Hi,

Wow has it been a while or what? I've been singing
karaoke and working on a new job. Haven't had much
time to travel.

On my next post, I want to share with you when I went
to the I Cugini Restaurant by the Santa Monica Pier.

I'll locate my cord so I can post pictures. If you've
never listened to The Wave, you may be unaware that
may Jazz listeners gather at the I Cugini and Spagatini
(spelling) restaurants to listen to live Jazz for a Sunday
Brunch.

Okay, I won't rattle on. Stay tuned for the pics.

The Drifter

Wow, it's been an amazing time since I've written on this blog.
Right now as I type, I'm in Kansas City, MO checking out
commercial property and visiting family.

There isn't enough time to go to all the places I want to go
here, but there is one place someone may want to check out.
Yesterday, I went somewhere I hadn't been since I was
around 10 years old.

My father and I stopped by the Liberty Memorial. It's a WWI
memorial. It's at the top of a hill that overlooks KCMO and it's
a place you'd want to stop and see. The statues and monument
are colossal.

Liberty Memorial is quite a sight to see. Take a look and see this
beautiful place.

Another place that is very popular in KCMO is Gates Barbeque.
My mother grew up with the owner, who name is Ollie Gates.
He's one of the leading entrepreneurs in KCMO. He owns all of
the Gates Barbeque restaurants and they are known for their
famous BBQ and BBQ sauce. He also owns many properties in
town. He's definitely a role model to emulate.

The other BBQ chain is Bryants BBQ. These are two places you'd
want to see if you travel to Kansas City. Kansas City is known for
their BBQ nationwide.

I'm here to check out the commercial property in the area. Many
homes and apartments are boarded up. It's so sad to see. Online
I checked the retail shopping centers that are for sale in the area.
Many of those are corporate owned for unknown reasons. Not
sure what has happened to the economy here, but looks like it's
taken it's toll.

Well today, I'm scouting a few residential properties to get a feel of
the real estate market. If I see something interesting or with
potential, I'll be sure to submit a letter of intent. We'll see what
happens. This evening I'm going to see if I can locate a Karaoke
spot to hang out at.

Well, until then, take care and thanks for stopping by.

Johnetta Matthews
Johnetta Matthews Corporation
President
Work For Yourself
New Search Engine Vulcoo
Commercial Real Estate Investing

The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005
http://web2.wsj2.com/the_best_web_20_software_of_2005.htm

David Herlambang's marketing blog. He's got some very interesting and good marketing related posting. http://www.marketingfirst.blogspot.com/

Looking for free games to play online? Look no further, play free online games has a great archive of all games that you can play for free online. There's action, board/puzzle, casino, RPG, strategy and many more games. My favourite is their RPG section where they have more than 100 free RPG games to play.

Companies Missing Big Opportunity to Turn Customer Pain Into Competitive Gain, Says CMO Council Report

Despite overwhelming agreement on the importance of customer experience and word-of-mouth, senior marketers admit their companies are failing to take decisive, company-wide action to integrate customer voice and experience into key business and marketing processes, according to a new study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council.
Sponsored by Satmetrix, the Net Promoter Company, the study, titled "Giving Customer Voice More Volume," revealed that a surprising 58 percent of the 480 executives surveyed said their companies do not compensate any employees or executives based on customer loyalty, satisfaction improvements or analytics. Some 38 percent said their companies have no programs in place to track or propagate positive word of mouth among customers. In addition, only 29 percent said their companies rate highly in their ability handle and resolve customer problems or complaints.

