by Steven Berglas, Ph.D. in Forbes Magazine

Failure is an option. It’s how you cope with it that counts.

In 30 years as a psychotherapist and coach to entrepreneurs, I have not worked with one who failed to tell me, irrespective of how it was faring at the time, that his business would ultimately succeed.

What entrepreneurs don’t realize (and, yes, dear reader, I am talking to you) is that an “I am born to win” bravado blocks them from responding in an optimal manner when things inevitably go awry. In those moments, rigid thinking is the path to perdition. If business owners hope to survive, they must have the cognitive capacity to adjust, redirect and rebound.

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When I am looking around the affiliates. I have found a site speaking about Pickupflowers, and we have once again proved that we are best and unique. Check out our few qualities which had Impact on the online florist market.

#2
PICKUPFLOWERS

Pickupflowers ran a very close 2nd since they provide two services that no other florist offers. They offer delivery to over 80 countries which is a huge plus in our book.

The second service they offer is, if you have any questions while shopping on their awesome website, you can click on live chat and a real live person will help you.

In addition to flowers and gift baskets, Pickupflowers offers bonsai trees, ready to grow bulbs and wreaths. When you visit this site, read all the outstanding testimonials. Find out why their customers keep coming back again and again.

http://www.top-3-review.com/florists/

Congrats eZians…
Cheers…( – _ – )

How to think what no one else thinks

By Paul Sloane

How can you think of things that no-one else thinks of? The answer is by deliberately taking a different approach to the issue from everyone else. There are dominant ideas in every field. The innovative thinker purposefully challenges those dominant ideas in order to conceive new possibilities.

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who discovered Vitamin C, said, “Genius is seeing what everyone else sees and thinking what no-one else has thought.” If you can identify the standard viewpoint then survey the situation from a different viewpoint you have an excellent chance of gaining a new insight. When Jonas Salk was asked how he invented the vaccine for polio he replied, “I imagined myself as a virus or cancer cell and tried to sense what it would be like.”

Ford Motor Corporation asked Edward de Bono, who originated the concept of lateral thinking, for some advice on how they could clearly differentiate themselves from their many competitors in car manufacturing. De Bono gave them a very innovative idea. Ford had approached the problem of competing from the point of view of a car manufacturer and asked the question, “How can we make our cars more attractive to consumers?” De Bono approached the problem from another direction and asked the question, “How can we make the whole driving experience better for Ford customers?” His advice was that Ford should buy up car parks in all the major city centers and make them available for Ford cars only. His remarkable idea was too radical for Ford who saw themselves as an automobile manufacturer with no interest in the car parks business.

The spectators at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968 were amazed to see a young athlete perform a high jump with his back to the bar. Until then, every high jumper ‘rolled’ over the bar with his or her face down. Dick Fosbury, and American, introduced an entirely new approach, the ‘flop’, leaping over with his back close to the bar and his face up. Fosbury was ranked 48th in the world in 1967; yet in 1968 he caused a sensation when he won the Olympic Gold Medal with his unprecedented technique and a leap of 2.24metres. What he introduced was literally a leap of the imagination – and it revolutionized high jumping. Nowadays all the top jumpers use his method. He thought what no-one else thought and conceived a new method.

How can we force ourselves to take a different view of a situation? Instead of looking at the scene from your view try looking at it from the perspective of a customer, a product, a supplier, a child, an alien, a lunatic, a comedian, a dictator, an anarchist, an architect, Salvador Dali, Leonardo da Vinci and so on. Apply the What if? technique. Challenge all the common assumptions. If everyone else is looking for the richest region, look for the wettest. If everyone else is facing the bar then turn your back on it.

If you had to study a valley, how many ways could you look at it? You could look up and down the valley; you could scan it from the riverside or stand and look across it from each hillside. You could walk it, drive along the road or take a boat down the river. You could study a satellite photo. You could peruse a map. Each gives you a different view of the valley and each adds to your understanding of the valley. Why not do the same with any problem? Why do we immediately try to frame a solution before we have approached the problem from multiple differing perspectives?

