Using the Internet

We make our living as guerillas – not the bad kind, but more of a freedom fighter. By using the term ‘guerilla’ I mean EMJ fights for business against big gorillas (other distributors) in the field. Our competitors are almost 100 times our size; EMJ is a Canadian-based, $165 million per year distributor. We have made an operating profit for the past 80 consecutive quarters. So even though we are up against the big gorillas as a distributor, we must be doing something right.

If you are in a business where some of the competitors are much larger, you may be able to benefit from using guerilla tactics. The principles of running a guerrilla organization differ from running a gorilla organization. As a guerrilla, we hide from our competitor; we do not try to crush them. I even go so far as to examine what they do well and let them do it. At the same time, I look for under-serviced markets and get to these markets fast.

A gorilla takes all competitors head on, trying to crush the competition. Sometimes this takes the form of a price war. Sometimes it takes major prolonged, drawn-out investment. This works as long as you are the same size, or larger than the competition. Even then, such a long battle can sap power and ultimately profits.

Companies that die often believe they were gorillas. It is certain death for a business to fight gorillas unless they can withstand the siege. Any time we hire someone with a gorilla-company background, we watch and coach that person to make sure they are indoctrinated with the appropriate tactics. We have to make sure they understand out business model.

My 8 favourite guerilla tactics are:

1 – Act fast. I use my company’s size for my advantage. I can act lightning fast. In the computer business, this is a huge asset. Things change so rapidly that moving fast and being first to market is a huge advantage. Larger companies do not react quickly. Develop a reputation for being first – it gets the attention of customers.

2 – Welcome smaller opportunities. Gorillas tend to say ‘no’ to manufacturers who don’t think they can do significant volume with. But a small opportunity rejected by a gorilla can be a very profitable opportunity for a guerilla. For EMJ, a million dollar per product line is an opportunity big enough to get the attention of my first string. In your business, look for the right-sized opportunity for you. Frequently, it is the smaller opportunity that has the best promise. The gorillas will leave you alone. There is always a right-sized opportunity for a company of any size. Knowing your rightful place in the market can help you to thrive.

3 – Get focussed. Higher focus means we know more, stock more, and sell more product of fewer manufacturers. The smaller our product listing, the more powerful we become. We know a lot about a little. That means we know the products we sell better than a gorilla, and we become a sales tool for the reseller, not just an order-taker. Could you become more focused and specialized in a business area by giving up on a part of your business?

4 – Be more flexible. We can adapt more easily to our customers and suppliers. We try not to be ruled by policy. The bigger a company gets, the more likely they are to have policy and some of it is required. As a small distributor, we can be more flexible. Are there areas that your competition is ignoring that by being more entrepreneurial, you can capitalize on?

5 – Be smarter. This sounds too simple, almost embarrassing to write. Since we are smaller, we can look at the business we do more carefully and make sure it makes good business sense. We don’t pick up another manufacturer just to increase the size of our line card. That’s just not good business sense for us. That’s the way we have to think – and so should you.

6 – Lower your overhead. For some reason, most companies seem to choose more expensive offices and furnishings as they grow. This expectation tends to increase costs in all areas of the company that distribution, at current margin levels, can ill afford. At EMJ, we buy quality used furniture. We are on the outskirts of Guelph where the cost of land and taxes is less. Our capital base is even high enough that our cost of capital is less than some of the gorillas. Are there areas that you can be lower overhead than the gorillas in your field? Costs always add up on the bottom line.

7 – Foster staff loyalty – one major advantage guerillas have over gorillas is the ability to attract, motivate, and keep good people. Primarily this is because guerillas can be more flexible, easier to work for and give people more of a sense of accomplishment because what they do contributes more directly the company’s bottom line. I have always found there to be great power by being smaller and treating my people with respect and not just as numbers. Gorillas can try to do this but it is tough for them to copy you.

8 – Just BE a gorilla. We like to enter market areas that we can dominate and specialize in. We may not be the biggest but in certain specific niches, we dominate. As long as we are the biggest in an area, we can act the part. We can under-price and over-service the competition forever. Anyone who enters our markets learns that it is expensive and often impossible to unseat us.

