Coordinated Dreams

Archive for September, 2009

No other industry on this planet have changed and glorified the TITLES of its people like the Information Technology industry.

Before it all become forgotten history, let me give you some insight on the old and new titles of this fascinating industry.

Having started my career as a COBOL computer programmer in the IT Industry in 1978, I hope that my little “dictionary” would be creditable and amusing. I also hope that some of the readers out there would volunteer some of the new and old titles, so that I can update it and make it more interesting to others.

Let’s start with the basic functions in the IT Industry; management, system analysis, system design, programming, maintenance, operation, Sales, and purchasing.

Chief Information Officer CIO – Data Processing Manager or Manager Information SystemsChief Architect – Senior System DesignerChief Solution Architect (new) – A mixed up title that combines Design and analysisChief Infrastructure Architect – Senior OperatorChief Information Security Officer – Operation ManagerChief Technology Officer – R & D ManagerChief Procurement officer – Purchasing ManagerSystem Architect – System DesignerComputer Architect – Computer ProgrammerBusiness Solution Manager – System AnalystInformation Security Specialist – Programmer or OperatorTechnical Architect – OperatorSystem Integration Manager – System DesignerSolution Integration Manager – System Analyst Technical Project Manager – Senior OperatorLeading Outsourcing and Off shoring thought leader – SalesmanClient Director – Salesman Strategic Account Director – ?Persistent? Salesman

I am certain that there are more old and new titles out there that could add to this interesting tall. Some of the industry veterans out there should be able to feed in some more of these titles that I may not be aware of.

I hope you found this enjoyable and fun.

About the Author

Osama El-Kadi is an International Strategic Negotiation Expert & Motivational Speaker Specializes in utilising Sun Tzu Art of War strategies in a unique and advanced strategic negotiation consulting, seminars, and training for sales and buying organisations worldwide.

Osama El-Kadi career spans 28 years within UK based blue chip corporate companies. Starting from a Computer Analyst Programmer at NCR, to Chief Architect for worldwide banking systems, to Sales Director for CAI Europe, to General Manager Technology at the House of Fraser Group (including Harrods), to managing group procurement functions for the Automobile Association (the AA) through to his most recent position as Chief Procurement Officer in the Centrica Plc group of companies in the United Kingdom.

Please visit or write to me:

Click to write to me

Strategic Negotiation and the Art of War

Art and Science of Negotiation

You may have a thousand bucks in your pocket! The Wisconsin quarter mistake.

In case you haven’t heard, let me be the first to tell you. An unknown number of the Wisconsin state quarters released last year have two mistakes that may be worth more than one thousand dollars. If you have a Wisconsin state quarter, you may have your own little windfall. Grab all your quarters and read on to find out how to tell if you’re one of the lucky ones!

Kids, this whole Wisconsin state quarter thing has caused quite a bit of excitement in the last few days. Everyone is rushing to check their stockpiles of loose change to see if they might have one of the “goofs”! Just yesterday my husband came home from work and told me about the Wisconsin quarter story he’d heard on NPR which reported a man had held a one day auction on eBay for one of the quarters and made over $1000.00.

Naturally I immediately pulled up good old eBay and sure enough, there they were. People selling Wisconsin state quarters with the mistakes on them and prices from $500 to well over $1000.

So, what are the mistakes and how can you tell if you have one? I’m about to tell you!

It seems the errors have to do with the corn stalk on the back of the coin. On the errors, there are extra leaves. You do not need a magnifying glass to see them… unless you are like me and you need a magnifying glass to see almost everything anyway!

The coins that are selling for the most cash on eBay are being sold in sets. It seems collectors really like to buy them in sets of three: the “normal” coin along with the two error coins. That’s not to say the error coins aren’t worth more money alone, but the sets of two or three are really in demand.

For the best graphic I’ve found that shows you exactly what you’re looking for, click here: http://www.wxow.com/news/publish/articles/article_1450.shtml.Be sure to come back though, because I’ll tell you what to do next if you find one!

Ok. You’ve seen the graphic and you’re lucky enough to have found one! Yoo-hoo! (I’ll expect my fee in the mail.) What now?