The great geniuses did not take the traditional view and develop existing ideas. They took an entirely different view and transformed society. Picasso took a different view of painting; he saw cubes, shapes and impressions instead of accurate images. Einstein imagined a new approach to physics; a world where time and space were relative. Darwin conceived a different view of the origin of species; he saw how they might have evolved rather than been created. Each of them looked at the world in a new way. In similar fashion Jeff Bezos took a different view of book retailing with Amazon.com, Stelios took a new perspective on flying with Easyjet, Swatch transformed our view of watches and IKEA changed the way we buy furniture.

If we can attack problems from entirely new directions then we can think of things that conventional thinkers miss. It gives us unlimited possibilities for innovation.

Source: InnovationTools

A Man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: ‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’

DAD: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.

SON: ‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’

DAD: ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.

SON: ‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’

DAD: ‘If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’

SON: ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head

down..

SON: ‘Daddy, may I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolity’s.’

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

‘Are you asleep, son?’ He asked.

‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy.

‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the man. ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled.

‘Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied.

‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours… But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

Regards

Amit.

Every One has a Job and a task to perform. We do our task daily and perform it to get good results. But to do the same job with enthusiasm and passion makes job satisfaction. Think from a different angle and you will also enjoy the work.

It would look funny, but I compare my job with various interesting fields such as Film industry, Cricket, War and so on. Today, I will explain the PSEM with Film Industry.

What is PSEM?

PSEM – Paid Search Engine Marketing

Currently, we use Google Adwords as a platform to advertise our websites to general public of various countries (who use Google search engine to find any website).

We pay Google search Engine to show our Ads on right side of the Google search page. For Example, if some one types “send gifts to USA” in search box of Google, the results will show down. But you can also find relevant search results (under Sponsored Links) on right hand side. Those are Ads of PSEM.

These ads consist of Heading (Blue color), Ad Copy – Description of two lines (black color) and website URL (green color). The interesting part of the Adwords (PSEM) is that Google charges an amount only when a person clicks on the ad that is displayed on search page. The person who clicks may purchase from our site or leave the site. We loose few cents or Dollars assigned for the keyword “send gifts to USA”.

For making a Film, the most important thing is Script. If you have top star cast, big budget, foreign locations but a poor script or a bad story line, the film is a flop. Similarly, if the concept of your Ad is not clear, you will not get clicks or sales. For example, to promote your website on mother’s day, you have used top keywords, used excellent grammar in your ad with appropriate punctuations, But your Ad does not consist of words such as “gift for your mother” or “send surprise gifts to your mom”. Then how can we expect results from these ads.

I would consider Keywords as star cast. We all know that people are eager to watch movies of high paid actor or actress. But those films are rarely a hit. If we always use high value keywords (such as “send flowers” – value for click would be approx $2.00). We will loose money if people just click without purchasing. So, I add unique keywords that are available for around $0.25 to $0.45. There is less risk and if we get a sale on these few cents it covers the loss of high paid keywords. Imagine, why directors add comedy scenes with few comedians in action and sometimes even in tragedy movies.

A Director will be given a budget from producer to complete a film within certain time period. Now according to the budget, Director will decide location for songs and fights. Similarly, Client will provide with certain budget and expects to get results from their website. So depending upon the budget, we target our ads to be displayed in the countries where there are chances of people to purchase.

Previously, songs were shot in Switzerland (very costly), but now a days, songs are shot indoor with high graphics or near Krishna river or Film city. I sometimes try to target the ads to Netherlands and Norway apart from USA and UK. Instead of targeting top countries, I do take small risk by focusing on new countries and we got sale.

There are certain rules and patterns in Google (which all will follow). But the tricks and utilizing of unique keywords is in our hands. The main aim of PSEM is to get the revenue from what we have invested. The mantra should be “Less investment & High profit”. It is not important how you make the film, but it should be worth while to watch. The movie should be –“Paisa Wasool”.

-Syed Nouman
Paid Search Engine Marketing Executive

Today the team building concept is well-established and it has been globally taken up in many organizations as a better way to approach and manage businesses. There is one question to be asked ‘How to make our teams really effective?’ If organizations want to perform better and increase the team’s efficiency, then it is important to understand the characteristics which standouts out in effective groups. Effective group will have unique characteristics in way they interact and work together. A close study of the following characteristics will give important clues that help to identify and deduce the factors which play a big role in effective team work.