9 – Be personal. One thing a smaller organization can do is to be more personal. People buy from people. You can foster relationships that will help you sell. Part of the way we are personal is by showing our customers what markets and products ARE profitable. There is nothing that cements a customer relationship better than making them money, because you’ll be making money for them AND for you!

10 – Be opportunistic – to sum up guerilla strategy is simply to be opportunistic. Take advantage of opportunities that the gorillas cannot do. There are many companies that remain profitable by being opportunistic.

In summary, unless you are huge – think guerilla. Appropriate guerilla tactics for your size will win any battle.

Jim Estill started EMJ Data a wholesaler of computers from the trunk of his car and grew it to $375,000,000 in sales before selling it to SYNNEX where he is now CEO of SYNNEX Canada a Billion dollar distributor. he is a regular blogger at http://jimestill.blogspot.com.

Are you a fortunate person to have someone in your life who cares for you? I don’t mean care in the sense it is commonly used. But who cares for you like your mother used to, when you were a child? You are a grown-up person now. Does that imply that you don’t need anyone to take your care? Don’t you need someone to ask you if you are ok? And then to try and make you comfortable? Don’t you need someone who knows what you like and then to arrange for it? Don’t you need someone who will put balm on your aching legs? Who will smother you with love, when you feel lonely?

Don’t you want someone to just come and sit beside you and talk to you in silence? Don’t you need someone who will make you cry, because you want to, but can not because you are an adult? Don’t you feel that you need someone in front of whom you can cry your heart out? And be sure that someone will wipe your tears? Or because you are adult, such things are not done? Even if one feels extreme pain of any kind, one can cry either in church or all alone in a park? We are adults. But there is a child in all of us. We are fighters, but sometimes we lose the battles. We can bear every pain, but sometimes the pain can overcome our capacity. We all need a person in our life, who can be our mother, even if we are eighty years old. Who can understand that we need care. We wish to be pampered. We want someone to take our face in lap and comfort us. Yes, we can deny all this, but we need someone who cares for us.

All of us need a person who takes our care. If we are allowed to cry, if we are made to speak about all our troubles, if we are pampered to relax us, we will feel heavenly. But unfortunately we are all adults. These essentials of living are for kids. For adults, it is a corner in their homes or in the office, where they can sit and worry and show to the world that they are adults. You may wish to view some cards that can be used to show that we care. Please view them at Thinking Of You Cards- 1 and 2

Has the use of aromas and herbs, only recently been appreciated for their healing, and recuperative qualities? Most certainly not.

Aromas had been used for medicinal, spiritual, and magical purposes going back as far back as Egyptian times 3000 B.C. Even further back in time 5000 B.C. the Tassili cave paintings showed women wearing fragrant flower garlands. There are frequent mentions of the use of potions throughout history – Pliny the 1st century Roman historian, mentions in his Natural History narrative, 32 remedies prepared from roses, 21 from lilies, 17 from violets, and 25 from pennyroyal. Ancient Indian cultures used sandalwood for genito-urinary infections.

Nostradamus, at the age of 21 received a licence, having studied in Montpellier France, to practise medicine. One of the formulae which he used as a remedy for several conditions, has survived to this day, and was compounded of rose petals, cloves, lignum aloes, and the dried roots of iris and sweet flag.

The ancient Greeks also contributed to the origins of herbal medicine. Dioscorides, a military doctor was the author of De Materia Medica a book on herbal medicine, which was the foundation of all subsequent books for a further 1600 years. Galen another Greek doctor also wrote a major book on herbal medicine De Simplicibus in the 2nd century which was used up to the middle ages by the Islamic physicians.

The word of herbalism was carried to Europe via the crusaders, and the texts were translated into Latin, which when printing was developed, the information became more widespread, though only if you could read. So herbal folklore passed on from generation to generation, by word of mouth. In the 16th century John Gerard published in 1597 the “Herbal or General Historie of Plantes”. He had been greatly influenced by the great medical scholar Paracelsus.

Now in recent time the medical fraternity is becoming aware of the benefits of some of these ancient methods, and in the United Kingdom some areas are becoming available on the National Health System.

I would invite you to visit the sites included in http://www.magicure.com and see for yourself the benefits that are available.