If I were you, I’d head over to www.eBay.com and check out the other auctions that are featuring the error Wisconsin coins. If you aren’t comfortable with eBay, you might call a local coin collector but please keep in mind, they are there to make a profit and you might not always get the best deal.

Should you hang onto the coin in hopes the price will go up? That’s up to you. It sort of depends on how much you like to gamble.The coin could increase in price dramatically, or it could drop dramatically. At this writing, the mint does not know how many coins are in circulation. As with anything else, the coins will be worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them.

Happy hunting!

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Keywords:

About the Author

http://webmillionaire.blogspot.com

If you are looking for a new idea to jump start your sales, you are not alone. Infact there are many others out there that are just starting out in the world of online marketing. Putting time into networking is well worth the effort. Find a strategic business peer among other newbies out there. Look for people who are on the same learning curve you are and that have the same objective. You can trade leads, share marketing info, sell package deals, etc.

One of the most important things you will do is brand your name and business. You can easily do this by just writing articles and submitting them to e-zines or web sites for republishing. Make sure that you write about topics that will bring people to your sites if they are impressed with what you have to say. Making these articles keyword rich will also bring search engine clicks, readers that will click through to your site. Always put your bio and website link on your articles and only submit them to directories that enforce the terms that those that use your articles must keep your bio attached.

Remember to take a little time out of your day or week to brainstorm. New ideas are usually the difference between success and failure. Your peers will be the greatest soundboard that you will have. I spend time driving or watching tv and thinking about the millions of times someone is marketing to me. I also research what is “hot” these days and try to find ways to make money from them.

Take risks to improve your business. Sometimes businesses don’t want to advertise unless it’s free, sometimes you have to spend money to get results. Just be sure to take baby steps. Do not take out a 500.00 dollar advertisement unless you know that it is a trusted website.

Learn what words trigger people to buy. Include emotional words in your advertisements. Use ones like love, security, relief, freedom, happy, satisfaction, fun, etc. When you search around the net see what catches your eye. What has really impressed you before?

Know when it is time to get help for your business. When you are nearing your limit and cannot put any more time into your business then you already do and yet you are making great headway in your business, then it is probably time to consider help. Consider out sourcing part of your workload. You’ll save on most employee costs. You could out source your secretarial work, accounting, marketing, etc.

One of your biggest sales pitches will be when you are able to offer many products and service together in a package deal. Can you resist such a great deal? 4 or 5 different tools and products all bundled into one price can be irresistable. Use them as an added bonus or make a “limited time only” sales pitch after someone has purchased a product from you.

These ideas are meant to help you to gain traffic and content. You need to keep thinking of ideas that can bring the people into your website world. The more people that come, the better your odds of making big sales.

About the Author

Susanna Strandberg is the publisher of Ezineline.Com newsletter and blogs at http://www.ezineline.com/blog/ with the ultimate list of tips and tricks to making money online.

Even though home improvement is pretty straightforward most of the time, it is important to carefully follow instructions in order to successfully complete a home improvement task. Many home improvement jobs take a lot of time to complete. This will be time well spent, since each home improvement or repair you make will increase your home’s value. Home improvement is clear-cut, but takes patience and requires that you follow instructions to the detail.

It is imperative that you closely follow the instructions when repairing or remodeling. Written instructions will provide you with the steps to correctly complete the project and avoid problems. And make sure to keep any receipts for materials and tools you buy incase you need to return or exchange the merchandise.

The first rule of home improvement is to learn as much as you can before starting a project. For example, if you are planning on hanging drywall in a room in your home, you need to know exactly what materials you will need, in addition to the steps used to complete the job. You will also need to know what about wallpaper, tiles, paint, or other materials to finish a wall job.

Most any home improvement job will increase the value of your home. That is why it is important to be very methodical when you start a home improvement project; you should take notes, create files, and plan every step of the job.

Budgeting and planning are two other important steps in any home improvement project. If you do not have a plan, you will likely spend more money than you need to, buy the wrong materials, take longer to complete the project, and make errors along the way.

Depending on the type of home improvement project you are planning, it could be rather straightforward. However, some home improvement projects are easier than others. Ease of completion does not equal less cost, however.