The CMO Council study underscores critical deficiencies in the way companies measure, optimize and leverage customer experience to drive loyalty, improve brand value and increase business performance and growth, including:

-- Insufficient availability and aggregation of real-time customer
experience data across touch points that should be shared across the
organization

-- Poor use of customer interactions to collect insights and intelligence
or maximize up-sell and advocacy opportunities

-- Lack of Internet processes and systems to track online word of mouth
and drive customer advocacy

-- Intermittent or deficient monitoring of customer experience that fails
to provide true and timely insights into problems and opportunities

-- Too few compensation programs tied to customer experience, loyalty and
satisfaction gains

"Customer experience is one of the most critical determinants of brand strength and business growth. Yet, most organizations and senior marketers suffer from major blind spots and gaps in the way they interact, handle and respond to customer issues or problems," said CMO Council executive director Donovan Neale-May. "CMOs must assume ownership for the customer experience and establish enterprise-wide measures and disciplines to ensure continuous improvement. We are missing a major opportunity to turn customer pain into competitive gain at every touch point through better use of web and contact center technologies and processes."

Customer listening, learning and leveling are critical qualities that need to be part of an institutionalized corporate culture, notes the CMO Council. Yet, survey data demonstrates that most companies are not taking advantage of these opportunities to drive company-wide performance improvement and business growth. Instead, most companies treat customer interactions around service situations and incidents only as a problem that needs quick resolution:

-- Only 38 percent of companies gather customer insight from customer
engagement situations.

-- Just 32 percent look for ways to turn problems into new sales
opportunities, and only 15 percent introduce new products or services to
further monetize the relationship.

-- Merely 17 percent use the opportunity to identify and cultivate
potential customer champions and advocates.

While companies have a long way to go in turning detractors into brand advocates, senior marketers are clearly aware of the importance of customer experience. In fact, 83 percent of respondents said it is either "essential" or "increasingly important" in driving brand advocacy and business performance. In addition, 84 percent said positive customer experiences and word of mouth have helped their brands and businesses grow. There were 44 percent of respondents who admitted that high-profile negative customer experiences had at some time compromised their brands.

Only 31 percent rate their company's commitment to customer listening highly, but another 35 percent say it is "getting better." Although 34 percent of respondents said their companies have made no changes to the way they track and analyze customer experience in recent years, it can be seen as a positive development that 45 percent of respondents say their companies have taken steps to better integrate and analyze customer data. Another 39 percent said they have increased personalization and intimacy in their customer communications, 20 percent say they have embraced intelligent Internet analytics and 18 percent are capturing real-time information at the "point of pain."

"Companies must become more sophisticated and committed to both leveraging customer experience as a key business metric and instituting company-wide processes that drive improvement," said Laura Brooks, Ph.D. and vice president of research for Satmetrix. "The Net Promoter Score has been proven to be the most reliable customer metric for business growth, but measurement is not an end in itself. Companies need to commit themselves to understanding the key determinants of their score and continuously strive to improve their customer experience competitiveness." Brooks is co-author, with Satmetrix CEO Richard Owen, of a new book, titled "Answering the Ultimate Question," that offers a new operating model for NetPromoter success.

Other key findings of the study include:

-- Nearly two-thirds of companies do not have a formal Voice of Customer
program in place.

-- Only 13 percent of companies have deployed real-time systems to
collect, analyze and distribute customer feedback.

-- While 74 percent say they receive customer feedback via e-mail, only
23 percent say they track and measure the volume and nature of these
messages.

-- Customer voice has gone online, but only 14.5 percent track word of
mouth on the Internet

-- Only 12 percent are using a word-of-mouth marketing platform to drive
online customer advocacy.

10 Tips for Effective Time Management
Does having "too much to do and not enough time to do it" sound familiar? If so, it's time to work smarter, not harder so you can increase productivity decrease stress and have more time for fun! Leading Brisbane recruitment-to-recruitment company, Galaxy Recruitment offers the following tips to help you get the most out of your time.