Some boys have a complicated time keeping a tooled up pecker and some women have astonishingly long sex drives, meaning it takes the girl a long time to come. Because of this contrast in sex drives, love making may turn into an annoying and undesirable experience. That’s why dildos will probably be helpful. If the bloke shoots early in the game, or even if the lady just takes longer than her lover, he can continue to penetrate the woman with the thick dildo. That way all sexual play does not have to end. It gives the bloke time to charge his energy and keeps the girl stimulated. Thus when the male is all set to come back into the love making session, the gal will still be aroused enough to accept the guy.

Your most erogenous zone is your mind. And as noticeably as tons of girls will not admit this, the penis is a focus of power, no matter how huge or small, it is still associated with fertility. Penetrating your wife with a thick dildo will probably make a fantasy of power activity reality.

Some girls love the sensation of feeling full in their vagina or back passage. Whenever a sex aid such as a massive dildo, penetrates the vagina or back passage, the muscles contract around it. Innumerable girls find the tightening of the above mentioned muscles to be remarkably enjoyable. Go wild Sex Toys and Vibrators from Sex Bomb.

One of the reasons the defensive form of warfare is so strong is the difficulty of launching a surprise attack.

“In theory,” says Clausewitz, “surprise promises a great deal. In practice, it generally strikes fast by the friction of the whole machine.”

In theory, the 1916 battle of the Somme was going to be a surprise attack. But after moving a million men into position and waiting a week for the artillery to do its job, the Allies were left with little surprise.

The larger the operation, the less the surprise. A small company might be able to surprise a big company with a new product. But Ford is unlikely to pull any fast ones on General Motors. The friction of the whole machine gets in the way.

When you look at case histories of leaders who were taken by surprise, you usually find they had ample warning. Leader gets overrun when they ignore those warnings or pooh-pooh the efforts of the competition.

In Mein Kampf, a book that sold some 10 million copies Hitler told England and France exactly what he intended to do. A decade later he did it.

An attacker in a military campaign not only tends to sacrifice surprise but also wastes time in bringing the forces into action. Because of logistics problems, it can be days or weeks before the full force of an attack is felt by a defender-time that can be enormously useful to the defense.

On D day, only 156,115 troops were put ashore on the Normandy beaches in spite of a massive effort. Because of transportation and supply problems, it took several months to build up Allied strength to the millions of troops necessary to ensure success.

In a marketing attack, transportation is usually not a problem. A company can deliver products to thousands of outlets in days.

The bottleneck is communication. Getting a marketing message across to million of customer can take months or years. There is often plenty of time for the defender to blunt the attacker’s sales message by under cutting it in one form or another.

But to take advantage of time, the defender has to remain alert to potential threats from any direction.

This article may be re-printed as long as following resource box is included as it is with out any alteration.

This Marketing Idea is published by http://www.nuttymarketer.com Visit us to find more of cheeky gorilla Ideas.

Most parents think their child holds all the potential in the world to become the next big child star like, Gary Coleman or Raven Symone. For this reason many parents easily fall victim to scam artists that claim to be legitimate acting or modeling agencies. If you don’t know how the scenario goes here it is: a company runs an ad claiming to be looking for talented children for commercials, television shows, movies and print ads, then you arrange a meeting at a hotel or some rented out office space so they can “evaluate” your child. Who can blame a parent for think that their child has the chance to grace the covers of magazines, be a movie star or a national commercial star.

After these “acting and modeling agency” scouts lure you in with their persuasive ads, they have you come to a hotel where they have you sit and listen to someone talk about the fame and fortune your child can get from acting and modeling, they’re just getting you excited when they do this. They sound even more legitimate when during the hotel meeting, they weave some children out for not having what it takes and deciding to keep your child, bringing your hopes even higher for your child. Once they tell you that your child was kept for having “what it takes” they then ask you for an “investment” for your child to go further. Most of these scam agencies ask you to pay multiple fees, the most common “fees” they ask you to pay is for a session with “top talent agencies from Los Angeles and New York City”.

Just when it seems like this is your child’s big break you head to the meeting to find nobody there and just when you call the scam artist “talent agents” back about the situation, their contact details are useless and you’ve just put your self in debt between the $3,000 $4,500 range. Now don’t get me wrong here, these so called acting and modeling agencies do provide acting and modeling “lessons” but they do not guarantee your child any acting or modeling jobs, at least 99% of the time. So if you fall for these scams, you will more than likely not be able to get your money back because they will tell you that they didn’t guarantee your child any work.