For wall improvement projects, paint, panel and tile are sometimes easier than wallpapering. Tiles come in multiple choices, including self-adhesive, or peel and stick. However, if you have damage to your walls, such as holes, you will require spackle and a few other materials to patch the area before finishing the walls.

When repairing or remodeling a basement, the same rules apply and then some. Michigan and Kentucky basements are known to be the worst for home improvement, mostly because those areas are highly prone to flooding. Improvement or repair projects in basements often require special considerations for insulation, and can often cost more money and require a little more time to complete a job. Basements in newer home tend to have fewer problems, thanks to advances in construction.

Making improvements or repairs in a bathroom requires a whole unique set of tools and knowledge. Dealing with plumbing and electrical issues are the trickiest parts of home improvement, because they often require a certain level of expertise, and even professionals have been known to make mistakes. That is why educating yourself before beginning a home improvement or repair project is imperative.

A big rule to follow in home improvement is to clear whatever area you are working in completely before beginning the job. This will prevent accidents and things from getting damaged or destroyed. It is also imperative that you use safety equipment, such as dust masks, gloves, and goggles when doing any kind of home improvement or repair project.

About the Author:

Discover more about home improvement and diy at http://www.discoverhomeimprovement.info

Daily vitamins are essential for your healthy mind and a healthy body. If your body is feeling good, you are getting a good supply of vitamins. Most vegetables that are not cooked are going to supply you with a good dosage of vitamins, and every vegetable has a different amount of various vitamins. If you are not eating vegetables and fruits that are uncooked, you may be losing out. Vegetables and fruits that are processed and cooked, are going to lose their vitamins and you will be eating foods that are ‘not as good’ as they could be as if they were fresh. This is where vitamins become important for your body and for a healthy future. Daily vitamins are detailed by the food and drug administration, in matters about how much you should take, and use daily. While it is difficult to determine just how much you are getting from the foods you eat, you can look at the labels on boxes, containers and cans and find out just how much vitamins, and what type of vitamins are in the foods that you eat. You will find that some foods have no C vitamins, while others have C vitamins but do not include the use of B vitamins. All the vitamins detailed by the food and drug administration are important to fighting disease and for a healthy future. The food and drug administration also reviews the vitamins and nutrients that are included in the medications you purchase. Some medications include the use of vitamins and minerals, and nutrients so you know what you are eating, taking into your body, and in case you need a supplement for certain vitamins if you are taking a medication. Do you know how many vitamins are in the apple you are eating? Do you know how many vitamins are in the bowl of ice cream that you had last night? If you do not know if any vitamins were in that food, you need to start, reading labels are re-evaluating what you eat and your daily habits. Think about daily vitamins and improving your life by purchasing vitamins online and increasing your fight against sickness and disease.

About the Author: Roger Thompson writes Health Related Articles and Jobs for The Number one healthcare Job site He also advises consumers on online products.

I was a full-time Betfair trader for nearly four years and although I predominantly traded the financial markets, I also made quite significant profits from the football markets. Now this wasn’t achieved by placing bets on teams I thought would win, in the traditional way, but by using the betting exchanges to trade the prices.

For example, if I think a team’s price on the exchanges has drifted out too far in comparison with the bookmakers’ prices (Oddschecker is an excellent odds comparison site), then I will look to trade it. In this case I will be looking to back it at the current price and lay it back later at a lower price for my initial stake plus a bit extra to guarantee a profit whatever the outcome.

To demonstrate my point I will use an example taken from my site. In the recent FA Cup match between Chelsea and Colchester, Chelsea were available to back at 1.14 on Betfair a few days before the match, yet they were trading a lot lower with the bookmakers, ranging from 1.07 to 1.11. You would expect the prices on the exchanges to be slightly higher but at 1.14 this was double the price of the lowest bookmaker price.

Therefore at a generous price of 1.14 and expecting a drift inwards, this was a solid potential trading opportunity. As it turned out this price did indeed come in and a day before the match Chelsea were now available to lay at 1.12. So if you had backed Chelsea for say ?100 at 1.14, you could have layed them back at 1.12 for say ?102. This would have guaranteed a profit of ?1.76 if Chelsea won (?100 @ 1.14 = ?14) – (?102 @ 1.12 = ?12.24), or ?2 if the match resulted in a draw or Colchester win (?102 – ?100).

