Be Happy – Pursue For Your Target Vigorously.

It is said that nothing is impossible in this world. It is not merely a proverb but it is experience of those who made achievements with endured patience and hard work. You too can achieve your target, once you determine and pursue for that vigorously. You can make the word “Impossible” as “I am There To Make Anything Possible”.

For accomplishing your dreams, in the past too some steps were suggested through this blog. Some more suggestions in that direction by my friend Terry Telford are here particularly for those who have some ambitions with working on internet also.

If you have designed some website to popularize your products/services you may:

1. Include the reprint/reproduction rights with your product. This increases the perceived value because people can start a business and make money. You can also include some of your advertisements in or on the product. The more it gets resold, the more your advertisement will be seen.
2. Get the word out about your product and brand it. Ensure that your products have the best quality – initially they may cost the consumer a little bit higher. But you must set up your quality standards. This will increase the perceived value because people believe brand name products are better quality. If you want to quickly brand your product, team up with an already branded business and use their name. You could just give them a percentage of your profits.
3. Participate in chat rooms related to the product you're reselling. Start a conversation with a person without trying to sell to him or her. Later on, while you are chatting, mention the product you're reselling. You could end up selling your product, creating a friendship or finding a joint venture partner.
4. Create a free e-book with the advertisement and link of your affiliate web site. The subject of the free e-book should draw your target audience to down- load it. Also submit it to some e-book directories. The more exposure your free e-book gets, the more your ad will be seen.
5. Start your own affiliate program directory. Join a large number of affiliate programs and list them all in a directory format on your web site. Then just advertise your free affiliate program directory. You will earn commissions and gain sub-affiliates. Plus you could start an affiliate-related e-zine too.
6. Put up your own affiliate program ads. If all the other affiliates use the same ads that you do, it won’t give you an edge over your competition. Use a different ad to give yourself an unfair advantage over all the other affiliates. If you have sub-affiliates, tell them to do the same.
7. Use a personal endorsement ad. Only use one if you've actually bought the product or service for the affiliate program. Tell people what kind of benefits and results you've received using the product. You need to purchase the product or service in order to write a honest endorsement.
8. Advertise the product you're reselling in your signature file. Use an attention-getting headline and a good reason for them to visit your affiliate site.
9. Make sure your signature file doesn't go over 5 lines. Also include your name, occupation, business name and e-mail address.
10. Join a web ring. It should attract the same type of people who would be interested in buying the product you're reselling. You could also trade links on your own with other related web sites. Also you could create an e-zine ring with other e-zine sites.
11. Participate on web discussion boards. Post your comments, answer other people's questions, and ask your own questions. Include your affiliate text link under each message you post. If they read your message and like it, they may click to see what else you have to offer them.
12. Create a free e-zine. Use your e-zine to advertise the affiliate programs you've joined. Submit your e-zine to online e-zine directories and promote it on your web site. Trade e-zine ads with other publishers. Announce your e-zine to e-zine announce lists.
13. Start a private web site. Use it as a free bonus if people buy the product you resell. You could also allow people to join for free and you could advertise the affiliate program you've joined. You could also charge a subscription fee for an upgraded version of it.
14. Provide your web site visitors with content they can't read anywhere else. People will stay longer at your web site to read the original content. You could also allow them to read through your e-zine and archive the back issues on your web site. Or you could charge access to the back issues because it would be original content.
15. Remind your web site visitors they can print out your content. They may browse around your online store while it's printing. They may read it at home, work, outside, etc. Other people might see what they’re reading and want to visit your web site or subscribe to your e-zine.
16. Offer your web site visitors a freebie if they take the time to fill out your online survey. They'll be at the site longer and might buy something afterwards. Your survey could ask them what kind of products they want, what they think of your customer service, how they like your web site, etc.
17. Offer your visitors free software that they can download right from your web site. While they are waiting they might read your ad. Also, if possible, include your ad in the software so after they open it, they'll see your ad again. This will help increase your sales.
18. Provide a huge online directory of information that your visitors could search through. The directory must contain information your visitors would want. It could be news stories, how-to articles, interviews, case studies, profiles, survey results, online audio, online video, e-books, reports, etc.
19. Make sure all your web pages load fast or your visitors will get bored and leave. Time is precious; they won't waste it waiting for your site to load. Do not use too many graphics and high tech gizmos. They may have a hard time finding your product ad.
20. Tell your visitors what's offered at your web site at the very beginning. If people are confused about what's being offered they may leave too early. You could tell them the benefits they get and the things they can do at your web site, like subscribe to your e-zine, read free articles, download free e-books, learn to increase their sales, etc. Make your web site look professional. People will get turned off and leave if they see a lot of spelling and grammatical mistakes. You don't want any broken graphics or links either. Make sure your background colors don't make your text hard to read.
21. Hold a holiday sale for your potential customers. For example, you could tell them every- thing on your site is discounted by up to 50% on the orders given on Wednesday. Another example, "Fourth Of July Sale! Buy One, Get One Half Off!" Using holiday sales gives you a specific and credible reason for your prices to be lower.
22. Use headlines and sub-headlines all over your web site that will grab your visitors’ attention. They will attract them to explore your web site longer. They could be for your free e-zine, product ads, free content, message board, chat room, etc.
23. Place colorful graphs, pie charts and other charts in your ad copy. Use charts as they will grab a person’s eye because they are usually colorful. They will also support your product or service claims and allow your target audience to understand them easier.
24. Highlight buying incentives like free bonuses, money-back guarantees, testimonials, special offers, discount sales, etc. You could place them in boxes, in front of different colored backgrounds, assemble symbols or graphics around them, etc.
25. Use short sentences or sentence fragments in the body of your ad copy. A short burst of words can catch a skimmer’s eye with one quick glance. If people have to read a long sentence or paragraph in order to understand your message, the skimmers may not order from you.
26. Highlight all the important keywords and phrases in your ad copy. You could use bolding, underlining, different colors, graphic text, italics, symbols, indents and extra spaces to highlight the important words or phrases.
27. Place attention-grabbing pictures above and within your ad copy. A powerful technique is to use ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures of people using your product. They will give your target audience a clearer vision of what you're offering. That will help them imagine themselves getting the benefits of your product.
28. Use a headline that catches the attention of your target audience. You could use many different types of headlines, free offers, guarantees, testimonials, news stories, questions, benefits, warnings, statistics, features.
29. Make your ad's keywords and phrases stand out by enlarging the text. This technique works wonders with headlines and sub-headlines. People see them first because it's easier for their eyes to focus on. You could also use different fonts for your headlines than the rest of your ad copy.
30. Make your product’s list of benefits and features stand out by using a symbol in front of each of them. The symbol could be a dash, solid circle, star, etc. Also indenting them will help make them stand out. Each benefit should be written like a headline to get the readers’ attention and tell them what’s in it for them.
    

The above is not an exhaustive list – you can make up your mind according to your own circumstances and resources but keep in mind that instead of being disappointed with the early failures, you would continue to affirm that nothing is impossible – you too can achieve the success.

Be Happy – Pursue For Your Target Vigorously.

Be Happy – Make Your Deals More Effective.

If you are in business trading in some products, if you are manufacturing some thing or if you are rendering professional services to a number of clients, you enter into some deal with your customers, your suppliers or your clients every day, every time you are in process of clicking some deals – that may be beginning or in mid way or in finishing stage.