A new way that modeling scouts try to get your money is by going out and finding your child at local shopping malls and other public locations. They approach you and tell you how good your child looks and how they could possibly be a big star, then they give you a card and a short monologue for your child to go home and practice before they visit the “agency”.

The common question that is asked is how to spot these scam artists who claim to be acting and modeling agents, it’s quite simple when you call the “agency” or when you’re approached by a “scout” ask them for their credentials, ask them to list some of their clients and possibly give you their contact information for verification. Most likely if you know how to spot a scam when you see one, you won’t have to worry about being ripped off by these guys.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Acting.

There are three basic concrete points that should be followed when choosing a Network Marketing company to promote. They are:

The company’s products perform to the expectations written about and promoted.

The compensation or payment plan offered by the company is fair to the distributors.

The management of the company have integrity.

Let us examine these three principles more closely.

By using the MLM (Multi Level Marketing) system of marketing the company has seen this method as the most cost effective and efficient form of distribution of it’s products. Generally the products offered by companies using this method of distribution spend little on advertising and therefore can put money into higher quality products.

“Are the products giving better performance than other rival products?”

With higher quality products come the claims of greater performance than other similar products available elsewhere. Therefore the question is raised are these products meeting the claims of the manufacturer that they have better performance than other rival products. These claims should be tested by the consumer through research and practical application. Obtain literature and do Internet research and if satisfied proceed to purchase. The practical application of the product or service to the consumers satisfaction is the ultimate test. Hopefully, the expectations are met.

The compensation or payment method used to recompense the distributors is vital to the success of the company and their products. Distributors are the life blood for the promotion and sale of the goods or services. If distributors feel that they are not being justly rewarded for their efforts then the company will fail. This applies more particularly as the distributors begin to build their organisations and eventually have a large one to manage. Many Multi-level Marketing companies pay well in the early stages of the individuals organisation with high percentages on the first to fourth levels. However, this may reward efforts quickly but has a sting in the tail.

“The compensation method is vital to the success of the company and their products”

Most of the distributors accumulate towards the lower levels of an organisation as it matures. Multi-level marketing rewards by paying a little amount on each commodity sold so the greater numbers are in the lower levels not the top. A company should then reward more at the lower levels. This then has the effect of encouraging people to build large groups and so are better paid as the organisation grows.

Growth is often encouraged when certain volumes or levels are attained by being paid bonuses in addition to the residual or passive income. Be careful that these are not predicated on an increase requirement of your personal sales. Sometimes these are given on the one hand and taken away on the other.

The last but not the least of my criteria for assessing an Network Marketing company is the integrity of the management. Primarily this means a close examination of the past performance of the founder/s and the management staff.

These are some simple steps that I have used in choosing Multi-level Marketing companies to be involved in. Of course, there is a lot of other things you can take into account. However, if these basics are followed you will be a lot safer and have an easier time making money!

(c) mlm-free-articles.com 2005

Come check out more articles like this on Brandon’s website. He has loads on information on marketing.

The basic living room furniture layout usually includes a sofa, an armchair or love seat and a coffee table. Additions to this layout usually include a entertainment center, a few end tables and of course a rocking chair or lazy boy.

Most people don’t like to miss match fabrics. If you can afford a leather furniture set than it probably is best to not throw in you mothers brown and yellow arm chair from the 1960’s. If you have the space than a L-3 piece couch set is an awesome addition. If you plan on entertaining guests than seating for at least 3 or 4 is essential. You sure as heck don’t want your guests sitting on the floor!

The idea of the coffee table has somewhat changed. Iv even seen someone put 2 clean car tires down and a big sheet of glass on top and made the coffee table look wonderful in their home. I think its neat when people get creative like this. Glass coffee tables are not such a good idea if you have children, for a number of different reasons, one they can break and two, they usually have sharp corners. The perfect coffee table for small children is a round wooden table with padding around the sides. LOL

Finally, when adding to your living room furniture, be sure to remember to be creative. Don’t be afraid to add a bright red chair in the middle of 2 leather couches to add flair to your living room. Have fun, and most importantly don’t ever buy furniture on credit, if you can’t afford the furniture the day you buy it, you probably can’t afford it period!

