Август 2009

Its Weight in Gold

Li Qiangong, styled Mian,( http://www.designer-cheap.com/) was once the Military Commander of Fengxiang Prefecture! A farmer from one of the Districts under the Prefecture found a large earthen jar full of gold pieces in the shape of horse shoes. The gold was taken to the District Magistrate. The Magistrate was afraid lest the official storehouse could not provide sufficient security so he put it in his private chambers. After two nights he went to inspect the jar and found only pieces of earth.At the time the gold in the jar was dug up, all the people from the surrounding villages came to look and they examined the gold. As a result, when the news that the gold had changed into earth became known, everyone was amazed. The matter was reported to the Prefecture authorities. The Magistrate could not defend himself and was forced to submit a false confession to the effect that he had replaced the gold with earth. Though most of the paperwork was complete the hiding place of the gold was not discovered. The case was reported to the high-ranking officials. Li Qiangong read the file and was furious. He happened to mention this case in a banquet and all those present were bemused. At that time Prime Minister Yuan was in the Prefecture. He bowed his head and said nothing.On being inquired by Li, Yuan said, «I suspect there has been an injustice in this matter.»»There were witnesses,» Li pointed out, «it is not as if the judge did not make investigations.»»Yes, you are right,» replied Yuan.They went to the official tribunal and examined the earthern jar. It was stuffed with over two hundred and fifty lumps of earth. Gold pieces were sought from the many shops of the region and these were melted down so that the quantity was equivalent to that of the pile of earth. When only half the gold was weighed, it came up to three hundred catties. Enquiries were made concerning the manpower used to transport the jar to the Magistrate. When Wu Xingde was the Governor of Luoyang, (http://www.watchescat.com/)the eastern capital, there were laws prohibiting the private transportation of salt. If a person could catch anyone transporting over one catty of salt without official permission, he would receive a big reward. At that time, many desperadoes made use of this law to frame people.A certain village boy often carried a load of vegetables into the city. One day he met a nun on the way. She was from east of the river and they kept each other company. When they were near the city, the nun hurried in front of him and entered the gate. After a little while, the guards at the gate searched the boy and found several catties of salt in his basket of vegetables. The boy was bound and taken to the Prefecture authorities.Wu Xingde took the salt and examined it. The salt was wrapped in a white silk handkerchief which had a strong fragrance. Wu was very surprised.»This village boy is dressed in rags. His clothes could not be more tattered. How could he possess a fragrant handkerchief such as this? This must be the work of crooks.»»Did you walk with anyone after you left home?» Wu asked the boy.The boy told him what happened. Wu Xingde was delighted.»I’ve got it. This must be a plot between a nun from the Tiannii Convent and the guard at the city. gate. They hope to earn some easy money by getting the reward.» Hot summer, Chaner kept shouting in the trees: «cicadas, cicada,» leaves, grass lit by the sun hung his head, and all life are no alternative but to endure. Only pond, the fields, the stream of small water droplets do not want to endure, come together to talk the summer somewhere. One of the small water droplets, said: «Yesterday, when it rains from the heaven, where the partnership that they can be cool, and they have become water vapor has returned.» They talk a good range of small water droplets are on the sun-baked into a the water vapor, embarked on a summer’s journey to heaven. Along the way, the small drop their eyes to see, however, and there are high-rise buildings, They discovered that two fanners carried it using a thick bamboo as a carrying pole. Considering the amount of gold involved it was beyond the strength of two men to lift the load. It was obvious that the gold had already ‘changed’ into earth on the road. Everybody was convinced and the Magistrate was exonerated.( http://www.top-watches-brand.com/)

«How to Network with Impact»

QUINCY, MA…

In recognition of the fact that non-sales professionals are often uncomfortable or ineffective at networking, the New England Franchise Association (NEFA) welcome members and non-members to a lively presentation to hone their networking skills.    The event is scheduled for Tuesday, January 12, 5:30 p.m. at Granite Links Golf Club, Quincy, MA.

Jim Ayraud, president and founder of Next Level, Inc., a sales management consulting firm and an authorized licensee of Sandler Training, will raise the bar and demonstrate how to be much more purposeful and therefore effective in our business networking.

The evening includes a cocktail and networking session beginning at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 7:00 PM, and then the presentation from by Ayraud. The entire business community is urged to attend. Membership in the NEFA is NOT required. Reservations are required.  Registration Fee is $60 per person and includes dinner.  NEFA Members receive $10.00 off. 