You need to review your policy to make your deals more effective every time with new experience. For early success, you can take many actions in accordance with your circumstances, your budget and your needs as well. You may:

1. Change your advertisements regularly. Your prospects could get bored seeing the same ad all the time. Statistics show people usually see the same advertisements 7 times before they actually buy. Just change them enough to keep them from being over-exposed. For example, if your ad said. "FREE Killer Marketing E-book!", you could change it later on to "FREE Sizzling Marketing E-book!" after a few insertions.
2. Lower the chances of negative word-of-mouth marketing. You'll always have customers who are dissatisfied. Try to please them as much as possible. You could give them a refund, discount, a free product, a coupon, a rebate, a compliment, etc. Just be polite and stay calm if they are angry or frustrated with your business.
3. Give people a deadline to order. Tell people if they order by Sept.20, 2010, they will get a discount or free bonuses. This will create an urgency so they don't put off buying. Another example, "Order before 8:00 p.m. US/EST and get a second product of your choice for free!"
4. Offer people a money-back guarantee. The longer the guarantee, the more effective it will be. It could be a 30-day, 60-day, 1 year, or lifetime guarantee. You could also offer them double or triple their money back or a set amount of money back, like $25. You could also allow them to keep the product if you can afford to do that, even if they ask for a refund.
5. Offer a free on-site repair service for products you sell. This is convenient for people because they won't have to send it away for repairs and they won't have to be without the product for a long period of time. If they have to send the product to you to get repaired, offer them free shipping.
6. Publish testimonials on your ad copy, with the phone numbers/contact details of the persons who gave to you. They will give your business credibility and you'll gain people’s trust. It's important to include the person's full name and location with the testimonial. For example, "Jon Smith, Auto Mechanic, Wooster, Ohio."
7. Give people free bonuses when they order your product or service. The free bonuses could be books, jewelry, reports, newsletters, etc. Make their bonuses sound extra valuable by listing their retail value, either separately or together in one amount, or limiting how long you will offer the bonuses.
8. Allow people to make money reselling the product or service. Tell people they can join your affiliate program if they order. You could pay them per sale, per click, per referral, etc. Just provide them with proven and tested marketing materials, detailed statistics and plenty of affiliate training.
9. Offer free 24-hour help with all products you sell, in terms of technical information, their end uses etc.
10. Advise customers to ask you questions by e-mail, by toll free phone, by free fax, etc. If for some reason you can't offer this service, answer their questions and concerns as soon as possible. You could also let them know you received their message and you'll get back to them as soon as possible.
11. Provide free shipping with all orders. If you can't afford it, you could offer free shipping on orders over a specific amount. You may also offer a rebate on their shipping costs. Most customers most probably won’t send in the rebate card unless it's a huge shipping cost.
12. Give away a free sample of your product. You will gain people's trust when you allow them to try out a free sample of your product. If they like it they won't hesitate buying it. Your sample should only give them a small taste of what's in it for them if they buy.
13. Offer a buy-one, get-one-free deal. If you sell more than one product, this type of deal works great. People will feel they are getting more for their money and will order quicker. You could also offer them a ‘buy one, get one half’, ‘buy two, get the third one free’, ‘buy two, get a free watch’, etc.
14. Increase the number of visitors who revisit your web site by publishing a free course right on your site. Just release a new lesson once a week. You could even offer a live chat room class every week or a class published on auto-responder.
15. Make sure your graphics load correctly on your web site. Broken graphics will make your business look very unprofessional. That also goes for broken links and slow loading graphics. People can find other web sites to visit with a click of a mouse.
16. Avoid using scrolling marquees on your web site. They take the attention away from your ad copy and make your web page load slower. Just type the message on your web site. You can highlight it with flashing, color or bigger text.
17. Make the text on your web site exciting to read. You can use emotional words, descriptive adjectives, highlighted keywords, exclamation points, etc. You can also get your prospects excited by showing how much passion and excitement you have for your product or service.
18. Remember to reach out and touch your visitors offline when your visitors give you offline contact information. You may use it to send them some non-selling greeting card by mail, a friendly phone call, a little gift, etc. This is actually pre-selling them back-end products because when you eventually try to sell them one, they will be more receptive to your offer.
19. Use guest books to improve your web site. Your visitors will leave good and bad comments. Review the comments and use them to improve your site. You can find out critical things, like how people like navigating around your web site, if the design looks professional, etc.
20. Regularly check and resubmit your web site's search engine rankings. They can drop very quickly because of all the competition. Keep informed of new search engine strategies by visiting informative web sites, subscribing to related e-zines, buying search engine how-to e-books, etc.
21. Divide your product’s price over a period of time to make it sound less. Offer a payment plan, or show the per day price. For example, "Only 33 cents per day!" If it's an information product, you could divide it by the number of pages, tips, chapters, strategies or minutes/hours/days it took you to create it.
22. Promote your products within the content of your web site. If you write and offer free articles, include a mention of the product or service you're selling. You could include it in your resource box or subtly reveal it within your article if it's related.
23. Update the content on your web site regularly. You'll want to add new content and update the old content. People want timely information that tells them how to do something ‘now’, not how it was done 10 years ago. That's another reason you should constantly be educating yourself.
24. Ask visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. It's a good idea to also give them a freebie when they subscribe. Once they are subscribed, they might read your content, see your advertisements, join your affiliate program, buy advertising, revisit your web site, etc. The benefits are endless.
25. Have them sign up to get access to download a free e-book. The subject of the e-book should be related to your target audience. You could have them sign up to a opt-in list or your regular e-zine. The e-book should have high perceived value so they'll take the time to sign up.
26. Give your visitors a free membership inside your Members Only web site. Have them sign up to receive a user name and password. You could create a Members Only e-zine to capture their e-mail address and membership updates so they will revisit your web site again and again.
27. Hold a free contest or sweepstake at your web site. Ask them to give you their contact information to enter. Just get their permission to send them new product offers. You could also announce the winners to them, as well as sending new contest announcements.
28. Offer your visitors free consulting via e-mail. Have them fill out a web form to e-mail you with their questions. When you answer their questions, include an offer for a product you sell or highly recommend products that could help them. You could join the product’s affiliate program to earn commission if they take your advice.
29. Hold an interactive poll on your web site. Ask your visitors to e-mail you their vote or opinion. You could send them a "thank you" e-mail and also mention a product you're selling. Tell them to subscribe to your e-zine so they can see the results of the poll.
30. Ask your visitors to sign up for a chance to get a web site award. Have them e-mail you their contact and web site information. You can e-mail the web- master and tell him/her if they are the winner or not. Include your signature file at the end of your e-mail mentioning a product you sell.
31. Have visitors fill out a survey on your web site. Give them a free gift as an incentive to complete the form. You can e-mail the results of the survey and offer them a free e-book as a gift for completing your survey. Of course your ad will be in the free e-book.
    

The above suggestions may help you in making your deals more effective. You can implement them after making modifications as you feel appropriate keeping in view your circumstances and resources.

Be Happy – Make Your Deals More Effective.

Be Happy – Increase Your Income

If you are in business or you are self-employed, you need to make efforts for locating out good customers or clients. If fortunately, you have got them before hand. You need to maintain them and increase your network so that you may not waste your time extra on the search. It must be a constant work.

Whenever you launch any product, you need to make some preparations before hand so that your launch should bring out the expected results. If your launching is found appreciable, you will certainly have to make no special efforts for further sales or generation of revenues. Continuous sales of your products/services would ensure prosperity and realization of your efforts involved in creation of the products/services.

Suppose that you have chosen your web designing or software making services as your product. You may consider taking the following action. You need to