Jack Smith writes about various topics. This article is free to re-print as long as nothing is changed, all links remained intact, the bio remains in full and the rel=”nofollow” tag is not added to any of the links. Thank-you – Please visit quality-furniture-shop.info and furniture-hotspot.info

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.

There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.

Great Ideas and Radical or Disruptive Innovation

We’re all looking for great ideas right?

There are a few Creativity and Innovation principles that are relevant before we discuss practical application:

a) Franklin (2003) states that successful innovations tend to be moderately new to the market, based on tried and tested technology, save money, meet customers’ needs and support existing practices. By contrast, the products that fail tend to be based on cutting-edge or untested technology, follow a “me-too” approach, or are created with no clearly defined solution in mind.

b) There is a perception that radical innovations break from the past and are resultant from disruptive leaps. While some radical innovations follow this pattern, the vast majority of radical innovations result from cumulative incremental changes. That is, continuous tinkering, toying, experimentation and improvement results in greater “originality” vastly more often than “waiting for the big idea.” The Internet is a good example: though often perceived as a radical leap, it is actually the result of many years of incremental improvements traceable back to the solid-state transistor and beyond.

c) Ideas can be measured in many ways, but one of the most useful measures is to benchmark for feasibility along the S-curve. That is, what are the practical impediments? For example, a time machine is less likely to reach commercialisation as a whole host of technological impediments stand in the way, whereas an idea for a new flavour for soda does not have that degree of obstacle.

Taking the above into account, we will discuss some ideas that have had significant commercial success by applying (inadvertently) the above principles:

a) EasyJet or South West airlines. The no frills airline model has found success – and can be defined as a radical shift – by simply operating at vastly lower prices – prices that previously would have been considered to be “outside the box.” This business model obeys Franklins rule, is an incremental change and has low impediments.

b) GlassedDirect.co.uk – a recent success story that follows the above principles to provide, would you believe it, cut price specs. This is similar, by the way, to Dell, as the business model has been successful combining the Internet and Mail Order.

c) IPod – follows Franklins rule, is an incremental change and didn’t have too many practical impediments.

So what is the lesson? To generate ideas that have a chance of commercial success, think outside the box but stick to the three rules above.

These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com.

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com

PropertyIndex.com make it easy to find property in Spain, whether you are looking for a villa or an apartment, they can help you find the right property.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Property Index is still a recent agency, they were registered only in March 2007, they were very fast to establish themselves. They’re a very accessible agency focusing on offering guidance to every customer striving to rent, buy, sell or let property in most popular areas of the world. Their assurance is to lend you a hand to pinpoint smack what you have need of fast and, of course, without hassle. Property is easily available in a wide selection of areas across the globe today, certainly the swankiest area being real property available in Spain. It’s easy as one-two-three to list a slew of the glorious property available in Spain, one rationale for wanting real property here being the houses and apartments available and the glorious opportunity of being able to live between such a exciting and dynamic populace.

It is one of the truly sought after property markets today, and with the overall attractiveness and weather surrounding you here, how could you ever go wrong? Property in Spain is very rich in history and culture, this region has a long tradition as a home to quite a number of nations. About 30 years back there was a mere dribble of UK citizens who are looking for property in Spain. Ask everyone who has emigrated to Spain and they’ll certainly back this up. Many would would view it as a vogue and others would view it as a that’s nearly a compulsion… People who are intent on migrating to this place generally range from young freshly weds looking for a perspective to older customers who want to chill out and enjoy themselves.

Note that there may be drawbacks when looking to purchase property overseas: as can be expected, there are dozens of actions to bear in mind when devising a plan, inspecting or buying and completing. Even if a single minute action is missed this may escalate great drawbacks as well as, more importantly, monetary loss. Naturally, as is to be counted on with this trendy area, property could well be fairly high priced in this area and that’s merely due to the steep buyer demand. Regardless of this the customer is doubtlessly a bit spoilt for choice in a place so great in terms of glorious topography. It offers almost everything anyone could relish and more.