The 4 Ways To Grow Your Business In 2008

Posted on February 5, 2008
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I dont know about you but I am sick and tired about hearing and reading about how the world in which we live in is such a terrible place. Yes, it is far from ideal but does turning on the television, radio or picking up a newspaper only to hear of recession, poverty and strife really help us?

I for one, suspect it doesnt and whilst I am not suggesting you should bury your head in the marketing sand and assume everything is rosy and perfect in the world, I am suggesting that if you approach 2008 and beyond with the right attitude and mindset your chances of success will increase. And so with it will the chances of you and your customers being more successful.

The truth is many of your competitors and your customers are worried about what the New Year and the future holds for their businesses and livelihoods. There is nothing wrong with being concerned about a possible worldwide recession, falling house prices and rising interest rates to name a few things but likewise there will also be great opportunities for companies to flourish even in the hardest of times. In fact, I would argue that it is in the times of hardship that companies with the skills to out market their competitors will really see the greatest benefits. Read more

Be not Discouraged; Fight On!

Posted on February 3, 2008
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What is your self-image? How do you see yourself? When you look in the mirror, do you see a salesman, a wife, a worker, a leader, or a sucker? How would you describe yourself? Only you can decide how you wish to perceive yourself. This self-image has a lot to do with how you handle adversity. When you have a big vision and exciting plans, it’s a lot easier to boldly go where few have dared. However, when your objective is mere financial survival, keeping your job and toeing the line, every little bump in the road seems like a major setback.

Albert Einstein said, “Great spirits encounter violent opposition from mediocre people.” Do you see yourself as a great spirit? How motivated are you to make your dreams come true? Thomas Edison said, “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” Conformists and cowards are always ready to quit. They turn tail at the first sign of discomfort. In addition, they always blame someone else. They flit from one fad to another and never achieve anything of significance in their lives. Read more

By Their Fruit They Will be Known

Posted on February 2, 2008
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Have you ever seen an apricot on an apple tree? Or a banana hanging from an orange tree? I can sit in my garage all day long, drink gasoline and make car noises, but that doesn’t make me a car. If it meows, it’s probably not an eagle. Most entrepreneurs are so focused on sales, profits, cash flow and time, that they don’t take the time to evaluate options and people objectively. The fact is, appearances are only appearances: smoke and mirrors. And the reason why we should be aware of who people really are, is that we must carefully choose who we spend our time with.

Bob Harrison teaches us that “Birds of the feather flock together, and that flock is going someplace.” Whom are you flocking with, and where is your flock headed? He says that if you want big fleas, you have to hang with the bog dogs. Are you hanging with big dogs – big thinkers, or with losers? Your circle of friends and associates will largely determine your future level of success. Therefore, you have to be very careful whom you mix with. You can’t judge a book by its cover; you have to read it in order to judge it accurately. The people you bump into in a McDonald’s are different from those you meet at the Hyatt. Where do you spend your time? Read more

High Price of Gold Makes Astral Mining a Safer, Stronger Bet

Posted on February 1, 2008
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The first good news of the year for readers at Resourcex Investor was the price of gold. The start of the year heralded all-time high prices for gold easily topping $900 per ounce, driven by the weak US dollar, high oil prices and renewed geopolitical concerns. Just a month later, gold continues to break all time highs, confidently striding toward the long anticipated $1,000 mark.

It seems the world now faces some of the most difficult economic conditions since the dotcom meltdown, a reality echoed by everyone from Alan Greenspan, who believes the likelihood of a US recession is 50/50, and that a global recession is at some point “inevitable.”

In early January, the Financial Times of London surveyed the opinions of 55 top economists from around the globe. “Nearly nine in 10 think public finances are not in good order,” the authors stated.

All this may sound like bad news – and to policymakers it may well be – but resource investors know that the effect of this trend on the gold price is only good news. Read more

Success in Business With the Law of Attraction

Posted on January 31, 2008
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Are you applying the Law of Attraction successfully to your business? By changing just a few thoughts and feelings, you can have the business you have always dreamed of. It may sound too easy to be true, but believe it or not, changing a few thought patterns can make the difference between having a successful business, versus one that struggles and fails.

When using the Law of Attraction intentionally for your business, make sure to have a clear picture of what it is that you want your business to be. This includes how much money you want to make, what you want to sell, how many customers you would like to have, anything that you can think of to make the image of your business clear. If you have a problem with believing the clear image, then start with any smaller success in your business. Once you see your first image of your business come true, you’ll have the confidence in a larger plan.

Sometimes we imagine huge financial numbers with a clear image and the logical normal mind can’t fathom making those kinds of numbers. If this is the case, start with smaller numbers that you can halfway believe and then work on your trust in the Universe. Once you achieve the first number you envisioned, you’ll be on your way to the dream business you have always wanted. Read more

IBM Services Growth Offsets Weakness in Hardware Unit

Posted on January 18, 2008
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International Business Machines Corp., which disclosed stronger-than-expected preliminary fourth-quarter results earlier this week, said net income for the period surged 12% despite a slowing U.S. economy. It also gave a 2008 earnings forecast that was above Wall Street’s expectations.

IBM, regarded as a barometer of capital spending, reported net income of $3.95 billion, or $2.80 a share, for the quarter, compared with $3.54 billion, or $2.31 a share, a year earlier.

