit: http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance). 

For Xpress Healthcare® business opportunity info, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

An optimist stays up till midnight to greet the New Year.

A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

Now it's your choice whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.

Here we are at the end of another year.  Whether 2013 was a happy year, a prosperous year or one of sadness and defeat, 2014 offer us a chance for a new beginning.  Let's not dwell on our past mistakes or failures.  By doing so, we are simply reliving those unfortunate experiences.

Let's all start fresh and leave the past behind.  Join me in looking toward the future with renewed excitement and optimism.  I have set new goals for my Xpress Healthcare business, and I am eager to begin my journey to achieve them.

“Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day.”  Michael Josephson 

Was 2013 a wonderful year for me?  In some ways it was not.  Did I experience sadness or blunder in one way or another during the year just ending?  You bet I did!   Will it help me in any way to review the things I did incorrectly or analyze them?  Not likely.  At the time I experienced them, I did all that, so there is no benefit in repeatedly evaluating them or "beating myself up" about them.

No, I am moving forward and looking to make wonderful new memories; experience bigger and better successes in both my personal and professional life; and I shall renew and improve upon relationships with family, friends and my Xpress Healthcare partners and associates.

 “For a New Year to bring you something new, make a move, like a butterfly tearing its cocoon! Make a move!”  Unknown

Use the upcoming New Year to grow your business.  If I can help you in any way, please contact me.  If you are seeking a home business, I'll be glad to answer any questions you have about mine.  Find new friends during 2014 and continue to appreciate those you already have; make more personal and professional connections; accept changes that may come your way with good cheer; and work toward creating an even better “you.”  

“Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day.” Michael Josephson 

As we move through this last week of 2013, I wish us all a healthy, safe, prosperous and very happy 2014!

 “This bright New Year is given me
To live each day with zest
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!”

William Arthur Ward

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For affordable discount plans to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more, visit: http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance). 

 

For Xpress Healthcare® business opportunity info, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  

 

I invite you to visit my Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/XpressHealthcareTheWinnersCircle 

Not Your Normal Christmas Traditions

In celebration of Christmas, I thought it would be fun to see how Christmas is celebrated outside the United States and Canada.   I found the following information at http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm.  There are far more countries’ traditions listed on that page if you want to read about them.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Australia:

Christmas in Australia is often very hot. Whereas the northern hemisphere is in the middle of winter, Australians are baking in summer heat.

The warm weather allows Australians to enjoy a tradition which commenced in 1937. Carols by Candlelight is held every year on Christmas Eve, where tens of thousands of people gather in the city of Melbourne to sing their favorite Christmas songs. The evening is lit by as many candles singing under a clean cut night sky. The sky with its Southern Cross stars is like a mirror. Australians surround themselves with Christmas Bush, a native plant which has little red flowered leaves.

Egypt:

On the Eve of Christmas everyone goes to church wearing a completely new outfit. The Christmas service ends at midnight with the ringing of church bells, and then people go home to eat a special Christmas meal known as fata, which consists of bread, rice, garlic and boiled meat.

On Christmas morning people in Egypt visit friends and neighbors. They take with them kaik which is a type of shortbread, which they take with them to give to the people they visit and eaten with a drink known as shortbat. Christmas Day is a public holiday for Christians.

Japan:

Only 1 per cent of Japanese people believe in Christ. Even so, most Japanese people decorate their stores and homes with evergreens during Christmas.

They enjoy giving each other gifts, and this is the part they celebrate.  A Buddhist monk called Hotei-osho acts like Santa Claus and brings presents to each house for the children. Some think he has eyes in the back of his head, so children try to behave like he is nearby.

Among the Japanese Christians, Christmas is not a day for the family. They do not have turkey or plum pudding.  Instead  the day is spent doing nice things for others especially those who are sick in hospitals.

Wales:

The Welsh are great lovers of music and so every year at Christmas, carol singing is the most enjoyed activity. In the churches, they are sung to the harp. They are sung in people's homes around the Christmas tree and at the doors and windows of the houses.

Taffy making is one of the most important of the Welsh Christmas traditions, which is a special kind of chewy toffee from brown sugar and butter.  The Christmas goose is also essential.

Liberia:

Most homes have an oil palm for a Christmas tree, which is decorated with bells. On Christmas morning, people are woken up by carols. Presents such as cotton cloth, soap, sweets, pencils, and books are exchanged.  A church service is held in the morning during which the Christmas scene is enacted and hymns and carols are sung. Dinner is eaten outdoors with everyone sitting in a circle to share the meal of rice, beef and biscuits. Games are played in the afternoon, and at night fireworks light up the sky.

I want to take this opportunity to wish all my IBO friends and associates (and everyone who may read this post) a wonderful Christmas - and a great holiday season!  Whatever you are celebrating during the winter season, I hope it is your best ever!

May we all enjoy a healthy, safe, happy and prosperous 2014!

I Just Had to Share This!

http://jdgroover.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/the-2013-darwin-awards-are-out/

The 2013 Darwin Awards Are Out!

Posted on August 20, 2013by Jim G.

Yes, it’s that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.