1. Set Goals and Plan
As the old saying goes, "by failing to plan, you plan to fail". Set your goals and develop a realistic plan for your direction.
2. Prioritise and use a To-Do list
Differentiate between the urgent tasks that produce short-term outcomes, and the vital tasks that produce long-term outcomes. Rank your priorities by numbers, colours, or symbols - use a system that suits you.
3. Learn to say "no"
It's a small word, yet many people find it extremely difficult to say "no"! By saying "yes" to everyone just to please them, you may end up overcommitting and letting them down instead. If it helps, remember to phrase your response so that you are saying "no" to the project and not the person. e.g "No, I can't take this project on right now. I simply don't have the bandwidth to complete the task properly."
4. Delegate
If you can, delegate routine activities that aren't part of your core competency. Remember you are delegating, not abdicating!
5. Avoid procrastination
Procrastination usually sets in when a task is perceived to be difficult to achieve. Try breaking your task into smaller milestones that you can satisfy systematically. Crossing off these smaller tasks as you complete them helps you make track of your progress and keeps the end outcome within sight.
6. Be flexible
Be realistic about your goals and allow time for interruptions, distractions and the unplanned "emergency" - they are inevitable.
7. Plan around your "Prime Time"
If possible, plan your tasks in accordance with the the time of the day that you perform at your peak. If you're a "morning person" plot your work schedule around fulfilling the challenging tasks during the day, and the more routine aspects of your work such as data entry, responding to emails or making telephone calls during the afternoon. If you're more of an afternoon or "night owl" reverse the order.
8. Keep a journal with you at all times
Always be ready to write down your best ideas in an instant - you never know when a killer idea might strike! Your journal should also be used as a goal-tracker that you can go through weekly to make sure you are on track.
9. Reward yourself
When you meet your goals and objectives, be sure to celebrate your success and achievements. A bit of positive reinforcement now and then serves to remind you why you are doing what you do for a living.
10. Effectiveness over efficiency
Although you should aim for both outcomes, try not to bog yourself down in processes if they add no value to the outcome. In the scheme of things, completing tasks effectively is much more important than doing things quickly.
Source: Galaxy Recruitment

Session 6 The human touch – using podcasts for interaction and to create new relationships Dave Slusher – Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast This session focused on the relationship it is possible to build with an audience on a small scale,...

Its 5am here in California and I’m awake. It’s either the excitement around the Portable Media Expo or the fact that my body still hasn’t adjusted to the time difference. It’s a good job I’ve been waking early because there...

Back to blogging, with news of a really effective corporate blog. My dissertation is done and the MSc complete – more of that in future weeks. In the meantime, what sparked my interest was the new Volvo C30 – a...

7 Things You Must Do If You Want To Increase Your Traffic
- By Jo Han Mok

Gary Halbert once said that the ONLY advantage he wanted when it came to selling burgers was not abetter sauce, or better grade of beef, but a STARVING CROWD.
It' s a simple concept, but not many people get it.

#1. Find and Know Your Starving Crowd
You can have the greatest product in the world, but still sell squat if no one wants to buy your product.Who are your potential buyers? Do you know them like the back of your hand? KNOW your buyers. Head down to http://www.Overture.com , type in your keywords and take furious notes!

#2. Power Position Yourself
Understand that people online are looking for information. They don't want information from just anyone. They want good, solid information from people who have been there, done that. If you can provide valuable advice to your prospects, you can be sure that they'll begin to trust you and develop a RELATIONSHIP with you. And just how do you position yourself as an expert? Easy, Become one.
Once you develop a reputation as an expert, the traffic will come in flocks. People NEED help. Help from experts. Are you an expert? : - )

#3. Create an Epidemic
Imagine this. What if you could get a super sales manto spend 24 hours everyday, 7 days every week, 52 weeks every year, for the rest of your life... a salesman who never gets sick or tired and all he does is direct hordes and hordes of targeted traffic to your site?
Don't even try to estimate the astounding value someone like this would bring to your business.
It is possible, and it's called viral marketing. It's the most powerful concept on the Internet. Many have tried using it and many have failed miserably.
People have this misconception that as long as they have an ebook that is "brandable", it constitutes a viral marketing campaign.
They are dead wrong.