1. Tell your audience what kind of support they'll get after they buy. It could be free consulting, tech support, free servicing, etc. This may also answer some of their buying questions ahead of time. People don't want to buy products without knowing that you will be there to help if they have problems.
2. Ask people at the end of your presentation or after a few days thereof, why they decided not to buy. This will give you new ideas on how to improve your presentation that’s more profitable.
3. Have a web form or e-mail link in place so they can answer you. You may find out they don't like your guarantee or graphics. It could be anything.
4. Think of ways to get your business in the news. You could sponsor a fundraiser, break a world record, hold a major event, etc. Simply write a press release about what you’ve accomplished, then send it to media outlets that cater to your target audience.
5. Develop a web site giving full details and keep it updated all the time.
6. Hold a contest on your web site. Give other web sites the option of offering it to their visitors. This'll multiply your advertising all over the Internet. It would become a viral contest. Of course the contest must either be ongoing or held regularly so you could allow other online publishers to offer it to their visitors or subscribers.
7. Tell your potential customers that your ordering system is highly secure. Also reassure them that you take every effort to protect them. People want to feel they are safe online. They want to know that you care about their well-being. Tell them all about what you currently do for them to make them feel more secure.
8. Carry business cards with you wherever you go. Have your web address printed on them. You can hand them out to anyone you meet. Just think of all the people you meet on a regular basis: grocery clerks, post office workers, bag boys, family members, friends, salesmen/women, etc.
9. Contact national radio stations to ask them if they are looking for guest speakers. Tell them your area of expertise; maybe they'll book you for a show. Of course you would want to contact targeted stations and shows which would want to know more about you and your area of expertise.
10. Join clubs related to your area of business. You could trade leads with other businesses. Learn new ways to run your business and sell your products. You could also create your own business club.
11. provide private chat rooms, message boards, articles, etc.
12. Think of a domain name for your web site which is easy to remember. It should be related to what your business does, sells or provides. If there aren’t any business names available, use your actual birth name. You could at least brand yourself. Your own name will give you credibility.
13. Position your web site at the top of pay-per-click search engines. You will only pay your set amount for each click-through you get to your web site. Just make sure your profits will pay for your advertising cost. If they won't, maybe you could share a web site with another related business and split the costs.
14. Allow your visitors or customers to increase your traffic or sales. Ask them how you can improve your business, web site or product. You can ask them at your web site, in your e-zine, on your message board, in your chat room, in your guest book, in your product packages, etc.
15. Team up with other e-zines that have the same target audience. Combine subscriber bases and then publish one e-zine together to increase subscribers. You could all include your ads and announcements in the e-zine. You could also take turns for the top advertising space.
16. Swap endorsement advertisements with other web sites. Endorsement ads usually pull more sales and traffic than regular advertisements. People have taught themselves to ignore advertisements because they see hundreds of them every day. Endorsements usually don't look or sound like normal ads.
17. Outsource part of your workload to save time and money. You can spend more of your time and money promoting your business. You'll save money on employee costs, space costs, training costs, etc.
18. Keep the work you enjoy doing to keep you motivated and ship out the work you don't like.
19. Include a signature file on all the e-mails you send out. Provide your business name, phone number, e-mail and web address, etc. Also include a brief blurb for your business or the product you're selling. For example, you could say, "How To Wash Your Car In Two Minutes or Less!"
20. Use pictures or graphics on your web site that support the product you're selling. They could give your visitors a clearer vision of your product, the benefits of the product, people's emotion when they own the product, etc. You could also use ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures.
21. Create a friendly, long-term relationship with all your customers. Practice good customer service and follow-up with them on a regular basis. You could follow-up with gifts, greeting cards, free things, coupons, special offers, reminders, your e-zine, helpful advice, etc.
22. Create strategic alliances with other web sites. You could exchange banner ads, sell each other's products as back-end products, cross-promote, etc. You could also create a web site together and promote it on your separate web sites. You would both just split the costs and profits.
23. Increase the perceived value of your product to skyrocket your sales. Add on free bonuses, after- sale services or an affiliate program. Other factors that would help are: your own domain name, a professional web design, a good-looking product graphic and persuasive ad copy. Give customers a discount on their total order to increase sales. You could give them a discount for ordering over a set dollar or product amount. For example, you could say, "Buy over $39 worth of products and get a 20% discount on your order!" Another example, "Get a 15% discount if you order 3 or more products!"
24. Allow your visitors to reprint the content on your web site. Just ask them to include your resource box and a link to your site in exchange. This will turn your content into a traffic machine and the external links will help increase your ranking in some search engines.
25. Provide a free contest or sweepstake at your web site. It's a fact, people like to win things. If you can fulfill that need, people will visit. You can also attract them to revisit by holding one every week or month. You could also start an opt-in list for people who enter your contest or sweepstake so you can follow-up with them regularly.
26. Save time and money by using ad submitters. You will reach a larger part of your target audience far more quickly than by manually submitting your ad. You should manually submit your ad to the most popular web sites so you have a better chance of being listed or placed in a good position.
27. Create a good first impression. You will not be able to sell very many products if your visitors think your web site looks unprofessional. Use crisp graphics, attractive color combinations, a readable text size, even spacing, even margins, bold headlines, indent benefits, etc.
28. Stop procrastinating and start finishing all your business tasks. Do one at a time. Don’t get caught up thinking that you can never get them all done.
29. Make a list. Do the easiest or most crucial one first and move down the list. Cross off each task as you complete it.
30. Develop a relationship with all your visitors and customers. Tell them how much you appreciate them visiting your web site or buying your product. Invite them to online and offline events like free chat room classes, parties, dinner gatherings, business events, etc.
31. Hire a business coach to help improve you and your business. That could help increase your sales, motivate you, balance your workload, etc. It would be like renting an extra brain. You would have double the thinking power.
32. Stay away from being too comfortable with your income or life. You should always be making new goals for yourself and developing new sales ideas. The world keeps changing and if you pause too long, you might miss out. You may only live once in this life.
33. Make sure you don’t become a workaholic. Your mind needs time away from your business life. This will help your brain think clearly while working. The best time to get profitable ideas is when you’re not thinking about them. They just pop into your brain.
34. Create and follow short/long-term goals for your business. The short-term goals can create early success and the long-term goals can create future success. Design each goal so they all add up to your ultimate goal. Don't make your goals too unrealistic otherwise depression and frustration could move you farther away from them.

More or less, the above are only suggestions which you may consider to attempt upon after making modifications if required according to your individual circumstances. But I feel that they can help you to increase your income.

Be Happy – Increase Your Income.

Be Happy – Become a Freelancer (part 4)

In my earlier posts, I had made some submissions why you should adopt freelancing as a source of your bread and butter, about the merits and demerits and how you may explore out the work. Some more suggestions in the same direction are here.

Where are Your Customers?

After you finally decide to adopt freelancing for your bread and butter, you need to find your first clients and customers. A few years ago you would have to act solely by means of local businesses and private residents of your community in hopes that someone, anyone you know could lead you to a potentially high paying client for your freelance work. You might have got success or it might go futile because of the contacts being limited.

Due to advent of internet in our life, finding customers for your fresh freelancing operation has now been easier. People looking for freelancer workers to help them with a project or two are all over the places and can help you get started in the freelance world.

As a freelancer, you can also use the internet to your advantage to advertise your services on various forums and other freelance web resources. In such situations, instead you are looking for some prospective clients; they may look for you – allowing you to focus on whatever tasks and projects you are currently working on for others.

As a new freelancer, the first thing you must do when looking for clients is to get your name out there. Let people know who you are, where you are, what time suits to you, what you do, how well you do it, and what you can do for them. You must have your brief profile extended to all the corners of the world you may get affinity with.

Potential clients love a freelancer who is willing to get the job done right the first time on a timely manner, and if you have no prior experience, you may have trouble getting high paying customers to trust you right off the bat. You may need to build up your base first. Slowly but surely, you will get what you deserve.

However, if you start with a few low paying jobs, you will quickly find that you can advance through the ranks very rapidly and soon be able to net all of the projects that will allow you to keep your freelance business self sufficient. Your income may grow up accordingly. There is no better way to get off on the right path as a freelancer than to assemble a clear, concise, and focused portfolio of your work.

You can either include this portfolio as an email attachment when you apply for positions offered to you by clients, or if you have some web design skills you can create a personal portfolio website that outlines all of the specific projects that you have worked on over the years for various clients. You can highlight whatever you achieve.

Whatever type of portfolio you choose to create, you must be sure that it is targeted to the audience you are trying to attract, as there is no sense in including work you did as a software programmer if you are looking for work as a freelance photographer for example. Your profile must be brief but to the point and should have something which may interest your targeted clients.

Now, when it comes to finding clients for your freelance business in masses, you need to focus your attention to the various forums and discussion boards that dot the web. You must be able to explain what you can deliver. You may choose for Google. It is a great way to search for different websites that are specific to your chosen freelance field, and if possible you should avoid posting advertisements for your services in freelance forums that are not frequented by people who are looking for freelancers in your line of work. You must be choosy as posting out of section makes you look bad and could result in you being banned from various freelancing websites that may have proven helpful to you in the future as your business expands.

Because it is so important for you to find freelance websites that are focused to your particular field of operation, you need to decide on one or two services that you think you can find freelance work in and then go from there.

If you choose one of the popular freelance jobs, such as writer, editor, photographer, web designer, or software programmer then you will have a much easier time finding work online because there are so many different freelance directories available to you. As any kind of freelancer, one of the best places to start your search for customers in US is Craig’s List. This can help for other countries too. You need to make a deep study. This is your one stop shop that can help you find work in your local metro area as well as in cities and countries from around the world. Most of the jobs offered at Craig’s List allow you to work at home although you may have to visit the offices of some of the higher paying positions from time to time.

Another amazing resource for freelancers of all kinds is Guru.com, a website that helps prospective freelancers in all fields find customers from around the world. This website caters mostly to well establish freelance professionals though, so you may want to turn to it later once you have exhausted your other freelancing options.

If you wish to be a freelance writer or editor, there are a couple of excellent freelancing websites for you. Just you need to surf.