Now obviously these profits sound very small, but if, like me, you trade in the thousands these profits can be quite substantial and can build up nicely over time. For example, if your initial stake in this example was ?1000, then your guaranteed profits would have been ?17.76 if Chelsea won, or ?20 if they drew or Colchester won. Also, you wouldn’t essentially be risking your ?1000, because as you are using it for trading, you should always trade out, and therefore even if the price moves against you, you would only lose a small amount.

This was a good trading opportunity, but I should point out that opportunities like this do not exist in every match. Often you may only find a few good opportunities every week, but I can guarantee that there will always be potential trades out there.
About the Author

Jim Buccini is a former full-time Betfair trader who has produced a website detailing proven profit-generating tips and strategies. For more information click here:
Betfair Tips and Strategies

The very efficient way to grow your business at the same time you are running it is automation.Once you have automated your business, you can increase the number of customers and hence build up your business, since you will be having no more administrative tasks to perform.The two secrets for the growth of your business are:-
– Automation of your ordering and fulfillment process.
– Automation of your customer service.
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Automation is an impeccable solution to free up your time for the development of your business and also provide your customer with fast service. Moreover, automation allows you to spend more time to come up with new ideas to grow your business and boost up your profits.An automated marketing system will result to more sales and bring you more profits as the system allows you to sell your products or services day and night.Automated e-mails help you to answer instantly to all the questions of the customer, creating an appreciation into the satisfied customer for your fast and professional service.
Creating happy customers is essential. They are more likely to buy products from you again, which can boost up your revenue. You could also provide them with electronic products like softwares and e-books.Auto respondersNow the question that arises is – ?how to automate your business??
The answer to the question is – ?auto responders.?
There are pre written e-mails that are automatically sent to the customer on your behalf. These are called auto responders. The best way to automate your business is the use of auto responders. You just have to write the e-mail messages in advance and set them up to be sent to the customer whenever you want. These e-mails have to be written just once. You can setup auto responders to answer questions from visitors to your site and handle all the aspects of ordering products and fulfillment of services. With the help of auto responders you won’t have to the job that would otherwise take hours and hence you can freely concentrate on building up your business.Auto responders are the most resourceful tools for handling all the everyday boring e-mails that can take up a good amount of your important time. With the help of auto responders, you can enhance your business.You can speed up your response to the requests for information by your visitors and impress them and hence converting those visitors into buyers by your credibility. This increases your sales. Continue to provide great customer service with the help of immediate confirmation of orders. Make sure that your customers come back to you to buy more of your products. Providing your customers with instant gratification creates long term customers assuring you continuous profits and increasing sales.Jim Mack provides readers with up-to-date commentaries, articles, and reviews for wealth, wellness and other related issues. Visit him at at my website which is at http://www.giantcashcow.com/resources.php

Growing at pace with the automobile industry in India is a web portal CarSalesIndia.com. All it takes for Indias 1 billion crowd is to check out this website now.

The website provides a comprehensive search feature to search for used cars. The website has an extensive list of used cars for all cities around the country. There are other cool features like Email Alerts for car buyers and Car Pool for environment carers.

The website has much more to offer. You can also view our blog live at CarFantasy.About the Author

Sam is an auto enthusiast, keeping your eyes wide open on the automobile industry for India and Worldwide

The Caribbean
A vacation at one of the islands in the Caribbean offers excitement as well as relaxation in a stunning, tropical setting. The eastern region of the islands, commonly known as the Lesser Antilles, Tobago and Trinidad, begins just east of Puerto Rico and stretches just about to the coast of Venezuela. These islands include impressive mountains, rain forests and black, as well as white, sandy beaches.

The western portion of the Caribbean is well-known for the ancient Mayan ruins that abound, as well as for the luxurious resorts, carnivals and local festivities occurring frequently throughout the year. St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San Juan and Barbados are among the most popular travel destinations in the southern Caribbean and offer tourists an authentic island experience.