Effective crowd must talk to one another rather than speaking behind each other’s back. You should know that back biting is totally non-existent or rare in an efficient team and there is always a high level of mutual understanding and trust. This forms a bond among the members of the group and this will lead to rapport, giving team spirit. Tensions are also rare. Effective teams will have a healthy respect for each other’s options and viewpoints. Members will encourage one another and actively listen and will participate during the group discussions. Disagreements do exists but they do not snowball into interpersonal conflicts.

Effective teams must know how to deal with conflicts. Disagreements and conflicts entering subject or work related discussions are considered as a normal occurrence and the members do not harbor any hatred towards one another once the team meeting comes to an end. Effective gangs are true partners with all aspects concerned with teamwork. They have an informal work ethics of sharing and supportive. There are totally aware of their team’s goals and also share the responsibilities and work towards achieving their objectives.

An effective organization must require successful employees. The team realizes the needs to focus on the group’s goals and even rise above personal ambitions. Team members are secure in their individual capabilities and understand the reasons why an organization has initiated a team which should be considered first priority. They are able to work towards executing their tasks in line with common goals of the members. They must have realized that if they work on their individual roles truthfully, personal gratitude is bound to come their way.

The points discussed above are all important for a good team performance. Even though these mentioned points are put into perspective what a successful team is all about, it is also necessary to realize that high performance group requires the right challenge, regular team building programs, ongoing skills training and sufficient recognition and reward for keeping the team’s momentum going.

Source:1888articles

Similar to a birthstone and an astrological sign, there are birth flowers which have a corresponding meaning and character that is being attributed

to the person who was born during a certain month. Check out your birth flower and consequent personality traits:

1. January Birth Flower – Carnations : People who are born during January have carnation as their birthday flower. It is also known as gillyflower and clove pink and is widely harvested in many different colours and varieties. The name of the flower is derived from the Greek word corone (coronation) and means ‘flower of the Gods’.

Flower Meaning of Carnation : Carnations symbolise deep love, fascination, a friend in adversity and eternal fidelity.

Personality traits associated with carnation : Individuals who have carnation as their birth flower are strongly motivated to succeed and gain a position of power in life. They strive for respect and accomplishment in their careers. They are emotional and sensitive and are very responsible and protective towards their families. But the biggest barrier in their success is their communication skills; they need to learn to openly communicate their deep feelings.

2. February Birth Flower-Violet : People who are born during February have violet as their birthday flower.

Flower Meaning of Violet : Violet signifies faithfulness, warmth of affection, prosperity, faith, wisdom, hope, inspiration, humility and cleanliness.

Personality traits associated with Violet : People born with violet as their birth flower have an accurate intuition, a tremendous common sense, ingeniousness, and a powerful will. They can handle any difficulties in life with a smile and transcend setbacks by using celestial knowledge. Women are born with this flower as their birth flower are original, independent, beautiful, intellectual, and make good use of their magnetic sexuality to reach their purposes.

3. March Birth Flower – Daffodil : The daffodil is the March birth flower. The daffodil’s meaning is rebirth with a promise of happiness and joy.

Flower Meaning of Daffodil : Daffodils represent optimism, reverence, kindness and warmth unrequited love.

Personality traits associated with Daffodil : Daffodil as the birth flower makes one compassionate, dreamy, artistic, independent, sensitive, loving, impractical and timid. These people can easily adapt to different situations and can handle different tasks at the same time. One of the greatest traits of these people is that they usually avoid conflict whenever possible and are inclined to act as peacemakers when others fight.

4. April Birth Flower – Daisy : April’s birthday flower is daisy which comes in pink and purple colours and is quite popular among flower lovers all over the world.

Flower Meaning of Daisy : It is associated with innocence, modesty, curiosity, inquisitiveness and brings a joyful, happy-go-lucky character wherever it appears.

Personality traits associated with Daisy : People with daisy as their birth flower are born leaders. However their strong and impatient desire to succeed must be controlled as hasty decisions need to be avoided. They are competitive and motivated people and they make everyone’s life beautiful wherever they stay. But they have a habit of talking too much and usually are not good listeners.

5. May Birth Flower – Lily of the Valley : Lily of the valley is the birth flower of May. This graceful flower was once used as an herbal medicine as a poison antidote in the ancient times.

Flower Meaning of Lily of the Valley : It represents strength of character, remembrance, infatuation and splendid beauty.

