I recently heard sales guru Tom Hopkins describe 7 words that strike fear into the hearts of customers and realized how common those words were in my own sales copy (I have replaced many of them immediately with great results). .

I couldn’t believe how much it was affecting my overall small business marketing strategy.

Knowing that his inside sales system was flawed was humbling but refreshing because he knew there was hope for improvement.

Here are the seven words that strike fear into the hearts of your small business customers and the wording you should replace them with.

#1) cost – how much this item “will cost”, this item “costs” X, the cost of this service is X.

Replacement – Total inversion. Your “total investment” today will be X.

The word “cost” has a negative connotation. That “cost” him dearly.

When you say the word “cost” your customer associates it with a negative. Therefore, you are actually making the “investment” process more uncomfortable and less likely to succeed. On the other hand, replacing “cost” with the phrase “total investment” creates a “warm and fussy” feeling with your customers. People like to “invest” in things, especially themselves, and this is a good way to remind them that their purchase is actually an “investment.”

#two) Price – the “price” today is X, the “price” has been discounted, that is a high “price” to pay.

Replacement – Total inversion. The “total investment” today is X. Your total investment is X.

Again, like the word “cost”, the word “price” causes fear and reminds people of sacrifice or loss. “Full investment,” on the other hand, is a positive term that people like to hear.

#3) Deposit – your initial payment today would be X.

Replacement – Initial investment. Your initial investment for this piece of furniture would be X. The small initial investment is X.

Again, investment is a positive term that will lessen your clients’ resistance to price.

#4) Monthly payment – Your monthly payment is X.

Replacement – Monthly Investment. Your monthly investment for appliances will be X. The small monthly investment is just X.

People are used to the term monthly investment. Whether they invest monthly in a savings account, a Christmas club, or a credit union, an investment is a positive term that adds value to the transaction.

#5) contract – Sign this contract on the dotted line. Let me draw up a contract.

Replacement – Paperwork Prayed Agreement. Great, let’s go over the paperwork. Why don’t you start filling out the agreement and I’ll get us a cup of coffee?

No one wants to sign a “contract”. Cellular companies could learn a thing or two from this. How many times have you burned to sign a contract. Completing the paperwork or agreement is much less threatening than signing a contract and puts your client at ease.

#6) To buy – Would you like to buy this today? We only have two left, you better buy it while you can.

Replacement – Own self. You could have this today for a small monthly investment of just X. I think having a policy like this would give you peace of mind… do you think so too?

People don’t like to buy things, especially expensive things. But they love to have things, especially expensive things. Ownership makes people proud. Look at the Green Bay Packers football franchise. It is owned by the owners of the shares. No one has anything to say about the team, but everyone “owns” a part of the team. Why do you think his games have sold for years? Pride of “ownership”. Help your client invest to own.

#7) Sell Prayed sold out – We’ve sold a lot of these. These are selling very well.

Replacement – Acquire Prayed Involve. People like to get involved in (purchase) a life insurance policy for the protection and security it offers their family.

No one wants to be sold to, but everyone wants to own things. When you say that “we have sold many of these” the first thing people think is… “it’s fine, but they won’t sell it to me, if I want I’ll buy it”. You are now a “salesman” trying to sell them something, not someone trying to help them make the right decision.

The key is in the phraseology used. Professional salespeople practice and rehearse like an actor would. They use the right wording to push customers’ emotional buttons closer to closing the sale.

Remember, people buy on emotion. The better you are at guiding the emotional experience through the sales process, the more successful you will be.

We’ve all seen that little empty coupon code box at the checkout of our favorite online stores. And most of us are tempted by it, because we all love to save money. Although one might think that coupons are a recent shopping trend, the basic idea dates back to the 1890s in the United States. Retailers in the United States began issuing trade stamps as a thank you to customers who paid cash instead of buying on credit.

But how are online coupons best used? What should you take into account? Let’s start by debunking the myths first, and then review some helpful tips.

myths about coupons

A young trend?