The first is Freelance Writing, a massive database where employers and freelancers can post their information in hopes that they will find a suitable match on a per-project basis. You will mostly find lower paying jobs here, but it is a great start if you are just getting into freelancing or if you are simply looking for a couple of easy part time projects to supplement your current income. Also, the Writer’s Market is a great place to not only find work but to learn all of the ins and outs of the writing and editing business. You can get in touch with potential clients as well as hone your skills as a writer.

Those involved in the world of design and programming should turn to ScriptLance.com as their source of well paying jobs in their chosen industry. As one of the leading websites for those involved in programming and design, this is probably the most likely place that you will find a well paying job in the web and software field.

If you are looking for other options, check out the Freelance Job Search, a website that will help you find lesser known, but well paying freelance jobs in the world of web design, graphic design, and programming.

Is Freelancing Really The Way To Go?

If you are planning to quit your current job and enter the world of the freelancer, then you had better be pretty darn well sure that this is something you want to do. Even if you are totally sure that you want to become a freelancer in your chosen field, is it something that is financially possible for you?

Can you support your family on the salary you make from a freelancer? You will have to think about your healthcare, are you prepared to give that up too in pursuit of a future as a freelancer? Can you handle the stress that comes from working with tight, often ridiculous deadlines on your projects?

Do you work well by yourself and can you speak well when talking with a potential client who may want to hire you for his next project? Finally, do you have what it takes to constantly advertise yourself and your services to anyone who may be interested?

Far too often, people think that they want to be freelancers simply because it sounds cool. After all, many people get it into their heads that there is no more relaxing work atmosphere than being able to wake up late, work on your computer while you are wearing your night suit, and take off whatever days you want as your vacation. Sure, these are all perks of being a freelancer, but let’s be honest here - there are quite a few trials and tribulations that you will have to go through as a freelancer before you can reach the point where you do not have to worry about your finances anymore.

Yes, that is something that so many people fail to realize – you cannot expect to simply quit your current job for life as a freelancer and suddenly have hundreds of potential clients knocking at your door in hope that you will do a project for them. There is much more to freelancing than that, so let’s find out if you have what it takes to make it in the cutthroat world of the freelancer.

The first thing that you have to realize about being a freelancer is that you may not be able to make ends meet on freelancing alone for quite some time. So, if you are thinking about quitting your current job – don’t do it just yet. Instead, test the waters and be sure that you like freelancing first, and find out how much money you can make as a freelancer before you even begin to work on your resignation papers.

As a fledgling freelancer, your best bet is to start off with clients that may not pay as much but will be able to get you in the door. Sure, you will have to take jobs that you may think are below you – but in the end it will pay off.

Maybe not financially at first, but by way of getting your name out there and adding employment opportunities to your ever expanding list of satisfied customers. Therefore, if you want to freelance professionally, you have to be willing to take a pay cut at first in order to be successful later.

Secondly, you have to figure out whether or not you can support your family on the salary you will make as a freelancer. Remember that you will have to take a pay cut from your current job when you first start out as a freelancer, and when you finally quit your current job for good, will you be able to bring in enough work to keep your family’s lifestyle at the same level it currently is?

These are important questions that you have to ask yourself before you make that big leap into the world of freelancing. For example,

1. While it is not very important if you decide to keep doing freelance work as a supplement to your current income – it will become extremely important if you decide to make your freelance salary your sole income.
2. You have to think about what you will do for healthcare as a freelancer. Without the support of an already established business behind you, you will have to pay for your own (and your family’s) health insurance out of pocket.
3. This is not a big deal if you have a spouse that gets health insurance from his or her workplace, but if your spouse is a stay at home parent or is involved in their own freelance business, this becomes a major expense to think about. So be sure that you will be able to afford health insurance for all of your loved ones when you become a freelancer.
   
4. Stress management is a key factor of working for you as a freelancer. You will be faced with projects that may require you to work long and hard before you can finish them. Often, these projects will be extremely difficult and be under some ludicrous deadline – making them that much more intense. So, are you good at handling stressful situations such as these? After all, if you are not able to get the project back to your client on time and in working order, you may be discredited and have a much more difficult time finding work for many months to come.
5. Are you a team player or do you work better as an individual? While this question may seem insignificant, remember that as a freelancer you really have no team to rely on should you not know how to do something. Sure, you could scour the internet for answers to your questions – but that will take away valuable time from your project. So, if you are the type of person who can accomplish tasks more efficiently in a group, then you may want to rethink the idea of going freelance, because the individualize work environment of a freelancer is certainly not for you.
   
6. Finally, can you handle the fact that you must constantly advertise your services to just about anyone who may need you to do some work for them? Do you have enough self esteem that you can promote yourself as if you are the best freelancer out there? Being able to constantly advertise your services is a major benefit for anyone looking to become a freelancer. While it is possible to by shy or withdrawn and be successful at freelancing, you will have a much easier time if you are more vocal about promoting your services to prospective customers.
   

I hope that with the above, you can think in the right direction and would like to become a freelancer for leading a better life.

Be Happy – Become a Freelancer.

Be Happy – Become a Freelancer (part 3)

After we understood why we should become a freelancer, we may explore out how to get the job as a freelancer.

How to Get Into The Freelancing Business

We have all read an article, seen a photograph, tinkered around with some software, or visited a website that was designed by some type of freelancer. Chances are that at some point or another we have all wanted to go out on our own – away from our current jobs – and start a new career path as a freelancer in our field of specialization. That will be sufficient for making a decision.

But why don’t we? What holds so much of us back from going out and doing what it is that we want to do with our lives? Why do we allow ourselves to be tied to our employer as if some invisible shackles enslave us? What types of skills do we need in order to finally break free from the nine to five shifts and start out on our own as a freelancer? Where are we hesitating?

We may ask ourselves all of these questions before we even think about quitting our current occupation in pursuit of a freelance job. Each and every year, far too many people believe that they can simply quit their jobs and pursue a career as a freelancer in whatever their specific field may be – and far too many of them fail, only to go crawling back to their previous employer in hopes that he will give the destitute freelancer his former job back.

This unfortunate circumstance happens for one reason and one reason alone – the person who wanted to branch out on his own as a freelancer had no idea what to expect. People told him that he could be free, have as many days off as he wanted and retain all of the profits from his work. But nobody ever told him that he may have to work long and hard to meet deadlines, manage his finances himself, and compete with thousands of others for the same clients. This fact is still not known to him.

Before we begin any ventures into the world of freelancing, we should know that it is not all fun and game – a lot of serious thought must go into our actions if we are to be successful. Now that we have thought it over and we are absolutely sure that freelancing is right for us, it is time to set foot into our new career path and start looking for some work.

Whatever you may do, do not quit your current job right now, as you will not have a livable source of income for at least a few months while you search for well paying projects. Be sure, quitting your job will come in due time, but only after you have managed to net a few illustrious contracts first.

With your passion and desire in hand, the first step of your new life as a freelancer should be to log onto your computer, pull open your web browser of choice, head over to one of the top three search engines, and look for work. Use specific keywords that can describe what you want to do with your life and sooner or later you will wind up with a massive database of different websites that cater to the freelance community in your specific field. You can explore out your social network also.

You must hit at right point. If you are a freelance writer why would you look for work at the software programming freelance directories? Once you have constructed a list of the top websites in your field where you think you will be able to find clients, visit the sites daily (or subscribe to their RSS feeds) to find projects that would not only be interesting to you but will also pay the bills.

Chances are that when you start out down the road of a freelancer in any field you will find that you can only get small time, low pay contracts and projects that really do not require much skill at all. This is because you are new and relatively unknown to the freelance community. As the time passes, you may get success and get client after client, more and more people will start to know who you are and the kind of work you will do. You can then net the higher paying projects that will allow you to really start supplementing your income greatly.

Eventually you may even find that some potential clients may start coming to you with their work, hearing how much you can accomplish or how good you are at meeting deadlines from the people who hired you previously. It will enhance your credit achievements.

Upon becoming a freelancer for the first time, it is also important that you create a mass of different items that can show off the kind of work you do. Making this portfolio may be one of the most important things you can do if you want to succeed as a freelancer, as it will help you move up in the world of freelance work. As many portfolios you add, you will become important.

But you must be choosy to include projects that you have all of the rights to, as if someone thinks that you may have stolen pieces of your portfolio from others, the word may get out and you risk not being hired for freelance work by anyone – ever. Furthermore, only add items to your portfolio that make you look good in whatever particular field you are trying to find freelance work in.