Personality traits associated with Lily of the Valley : People born with Lily of the Valley as their birth flower are beautiful, somehow stubborn and practical towards life. Strong and dominant with powerful will power, these people can courageously handle the difficulties of life. Girls born with this birth flower are beautiful, intellectual and sensitive

6. June Birth Flower – Rose : The Rose is the birth flower of June.

Flower meaning of Rose : The most common and beautiful flower, rose stands for passion, friendship, magnificence and love.

Personality traits associated with Rose : People having rose as their birth flower have a gift of youth, a double personality and a quicksilver mind enabling them to adapt easily to any situation. They have good communication skills and are curious by nature.

7. July Birth Flower – Larkspur : Larkspur is considered to be the birth flower of July.

Flower meaning Larkspur : Good luck, lightness and laughter are associated with Larkspur.

Personality traits associated with Larkspur : Family matters will always play an important role in life of people who have larkspur as their birth flower. They are perfectionists and are quite critical. Steadiness, organisation, warmth, love, and charm belong to them and they are go-getters in life.

8. August Birth Flower – Gladiolus : The gladiolus is the birth flower of August.

Flower meaning of Gladiolus : Strength of character, marriage and family is an important sense for people born in August. These are also meanings attached to their birthday flower, gladiolus.

Personality traits associated with Gladiolus : People born with gladious as their birth flower are strongly motivated by the will to succeed. Strong and dominant, they nurture a formidable desire to organize and rule others. But their destructive outbursts of emotions and pride often lands them in trouble. Women born with gadious as their birth flower are stunning, intellectual and attract others with their enthusiastic power.

9. September Birth Flower – Aster : The aster is the birth flower of September. In ancient times, it was believed that burning the leaves

gave special powers, as the scent would drive away evil. The aster flower symbolises afterthought and was laid on the graves of soldiers.

Flower meaning of Aster : Aster or morning glory is known to have rich and deep colours that radiate beauty to its surroundings. It symbolises love, daintiness, contentment and unpredictability.

Personality traits associated with Aster : People who were born with ater as their birth flower are believed to have a strong devotion to life and are filled with light. They are intellectual, very critical and picky and tend to work hard. They are masters of communication and will always combine logic and intuition in dealing with life. Astrologically they have been classified as the “perfectionists”.

10. October Birth Flower – Marigold : The marigold or calendula is the birth flower of October. In India, the flower was placed around the necks of holy statues, as it was considered most sacred.

Flower meaning of Marigold : Contentment, excellence, gratitude and love for nature are characterised by the marigold.

Personality traits associated with Marigold : People born with marigold as their birth flower are strongly motivated by a desire for justice and always create harmony in all areas of your lives. They have a gentle personality and love to take challenges. They are ‘peacemakers’ and usually don’t like to fight with others. Being a good communicator they usually tend to convince people and are considered to be born leaders.

11. November Birth Flower – Chrysanthemum : The chrysanthemum is the birth flower of November. According to an old myth, a single petal of this flower placed at the bottom of a glass brings forth longevity.

Flower meaning of Chrisanthemum : Chrisanthemum represent cheerfulness, sensitivity, compassion and wealth.

Personality traits associated with Chrisanthemum : Strong, private and dominant, the individuals who have chrisanthemum as their birth flower are born with a practical mind and an acute intuition. They are interested and aspire only for the truth. The women are sensual, intellectual, reserved, and super magnetic.

12. December Birth Flower – Narcissus : A sweet fragrant, bulbous white flower, Nacissus is the birth flower of December. As per Greek mythology, Narcissus was the most beautiful boy on Earth and as he saw his own reflection in a near by lake, he leant over to kiss his mirrored image and fell in and drowned. When he was discovered by the God Apollo, he turned Narcissus into a beautiful flower, so his beauty could be remembered forever.

Flower meaning of Narcissus: Narcissus symbolises celebration, egotism, wealth and success.

Personality traits associated with Narcissus : People born with narcissus as their birth flower tend to be fortunately blessed, strong willed. They hate disagreements, are careful, unobtrusive, systematic and confident. Extremely hard working, independent and self-confident, these people respect traditions. They are very much attached to their family and can go to any lengths to protect them from the world.

It appears that the new search engine from Microsoft won’t be called Kumo after all as the company prepares to unveil a marketing blitz behind the engine which could potentially change search engine optimization (SEO).