Although online shopping is commonly thought to appeal to a relatively young target group, coupons also appeal to older audiences. In Germany, for example, more than half of coupon users are between 25 and 44 years old; but buyers between 45 and 54 years old still represent 16%.

Only for women?

Not necessarily. In many European and Western countries, women tend to use coupons more often than their male counterparts. With a 71.2% share in Sweden, a 64.3% share in France, and a 62.2% share in Russia, it’s fair to say that women love coupons. But other markets show a significant difference: in Brazil, men account for a 53.1% share, and in India, overall coupon use by men reaches 68.4%.

Although the percentages vary between the different shopping categories, most of the clichés are confirmed: men mainly look for coupons to use in electronics stores, while women prefer fashion deals.

Tips and tricks for online coupons

How to Spot Coupon Deals

Coupon terminology varies from one online store to another. Some are called “discount”, “coupon” or “promotion codes”, while others are labeled “coupon codes” or “purchase codes”. They are pretty easy to spot if you keep your eyes open.

Some retailers provide their own codes through their company newsletter or social media page. If you want to make the most of your shopping experience and have a variety of offers at hand, you can opt for one of the many coupon platforms. But be sure to check out Google to see what other customers have to say about their experience with the respective platform. Ideally, you want to avoid signing up for shady deals and save a lot of money during your next online shopping spree.

When to opt for coupons

The basic answer is: always. Why waste money when you can save huge amounts by spending just ten more seconds to type in a promo code? Most of the time, the extra effort spent searching for coupon deals is worth it.

Especially around Black Friday or Christmas, you can find great deals online. Electronics coupons are in high demand from August through September, when classes start; flowers and gifts peak around Valentine’s Day and Christmas is a great time for toys, gifts or travel coupons. On top of that, there is no general rule about when it is best to use a coupon. If you see the coupon box while shopping, why not use it?

Date of Expiry

Both retailers and coupon platforms have to work with limitations when it comes to the time period of coupons. Coupons are sometimes used as a marketing initiative to boost sales at a slow time of year. At other times, retailers want to increase their revenue during the busiest weeks of the year, for example during Christmas or just before Valentine’s Day. Whatever your reason, to achieve your marketing goals, they will offer coupons for that limited time only. So always make sure you read the fine print so you don’t miss the expiration date.

Exclusions and Restrictions

Trying to use your 80% off coupon on the newest Louis Vuitton bag? It probably won’t happen. If online retailers offer high-end fashion items, limited quantities, or even very heavy items, they may not be eligible for coupon discounts. Most coupon sites and retailers are pretty good at letting their customers know about restrictions, but if the fine print is too fine, you’ll notice it at checkout at the latest. Some websites may display a warning on select items, but just to be safe, always double check your cart before checking out.

Compare and save

As you would in real-life shopping situations, we encourage you to shop around. While chances are you won’t visit every store in town to compare prices on socks or paperclips, you have almost no limitations when you shop online. If you know how to use Google smartly and efficiently, you can save even more money. For example, while you can get your new tablet 30% off with a coupon and pay an extra $150 in shipping, on the other hand, you might be better off with a 20% coupon that includes free shipping.

Now you’re one step closer to mastering couponing, and the best part is that it’s quite easy to enjoy smart couponing. Clearly, the amount of money you can save will increase as you get into this helpful habit. Enjoy!

Don’t be surprised if a franchise executive wants to know three things about you when considering you as a franchisee. Franchisors want to know how much cash you can put up for the purchase, how much you can or are willing to borrow, and your net worth (all of your assets minus all of your liabilities).

The cash you’re willing or able to put up for the purchase, how much you’ll have to pay during critical start-up months, your ability to borrow, and potential partners are just a few of the ingredients that will go into the unique financing mix. of purchasing your franchise.

Just because you have cash, for example, doesn’t mean you should spend it all on a franchise purchase. Like it or not, very few franchises are instantly profitable, which is why many new franchisees need to plan specifically to have adequate operating capital to be able to pay themselves a salary for several months or even years. This decision alone could cause you to borrow more and use less cash. Dave Ramsey advocates will likely want to wait to buy a franchise until they can pay 100% cash. In short, how you finance your franchise opportunity has more to do with your personal needs than the franchise you are buying.