#4. Steal Traffic from Someone Else
Got you. Of course, there are ethical ways to do that.The most powerful way, is through a JV or JointVenture. A JV does not mean shooting an email to someone in your field of high repute saying "Hey,wanna do business with me?"
You're in for a big disappointment if you think that's gonna work. Your potential JV partner is a human as well, and chances are, he/she is a SOMEBODY in yourfield. So make your JV proposal as benefit laden, and"hands free" for your potential partner as possible. Recognize your JV partner's accomplishments, begenerous with your praise and above all, be sincere.
But never be afraid to ASK. If you don't A-S-K, you will never G-E-T.

#5. Become A Marketing PI
Here's Industrial Espionage 101. The magic word? Forums.
Forums will show you exactly what your target market is unhappy about and the problems they have. Lurk around forums. LISTEN. Forget about YOUR problems and listen to other people's problems. Solve those problems. I guarantee you'll become rich. Zig Ziglar said, the way to achieve success is to help others get what they want.

#6. Expired Domains Do More Than Expire
You can always use expired domain names as a great source of traffic. Search the expired domain databases, look on EBay. Some web hosts now allow multiple domains to park on a single account. Take advantage of that.

#7. Transform Words into Traffic
Articles are the best "Traffic Machines" that work for ANYONE- no matter what product, service, or information they're selling.
You get 100% targeted traffic, FREE! And, they position you as an expert, and improve your link popularity. Plus, articles are really easy to write as well.
If you have never written an article, go try writing one NOW!
All 7 steps above seem really easy. It's one thing to read and go "ahh" and another thing to read those steps and actually take solid action. Nothing will happen until you take action. No action equals no traffic, equals no sales, equals no money to pay the rent.
Go for it!
Find out how to get laser targeted traffic by thethousands in the next 7 minutes! ==> http://www.InstantVisitorSurge.com/a/?id=840
----------
Jo Han Mok is the CEO of Super Fast Profit Enterpriseand the Director of the Hypnotic Marketing Institute.He is known as "The Master Wordsmith" because of hisuncanny ability to write profit pulling copy thatconverts like crazy. His latest book, co-authored withDr Joe Vitale is the E-Code: "47 Surprising Ways ToMake Money Online, Almost Instantly!"
Get 115 Marketing Techniques To A Six Figure Income Here: ==> http://www.Superfastprofit.com
----------
This is a "Shareware" Article (what's that? read on...)This article is shareware. Give this article away forfree on your site, or include it as part of any paidpackage as long as the entire article is left intactincluding this notice. Copyright © 2003 Jo Han Mok.

Secrets of Internet Millionaires!: "Your free 'Internet Secrets' bundle gives you the information. Now you need a proven vehicle to apply your knowledge. That's why we've also included free enrollment in the SFI Marketing Group affiliate network. SFI is the world's #1 Internet affiliate program. And because it was built for the Internet, you can literally start earning extra income within days. Everything you need is supplied including your own personalized Website, extensive marketing resources, training, and much more."

SiteSell.com, E-commerce for the Rest of Us: "Site Build It! is the all-in-one site-building-hosting-&-marketing system of software tools that delivers thriving, profitable businesses.

SBI! sites succeed. SBI! OVERdelivers... "

I haven't been active on this blog now for almost a year. Why? - I have been busy building my website revolving around personal development. In addition, I created some additional blogs which link from within my website.

If you are interested in developing your personal, spiritual and business growth, check it out now!

It is surprising how many folks are asking me if there is an inexpensive way to create PDFs. Yes, there is for under $30. And it works really well!

Read my post about it on my BusinessExcellence Blog.

I used to be frighteningly under confident in social situations. And although people who know me now would never believe I used to doubt myself so much I literally had to learn confidence until it became a natural part of me. I can tell you relaxed optimistic confidence is just, well so much more fun.

Here I'll tell you about the things that made the most difference to my confidence levels...

Some people have naturally high levels of confidence but everybody can learn to be more confident

Firstly, it's important to get a clear idea of what self confidence really means, otherwise you won't know when you've got it! So, self confidence means:

1) Being calm. For every situation in life you need to run on the appropriate level of emotion. Too much emotional 'leakage' into a experience can spoil the experience. You make great strides towards confidence when you begin to relax in a greater range of situations.