Here Is The Glorious Winner:

1. When his .38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And Now, The Honorable Mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef’s claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6.. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer… $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he’d just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, “Yes, officer, that’s her. That’s the lady I stole the purse from.”

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn’t open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren’t available for breakfast… The frustrated gunman walked away. [*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street by sucking on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home’s sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he’d ever had and the perp had been punished enough!

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family…. unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.

*****Remember*****

They walk among us, they can reproduce.

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For affordable discount plans to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more, visit: http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance). 

For Xpress Healthcare® business opportunity info, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

I Guess They Just Don’t Like Saving Money

People can be strange.  I know we’re all different, but doesn’t everyone want to save money?  My company offers discount plans to help people reduce their health and dental care expenses, plus they save our members money on myriad other expenses (vision, hearing, roadside assistance, ID theft protection, doctors by phone, chiropractic  - and more)! 

And yet, I hear people frequently say they have no need for our plans.  Sometimes they believe their health insurance will cover all these expenses.  Wrong!  Even WITH insurance, all healthcare and dental care policies have limited coverage.

For instance, I have “full coverage” health insurance.  The co-pay on my prescriptions is HIGHER than the discounts offered by my company.  You can see proof of this below.  One receipt shows that with my insurance, I would pay $250 quarterly for my co-pay on one of my prescriptions.  I asked the pharmacy to run it through again, this time using my discount card, and they refunded me over $167!  That is a huge difference!

Just this week, my husband got a new crown at the dentist.  His bill was reduced 

by $800 by using our discount card!   I have an old crown that the dentist has 

recommend I have replaced.  He has given me an estimate of $1357 as his "Usual and 

Customary Rate, but only $910 using my discount card!  A $447 savings!

Our discount plans cost between $19.95 per month to $49.90 per month PER FAMILY!  With what my husband and I have saved this year alone using our discount plan, we have paid for our plans many times over!

So, as I said at the beginning.  I guess some people simply do not like to save money.  In today’s economy, I find it difficult to believe.

Besides the company I am now with, I have not seen a single online business that meets my qualifications:

• ·        Products EVERYONE can use sold at a truly affordable cost.
• ·        A simple, generous compensation plan.
• ·        Respected in the industry.
• ·        Leadership with integrity and open to change and suggestions.

If you are “smarter than the average bear,” you may want to check out our discount plans so you too can save money.

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For affordable discount plans to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more, visit: http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance). 

FREE discount Rx card! Really, totally FREE!  NO obligation to buy or join anything! Select link, and download and print your FREE Discount Rx Card.   http://www.nbdrugcard.com/DrugCard.aspx?ID=x032

For Xpress Healthcare® business opportunity info, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  

Have You Been to Griffith Park?

I read an interesting article today that brought many wonderful memories to mind.  In the heart of Los Angeles, Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States.  At more than 3000 acres, it is five times larger than New York’s Central Park.

Griffith J. Griffith purchased what remained of Rancho Los Feliz in 1882.  When he bought the land, it was chaparral-covered slopes, deep canyons shaded by trees and shrubs, and a wide array of wild animals.  It has not changed much in the intervening years.

In 1896, Griffith donated 3,015 acres of land to the City of Los Angeles.  It was a charitable thing for him to do, but he was not known for his kind, generous nature.  Beyond charity, Griffith was ridding himself of what was land that could not be developed at the time for which he had to pay taxes.  In 1903, Griffith shot his wife while in a drunken rage. He served two years in San Quentin Prison for attempted murder. 

Over the years since, Griffith Park has become a recreation area that includes a variety of family attractions.  This is where my memories kick in.  I went to Griffith Park many times as a child.  The Griffith Park Observatory, built in 1935, sits atop a mountain overlooking the city.  The Observatory has fun things for children and fascinating science displays.  I loved going there, and in fact visited there a couple years ago with my grandchildren.

 Many additions were made in the park over the years.  The Greek Theater opened in 1929, and I attended several concerts at the beautiful outdoor theater.    

The Los Angeles Zoo is fun and exciting.  Travel Town is a great place for children to play, but it is also loved by train “buffs.”  I remember climbing inside the old train cars when I was a child, and they remain there today.  There is also a miniature train ride in the Park that I always loved.  It is about a 15-minute ride going through lovely terrain.  I rode it again a couple years ago when we visited the Observatory. 

The Park’s old carousel is a popular attraction along with the live pony rides.  I was an adult when the Autry Museum of the American West opened in 1989.  Those who watched old “cowboy” movies will remember Gene Autry, one of the “singing cowboys.” Sports fans may remember that he also owned the California Angels baseball team at one time.

One of my favorite places in Griffith Park is Fern Del.  Many Angelino’s are not aware it even exists.  Even in the summer, it is cool, shaded and beautiful!  It is a park within the park with a running stream with small fish, beautiful ferns growing all around, walking and hiking trails, and swings for the kids – all this in the middle of Los Angeles. 

Many miles of hiking and walking trails remain, along with picnic tables and grills.  Griffith Park is a treasure.  If you are ever in Los Angeles, I recommend you add a visit to the Park to your itinerary.

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For affordable discount plans to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more, visit: http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance). 

For Xpress Healthcare® business opportunity info, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.