One option is to use funds from an existing 401k plan instead of borrowing money. The nuances of this call for a much longer article than this, but here are the basics. Money from an existing 401k plan can be rolled over into a special type of 401k that will allow you to buy stock in your own company. This often requires that your business be organized as a C Corporation rather than an LLC or other type of business entity. Many companies, such as Fran-Fund and Benetrends, specialize in helping franchisees make this work. If done correctly, this approach can be handled with ease, but it should never be undertaken without the advice of experienced professionals and your attorney. It can create some interesting and potentially beneficial financial options, but again should be carefully considered. Some would consider using existing retirement dollars on debt as a conservative approach, while others might consider it quite risky. Consult your business advisors if this is a decision you are considering. One final note, using your funds in this way will incur a fairly significant one-time fee that often includes establishing and registering your corporation. Despite this, it’s often a great option for careful investors, but it’s worth noting that if the amount you’re going to use is less than $30,000, you might consider simply withdrawing your 401k funds, paying the IRS penalty, and possibly end up spending less to get the financing. This decision, like any financing issue that has tax consequences, should only be considered with the involvement of your CPA, your attorney, or both.

Many franchises can be operated with little or no investment in real estate, but for those that require commercial space, part of your financial considerations will need to be related to leasing or purchasing real estate. Purchased real estate can often be self-guaranteed, meaning that the property will secure the note against them. Unless you can build the space from scratch and get a construction loan, you will likely have to find a way to pay for or finance the improvements required by the franchise for the tenant.

Similarly, some franchises require major equipment purchases, while others do not. If your chosen franchise requires equipment, you will need to find a way to finance the equipment. Under many conditions, lenders may provide equipment loans or equipment lease options to lenders who do not qualify for standard business loans.

Some franchise systems have internal financing available for qualified buyers, others do not. In-house financing is attractive in many cases, but can often include interest rates that are not as attractive as what a buyer might get from other sources. Franchisees that offer in-house financing are much more likely to spend time and energy evaluating your business experience, motivation, sales skills, etc. as a means of pre-qualifying you as a buyer.

The US Small Business Administration can help new franchisees with loans. This is a topic that deserves a full article, however here are some limited basics. SBA loans often come from local banks and other regular lenders, not from the SBA. Instead, they are backed by the SBA. There are several types of SBA-related loans available, but lenders generally want to lend more than $150,000 rather than smaller amounts, and these loans will almost always require collateral similar to any other business loan. In some cases, the equity in your existing home may meet this need. SBA loans often require more documentation, but you might consider locating a Small Business Development Center in your area to help you evaluate your options and complete your paperwork. In some cases, your selected franchise will assist you with drafting the necessary business plans and documentation required for SBA loans.

When starting a new business there is always the option of seeking investment capital. In other words, you can sell a percentage of your new company to investors in exchange for the money to start. While this is a fairly common approach to financing a new business, it is less common among new franchisees. This may be due to the fact that many new franchisees quit their jobs and become franchise owners as a means of gaining more control over their own destiny, and perceive even minority investors as a potential threat to that goal. Similarly, the use of investment capital requires careful planning, the involvement of attorneys, and an understanding of C corporations, LLCs, and similar complex business structures. Venture capital substantially complicates a business deal, and new franchisees often choose to purchase a franchise rather than start from scratch as a way to reduce complexity.

As a franchise consultant, I always encourage potential franchisees to ask the selected franchisee to help them consider financing options. The best franchises will almost always be willing to provide you with information on financing options. Likewise, I advise clients to seek the advice of their CPA and attorney.

As far back as Roman times, sage was thought to have magical properties. The Romans thought it would bring them immortality and the Arabian cultures believed it would bring increased psychic powers. Even the Greeks thought that wisdom could make you resourceful and wise. During the Middle Ages, physicians of that time used sage to treat fevers, memory loss, and eye conditions.

Reap the many benefits of something that’s on your spice rack right now. The Latin name for sage is salvia, which means to heal.