If you are looking for freelance work as a web designer you could include an article you wrote on chemistry, but why would someone looking for a skilled web designer really care about something you wrote for a chemistry website – unless your client was also hiring you to write his web copy. Finally, your competition from around the globe will be another major barrier in your pursuit to become a self sufficient freelancer.

People from all walks of life and from just about every country in the world will be competing for the same projects as you, so you had better be prepared to offer something that other people simply cannot compete with. For example, if you are a freelance writer or editor, the best way to compete is to explain to your clients that you are a native English speaker and can understand the psychology of the visitors more conveniently.

Graphic and web designers as well as software programmers must undertake plenty of extra college courses to show how well they are educated in their craft. Finally, no matter field you are freelancing in, you should always take some time as an unpaid worker to create some examples for your portfolio that really highlight your strong points.

Be Happy – Become a Freelancer.

Be Happy – Become a Freelancer (part 2)

Why should you become a freelancer for additional income? You must consider all the pros and cons before attempting upon this style of working. It has some merits and some demerits which you can examine in the light of your own circumstances. It is essential because it would gather money for your survival.

Merits and Demerits

After a long day at the office, you decide to stop by your local bookstore to pick up a copy of your favorite magazine. When you open it up to a story that you find fascinating, you look at the author’s name and see that in his biography it says that he is a professional freelance writer. Looking at the selected photographs, drawings and diagrams quickly makes you realize that all of the artwork for the story was also done by freelance photographers and graphic designers.

Returning home from the bookstore, you decide to start up your computer and log online to check out the news for the day that you might have missed. Topping the list on your favorite tech news website is a brand new program that looks like it could be a lot of use to you.

Visiting the software programmer’s website shows that he is also a freelancer – and seems to be doing rather well at his chosen trade. Realizing that so much is created by freelancers, you decide to dedicate the rest of your evening to researching the freelance databases to see if you have what it takes to join this growing world of self employed individuals. Before you begin your hunt to be a freelancer though, you need to know the benefits and the drawbacks of working for yourself on a per client basis.

A lot of people will tell you that setting foot outside of the office was the best thing they ever could have done while others will tell you that they could not wait for each of their freelance projects to be over because they simply could not stand the stress of their assignments. In order to be a successful freelancer you really have to weigh all of the pros and cons and be absolutely sure that the career path is right for you.

Merits:

So, here are some of the most common merits and demerits you may observe as a freelancer.

Benefits:

1. The moment you decide to become a freelancer, everyone you talk to will probably tell you how cool it is to be your own boss.
2. You are in control of your work and nobody else (except for your clients) can tell you what to do. If you don’t want to work on Fridays – you don’t have to. Take any days off that you want, but make sure that you finish your projects by the deadline. By being your own boss, you really have the freedom to steer your life where you want it to go.
3. You get to plan your own schedules, choose the projects that you find enjoyable, charge any rate you please, and be almost totally self sufficient – a major bonus of being a freelancer for many people looking to escape the daily grind.
4. Another of the big benefits you will always hear people talking about when it comes to freelancing is that you can set your own dress code. If you find all of your freelance work online, who is to say that you don’t have to just hang around in your pajamas or underwear all day long?No sense in getting all dressed up when you can just get out of bed, enjoy a nice cup of hot coffee, watch the news for a few minutes and then plop yourself down at your computer to start your workday.
5. Freelancing gives you the ability to work in your own style and in total comfort no matter who or what you are doing work for.
6. By working freelance you can also spend a lot more time with your family and friends.Because you do not have to go to work on a strict schedule, you can spend time with your children when they get home from school and with your friends and your spouse whenever they have off work.
7. You are not salaried, so the more work you do, the more you get paid.

The flexibility of having a freelance career is second to none and there is practically no other job in the world that gives you both the spare time and the financial freedom to do what you want to do when you want to do it.

Finally, with freelancing you have a near limitless income potential. Because you work for yourself, you get to keep all of what you earn. Not a penny goes to anyone else (aside from the government in the form of taxes).

All of the profits belong to you so you get to spend it how you please. Furthermore, because you work on a per project basis, you can accept as many projects as you want to earn as much money as you see fit.

Demerits:

As with anything in the world, there are drawbacks to becoming a freelancer in any field you choose. The predominant drawback is that

1. you are not as financially stable as you are when you are working for someone else.
2. You have to take care of all of your money management, you have to work on project after project if you want to have enough money to stay financially afloat, and
3. you have to provide for your own healthcare.

These three factors all add up to create a feeling of fiscal insecurity for many people, and because of the major financial risk involved, many people feel that freelancing is not for them.

There is also heavy competition in the world of freelancing. The internet has been both a blessing and a curse to freelancers from around the world. On one hand it has opened the doors to make the world of freelancing much more accessible to anyone who has ever thought about setting out on their own and becoming their own boss.

On the other hand though, the internet makes it very easy for freelancers to get in touch with potential clients and possibly steal jobs right out from under you. Because of the heavy competition as a result of the internet, you may have to start out with very low pay for each project you do as a novice freelancer. When your client list expands however, you will be able to make more in the long term.

Tomorrow, we may find out how to get the clients.

Be Happy – Become A Freelancer.

Be Happy – Become a Freelancer (Part 1)

You know a freelancer can work more efficiently and gain more than a full time employee can do. You can establish yourself as a professional freelancer and earn massive lines of clients who need your service! When you think of freelancing, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? You probably think of a writer, novelist or journalist right off hand.

That is primarily because for centuries, the only real job you could have as a freelancer had to do with your mastery of the written word. But we are not still stuck back in the early nineteen hundreds – no we are in the twenty first century, a time that appreciates freelancers in hundreds of different jobs. You can find freelance photographers, software designers, medical billing specialists, or even scientific researchers.

There are all jobs that have recently begun to see massive growth in their respective fields because more and more people are realizing that they can make far more money working for themselves as freelancers than they ever could solely from working under the wing of their previous employer.

You work in some field for quite a few years, get a lot of practical experience in your chosen area of employment and then gradually make the switch from working the nine to five to becoming your own boss as a freelancer. But is it really as easy as it sounds to become a freelancer and actually make a living doing work on a freelance basis?

We have to keep in mind that there are quite a few freelancers out there who are only doing work part time. Not because they make a ton of money and only have to work a couple of days per week but because they actually have had some trouble finding work in the past and need a much more solid career option in order to make sure that they do not find themselves facing bankruptcy.

However, such a scenario does not have to happen to you if you are willing to do whatever it takes to become a freelancer. Your career switch may not happen overnight – but eventually you will become highly successful at what you do. It’s a guarantee.

Generally, we mean a freelancer as a person who is self-employed and not committed to a particular employer long term. Fields where freelancing is common include journalism, book publishing, journal publishing, and other forms of writing, editing, copy editing, proofreading, indexing, copywriting, computer programming, web design and graphic design, consulting, tour guiding and translating. Currently some of the most popular fields for freelancing include writing, editing, photography, web and graphic design, software design, and architecture or drafting.

Freelance practice varies greatly. Some require clients to sign written contracts, while others may perform work based on verbal agreements, perhaps enforceable through the very nature of the work. Some freelancers may provide written estimates of work and request deposits from clients.

Payment for freelance work also varies greatly. Freelancers may charge by the day, hour, or page or per project basis. Instead of a flat rate or fee, some freelancers have adopted a value-based pricing method based on the perceived value of the results to the client. By custom, payment arrangements may be upfront, percentage upfront, or upon completion. For more complex projects, a contract may set a payment schedule based on outcomes.

In most professions involving creation of intellectual property, "freelance" and its derivative terms are often reserved for workers who create works on their own initiative, then look for someone to publish them. They typically keep the copyright to their works and sell the rights to publishers in time-limited contracts. In contrast, workers who are hired to create a work according to the publishers' or other customers' specifications are referred to as "independent contractors" and similar terms. They have no copyright to the works, which are written as works made for hire, a category of intellectual property defined in US copyright law — Section 101, Copyright Act of 1976 (USC 17 §101).

The first step in making that jump from office work to freelance is to ascertain whether you have got an aptitude to work as a freelancer. You wish to come out of your comfort zone.

We all want to be our own boss, but do we all have the drive and dedication that it takes to be successful without the watchful eye of our supervisors? Unfortunately, we do not have that kind of attitude. Therefore, we may have to really sit down and think about how we can make ourselves so special in the world of freelancers.