Ayraud believes that networking is like anything else in life—the more serious you are about it—the more success you will have. 

«In particular, service business opportunities are largely based on relationships. New business and recurring revenue comes from collegues and referral sources who know you and trust you,» notes Jim Ayraud. He added, «Networking should be an essential part of your business development plan. The challenge is to chosse the right events and use proven strategies and techniques to make the most of your valuable time. Plan on walking away with a healthy mindset about networking and referral generation.»

About Next Level, Inc.

Next Level, Inc. is a Boston-based sales management consulting firm  that recognizes and capitalizes on the power of reinforcement. Understanding and implementing a complex set of human attitudes, behaviors and selling techniques is not a «quick fix» solution that can occur in a seminar.

Next Level, Inc. works with companies and individuals who are absolutely committed to sales professionalism.  Clients come to Next level when they are fearful that their people do not optimize opportunities to identify and secure new business, worried that their processes are causing selling cycles to be stretched longer and time is wasted, and/or anxious that their pipeline is inadequately filled with relevant business opportunities that will allow for profitable revenue growth.  

About NEFA

New England Franchise Association (NEFA) is the trade organization for franchisors and franchisees in the region, with over 150 members. The mission of NEFA is to bring franchise executives, franchisees and vendors together to share ideas for success.

Franchising more than ever before, has an unprecedented opportunity to make a major positive impact on the future New England economy. In a 2001-05 study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoppers on behalf of the International Franchise Association (IFA) found that in New England over 875,000 jobs are a result of franchising, the total output is over 100 Billion dollars a year, and there are over 35,000 franchise establishments in the six New England States.

To reserve your seats, please contact New England Franchise Association via the organization’s website www.NEFranchise.org, email: info@NEFranchise.org, or by calling Jim Coen, (617) 469-3002.

How To Make Your Email Marketing Less Like Spam

Email marketing can be very effective as long as it is not viewed as spam. This is critical because when your email marketing is viewed as spam, it will not likely be read by the recipient and may not even reach the recipient if it is trapped by the Internet service providers spam filter. For this reason it is critical for business owners to work hard to ensure the email marketing they use is not viewed as spam by either the recipient or the recipient’s Internet service provider. This article will take a look at email marketing and specifically how business owners can ensure their emails are not viewed as spam.

The distribution list for an email marketing campaign is one of the critical elements which can help to ensure the emails sent by the business owner are not viewed as spam. Before this can be accomplished it is important to understand exactly what spam is. Spam is essentially email which is unsolicited and sent for the sole purpose of advertising or promoting a product or service. Internet users receive mass quantities of spam on a daily basis. For some Internet users this quantity of spam is a huge source of frustration. Other Internet users have become so used to the amount of spam they receive that they barely even notice these emails. Neither of these scenarios bode well for business owners who are using email marketing campaigns to promote their products or services. Internet users who are angered by these spam emails may react harshly and report your emails to their Internet service providers. Internet users who do not even notice spam are likely to either automatically delete your emails and may block your email address to prevent future emails from getting through to them.

Paying special attention to your email distribution list and only including recipients who had specifically asked for additional information will help to keep your emails from being viewed as spam. One way to acquire email addresses for the purposes of orchestrating an email campaign is to ask interested customers to register with your website and specify whether or not they wish to receive future emails with additional information, advertisements or other useful tips. This ensures the recipients of your emails are genuinely interested in your products and services and are not likely to view your emails as spam.

Another way to ensure your emails are not viewed as spam is to offer recipients the option of being removed from the distribution list with each email. This is important even when the recipients specifically asked to receive these emails because they are entitled to change their opinion at any time. Offering the email recipients the opportunity to remove themselves from the email distribution list whenever they want is worthwhile because it allows recipients to have some control in the situation. This is a stark contrast to spam in which the recipients feel as though they have no control over the situation and no way to stop the spam from bombarding their inboxes on a daily basis.

Finally, business owners can help to ensure their email marketing campaign is not viewed as spam by including quality content in the emails they send to the recipients on the email distribution list. This may include providing feature articles, product reviews or a series of short useful tips which will likely be of interest to all who receive these emails. These emails may also include a soft sales pitch but this sales pitch should not be the focus of the emails. Putting too much attention on the advertising is likely to lead the recipients to assume the email is nothing more than spam. Conversely, providing quality information which is useful to the recipient and subtly urging them to perform an action such as making a purchase or investigating the details of a product can make the email seem much more worthwhile and less like spam.