There have been many health benefits associated with salvia. It is a known antioxidant, which is important for our bodies to combat the effects of free radicals. Research on clary sage has shown that clary sage oils have a very beneficial antibacterial property. It can be used as an effective antiviral and antifungal treatment. It also has the ability to relieve tension and headaches, as well as calm nerves.

You can add this delicious and healthy herb to your favorite recipes for a wonderful gift. It will create a wonderful recipe and also provide many health benefits. Imagine cooking a meal that can improve your memory. There was a study that showed the benefits of salvia for improving memory.

People throughout time have used this herb to treat conditions as common as sore throats, inflammations of the mouth and gingivitis. You can even chew the leaves to clean your teeth and keep your gums strong. You will discover that it is one of the ingredients in modern toothpaste.

Not only does it provide all of these health benefits, but it is also known around the world for its tasty benefit in recipes. The British use sage to cook with onions for the best stuffing for turkey, chicken and pork. The French use it for a delicious vegetable soup. Germans use sage to flavor their sausages and China uses sage for tea. In the West, sage is often used as a marinade for a variety of meats. You can add this herb to just about any dish you like. Take the opportunity and taste wisely in your recipes and see if it doesn’t give you a little zing.

You can find salvia in any supermarket in the world. But you should know that not all sage is of the highest quality. You can find a better grade of sage if you buy from specialty stores.

Whiteboard videos are widely used to fulfill different communication purposes. Research shows that whiteboard videos dramatically improve learning. They engage, educate, and entertain, all at once. How?

Before we find out, let’s first understand how people try to understand a complex concept when they first learn it, and what tools best help make the learning process effective.

Mindset when learning a Complex Concept

Most of the new concepts are extensions or variations of existing concepts. When learning a complex concept for the first time, we tend to create mental associations of it with the concepts that we have known for a long time. This tendency to correlate existing concepts with what is being learned helps us absorb and consolidate new information in our memory better and faster.

The tools that best help explain a Complex Concept

Visual representation

Understanding a complex concept often requires us to keep multiple ideas in mind. Visual representations (diagram/graph/image) help to do exactly that. Remember how we were taught ‘endurance’ in science class? We still remember to represent ‘resistance’ with a wavy line that was intended to indicate ‘interruption’. It is not like this? Using a visual representation method, a complex concept could be condensed into an understandable representation, making it much easier to relate to and remember the concept.

Analogy

Analogy is a powerful tool, especially when explaining a complex concept to a beginner (or layman). Using comparison, a complex concept could be explained briefly and precisely.

How the Whiteboard Animation Technique uses one or both tools to enhance the learning process

The Whiteboard Animation Technique provides the opportunity to build for your target group, a dynamic visual representation (motion graphics). It goes without saying that it is a more powerful communication tool than a static visual representation (diagrams/still images) as it is essentially a video. And we are all used to watching videos (on TV, in cinemas) with great disposition and total involvement. Watching videos equals entertainment.

What’s more enlightening is that since any visualization can be drawn and animated into a beautiful whiteboard video, it gives you the opportunity to develop a perfect understanding of your complex concept by using associated concepts, already existing in the minds of your viewers. Basically, you could use the viewer’s tendency to correlate old and new ideas, to your best advantage, presenting ideas that could be better related and used to explain your complex idea.

Simply put, you could serve the viewers with the closest and most suitable visualization that could help them understand your concept faster and better.

In a way, a whiteboard video recreates the classroom setting. The voiceover acts as a replacement for the moderator of the session and the animation part appears as a series of diagrams that are rapidly drawn (as if in real time), right in front of the viewers’ eyes. This simulates a ‘Learning environment‘ that engages, educates and entertains viewers, making their video-watching experience memorable! Isn’t that what you’ve been looking for? An environment that makes your TG happy to learn about your concept and how they could benefit from it.

Make an amazing whiteboard video and educate, engage, inform, inspire, entertain, or fulfill any other communication purpose of yours with a much better chance of being heard and remembered! Because whiteboard videos are sure to get you recognition!