Monday, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $2.80 a share, compared with $2.26 a year earlier.

Revenue rose 9.9% to $28.87 billion. On Monday, IBM said six percentage points of the revenue increase was due to the weaker dollar. At the time, analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting the Armonk, N.Y., company to post fourth-quarter earnings of $2.60 a share on revenue of $27.62 billion.

Gross margin in the latest quarter was 44.9%, compared with 44.6% a year earlier.
Chairman and Chief Executive Samuel J. Palmisano, repeating his comment from Monday, said IBM is “well-positioned” heading into 2008. He cited the company’s “global business reach, solid recurring revenue and profit streams, and strong financial position.” IBM is “on track to achieve our long-term earnings-per-share roadmap objective in 2010,” Mr. Palmisano said. Read more

Continental Flies Over Oil Crisis

Posted on January 18, 2008
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Despite many major airlines sinking under record high oil prices, Continental is flying high due to its strong traffic on its trans-Atlantic and domestic flights.

Continental Airlines was slated to report its fourth-quarter and full year results on Thursday, but said its final figures won’t be posted until mid-February due to calculation changes stemming from a new federal law allowing pilots to work longer before retiring. In December, a law passed that raised the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65. Thus, Continental is redoing the math on pension liabilities as it now expects most of its pilots to keep working beyond the age of 60.

Continental said it was able to at least partially offset the cost of oil, which reached a record $100.00 per barrel in the fourth quarter, by using hedging transactions and better fuel efficiency. Other airlines have recently reported losses stemming from fuel prices. (See: AMR’s Earnings Turbulance)

On a pre-tax basis, the Houston-based airline carrier said its profits reached $71.0 million, compared with a pre-tax loss of $26.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. However, excluding one-time gains and losses, Continental’s pre-tax profit was $26.0 million, compared with a loss of $4.0 million in the similar period a year prior. Read more

Novartis: Latest Victim Of U.S. Economy

Posted on January 18, 2008
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Weakness in the U.S. economy is seeping into most all businesses, even Swiss pharmaceutical company, Novartis.

Novartis (nyse: NVS - news - people ) released its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Thursday, and blamed its 42.0% profit decline on weak performance in the U.S. and restructuring costs. The company said that cutting 2,500 jobs worldwide resulted in a $444.0 million charge to its fourth-quarter results. However, Novartis hopes that the job cuts will start saving the company $1.6 billion per year by 2010.

In the period ending Dec. 31, Novartis said its profits reached only $913.0, or 41 cents per share, compared with $1.66 billion, or 70 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2006. But for the full year of 2007, profits jumped 66.0% to $11.9 billion, or $5.15 per share, compared with $7.2 billion, or $3.04 per share in the similar period of 2006.

Sales for the fourth quarter jumped to $9.9 billion from $9.4 billion in the prior year quarter, while sales for the full year reached $39.8 billion, compared with $37.2 billion in 2006.

It seems Novartis’ problems are mainly in the U.S. According to Chief Executive Daniel Vasella: “The weak performance is exclusively due to the U.S. market.” Joe Jimenez, head of Novartis’ U.S. pharmaceutical division, said he expects the company’s most important market to begin showing growth in the second half of 2008. However, he noted that “in total the U.S. will be down versus a year ago.” Read more

Do You Need A Trade Show Exhibits..?

Posted on January 18, 2008
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A trade show, also known as a merchandise show or market week, is an exhibition or a business gathering organized by companies that showcase and demonstrate their new products and services and also their latest offerings. Trade shows also provide opportunities for companies to meet their customers, to learn new trends and to identify new prospects. Trade shows are a great venue to show off your new product or to promote a service.

Camelback Displays, Inc.™ is dedicated to providing you, not only the best possible trade show exhibit, but the best overall trade show experience – from partnering to create a great design to managing your trade show assets year after year. Camelback Display Inc offers the largest variety of tradeshow displays on the market with many custom options. With Camelback Display, you can finish your exhibit booth with many extras such as truss, trade show flooring, banner stands, directors chairs, light boxes, exhibit counters & cabinets, literature Holders, trade show furniture, booth pipe & drape, table covers & table cloths, exhibit graphics and more.

What Recession? PC Sales Stay Strong

Posted on January 17, 2008
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By Saul Hansell

The economy may be teetering, but the personal computer business is still nimbly running at full speed, according to the tally of sales in the fourth quarter of 2007 from International Data Corp. Worldwide, 77.3 million PCs were sold in the quarter, up 15.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006. That represents almost double the growth rate of 2005 to 2006.

For the year, IDC said, 297 million PCs were shipped, an increase of 14.3 percent over 2006.

Gartner, another big market research firm, released its PC numbers, which showed a similar trend. As for the top-selling company of 2007, Hewlett-Packard won with 18.2 percent of the world market after its PC sales grew 30 percent over 2006, Gartner said. Dell, which was tied with H.P. in 2006, slipped to second place as its market share fell to 14.3 percent from 15.9 percent.

In the United States, PC sales increased 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, said IDC. David Daoud, IDC’s research manger for personal computing, said that this growth was a bit faster than expected because of a rebound by Dell, which is expanding into retail stores. Sales were spurred by the lower prices that resulted from heightened competition, he said. Dell’s rate of growth was 15.2 percent compared to 9.8 percent for 2006, which suggests the Dell turnaround is working. Read more

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