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.

You see, marketing when times are good is a lot easier as companies have more money to spend on marketing, advertising and on promoting their business. And customers (and potential customers) have more disposal income and are therefore more likely to buy products and services.

However, when times are tough every cent or penny is accounted for and counts more than ever so companies who can differentiate their products and services better than their competition have a much better chance of being successful. And whilst money and cash flow might be at the forefront of most companies minds I certainly would not encourage a total shift in your marketing strategy to focus on the cheapest is best route. People and businesses ultimately want value for money from the products and services they buy and this applies equally in times of hardship as it does when times are good.

2008 for the global economy and for you and I might be tough. It might be a struggle but if you dwell on the negatives that are constantly thrown at you I guarantee this will have an adverse effect on your business.

The New Year for many people is a time for change and new opportunities. From wanting to lose weight and give up tobacco on a personal level to wanting to increase your profits and grow your business on a professional one.

For smart marketers 2008 holds amazing opportunities so my tips for success this year are:

Tip 1 for Success in 2008

Focus on the positives and dont get drawn into all the negative hype that is thrown at you from the media or politicians

Tip 2 for Success in 2008

Surround yourself with likeminded positive people

Tip 3 for Success in 2008

Become truly great at marketing your product or service (or find someone to do it for you)

Tip 4 for Success in 2008

Remember that YOU are ultimately what will make the difference between the next 12 months and beyond being successful or not.

Author: Mark Burdett
articlesbase.com

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.

Frederick Douglass said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without ploughing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.” When your goals are worthwhile, important and valuable, your passion is high and your commitment will blow away any hindrances along the way. When you’re looking at the sun, you hardly notice the shadows.

On my bathroom mirror, I have large yellow sticker that says, “UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS”, and when I look at my pretty face, I see this just above my head. My self-image is that of a warrior. I was drafted into the army at seventeen but I have always had some military involvement and interest, ever since I can remember. I watch the Military Channel. Recently in Hawaii, there was a military parade one day. I took more photos of the parade and the military aircraft and vehicles than anything else! True warriors do not retreat. They do not desert. Warriors are focused and courageous.

Sam Walton understood winning. He said, “High expectations are the key to everything.” The bigger your goals, the easier it is to overcome difficulties. To a warrior, the enemy is a mere distraction to be destroyed and overcome on the way to victory. Losers worship obstacles – that is their excuse to be mediocre. They build statues to honor army deserters. Who is your enemy? Anyone who gets between you and your goals. Do not fraternize with the enemy. Chose your soldiers in arms carefully.

Finally, Ted Turner said, “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.” Whatever you focus on will increase. The only attention your enemy should get is whatever it takes to take him out of the picture – then get back to work. Be not discouraged. Be an Eagle. Fly high. Insist on winning. Set higher goals.

Author: Robin J. Elliott
www.articlesbase.com

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?

At a meeting of the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum, I introduced two people and I was paid a commission of 25,000 shares in a company. Those people don’t spend a lot of time in MacDonald’s. Successful people don’t think in terms of shortage, scarcity and doubt; they believe in abundance and winning. They are optimistic. They take risks. They spend money. They don’t make weak excuses. We earn within 10% of the income of the people we spend the most time with. If someone tells you he is a top business consultant and you find out that he works part-time in a government job, guess what? He’s a loser. He’s a liar. He’s a liability. Dump him, bump him, and move on. We know that if we change our thoughts, we can change our world. Your thinking is determined largely by the people you socialize with.

Back to Bob Harrison. He says like attracts like. Georges hang around with Georges (a one-dollar bill) and Bens hang around with Bens ($100 bill) and buy Mercedes Benz’s! Whom are you spending time with and working with? Who belongs to your club? Abraham ($5) is a good guy, and Andrew ($20) is also a good guy, but if you’re serious about success, hang with Ben Franklin. Now George might impress you, but when you take him to the bank, he is only worth a dollar. Spending time with Ben Franklin time is worth a hundred times more than spending time with George Washington! Classify your friends and decide if you want to share their future or create you own.

Finally, a good way to find out that people really are is to find out what books they read. When you read a book by Churchill, you are reading his words in your mind. In reality, you are thinking his thoughts! If you think the thoughts of Winston Churchill, you will get the same kind of results that he got! Isn’t that exciting? When you know what books people read, you know a lot about them. You cannot change people, so don’t try; move on to winners. When you want apples, make sure you’re climbing a ladder that is leaning on an apple tree. Join the winners of the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum: www.jvwisdom.com

Author: Robin J. Elliott
articlesbase.com

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.

In fact, the gold price as measured against the world’s five most important currencies – including the US and Canadian dollar, the Euro, Yen, and British Pound Sterling – has gained an, had gained a whopping 150% in the past seven years – until the beginning of January – according to gold analyst Adrian Ash, from the Bullion Vault. Since then gold has gained another $100 per ounce, which is both staggering and unprecedented.

Junior Resource companies closely aligned with the price of gold – such as Astral Mining (TSX.V:AST) – are basking in the glow of this new reality: A long-term gold price well above the previous long-term average of about $350 per ounce.