These 6-pack tips will help you develop chiseled abs. Now, it takes a bit of time to get ripped, but these tips will greatly minimize that time.

So, try them. I think you’ll be surprised how much they help!

1. Eat less

OK, if you want to have ‘ripped’ abs then you need to lose body fat. No one will be able to see your abs, no matter how big they are, if you have fat covering them.

And the only way to lose body fat is to eat less. That’s as simple as it gets. Nobody likes to diet, but there it is.

Once you’ve reduced your body fat enough, your muscles (especially your abs) will start to shine. You will look more muscular and sexy, even if you just lost weight.

2. Lose 1 to 1.5 pounds per week

Lose just a little bit of fat each week. Don’t go on a crazy crash diet and try to lose a ton of weight fast; you will only be harming your progress.

Why? Well, if you lose weight faster than 1 or 1.5 pounds a week, you’ll lose about half fat and half muscle after that. Which is not a good ratio; Muscle is precious like gold, and you must protect it at all costs!

Of course, this does not mean that it will take you longer to reach your goal. You will be taking the most efficient path to be marked.

3. Lift weights

Lifting weight is vitally important to getting a ripped 6 pack. Lifting weights will not only build your muscles, but it will also help you retain muscle mass when dieting and burning calories.

Now your weight training program doesn’t need to be incredibly complicated. Lift weights once or twice a week, if you work hard, that’s fine.

Oh, and for your routine, keep it simple. Don’t overdo small lifts like bicep curls and calf extensions. Break a sweat and work hard with some big lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, standing press, clean and press, and chin-ups.

Abdominal exercises are helpful, but only after you’ve lost most of the body fat you need to lose. That’s the time to start worrying about making your abdominal muscle bigger.

4. Tea and espresso

Green tea and coffee (especially espresso) will help you lose weight. And not for the reasons you might think.

First of all, none of these have calories. Okay, maybe if you have five shots of espresso it will be two or three, but it’s essentially zero. Which makes them so much better to drink than orange juice, milk, or triple-mocha-frapa-latte-whatever-with-three-shots-of-vanilla.

Both tea and coffee also contain caffeine, which helps mobilize fatty acids (so you can more easily burn fat for fuel) and keep you active. Again, this won’t make up for a poor diet, but it will help when combined with good eating habits.

5. Being cold

Going cold will help you lose fat. Not a ton, but some.

See, your body burns a lot of energy each day to keep you at a constant body temperature. If you’re cold, whether it’s turning down the thermostat, taking cold showers, wearing fewer layers, or drinking tons of cold water, you’ll lose weight faster.

Here is a list of facts about Bobby Jones that most golf enthusiasts probably don’t know:

1.) Jones had a very violent temper that sometimes got out of hand early in his golf career. He threw a stick in the 1916 US Amateur and hit a woman in the leg with another mid-air bite at the 1921 event. In fact, the USGA president at the time, George Walker (great-grandfather of George W. Bush ) told Jones that he would never play in a USGA event again unless he could control his temper.

2.) Jones had a lot of problems early on that kept him out of a few majors, 11 to be exact, for which he was eligible. Problems such as family and school, interruptions at work and lack of money. Despite these obstacles, he managed to win 13 of the 21 majors he entered between 1923 and 1930.

3.) “Big Bob” Jones, as his father was known, joined the Atlanta Athletic Club in 1902, the same year Jones was born. In 1908, the six-year-old played his first round of golf and just a few months later he won the first tournament he entered. He served on the club’s board of directors from 1928 to 1947. In 1971, before he died, he successfully petitioned the USGA to allow the club to host the 1976 US Open.

4.) Jones was addicted to education. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1922 and an English literature degree from Harvard in 1924. In 1926, he entered law school at Emory University. He passed the Georgia bar exam when he was in the middle of the program, and joined his father’s law firm in 1928. During these years, he earned eight majors.

5.) Jones worked hard to get a varsity letter from Harvard, eventually earning one as assistant manager of the golf team, several months before winning his first US Open. Jones was not eligible to play at Harvard because he had played at Georgia Tech.