AdAge reports that Microsoft will spend between $80 million and $100 million on advertising for its new search engine, which the magazine says will be called Bing. According to the magazine, this marketing campaign will dwarf anything that search engine giant Google has done in the past.

However, if Microsoft is to truly rival Google, it has a big hill to climb as a recent report from comScore found that the company only had an 8.2 percent market share in search. To change this, some say Bing will need to show people that search can be improved.

“If you grab the average user off the street and ask them, ‘Does search suck?’ I think they’d say no. They don’t know what else can be done,” Shashi Seth, a former executive at Google who is now chief revenue officer at Cooliris told the magazine. “They think search does a pretty good job, and if you could prove otherwise with a product that’s differentiated, people will sit up and take notice.”

In recent weeks Google appears to be facing an onslaught of competition from upstart search engines. But with comScore reporting that Google maintained a 64.2 percent market share last month, it’s unlikely the company will be knocked from the top spot anytime soon.

Source: brafton

1. Setting goals is easy but achieving them isn’t. That’s why setting “SMART” goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely – is the first step in making your goal a reality.

Make your goal as Specific as possible and express it in positive terms. Do you want to stop losing money or do you want to start making money? How much money do you want to make?

How do you Measure success? You’ll need a way to evaluate your progress and determine if you’re moving towards your goal. For example, if you want to improve your finances, then you should have a way of keeping track of income and expenses.

Is your goal Achievable? Consider whether you have the resources necessary to achieve your goal. If not, you need to determine if you can assemble everything required to streamline your process. Remove any obstacles before you get started!

Realistic goals are achievable goals, unrealistic goals are just dreams. It’s not necessary to be negative but take time to honestly evaluate whether you’re being realistic. Losing 30 pounds in 2 weeks is not impossible but it’s not very likely and certainly not healthy.

Make your goal Timely by stating a due date for your goal AND the action steps involved in achieving it.

2. Align your goals with your values. If your goal doesn’t reflect your beliefs and character then you’ll have difficulty achieving it. And even if you do manage to get what you want, you won’t be very happy. Set a goal which is meaningful to you and be clear about the consequences of your outcome.

3. Share your goals with three to five key people. Not everyone needs this strategy with every goal but almost everyone can benefit from it at some point. Finding supportive, positive people is key because you certainly don’t need anyone sabotaging your progress.

4. Assemble everything you need before you need it. This prep work is vital in eliminating the frustrating and time consuming “running around” which can derail your progress later on.

5. Minimise potential challenges. There are 3 key ways to prevent overconfidence and poor planning from creating obstacles down the line:

* Create a complete, measurable, action plan which includes all the steps necessary to achieve your goal. Don’t forget due dates for each step.
* Incorporate all your actions into your schedule. Add them to your calendar with anywhere from 10-20% flextime to help you control any unexpected delays.
* Regularly evaluate your progress. You may need to make changes or adjustments as your project takes shape. Anticipate them so you won’t get blind-sided.

6. Complete at least one action per day. Consistent actions will propel you towards your goal. Even choosing a small task will make a dent in your to-do list and may motivate you to do even more.

7. Establish a support system. Who or what can provide you with encouragement, advice, healthy feedback or a willing ear?

8. Reward Yourself. Don’t wait until you achieve your goal, especially if it’s a long-term one. Reward yourself as you reach certain milestones. Something as simple as scheduling time for yourself or perhaps a special treat that you’ve felt guilty about indulging in can keep you motivated to keep going.

Source: projectsmart

Keeping employees engaged is critical during an economic downturn. Here are some smart ways to do it.

In the months after September 11, as business activity slowed to a crawl, Steve Kerr, then the chief learning officer at Goldman Sachs (GS), launched a leadership seminar for senior managers that he nicknamed “Motivating Without Money.” The daylong sessionsdiscussed how Goldman’s managers could use nonfinancial incentives to energize their staff. While well received, the seminar was discontinued when business perked up again a year or so later.

Last fall, however, Goldman brought it back, widening the audience to include Goldman’s clients. (It’s now called “Motivating Your People in a Challenging Environment.”) “We got more people than I expected,” recalls Kerr, now a senior advisor to the bank and author of a new book, Reward Systems. As for why bonus-obsessed Wall Street hotshots would be so receptive to his “money isn’t everything” message, Kerr says: “I guess any reward in tough times is valuable.”

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