2) Being cool. The second part of self confidence is about being able to relax with uncertainty. To be 'cool' in a situation really means relaxing with not knowing how things will pan out. If you truly tolerate uncertainty, you can do pretty much anything.

3) Not being too concerned with what others think of you. You know when you imagine what some place is going to be like before you go there but when you get there it is totally different to your imagination? That's how reliable your imagination is! Stop trusting your imagination so much. I've long since stopped bothering to imagine what others think of me because so often I've turned out to be wrong.

4) Being specific - where do you want confidence? 'Confidence' is meaningless until you tie it to something specific. You are already confident that you can read these words or can switch a light on and off. So you don't need more confidence everywhere. To get what you want in life you have to establish exactly what you do want. Where do you want confidence in your life? Think about the specific situations now and write them down. You beginning to steer your brain towards confidence.

5) Understanding that what you expect is what you get. Your brain is an organ that needs clear goals to work towards. When a task has been set in your brain it will do everything it can do to bring about the completion of that task. If you've tried to recall someone's name but can't, hours later you'll often find their name pops into your head.

The 'trying to recall' experience set the task or blueprint for your brain's future subconscious behaviour which eventually produced the name for you - when you weren't thinking about it consciously. You can use this natural mechanism to start feeling more confident. But, to ensure you set the right task for your subconscious mind, the next point is vital.

6) Don't task your mind with negatives. Instead of: 'I don't want to screw up' (which sets the task of 'screwing up' for your brain), set the blueprint for what you do want! Your brain doesn't work towards what to do by being told what not to do. And nature has given you a wonderful natural tool to set the right task blueprints with.

7) Use nature's goal-setter: Now you understand how vital it is to set the right task for you brain, you need to know how to do this reliably. Good hypnosis will strongly 'program' the right blueprint in your mind through the use of your imagination. If you powerfully imagine feeling confident and relaxed while in a relaxed hypnotic state it will be hard for your unconscious mind to do anything else. The blueprint for relaxation has been set firmly into your subconscious mind.

3 simple strategies to get you feeling confident quickly:

1) Think specifically of the time/place/situation you want to feel confident in. Remember 'confidence' doesn't mean anything until you attach it to something specific.

2) Focus on words in your mind right now that describe how you do want to be in that time and place. Maybe words such as 'calm', 'relaxed' or 'focused'. Remember your brain works on clear positive instructions.

3) Close your eyes for as long as you like and think about how those words feel. Then, imagine the situation itself and rehearse it in your mind feeling confident and relaxed. This way you set the right blueprint or 'task' for your unconscious mind.

You can repeat this often to make it more effective and use it with as many areas of your life as you need to. If you listen to a hypnotic cd or download that can make the benefits even more powerful (see my profile below). So if you feel like you'd be blessed with less confidence than some other people you can start redressing the balance by using your mind in the right way right now.

It took me years to learn how to be more confident - now you can do it in a fraction of the time. Good luck!

Boost your confidence now at HypnosisDownloads.com

Article by Mark Tyrrell of Hypnosis Downloads.com.

De wekelijkse aanbieding van Transavia is dit keer 3800 stoelen afgeprijsd voor Berlijn en Rome.

Made for the Chinese new year of 2005, this animation of a flying dragon is accompanied by traditional chinese music. The dragon is believed to ward off evil spirits for the new year.

An animated african iron sculpture of a woman, highly elongated, dances to the beat of drums.

Venus de Milo with wings and one restored arm takes flight though finds herself constrained within stone arches.

Blog It, is the smart solution to blog automatically and relief yourself from the headache of blogging. Read the smart features of blog-it carefully, to automate it and avoid the hard work.

Share blogs or videos with your friends, pin images, or enjoy reading, watching and commenting. You can also share your videos and blogs here. Get some gifts for only sharing blogs.