6.) He played hard at the Masters. He played it 12 times from 1934 to 1948 and it never broke. He shot a practice round 64 in 1936 and his worst round was a nine over par 81. How ironic to see how he co-designed the course, along with Alister Mackenzie.

7.) Contrary to popular belief, Jones did not have a lot of money. He and his family had to move into his parents’ house for three years in the 1920s. He skipped many British races because he didn’t have money for the trip. In fact, his 1930 Grand Slam was made possible in large part because he was the Walker Cup captain and the USGA paid for his trip to Britain.

8.) He retired from golf in 1930, and at the same time, Warner Brothers paid him $120,000 to make How I Play Golf, a series of movies you’ve probably seen advertised late at night for sale on DVD. He also made some money designing spalding sticks. He spent most of the last two decades of his life battling syringomyelia, the neurological disease that left him paralyzed.

9.) Bobby Jones was not what you would call a very loving father. In fact, in 1959, his son, Bobby III, in his quest to win a US Amateur (and qualify for the Masters), faced 19-year-old Jack Nicklaus, and recalled that his father stayed home because he decided not to It was like that. it’s worth a trip to Colorado just to watch him play a game. Thanks for the support dad. Oh!

10.) In 1942, at the age of 40, Jones volunteered for the Army. He was commissioned as a captain in the Army Air Corps and trained in intelligence surveillance. He went abroad and interrogated German prisoners, despite having virtually no knowledge of the language. Any comments or facts that he would like to add? See you on the blog side.

I arrived in Honolulu after a 12-hour flight and a 12-hour layover in Seoul where I was a temporary guest at the Hyatt Regency on the outskirts of Seoul; We had a Korean ‘Nouvelle Cuisine’ lounge style buffet lunch in a rather minimalist setting surrounded by glass and a chilly breeze where the steam from the hot noodle soups felt like heat from heaven. Arrival at the Honolulu airport was quite different, and the connection with the Pacific Ocean breeze immediately captured my attention, as did the Polynesian smiles and pace of life. After the encounter with the engineer who builds houses on the Moon and Mars, I quickly realized that I was going to be away from pollution, away from the nearest continent, away from duality: the Hawaiian Islands are an experience of beauty full of of generosity, unity with the codes of the Universe of respect for nature, the invisible, the connection of the underwater kingdoms with the forces of heaven.

The island of Maui is where I was headed, just 7 days, and where I was going to drive a convertible. Plan for a standard economy because it can indeed bring good surprises as this is Maui and the people are friendly and for the same rate here I was in a convertible. Kahului, the small port on the Pacific Ocean, is nothing more than a hub with an airport. Nothing but department stores and a few hotels on black sand beaches. Route #36 runs from Kahului to Hana, the southeastern tip of the island. I described the path in another note. Hana is a hamlet of few houses, a school, a church, two General Stores built in old wood, a hotel, a community center and many fields. Hana is a remote village on a remote side of a southern island in the Hawaiian island group. Hana lives to the rhythm of the Polynesian lifestyle, fresh, relaxed, smiling, everyone greeting each other, beachside, with coolers to enjoy the day. Hana is beautiful: simple, surrounded by lush greenery, the brisk Pacific Ocean, humpback whales playing in the waves, birds, horses, and deep black horses. Driving along the coast on the beachfront highway is a very pleasant reconnection with the simple beauties of the Earth: sun, marine life, greenery, and absolutely perfect weather. At night the Milky Way spills into the sky with its dusty white clouds of galaxies and makes you wonder how close to Oneness with the Universe humans can get.

I walked five miles to breathe the air and blend in with the surroundings. On my way back, three men are standing on the lawn in front of the church. They are holding up cards: Give us your prayers. Put them in the box. Although we greeted each other and exchanged the “Aloha” ritual to mean “Love,” I stepped back and decided I was going to give these men a universal prayer item. His truck had a sticker on it that said “On a Mission” and since I felt on a mission too, I used the available paper and pen to write a few words to send prayers to the Universe, dropped the paper in the box and walked across the street to grab a drink. hand in hand and pray with John, John and Ekua. mind’s eye for a long time, his sincerity was genuine. That night they were going to have a men’s prayer session in the church and all of our prayers will be sent out to the Universe. I looked at the sky and smiled. How many of these sentences did you receive Demigod Maui!