Do we have a large enough skill set to make us stand out amongst the hoards of different people all seeking the same work as we? Do we have the time management skills necessary to run our own freelancing operation and meet all of the deadlines set upon us by our clients? If we have even the slightest doubt in our mind about freelancing, then maybe there are other career paths that are better for us in the long run.

Suppose, you are willing to jump in to your freelancing business with both feet, you need to start off on the freelance path slowly before you can really start bringing in the cash. Don’t quit your job just yet! Instead, you need to begin your hunt for freelance work in your area of expertise in the market and see what you can come up with.

Some skills, such as the ability to write coherently or do software design for clients of all types, are highly marketable and you should really have no difficulty whatsoever finding a goldmine of work. On the other hand, if you are only able to do tasks that are not as easily marketable on a freelance basis, you will have much more difficulty finding work for your freelance operation.

Once you have settled on a field that you want to freelance in, you will need to start finding your first clients. Whatever you do, do not start your hunt with any of the clients that you may have dealt with in your current job. There are all kinds of laws against this practice and it may get you into serious trouble if you are caught.

Instead, turn to your favorite search engine and search for some forums and databases specifically designed for freelancers seeking work in a particular field. There are tons of different places for you to visit, so within an hour or so you will probably have at least ten or fifteen bookmarks of places online where you can find employment as a freelancer.

When you find you have some free time, all you have to do is search around on each one of these bookmarked websites to find the freelance positions that sound good to you. When you start out as a freelancer, you will probably have to take a few jobs that do not pay very well at all. That’s fine because these jobs help you build your skill set.

They will help you learn how to more effectively manage your time, speed up your workflow, and even help you get more used to using a computer and the internet to search for answers to any questions that may pop up while you are doing work for your client.

The low paying jobs will probably last for awhile, as until you have assembled a massive list of satisfied clients you will have to primarily compete with all of the other freelancers in your field entirely on how low your rates and fees are. Eventually though you will graduate into higher and higher paying jobs until you will find that you have practically doubled your current income with income from freelancing.

At this point you should feel confident enough to possibly start thinking about reducing the number of hours you work at your current job to part time status or even quit your job all together and make your fortunes solely through freelancing in your selected field.
In the next post, I shall discuss about the merits and demerits for such an excellent job.

Be Happy – Become a Freelancer

Be Happy – Improve Your Communication Skills.

Your words do not have any feathers but they go a long way and with the advancement of technology, they reach within seconds from one point of the globe to other far away, which you have never imagined.

Apart from the basic necessities, one needs to be equipped with habits for good communication skills, as this is what will make them a happy and successful social being. Some time ago, I had made some submissions on this topic. For some time, I have been feeling that they require some additions again. That is why I again took over this subject.

While communicating, we commit some major blunders. These are naturally the violation of the general principles of communication. Such include talking about topics that are considered taboo, talking behind somebody else's back, and basing stories on exaggerations, or worse, lies.

However, these are not the only blocks we can stumble on when we engage in conversations with other people. There are so-called mechanical blunders, as well, which often result from not thinking seriously about what we are talking about, carelessness, or not keeping a close eye on our own conversation techniques. We must be careful about them. Because the ability to communicate is the primary factor that distinguishes human beings from animals. And it is the ability to communicate well that distinguishes one individual from another.

In order to develop these habits, one needs to first acknowledge the fact that they need to improve communication skills from time to time. They need to take stock of the way they interact and the direction in which their work and personal relations are going. The only constant in life is change, and the more one accepts one's strengths and works towards dealing with their shortcomings, especially in the area of communication skills, the better will be their interactions and the more their social popularity.

The dominating question that comes here is: How to improve communication skills? Well, the answer is simple. One can find plenty of literature on this. There are also experts, who conduct workshops and seminars based on communication skills of men and women. In fact, a large number of companies are bringing in trainers to regularly conduct sessions on the subject, in order to help their work force maintain better interpersonal work relations.

Today, effective communication skills has become a predominant factor even while recruiting employees. While interviewing candidates, most interviewers judge them on the basis of the way they communicate. They believe that skills can be improvised on the job; but ability to communicate well is important, as every employee becomes the representing face of the company.

There are trainers, who specialize in delivering custom-made programs on the subject. Through the session they not only facilitate better skills in the department of communications, but also look into the problems that come in the way of being able to convey messages effectively. They discuss these issues with the management and then sought to design programs accordingly. For instance, time mismanagement becomes a cause for stress and frustration, which then hampers the possibility of healthy communications at work. Then in weeks to come the company organizes a program on time management. Thus, a workshop on communication skills helps the management t to deal with the finer employee nuances about which they lack awareness.

Some of the most common technical conversation blunders can be summarized as below:

Using pet words regardless of their suitability to the topic or the situation:

There are people who call everything they like 'fabulous', 'cute', or 'darling', and call things they don't like 'weird', 'dull', or 'lousy'. There are appropriate words to describe certain things. A building is not cute; a movie cannot be ghastly; a book cannot be weird; a restaurant cannot be a darling. Use words properly. Also, if you are one of these people who use pet words a lot, try to reduce their usage to a minimum. Be aware of the things that are coming out of your mouth. It can be very annoying.

Using big words inappropriately.

You've encountered people like this already - those who like using superfluous terms and phrases (probably to make a good impression). There also are those who seem to enjoy using words like 'basically', 'actually', 'so to speak', 'you know', etc. Get them out of your system. Not only are they unnecessary, they're also time and effort wasting.

Exaggerating

A lot of us are guilty of this. We tend to introduce our stories with "Let me tell you about the weirdest thing I've ever experienced" or "This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen." While these kinds of statements are subjective and you are entitled to them, you should also think about the other person in the conversation. It might not be so for him or her, and by being so, the momentum you tried to create did not have the effect you were expecting. Get real.

Getting too personal.

You don't need to dish out all the dirt about your life just to get attention at a party. People will naturally listen to you if you make sense, not because you're giving fodder for gossip. Telling too much about yourself is like baring your soul to a group of strangers. It's okay to be real about your feelings, but it's awkward to get too revealing, because you don't know how other people will react to your stories. It could lead you to your undoing and you have no one to blame but yourself.

Too much slang.

Whatever the language you use, you must use proper language. Don't bastardize the language and pepper it with slang. You can only use slang if the people around you speak the same way. But if you're in a group with people of diverse backgrounds and interests, slang is not appropriate. Speak in a manner that is understood by all to avoid possible conflict.

Proper style of communication can enhance your relationships, boost self-esteem, and help you achieve lifelong success. On the other hand, continuous use of conversation blunders may hinder you from attaining your goals; so be very careful and aware of every word coming out of your mouth.

We may improve our communication system.

Be Happy – Improve Your Communication Skills.

Be Happy – Control Your Hormonal Levels.

We are aware that formation of blood and maintenance of our body energy depend upon our hormones. If we are interested to keep ourselves always fit, we need to keep care by controlling our hormonal levels. One can regulate them in a desired manner by purifying the intrinsic characteristics and hidden impressions of the inner self and controlling the emotions, beliefs and aspirations. Though modern Science suggests you to control your hormonal levels through treatments based on nutritious diets, physical exercises and medicines, they may not be able to give you sufficient results if you do not control your emotions, beliefs and aspirations simultaneously.

At a superficial level, it appears that some chemical processing of the blood intakes generates blood and that the flow of blood is the source of heat and energy in the body. However, deeper analysis has shown that there is a separate mechanism at the root of all functions inside the body, which gives rise to the formation of blood and maintenance of body energy. The auto regulatory system of the neurons and the influence of the conscious and unconscious mind on it are also now regarded as a manifestation of some subtler processes. The hormone secreting endocrine glands constitute this subtle system, which is now found to be the basic controller, at physiological level, of all functions, qualities, abilities or disabilities of the functions of body and mind.

We know that the thyroid gland secrets a hormone called thyroxin which enters the blood stream and reaches different parts of the body. Deficiency of this hormone reduces the absorption rate of oxygen which often results in disruption of metabolic functions, excessive fatigue with loss of memory and bluntness of mind. Sometime, with its deficiency, you may feel your skin and hair becoming dry, lips and eyelids lose and appearing as pulled downwards. The body fattens and its plumpness is such that pressing a finger makes a groove (depression) in the swollen part. One is unable to bear chill and feels tired because of reduced level of this hormone.

