And now for that solid, simple, quick tip I promised you for added protectin against viruses:

(Sorry, this won't work for AOL users.)

Everyone else go to your mail program, VIEW, click on LAYOUT and then, under Preview Pane, simply unclick the SHOW PREVIEW PANE option.

Your window will look a lot different, as only the FROM and SUBJECT lines will show, but otherwise, whether you click to enlarge the messages or not, you will be open to infection by viruses!

It takes some getting used to, but it also will save you time, I've found, as it eliminates a lot of temptation to stop and read the junk mail, instead of just deleting it. So it's really a blessing for saving time!

Thanks to Seqkat, a long-time subscriber, for this one! Visit her at: http://www.VillageofTidbits.com

Mirror Mirror On the Wall, Who's the Fairest Of Them All? ©2002 Elena Fawkner This article is prompted by an experience I had during the week. I was working with a woman, approaching retirement but without the financial resources to retire, who was looking to make some changes in her life. She was focused and determined, and she had a plan of action. Then a well-meaning "friend" talked her out of it. The change in tone in her emails from hopeful, optimistic determination to resignation and disappointment was palpable. I am convinced that if this woman had followed her OWN heart and head rather than allowing her "friend" to clip her wings, she would have achieved everything she desired. This is for all the Margarets out there. *~*~*~*~*~*~* How do you create wealth? Wealth is created by: => Finding a product or service that a lot of people want and need. => Getting repeat business out of it. => Choosing that product or service by looking at trends and staying ahead of them. => Employing others so you get more done. => Employing and training others effectively. => Not training competitors but retaining leaders in your organization by offering them the same opportunities for growth as you enjoy. [Source: "Brilliant Compensation" video by Tim Sales and Dr. Charles King, Professor of Marketing at the University of Chicago. Link at the end of this article.] A PRODUCT OR SERVICE THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WANT OR NEED There's no point pursuing a business selling a product or service for which there isn't a market—a HUGE market. What's the biggest market of them all? Baby boomers. Baby boomers are all people born from 1946 through 1974. They total 76 million people in the United States and 2 billion people worldwide. As at today, they're the people aged between 38 and 56. As you'll see when you watch the video, every 8 seconds for the next 16 years, someone will turn 56 years old. What does this mean for you? It means don't go after the 38 year olds, go after the 56 year olds. You have a full 16 years to go after 56 year old people looking for your products or services. REPEAT BUSINESS = CONSUMABLE PRODUCTS/SERVICES Your product or service must be unique and it must be consumable. If it's not unique you have to compete on price and convenience. If it IS unique, your market comes looking for YOU. If your product is not consumable, you're out of business until your next sale. A successful business requires REPEAT sales of consumable products. This way, you're earning multiple commissions on a single initial effort. STAYING AHEAD OF TRENDS Having identified the baby boomer market as THE market to target, when choosing your product or service, in addition to being unique and consumable, it should be one that your average 58-year-old is in the market for. The top five: 1. Health 2. Looking younger 3. Retirement issues 4. Security and money 5. Efficiencies—things that make life easier. EMPLOYING OTHERS TO GET MORE DONE There are three basic ways of earning money: 1. Work for someone else. 2. Be a professional—doctor, attorney, accountant, engineer. 3. Own your own business. In the case of 1. and 2., you exchange your expertise for someone's else's money. Unfortunately, however, your capacity to earn is limited by the number of hours in the day. No matter how hard you work, there will only ever be twenty-four hours in a day. In the case of 3., if you do it all yourself, you still run out of time and talent. To break through the time/talent barrier, you MUST employ others, thereby leveraging off the efforts of your employees. That's the key to wealth. In theory, that is. Only thing is, it's very difficult to achieve leverage through employees, because no employee will ever work as hard in your business as you do, because they don't have an ownership interest in it. To achieve true leverage, everyone in your organization must have the same potential for growth as you yourself enjoy. EMPLOYING AND TRAINING OTHERS EFFECTIVELY To enjoy true leverage, the people in your organization must be productive. You develop productive people by training them effectively, by teaching them how to do what you do so they can turn around and create the same results for themselves. It means investing your time in training people so that they hopefully become at least as successful as you are. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH In order to avoid cannibalizing your business by training leaders only to have them leave your organization to set up in competition for themselves, they must have the same opportunity for growth staying in your organization as they would if they left it. There's only one way of doing business that meets all these criteria for wealth generation. Network marketing. Despite any preconceptions you may have, the fact remains that network marketing is the fairest business model of them all. Why? Because only with network marketing can the member of the organization that creates the larger or more productive organization be compensated commensurately, even if that means he or she earns more than those higher up the ladder. Unlike the traditional hierarchy of an organization of which you are an employee, you know the one—you do all the work and your boss does nothing yet he gets all the rewards— in network marketing it doesn't matter how much money your sponsor earns, if you're more productive, you earn more. And because your sponsor benefits from your success in terms of commissions based on your productivity, it's in your sponsor's interest to help you be as successful as possible, just as it's in your best interests to help those in your organization be as successful as they can possibly be. Win win. *********************** "It's always wise to raise questions about the most obvious and simple assumptions" —C. West Churchman *********************** Do yourself a favor. If you've got it in your head that there's something illegitimate about network marketing, invest a half hour or so of your time in a bit of education. Watch the Brilliant Compensation video and make up your OWN mind. DON'T let other people, no matter how well- intentioned, deprive you of your freedom to choose what's in YOUR best interests. Sure, armed with the FACTS, as opposed to other people's OPINIONS, you may still decide, for your *own* reasons, that network marketing is not for you. Fine! But a little bit of independent thought may just open up a whole new world of opportunity. http://www.ahbbo.com/brilliantcompensation.html *********************** ** Reprinting of this article is welcome! ** This article may be freely reproduced provided that: (1) you include the following resource box; and (2) you mail only to a 100% opt-in list. Here's the resource box to use if reprinting this article: *********************** Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ... practical home business ideas for the work-from-home entrepreneur. http://www.ahbbo.com