Café Attitude is located roughly in the Kipahulu area, near the sea on a slope somewhere near the Seven Sacred Pools. Some call the Café an ‘Organic Hippies’ Café/Restaurant. Open only on Sundays when vegetarian dishes are offered in a fairly relaxed atmosphere. On my 2-hour visit there, I ate Thai papaya salad in banana leaves, drank kumbochi (fermented mushrooms), chatted with happy-to-be-down-to-earth young and old, and was entertained by an opera singer, native singer and a folk song writer, when we left, the Milky Way greeted us on our way back to the van. !

The day of my departure arrived and my decision to drive up the slope of the dormant Halaekala volcano was just as good as the decision to come to Hana to attend the Reiki retreat and Karuna Certification. Instead of going back the way I came, something I rarely do in my life, I decided to drive along the lava fields and along the central road. Hardly anyone does that [few people actually like to go out of the beaten tracks] and I was glad to be greeted by an empty road that snaked over cliffs along a beautiful and mighty Pacific Ocean. People say that the island of Maui is still young and the lava field can still give birth to a lot of vegetation. I found it beautiful as it is and with a peculiar energy: a strong magnetism of closeness between the sea and the sky. I have hardly experienced such a connection in a mundane reality. Mountains by the sea, volcanoes by the sea, fire and water dancing with the gods of the sky: a unique mix.

When I stopped at Tedeschi Winery and Ulupakuala Ranch Store, I knew I had reached the end of the lonely road in the sun and the convertible was covered in reddish dust. I ignored the heavy wine tasting and just had a small sip of the raspberry wine, preferring to go to Makawao, a small town that I’m told is a concentration of new age shops.

When I stopped in Makawao and was intuitively directed to the one shop displaying various beautiful selenite crystals, I realized that my journey to the “island end of the world” had come to an end, at least temporarily.

As I was walking by the Maui Beach Hotel at 5:45 this morning, Scotty, the shuttle driver from the airport to the hotel, greeted me: Hi, Isabella! Aloha, are you already flying away? soon Mahalo”

And here I was driving back to the rental company and checking in at Honolulu, Seoul, and Bangkok.

It all happens with a smile, a gentle twist of the body, a good vibe and an ocean breeze that has been with me since I landed in Honolulu. The all-too-short trip to Maui was a throwback to earlier steps in the South Pacific. The wooden houses, the relaxed and friendly attitude, the respect for nature, the proximity to the immensity of the Pacific Ocean, the marine life, the women and men, the children and the churches.

As my desires float in the sky under the control of Maui’s will, I know that I have stretched some limits in my connection with the Universe. I lived the presence. Here and now. And got a message from him.

It all started with the meeting of a man who was building a house on the moon, it ended with prayers to the Universe. May the wishes of the Earth be heard and may the wisdom of Polynesia spread the message of unconditional love to the waves of Lemurian!

Aloha Mahalo, Definitely a place to come back and mingle!

How the hell would one want to leave such a place?

Aloha and Mahalo

I’m sick of the victims of Bernard Madoff, the ones who lost everything. They want to know how they can recoup some of their losses. They think the taxpayers should probably bail them out. Why not, it’s good enough for B. of A. They want to know how Bernie got away with his Ponzi scheme. He got away with it due to the blind greed of (his) investors in him. That’s how it is. If you invest in a fund that is returning unrealistic gains, guess what, something there is unrealistic.

THE GOLDEN RULE: If it’s too good to be true, it’s not true.

I have some money in a mutual fund that has paid me back 200% over a few years. Guess what, I lost my butt in this recession. But I don’t have all my money there. Got play money on it. INVESTING IS PLAYING! As it happens, investing has been a good bet for 70 years. Investing in the stock market has performed better than investing in real estate over that time frame (on an average annual return basis; look it up), with much less “up front” money needed to participate. You can also easily beat the market. I do it every year like a non-financial genius.

