3 Strategies Selling Agents Can Learn From Hollywood

Have you been looking for ways to increase your sales and client base? If things have been stagnate concerning your sales figures, there are many strategies that you can try out to see what works for you. Have you ever thought about studying the tricks and strategies that Hollywood uses to attract customers and viewers? They are the experts with multi-million dollar blockbusters every year and classics that people can watch over and over again. Here are a few strategies that the showbiz industry uses that you can implement into your list of resources as well.

1. Develop a Hook A "hook" is something that grabs someone's attention. It's used a lot in the music industry as many songs have a hook, which is typically the most memorable part of the song. But people working in Hollywood are also masters of the hook. Did you know that "Gone with the Wind" was originally supposed to be entitled "Tomorrow is Another Day"? Do you think it would have had the same popularity had the producers decided to go with the original title? Probably not because it's just not catchy.

When you are making cold calls or leaving messages, always lead with a hook that will grab their attention. Instead of leading with your phone number and your name, tell them what you do and how you can help them. If you are running a promotion or offering a discount, start with that. You'll be more likely to keep their attention and then you can end with leaving your phone number and other less interesting information.

2. Tailor Your Message to Your Audience

This is one of the more important strategies that you can learn from Hollywood, but it's also a basic strategy that can help increase your sales. If you were pitching movies, you wouldn't pitch a children's movie the same way you'd pitch the summer's biggest action thriller, would you? It's the same with selling insurance. You should know your customers and their needs so you can create a pitch that will compel them to purchase the products and services that you are offering to them. You might have to decide between presenting your message with a more emotional appeal or a more logical approach. You can decide between being informal or formal. The important thing is to know your customers so you can create a presentation that is going to appeal to them instead having a "one size fits all" cookie cutter approach that won't appeal to anybody.

3. Be a Good Storyteller

Everybody loves to hear a good story. That's why people pay $10 for a movie ticket and $25 for a tub of popcorn - so they can go hear a good story and enjoy some snacks at the same time. While pie charts and numbers have their place, they can't replace the persuasiveness of a great story. Practice your storytelling skills. Your stories should involve a few basic components, such as a setting (time and place), an obstacle and how your product helped overcome the obstacle. If you can add humor, that's even better!

Regardless of your industry, we can all learn a little something from Hollywood if we look closely enough at their strategies. If you correctly employ these suggestions when pitching your products to customers, you'll undoubtedly see your sales figures increase.

Choices

You can do and you can be whatever you want. You have the power, and the right, to make the changes.

There are many choices to be made as daily life goes by. There are changes in our world and choices in our lives. There are those who come and those who go. There are those who enrich, and those who drain. There are thoughts which improve our daily grind, and there are thoughts that depress us and bring us down.

Every chance meeting, every friendship, every love, every choice we make, changes us inside and out in ways we neither see nor notice until sometime later.

All of a sudden we encounter an old circumstance, but we handle it in a new way a better way. The choices and the changes we made have caused us to grow, to improve, and we can move on unafraid.

You have one life to live, don't let it count for naught. You have too much to give, Choose to give it!

Copyright 2004 Fran Watson

Sterling Silver Jewelry Fashion Trends for the New Year and Beyond

Each year, on fashion runways from New York to Paris, Milan, and Toyko, sterling silver is "new again" as designers interpret it in new and exciting ways. What makes sterling silver a fashion perennial? The answer is clear: when it comes to beauty, versatility, durability, and affordability, sterling silver jewelry is unsurpassed.

In the hands of talented artists and designers, sterling silver is constantly "reinvented" to suit the evolving tastes of the women who wear it. But whether as a ring, a necklace, or bracelet, standing alone or presented in combination with gemstones and other precious metals...sterling silver is always in fashion.

Here's a look at what's "hot" this year:

Peace of Silver

In 2004, many Oscar presenters and recipients wore gracefully and simply designed "Dove of Peace." pin. Embraced by such Hollywood luminaries as Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Drew Barrymore, and Leonardo DiCaprio, it has also been seen on the Dali Lama and Nobel Peace Laureates Oscar Aria Sanchez, Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, and former UN Assistant Secretary-General Gillian Sorrensom.

Now non-celebrities may purchase the pin in sterling silver pin to demonstrate both their commitment to peace and their fashion sense. The 2005 sterling silver interpretation was designed by award-winning American jewelry artist Henry Dunay to resonate the energy of Picasso's "Dove Of Peace."