Excessive secretion of this hormone causes a variety of problems, the engine – source of energy of the body gets overcharged and as a result, different metabolic and bio-chemical reactions and physiological functions are accelerated. This often gives rise to increase in pulse rate, produce perspiration, high blood pressure, excitation and hyper-sensitivity, mental restlessness, irritation etc. In addition, growth of the thyroid gland results in a swollen, protuberant throat and gives rise to disease like goiter.

The reasons for abnormal shrinkage or growth of this gland have not yet been fully understood. It may malfunction even if one’s diet is balanced and the daily routine is also maintained at a level which is normally prescribed for a healthy person. We are given to understand that the deficiency of iodine in food can cause disturbance in the normal functioning of the thyroid gland. Doctors recommend that our daily meals must have at least 20 micrograms of iodine. Seawater, natural salt, sea grass and fish are rich in iodine contents. However, use of the iodine in salt is still considered to be a preventive measure but it does not cure the ailment permanently as in many cases even the desired intake of iodine and iodine based medicines do not help control the abnormal functioning of this red colored butterfly shaped tiny gland whose two wings in leaf shaped structures cover the upper end of the respiratory canal.

The discovery of a yellow protein colloid in the deep core of this gland had raised hopes that it might be the source of thyroxin secretion. But further researches annulled this possibility. Unfortunately, the experiments on controlling the deficiencies of thyroxin by injecting the extract of thyroid of other animals have not been successful because of lack of bio-compatibility.

We know that the chemical processing of extraction of energy from the foods constituents begins as soon as they reach the stomach. Starch and sugar are converted into glucose. Part of this glucose goes in the blood stream and helps energize the body and maintain temperature… the remaining quantity of glucose is stored in the liver in the form of glycogen, making a stock for future energy requirements. In diabetic patients, the sugar level in the blood increases and the corresponding shortage of energy supplied by glucose gradually weakens the body. This disorder in blood sugar arises due to the deficiency of insulin – a hormone secreted by the pancreas. In healthy blood, the normal level of sugar is about one sixtieth ounce per liter. This small amount is the fuel (source of energy) that keeps the cellular and muscular machinery warm and active. Insulin along with another hormone adrenaline helps regulate this function.

Growth of the body is maintained by the pineal gland in the brain. Drastic changes in one’s growth-especially height are caused by the disorderly functioning of this small dot-sized endocrine gland. Once it is disturbed, it can not be replaced by any substitute, or cured by ideal nutritious diets afterwards. Once, pineal glands of one rat fixed in another rat created exceptional growth in the later. The beneficiary rat got growth three times of the normal pace ever seen in the rat family.

It is true that many physically weak persons have gained repute in diverse fields of sports, arts, literature, sciences, etc. Dwarf men and women have become popular actors. The jugglery of hormones can also be seen making some poor ones who might have never eaten a full meal as hefty and stout. On the contrary, in some other cases, in spite of having lavish and nutritionally rich and health diet and best efforts in terms of physical exercises, the weak and bony bodies of many people show no signs of improvement due to persistent deficiencies.

We know the importance of hormones in regulating the defense mechanism in the immune system of human body. Whenever some foreign or toxic germs and viruses attack our body, some hormones secreted by our endocrine glands react instantaneously. These stimulate the B-cells in the blood to recognize the antigens and harmful microphages and produce specific antibodies to eliminate the invaders. The hormones also participate in the struggle of the body to fight the infections/diseases during this defensive activity. This struggle of hormones induces psychological effects that are manifested as restlessness, irritation, anger and anguish in the diseased persons.

The treatment of the disorder or abnormalities in hormonal secretions would be most effective if it is focused at refining and awakening the subtle body. One can regulate the hormonal levels in a desired manner by purifying the intrinsic characteristics and hidden impressions of the inner self and controlling the emotions, beliefs and aspirations assimilated in its subtler core – the body. This cannot be achieved by gross level treatments based on nutritious diets, physical exercises and medicines etc. Intellectual activities and creative methods of mental elevation are also ineffective in reaching the causal body. The endeavors of spiritual refinement appear to be the only solutions. Ascetic practices offer multiple benefits of regulating endocrine system and thus helping in harmonious functioning of the physical body avoiding fluctuations and creating wholesome effects on the subtle and causal bodies. These practices have the potential to elevate the individual self to divine heights. Do them as you think appropriate.

Be Happy – Control Your Hormonal Levels.

Be Happy – Enjoy Your Possessions

It looks very nice if we possess our favourite things. We all wish to gather more and more – our greed does not get satisfied with one possession and our list gets renewed, added to after every addition. If you too do this, you are not at fault. It is human nature – we are always fearful whether by tomorrow, we may be able to have it or not and we continue to struggle hard to get one after one added to our coffers. But the most grievous part of this process is that many times we do not get time or opportunity to enjoy our possessions. Either we expire or our possessions get useless in course of time.

True happiness lies in enjoyment. To enjoy things is not to possess them or to be possessed by them, but to use them. The joy of anything is hidden in the use of it.

If you deeply go through the nature of the things you possess, you will find that it is an illusion that you possess something. The properties of that something can not be controlled by you. In course of time, they would decay. You have the right to use them. You have purchased a number of plots of land – you can have title(s) of those plots registered in your name. You can have the movable properties under locks and tight security. But one day, you will have to give away or that will go away from your possessions in spite of your determination not to do or let to do so. Everything, even our body, our mind, our money is not ours. We get rights to enjoy them. We must enjoy them fully instead of keeping them idle for a long period.

Take it granted that everything with you is the gift by God to you for sometime to care for and enjoy the same prudently. If you do not do so, you can be deprived of. God has given us life to enjoy it. You are not supposed to build up a castle to live in for unlimited period – you have been granted some period limited by Him. Your castle will become a vast pile of stones, damp, gloomy and usually uncomfortable. After some time, nobody may like to live there then it would become a ruin.

Life is to grow like a garden. A gardener changes a bare patch of land into a place of trees, flowers, grass and fountains splashing into pools and singing birds and buzzing insects. Life is not a thing of stones for stones, but a thing alive for things, alive for pine trees and humming birds and you and me. We must live it actively with full of enjoyment. If God has put you on some troublesome paths, He may be asking you to correct yourself. A gardener knows what a garden is like.

No one owns the land. In a well-built house the landlord is merely a lodger-with rooms for a week, a month, a year or some years. Generations of mocking birds sing in the branch tops. Generations of moles tunnel the lawns, smelling out the grubs that live here too. The rabbits mock at the fences; the pokeweed lords it in the lot corner; the flower garden belongs no more to the gardener than the bees that sup the flowers. In the limestone of the walls are the remains of shellfish that swam here once and perhaps…. The gardener is content to plant his trees and not trouble himself as to who will like in their shade.

You may take the flower, dry it and place it in a glass case – but it is not the flower. You have only a bit of colored straw, slowly fading, slowly powdering. Keep it long enough and you will have only colorless dust. Things are not for forever. Things are like smiles and frowns that flit across the face of the Eternal. When a smile becomes fixed, it turns into a grimace. When a frown becomes fixed, it is just another wrinkle

.

To enjoy things is not to possess them or to be possessed by them, but to use them. The joy of anything is hidden in its use. Rows of dresses hanging get dusty in a closet in case you do not wear them for a long period. Tools may get rusty if they are not used. Books may get yellow and brittle with age because no loving hand fondles them or opens their pages. If none lives in, no house can become a lively home. What do you mean by keeping a shining plane in your tool chest? You may take it out and plane a board with it until the board is flat and smooth to be used.

To enjoy your possessions, you should ascertain what use you are going to make if you possess something. The joy is not there just to get a dress but to wear it to make your presence more emphatic or give it away to your beloved one or donate it to some needy person.

Similarly, joy is hidden in reading out the contents of the book, think over them and implement in your life. There is no real joy if you just purchase a book and keep it into your shelf. If you just keep, the book may become a decorative article – that will not remain a book as such. One day, termite will eat that book and you may get nothing. Things are not there for ever. You may hold on long enough and you had cast even the dearest thing away.

Corn is still not less on the earth because it gives itself for food. Sun still shines brightly, even after having given light and warmth to the earth for millions of years. You may make efforts to possess what you require. After you get it, you must use it for the purpose you acquire. Just collection does not solve the purpose, does not justify the collection itself.

Be Happy – Enjoy Your Possessions.