Your investment strategy is your responsibility. Your financial future is not the responsibility of B. Madoff, AG Edwards, Fidelity, Edward Jones, Val Kilmer or Batman.

STAY DIVERSIFIED! Don’t invest all your money in a higher-than-normal yield fund. Do your due diligence and investigation. Bottoms that are hotter than normal will get cooler than normal. They should be viewed as “growth,” not “revenue.” I’ve bought growth stocks that went to zero. So my “growth” was negative, but I knew there was a chance to get into the deal. I put a small amount of play money in the wrong pot. I have lost money in “Growth” mutual funds. But he still had 48 other investments to fall back on.

If you invested 100% in BM (hmm, what else does that mean?) you deserve what you got, period. Some of that money should have been wagered on Pepsi Cola. Or even the lottery or slot machines. Shame on Bernie, but shame on you. People who are raped may be in the wrong place. Nicole continued to live near OJ

As a sidebar, let me recommend “US Funds” (they’ve also lost their butt in the recession). They use a team approach. It is highly unlikely that 8 people who control a fund will make the same mistake. That would obviously be questionable, and it would be the investor’s responsibility to recognize the deception. American has been around since the 1930s and will probably still be around when Bernie gets out of jail. You should consider investing in Am. Fds. in the year 2160, when he is released. A $10,000 investment in one of his original funds in 1934 (with dividends reinvested, very important) is worth more than 40 million. This day. Is a $10,000 house in 1934 worth about $50 million today?

Sidebar #2: The stock market always overreacts. If it coincides with the percentage decline in the stock market (as if the Dow 14,000 were ever realistic), unemployment levels should be well above those of the Great Depression. This country should be 58% of what it was 2 years ago. Pfftt! There is no correlation between the market and the reality of the economy. BUY WELL AND STORE. Look for companies that have actually raised dividends in the face of financial disaster. Did you think there was none? So you’re not doing your job.

Computer viruses are everywhere these days; not only do they cost businesses and individuals millions of pounds a year for antivirus software and malware detectors. In the UK, cybercrime and computer viruses cost the UK economy a whopping £27 billion per year according to a report published by the UK government and this number is actually larger than the number of victims that drugs are causing to the British economy in the last 7 years.

As if things weren’t getting worse, now comes a new stream of malicious code that can harm your iPhone. Said to have been created by an unknown 21-year-old computer geek, the new worm virus called “ikee” is spreading in Australia and infecting many Apple iPhones with deadly precision that, if left unchecked, may affect more units worldwide. the US and here in the UK. .

This malicious code that infects Apple’s smartphone wallpaper and changes it to a picture of 1980s singer Rick Astley while a message appears at the top that reads “Ikee will never leave you.” “. Once you see this on your iPhone, you will have a bit of a headache.

Ultimately, it’s only owners who have phones running Symbian OS 6, Windows Mobile OS, and Android who should really be concerned about viruses on their phones, especially if they use their mobile phones regularly to share data over Bluetooth because they have more possibilities. from being infected by mobile viruses. Perhaps the time has come to develop and release a competent iPhone antivirus; but the problem with this is that they may have a hard time getting support from Apple on this.

The reason is that most of these viruses that have affected the iPhone could only enter the phone system due to the weakness caused by jailbreaking the phone and this is obviously against Apple’s policy. So why jailbreak your phone in the first place and make it vulnerable to a virus attack? Well, it is the biggest concern for most iPhone users; they want to use their favorite app and it is not supported by apple so jail brake at your own risk. And what a risk it is!

British mobile phone owners are famous for taking care of their mobile phones and devices. In the UK, revenue from iPhone insurance purchases is regular and consistent business. iPhone 3g and iPhone 4 insurance covers theft, accidental damage and even losses and fraudulent calls; quite comprehensive compared to a few years ago where most insurance providers don’t cover like now. But we have yet to see insurance providers protect smartphone owners from viruses and malicious code, especially if they got it by tampering with their phone. So the best advice for now: take care of your iPhone and avoid using its Bluetooth as much as possible.