Silver Screen

With the enormous popularity of the "Lord of the Rings" series, it comes as no surprise that designers have created jewelry based on the elaborately crafted pieces in the films. Based on the actual pendant worn in the Lord of the Rings film, the Arwen Evenstar Pendant is crafted in sterling silver and comes in a wooden gift box. Measuring 2-1/2 inches in length with a 18" sterling silver chain and a Swarovski crystal stone, each piece is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, adding long-term value to its other charms.

Works Like A Charm

Charm bracelets are both wonderfully retro and extremely cutting edge. Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Avril Levigne, Hilary Duff, and other high-visibility high-fashion celebrities are wrapping their wrists in silver bracelets with the hip L.A. brand "Eldorado Club."

The "Girlie Charm Bracelet" is adorned with charming femme-friendly charms including a cat, a cocktail glass, and a kitty.

Sterling Silver - Always In Style for Your 25th Anniversary No matter what list you consult -- traditional, modern or the now popular "ultra-modern" (which includes items like clocks and appliances) -- silver is the 21st Century gift of choice for a 25th wedding anniversary. Whether it's silver's durability, its strength, its flexibility or its unparalleled beauty, sterling silver is an exquisite memento of 25 years of loving commitment between a couple.

Topping the list of this year's "What's Hot" in silver wedding anniversary gifts, women say they want charm bracelets, hoop earrings, and hair ornaments. For wives who would like to present their husbands with sterling silver tokens, the "top of the charts" picks are cufflinks, tie clips, money clips, neck chains, and I.D. bracelets.

But #1 for him AND her -- a classic sterling silver Tiffany keyring.

Choosing The Right Flashlight

A flashlight is an important tool that every person should have. From the simple task of lighting up an area, flashlights are useful in many applications like rescue operations, signaling, outdoor activities and even self defense. Because you have the option to choose among a wide variety of flashlights that are used for different purposes, it is important that you pick the one that best suits your needs. What to look for in a flashlight

As mentioned earlier, some of the flashlights are specifically designed for certain tasks. Before buying a flashlight, the first and foremost thing you need to do is to identify the purpose for which the device is going to be used. The other main factors that have to be considered before selecting a good flashlight include:

• intensity of light given out by the light source • size • weight • battery life • durability of the device

Battery power

While alkaline batteries work well when there is a power failure at your home or the circuit breaker trips, they are generally not favored because of their lesser shelf life when compared to Lithium batteries. Lithium batteries are available in standard cylinder type batteries and different coin type cells and they offer better shelf life, high power, and improved performance in poor weather conditions. Since they have many advantages over alkaline batteries, Lithium batteries are mostly preferred. So depending on the battery life and amount of power you need, you have to decide on the flashlight accordingly.

Light bulbs

Flashlights generally use incandescent light bulbs, light emitting diodes (LEDs) or High intensity discharge bulbs (HIDs) as the light source. Incandescent light bulbs have a thin filament which heats up when electric current passes through it, causing the light to glow. Even though they produce bright light, they are not long lasting or shock resistant. So in situations which require a lot of light, an incandescent flashlight is probably a good choice.

Recent flashlights mostly use LEDs as their light source. LEDs have several advantages over the incandescent light bulbs. They are very durable and highly reliable too. They also consume very less power, which eliminates the need for frequent battery replacements. There are many LED flashlights that run for more than hundreds of hours on one set of batteries. If you want to invest on a good quality flashlight that can save you money on the long run, then LED flashlights are the right choice.

HIDs use metal vapor for producing light and are several times powerful than incandescent light bulbs. When compared to incandescent light bulbs, they produce brighter light and last longer too.

Color of the beam

LEDs that emit different colors are popular nowadays. These are very easy on the eyes. Red and green colored lights can be used for night vision. So when buying a flashlight meant for nighttime use, you can consider one with variable beam colors. Flashlight material

The casings of flashlights are usually made of plastic or metals like aluminum. Plastic flashlights are cheaper and are suitable for light duty use. Metal flashlights on the other hand are strong, durable and expensive too.

Conclusion

When choosing the right flashlight, always go with a good quality one that will not let you down when you need it. Keep in mind all the different features that have been mentioned above. Even if you have to pay a little extra money, go with a flashlight that would last for several years.

Simple Fundamentals to Selling Items on eBay

One of the easiest ways to make money on the Internet is by selling items on eBay. It does not matter if you are selling collectibles, antiques, toys, electronics, or just things that you do not want in your garages any more, there are a few key things that you should be aware of before you try to sell anything on eBay. This article will outline the some of those selling basics.