Use the Ezine Act RSS Feeds Center to build your news and distribute it using some HTML codes. It helps you integrate some of your content, or news from other providers on your pages.

The Ezine Acts Feeds show you how to get newsfeed as a news consumer and how to use them to feed your website as a website owner. There's a limit here, though to avoid search engines' penalty.

Love and romance is about how to achieve love and romantic compatibility regardless to your age? Single, married, divorced or even aged! It doesn't matter since your heart is still beating.

You could get in polite touches with others when you meet them. But, how could you express touches of politeness in your letters? Start from the right direction to express touches of politeness.

Submit full information when you request any consultancy in politics, business, or love. The information about your problems should be in full details to helps us read your problems better.

From where does love begin is the question of the day for you to answer. It is also the answer you might have been thinking about, or looking for, if you

How to make audio products easily? Here are some easy to use techniques to grow loyal clients through your own audio system! Learn how to produce your own CDs to improve your life.

Is the AccessoryAds better than the AdSense? Which of them works good to get best revenues? There are new strong advertising companies that work as best alternatives to Google.

Wakening of the Phoenix, or Rising of the Phoenix? Could YOU help me determine which is better to write the English version of this Arabic poetry book? The Arabic version is here.

My books on the Ezine Acts Bookshop & some other useful books by titles and authors. You can save money on selected books about your interests, or use the bookstore to publish your books, or to promote books you like.

The Home Biz Trends Photography shows you how to use your camera to earn extra income offline and online, and succeed even during recession.

How to understand influence to be influential? You do not need persuasion. You need only scientific & sensational influential methods to free your emanation.

Love consulting services index the rest of the love consultation pages on this network and highlight some problems with affectionate and passionate people who requested the services.

We have love problem although our parents accepted the proposal to get married. We do not want to go to village and leave our city and careers to manage some businesses the family has in the village.

Love is tender affection. But, it's broad, despite this definition. It's a natural feeling we born with it & it rises every time we connect with others.

Real quick. Let me ask you this. Have you ever had a situation where a great opportunity was just around the corner… …and all of a sudden it slipped away? POOF! It just disappeared. I have and I’m sure you have too. Unfortantly… A lot of people are going to miss out on this golden […]

Deepfake technology uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) or advanced computing to generate convincing images, audio, or even video, that are not real.

As the 3CX phone system grows in popularity across our client base, we thought we'd share a few tips on using it more effectively!

Here's what you can do after a hacker strikes.

Scammers have found they can leverage QR codes to steal your money.

Artificial Intelligence is all the rage. However, it already has a dark side, and no, we're not talking about Skynet-level annihilation.

Adobe Acrobat subscriptions can be expensive. Did you know you can mark up PDF files for free using your web browser?

This spring Microsoft "gave in" to the EU and other governmental regulators and began unbundling Microsoft Teams from Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 plans.

Dawn Travel, an innovative leader in the luxury travel and cruise industry, is proud to announce that CEO Cliff Hawk will be a featured speaker at the 2024 Phocuswright Conference in Fort Lauderdale. Hawk will participate in the highly anticipated “New Technology and Startup” panel, sharing insights on the cutting-edge advancements driving the future of travel planning and luxury experiences. Dawn Travel has [PR.com]

DepoIQ is excited to announce the launch of CrossView, a new AI-powered tool designed to enhance the review of deposition materials for complex litigation. This innovative platform leverages proprietary Behavioral AI to identify discrepancies and highlight patterns, enabling legal teams to conduct more precise and strategic analyses. "With CrossView, we’re empowering litigation teams to spot critical insights faster [PR.com]

Loyd J Bourgeois Injury & Accident Lawyer has ranked 9th on Louisiana State University’s 2024 LSU100 list of fastest-growing LSU graduate-owned or led companies. [PR.com]

Dr. Justin Salehi joins Rancho Family Pediatrics in Temecula, CA, bringing top pediatric expertise to a newly renovated, child-friendly office designed to inspire young patients. [PR.com]