Be Happy – Gain Happiness Through Breath Control

Irrespective of what makes us happy, one thing is certain that we all want to be happy. Who is there who does not want happiness in the life? No body would like to invite tragedy, sorrow, troubles or any adversity even for a single moment. Happiness has different meanings for different persons but every one needs it. The cause of some going to war and of others avoiding it is the same desire in both for being happy but in different contexts. There is a motive behind each action, that is to gain pleasure.

In fact, every moment of life with every breath every one needs happiness. There is no exception because this is the original desire of the individual self. Even after death, an imagined happiness in heaven is solicited by every one.

What is the happiness? Have you ever thought about this? You can answer it differently from the different impulses of your mind. A servant feels to be happy when he gets free and a master feels happy when he gets more servants at his disposal. With one servant, he is happy. When he gets one more servant, his happiness goes up and up with every addition. A money monger also feels alike when he adds up to his coffers. Since impulses of your mind control the definitions of your happiness from time to time, we could feel happiness all the time. No it is not so. Sometime, we are directed to feel sorry for the same incident. It is a matter of experience we individually gain from each incident.

Source of happiness does not exist only in worldly possessions, glittering resources, lavish food, charming bodies, or supportive circumstances. If it was so, all the rich persons might have been happiest all the time. Whatever joy they feel in achieving their possessions is only a sting of excitement, an illusion of happiness, and inseparable from the hidden fear that tomorrow it might not be the same – let us enjoy today and today only. Worse is the mirage of those driven by the lust for sensual pleasures in the illusion of happiness; unless restrained. They often end up entrapping themselves in negative thinking and infirmities. It is nothing else.

That is why the elevated thinkers of different ages have unanimously taught us that the secret of joy lies in restraining the extrovert passions, in limiting the sensual thirst rather than satisfying or running after them. You should have feeling from your inner heart to enjoy. Happiness is an intrinsic feeling, inexplicable in words. It is like the spirit of religion, which can not be rationalized or confined to fixed set of conditions.

How would you create those feelings in your mind which may help you to enjoy the happiness? Though the modern science has gathered a lot for our comforts, the internal solace can not be built up unless you have sound health all around – physically, mentally and spiritually. The elevated thinkers, the vedic rishis were perfect scientists of spirituality, consciousness and nature. They had a reach in deepest depths of human mind and heart. They knew the hidden nature and intricacies of emotions and influence of intrinsic impressions carried in the unconscious mind. They had therefore devised excellent methods of yoga which can be practiced by anybody for mental and emotional refinement and focused orientation. These practical exercises include – prānāyāma (exercises of deep, harmonized breathing) with bandha and mudrā; and dhyāna (meditation). Most prominent and popular among the yoga practices. Most prominent and popular among the yoga practices in the present times is prānāyāma as it has direct impact on the state of mind and as different kinds of prānāyāma happen to be pre-requisites for meditation and higher-level of spiritual sādhanās.

Thousands of yoga centers and schools across the globe are offering different levels of training courses or packages on elementary exercises of prānāyāma these days. Millions of people have benefited from sincere practices of these simple breathing exercises. With regard to happy state of mind and inner self, the positive effects of proper breathing are verifiable through modern scientific methods.

We are aware that adequate and harmonized supply of oxygen through balanced and deep breathing helps nourishing secretion and circulation of several neuro-peptides and healthy activation of the endocrine (hormonal) glands which lead to a state of psychosomatic calm and peace.

More importantly, the upward flow of vital spiritual energy (prānā) is attained through adept practice of some prānāyāma which helps refinement and controlled use of the extrasensory element of sexual pleasures (kama).

We know that the upward movement of oil in a lamp helps the conversion of oil into light upon ignition. Similarly, the upward movement (through the Susumnā Nādi in the endocrine column) of the vital energy of prānā generates vigor, awareness and spiritual radiance. This is attained by thorough practice of specific prānāyāma with mula bandha and observance of chastity of thought and conduct. By upwardly control, the sublime energy of prāna immanent in kama which otherwise drains off through stimulation and discharge of the genitals due to erotic thinking and sexual excitations is not only preserved but is also transmuted into the spiritual energy of zeal and joy.

We may look at the children! They look so cheerful and energetic all the time! Why? Because their energy remains in the upper chakaras along the endocrine column. When we grow up, negative impulses of sensual pleasures boosted by ego and untoward effects of surrounding environment draw its flow downwards. With increased expectations, the chances of desperation of their fulfillment, anger and anguish due to non-fulfillment also augment and account for disturbing, suppressing and maligning the pure glow of creativity and vigor.

Lom-anuluma known as circular breathing in modern parlance and Bharmari prānāyāmas help controlling these excitations and related stresses to a great extent but one also needs to minimize one’s expectations from others and change the attitude to adjust with the circumstances in interest of the wider welfare approach. It is our attitude towards events not the events themselves which we can control.

It is irony of the facts that in spite of knowing all this, at the times of the aggressive or depressive mood of the mind is so strong that no thought of wisdom seems to work on it. One can not practice prānāyāma arbitrarily at any random time or place, one may need easy to practice physical exercises in such moments. The swara-vijňāna or the science of regularizing the rhythm of breath offers some practical solutions here.

One can experiment on himself to see that whenever he is in a quiet and calm mood (without any apparent reason for it!) and having positive thoughts, he must be breathing through the left nostril. His furor, excitement or abrupt untoward thinking would on the contrary be mostly accompanied by respiration through the right nostril alone.

The lunar currents (ida) manifested in the vibrations of breathing through the left nostril are referred as “Chandra-swara” and solar currents (Pingala) manifested in the vibrations of breathing through the right nostril are termed as ‘surya swara’. In simple terms, when we breathe only through the left nostril, the Chandra-swara is on, that becomes active. When we breathe only through the right nostril, the surya swara becomes active.

If we pay little attention to our breathing patterns, we will notice most of the time we breathe only through one nostril either through the left or through the right. It is only at the time of changing this flow from ida (Chandra) to Pingala (Surya) i.e. left to right or vice-versa that both the swaras are active for a moment. This change-over occurs periodically in about one to three hours time on an average. The flow of vital energy and prana is active through the Sushumana Nadi (an extrasensory canal or a neural passage of subliminal flow of air hidden in the inner core of spinal column) at these moments. This transition takes place at characteristic timings, e.g. exactly at the moments of the sunset which are of very significant importance in yoga and spiritual sādhanās(activities).

We all know that the rays of moon (Chandra) are cool and soothing whereas those of the sun (Surya) are energizing. As obvious by their names, the Chandra swara corresponds to a calm, stable and happy state of mind which is most suited for clear and discreet thinking, balanced discussions and adept decision making, etc. the surya swara occurs in the relatively excited, active, dynamic, agile, state of mind which is best for intrepid, courageous efforts and tasks requiring enthusiasm, force, aggressiveness and alacrity.

Sometimes we need to work late in the night which usually happens to be our sleeping time. Then we try to control our drowsiness by washing our face with cold water or drinking tea, coffee etc. Similarly, if we want to benefit from the knowledge of the science of regularizing the rhythm of breath, we can try one of the following easy practices guided by the researches of this science to alter or harmonize the breathing pattern as per our requirement:

1. Block the nostril at which the breathing is off. This can be done by pressing it by the two third parts of your thumb, keeping the top one-third part of the same at your nasal bone. Then, open the pressed nostril and exhale (breathe out) through this while blocking the nostril that was used for inward respiration. Repeating this cycle several times in succession would alter the direction of flow of the breathing. You will start breathing through the nostril which was blocked earlier.

2. Lie down on the side of the active breathing. The direction of the breathing will shift to the other nostril after some time. Practicing the breathing exercise described in para 1 above along with this will give you faster results.

3. Put something hard beneath the armpit on the side of the active side when you are working on the exercises mentioned above would help you in the rapid change in the swara pattern.

4. Eating butter oil (ghee) is supposed to be favorable for breathing by the left side nostril and eating honey for the right breathing.

5. You can keep a smooth clean cotton ball in the nostril of the active breathing to make it flow to the other nostril.

The equilibrium state of breathing when the air flows through the sushumna nadi is a blessed opportunity for those who acquire it and it is the stage when the individual leaps forward in the spiritual elevation besides having benefits for the health and happiness. This state ensures that all vices, illusions, attachments and ego drives are naturally pacified and the divine inspirations and enlightened thoughts are awakened. We may practice it whenever we have spare time to gain our happiness through better health.

Be Happy – Gain Happiness Through Breath Control.