First of all, you need to know exactly what it is you are going to be selling. This is extremely important, if you do not know what the items is you are selling, it is quite hard to write a proper description, know its value, or even know who might buy it. You will need to know what the item does, what it is used for, what features it might have, how to use it and its potential value. Make sure to do this for every item you are going to try to sell on eBay. It might sound like a lot of work but with the help of Google, it can go by quite quickly.

Once you have figured out what the items are you are looking to sell on eBay, you will need to check to see if these items are in demand. This will take a bit more research. The reason for this is that there might be many things you want to sell but if there is not some kind of demand for these products, they will not sell. If you want to make money with eBay, you have to try to sell things that will actually sell.

Now that you know all about the items that you will list on eBay, the next thing to do is to find out a bit of information about your potential customers. By looking on eBay for similar items as well as in and around Google, you can find out what type of person might be interested in your items. This will make it a lot easier for you to target your descriptions, pictures and prices for these potential customers. By doing this, you are increasing the likelihood that your products will be seen by the people who will want to purchase them and result in more sales.

Next we move over to eBay itself. You will need to read their rules for selling items to ensure that you are not violating anything. Also, you will want to familiarize yourself with the entire process from both the seller's perspective as well as the buyer's point of view. Knowing what hoops the buyer has to go through in order to buy your items will help you make the selling process go much easier as well as possibly catch problems with customers before they happen. From your side of things, looking into how to create, setup and optimize your account before you actually take the actions will make everything go smoothly. You do not want to find out 2 months down the road that you missed a critical step in the process that has now come back to bite you in the behind.

Once you know all about eBay it is time to move onto payment processing, so you can actually collect some money for your sold items. The easiest and most convenient payment process for eBay is PayPal. It is completely free for people to open an account and it allows you to accept PayPal money transfers as well as most major credit cards. They have been around for a long time and are used a lot for buyers and sellers on eBay.

Last but not least, you need to make sure that you have a good digital camera on hand. So many items do not get sold because the pictures are blurry and you just cannot tell what the item is or the shape that it is in. So if you want to buy one(from eBay even) or borrow one from a friend, make sure that it takes good quality photos of your items.

If you follow these few basic fundamentals when it comes to starting to sell items on eBay to make money, then you will start off on the right foot. If this sounds like too much work or is too complicated, the other option is to use an eBay Consignment Service. All you have to do it send them some quick information about your product with a few photos. They will determine if it has a chance of selling and then will do all the work of listing and selling the item for you. For a small fee of course but it is a small price to pay for someone else to do the work for you.

Life Lines

Joyce Meyers has been inspiring Christians for decades with the pearls of inspirational wisdom which she has faithfully shared via her radio program and books. Now, her husband Dave shares a powerful devotional crafted from a strong, personal walk with the Lord. Let's take a look at the book that will certainly capture the attention of those drawn to Christian devotionals.

Dave Meyers is one of those rare men who works quietly in the shadow of their wife's ministry. Joyce Meyers, who has been inspiring and motivating Christians for decades is a strong inspirational and motivational speaker in her own right. Still, Joyce credits the quiet, strong leadership of her husband in keeping her ministry on track as well as debt free. In reading Life Lines you will fully appreciate the saying, "still waters run deep" and quickly understand that Dave's relationship with his Savior is a strong one.

Life Lines is only 126 pages in length, but each page is a separate devotional that stands by itself. On any given page the first thing that you will read is a Biblically based saying followed by the chapter and verse that the saying is based upon. The body of the devotional is a 1-2 paragraph exposition of the text full of wisdom and laced with nuggets of truth. Indeed, on page 98 Meyers states: God is more interested in your stability than your tranquility. He then references Psalm 1:2-3 for supporting text and sums up how "a life rooted in God and His Word is like a tree rooted in the eternal stream."

The devotional is composed of five chapters featuring five separate themes:

Faith

Grace and Forgiveness

Character

Life in Christ

Secrets of Daily Living

I personally like to read devotionals from varying themes on one day or several devotionals from the same theme on another day. You may find yourself cracking open the Word and reading the supporting chapter to glean the most out of every devotional. Truly, Meyer's book exhorts believers to seek God's will for every aspect of their lives. In that, this book is a real gem.

Life Lines is published by Warner Faith, New York, 2004 and is available at Christian bookstores everywhere or through Joyce Meyers Ministries.