France
Paris, France, home of the famous Eiffel Tower, remains one of the world’s top travel destinations for honeymooners and travelers alike. Other cities in France that provide an ideal spot to vacation if you’re looking for beauty, charm and a rich sense of history are Lyon and Marseille. These gorgeous cities are filled with fascinating museums and feature numerous fragrant flower gardens.

Rome, Italy
Rome, Italy is perhaps one of the most beautiful and historic of European cities and also one of the most often visited by travelers. Ancient monuments, impressive museums, fountains as well as medieval churches and palaces, all lend to the old world charm of the city. There are also numerous restaurants offering delicious Italian cuisine and plenty of exciting nightlife to be had as well.

Other popular vacation spots to visit in Italy are the Vatican and St. Peter’s Cathedral, as well as the city of Venice, which was uniquely built right in the center of a lagoon. Venice has been deemed one of the most romantic and beautiful cities in the entire world with meandering canals and interesting architecture everywhere you look.

Hawaii
With many gorgeous and unspoiled beaches to choose from, Hawaii and its smaller surrounding islands offer lush resorts, crystal blue waters and plenty of sunshine to visitors. Besides Hawaii, often called the “Big Island”, there are five other beautiful islands to visit such as Maui, which is the second largest of the group and features stunning volcanoes as well as breathtaking waterfalls.

Other islands include Lanai, which is famous for its impressive rock formations as well as the distinct ambiance of romance, luxury and privacy. The state’s capital, Honolulu, is located on the island of Oahu, which is home to the majority of Hawaii’s population and boasts a vibrant mix of culture and entertainment.

Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, the most populous city in Nevada, is often referred to as “Sin City” or the “largest adult playground” in the world. But this famous vacation spot is no longer just about gambling and casinos. Now there are numerous family-friendly hotels, resorts and activities to choose from as well as plenty of exciting nightlife along the Strip for the adults.

People vacationing in Las Vegas may also choose to visit nearby Lake Mead, which is the largest man-made lake in the United States and is only 22 miles from the Strip. The Hoover Dam, located in Black Canyon on the Colorado River about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, is also another impressive sight to see while visiting this area.

About the Author:

Kauai Vacation Rentals | Shasta Lake RV Campgrounds

Leadership is about interaction. It is about getting neck deep in the messy world of egos, personality types and conflict. It is about turning chaos into order and motivating people toward a common goal through application of leadership skills and demonstrable behavior. By doing this, a leader builds trust and earns a team’s respect. Since civilization’s beginnings, this has changed little. What has changed, however, is the leadership environment.

Technology, in particular, has complicated leadership. Although technological advancements have drastically increased worker productivity, they have also added unparalleled complexity for leading. For example, communication has shifted from face-to-face or voice conversation to e-mail and text messages. More and more web-based and Internet-enabled platforms have become the standard for training and human resource functions. For all of the ease of use many leaders risk losing touch with their teams.

To counteract this potential depersonalization, 21st century leaders need to strike a balance between deploying technology and applying basic leadership skills to fulfill their teams? full potential. To accomplish this and be successful, one need follow some simple tenets.

? Look past the technology to understand your team

Databases and application automation have given us more data on team performance than ever before. Reports upon reports can measure everything from profitability to attendance. It is, however, a common pitfall to overuse such tools for evaluating the members of a team. While these tools can give an amazingly accurate window onto a team’s performance, it is only one facet of understanding whole picture. You can, for example, see that one person is exceeding the standard for such things as sales volume or project completion by a wide margin, while another is falling short. But you won’t be able to understand the reason for this gap from data alone. Is it a motivation issue? Is some external variable adversely affecting some members of your team? The only way to know is to get back to basics and spend time with the team.

You need to get to know the people whom you lead and find out what makes them tick. You need to understand their personality traits and what motivates them. You need to see how they behave with the internal and external stakeholders with whom they interact. Data-driven tools may help you identify an issue but analyzing and resolving situations can only happen when you get up from the computer and those reports to spend time observing and interacting directly with your team.

? Do not hide behind your monitor

No matter how experienced you are as a leader, some leadership tasks are very distasteful. Dealing with problem team members or resolving group conflicts is never fun, Technology has enabled leaders to deal with problem children without having to face them. A terse email may seem like the most expedient, most direct, and most comfortable way to make peace or communicate a directive. However, this method is ineffective in the long run and it actually can undermine you as a leader. Consider instead a face-to-face exchange.

You need to face these problems head on and in person. Email may be faster but it is a poor and ineffective substitute for sitting down with a team member, letting them know that there is a problem and talking about it. This not only allows you to connect with them on a personal level, but also gives them the ability to defend or explain their actions on the spot and in your immediate presence. It creates an environment in which the team member knows that his or her opinions are valued and that you, as a leader, are interested in hearing the other side of the argument.

? Be present in times of crisis

Turmoil can tear a team apart. Think back to a time when you were been in an organization during layoffs or downsizing. Rumors permeate like viruses. Team members face constant stress about their positions and those of friends. It may seem easiest to communicate to a whole team via electronic means but this is not a time for e-mail or mass announcements through an Intranet. All too often this ends up the primary means of communicating during crisis, when direct, visible, meaningful leadership is most important..

In times of turmoil, fight the tendency to hunker down in your office like it was a foxhole. A leader needs to be in front during times of change like a military officer walking the trenches before a fight to show solidarity with his soldiers.. Let your people know what is going on, look them in the eye and answer questions on the spot. Show them that you care about their well-being and that you respect them enough to actually be there, and they will follow you.

The main thing to remember is that regardless of the environment and the tools available to you, the basics of leadership remain unchanged. Technology may streamline many aspects of leadership, but it does not excuse a leader from the requirements, skills and behaviors on which their team depends. Do what you know is right and consider how you would want to be led yourself, and you will succeed.

Douglas Katz is a Co-Founder and Vice-President of LEADINGSCHOOL LLC (http://www.leadingschool.com). He is a 1993 graduate of the United States Military Academy and a 2001 graduate of Loyola University Chicago. He has successfully served in a wide variety of leadership positions across a diverse range of organizations, industries and environments to include the United States Army, Tellabs, and Citigroup.

Buying a new car is not something 98% of the people out there need to be doing. It is a luxury item. Only buy a new car if you’re filthy rich.

There are alternatives to buying new. Used lots are overflowing, and millions of cars come from expired leases.

The money saved by buying a used car is because of depreciation (the loss of the financial value of an object due to its use). Used cars have already depreciated (60 to 70% in the first 5 years). Buying used allows the person who bought the car when it was new to eat the cost of the depreciation. Then the person who buys the car used can get a great car for much less than the new wholesale prices.

If you want to know what used cars are selling for these days, look online. I recommend the following sites:

KBB.comEdmunds.comCarmax.com

Also, call some of the banks in your area and ask them how they dispose of their repossessions. If they have a repo auction in your area, this is a great way to find good deals.

But the best deals you can find are usually from individuals because they are trying to get rid of their vehicles. Look in your area papers and find what’s for sale.

But I Really, Really, Really Want That Car!

Before you take the plunge, listen.

When I went broke, my wife and I were sharing a car. My friend let me use a piece-of-junk car for a while. It was horrible! But, I was set in my mind to not borrow money. I ended up saving like crazy, and what I would have put into a car payment, I ended up saving toward a new car. It was the best thing I could have done for myself.

Say you are looking into financing a sports car with payments of $400 per month… The car that you are driving now is worth around $1,500. If you take that $400 and pay yourself instead of paying it to the dealer, you will save $4,000 in 10 months. You will have $1,500 from selling your old car, so you will be able to buy a $5,500 car just 10 months from now. Continue doing that for another 10 months and you will be able to buy yourself a $10,000 car. That is only 20 months away. You can do it!

No car fever! Go take a cold shower! No new car!

Dave Ramsey is a personal money management expert, an extremely popular national radio personality and best-selling author of The Total Money Makeover. Dave is changing the face of America by helping people get out of debt and build wealth. Ramsey exemplifies his life’s work of teaching others how to be financially responsible, so they can acquire enough wealth to take care of loved ones, live prosperously into old age, and give generously to others. Watch this powerful video that shows you how you can drive free cars for life!