President and CEO of Astral, Manfred Kurschner recently told me, “Although most junior exploration company’s share prices are not reflecting the current buoyant gold price, it is only a matter of time before those companies with potential discoveries will get noticed. We are not yet in the phase of the gold cycle where any company with exploration or gold in their name is going to have it’s share price soar. That I believe is some time away. But if you do your homework there will definitely be money made on the right juniors in the next while. The majors are finally having some recognition and the mid-size companies are starting to move, so usually the juniors are next.”

Last year, the Northern Miner wrote ran a story outlining the effect that positive assays had on the company’s share price: “Wide, high-grade gold values from a second-phase trenching program on the Jumping Josephine (JJ) project in southeastern B.C.’s Rossland-Republic trend gave Astral Mining (AST-V, ASMGF-O) a boost in the market recently,” the author stated. “Infill trenching on the Main zone returned up to 7 metres of 31.2 grams gold per tonne in trench 2A, including a 1-metre interval of 133.9 grams gold.”

That program was an infill program, conducted at 10-metre intervals, and followed initial trenching completed in 2006 done at 50-metre spacings across the structure. Fifteen trenches completed on the Main zone traced the gold-mineralized quartz stockwork over 270 metres of strike, which remains open to the southwest and northeast.

Now, with a Phase II drill program complete and more assays confirming solid grades, Astral Mining appears to be set for a renewed share price assessment.

“The thing to remember with this high-grade gold discovery is that it is located on the surface, several kilometers away from a paved highway, in a mining district with mills, smelters and power in close proximity, Kurschner said. “That makes a 500,000 to one million-ounce gold discovery much less risky than a 5 million-ounce low-grade discovery high in the Andes or in northern BC, where infrastructure costs can quickly make a project uneconomical even with the current high gold price.”

In 2007, Astral and JV Kootenay Gold (TSX.V: KTN) amassed an impressive database of assays from JJ. In November, the reported assays including 15.18 g/t gold over 4 m (incl. 1 m at 56.4 g/t gold); 7.74 g/t over 5 m (incl. 15.99 g/t over 2 m); 13.83 g/t over 3 m (incl. 35.6 g/t over 1 m); 8.28 g/t over 6 m, and 12.44 g/t gold over 8 m from hole 48 (incl. 26.9 g/t gold over 3 m). Similar or better results were achieved throughout the year.
Gold mineralization at JJ is hosted by structurally controlled quartz stockwork veining at the Main Zone, which has been intersected along 15 section lines over a strike length of 700 metres and to vertical depths of up to 225 metres below surface. The company is presently designing an aggressive exploration program for 2008, including additional drilling, a 3-D IP geophysical survey, and additional trenching and soil grids.
An updated NI 43-101 Resource Estimate is expected after the 2008 Phase 3 drilling results are completed and compiled. This will add value to a share price that is set to push beyond its present price ceiling.

Astral Mining has only 27 million shares(FD) outstanding and controls a 60% interest in the Jumping Josephine project.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

Author: Doug Hadfield
articlesbase.com

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.

Make sure to envision your successful business everyday. If you have a partner, envision together and imagine you are living your wonderful business right now. It can’t hurt for you to ‘pretend’ for a few minutes each day; like you are already living your dream. These thoughts and feelings will build your successful business and the Universe will match those vibrations with the true physical manifestation.

You can take care of the clear image, and the trust. Let the Universe take care of the ‘how’. Micro managing the Universe will only bring you situations and people that match the micro management vibration, meaning you will likely become micro managed by the bank, credit card companies, vendors, and anyone else you do business with. You don’t appreciate micro management, and neither does the Universe.

Be aware of the opportunities that the Universe will bring to you and your business. Many people miss the subtle hints that the Universe hands to you to help your business, like the arrival in your mailbox of a flyer relevant to your business, or an unexpected call from a buyer who is looking for exactly your particular product in blue. (Paint those products blue fast!) The Universe is on your side, but it has no biased opinion. The Universe brings what you focus on via your thoughts and your feelings. If you constantly focus on the lack of business, that is what you will receive; a lack of business. Why not focus on having a business full of abundance.

What do you do when you encounter a day full of negatives in your business? Stay on the straight path of the positive. Remember your clear image, and that the Universe is taking care of it. The negative day was just a result of past thoughts and feelings. Know that when you have more positive days the negative days will lessen. Then one day you will wake up and realize that your business is exactly as you had imagined by intentionally applying the Law of Attraction.

www.articlesbse.com

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.

Total global services revenue rose 17%. During the quarter, IBM signed services contracts totaling $15.4 billion, down 13%. It ended the year with an estimated services backlog of $118 billion, up $2 billion from a year earlier.

Revenue from systems and hardware was $6.8 billion, down 4% from a year ago when it still owned its printer business. Software revenue rose 12% to $6.3 billion. IBM has increasingly become a service provider and software firm while lessening its presence in the lower-margin and slow-growing hardware business.

According to slides available on the Internet prior to the company’s conference call, IBM projects fiscal 2008 earnings of $8.20 to $8.30 a share, up 15% to 16% from a year earlier. Analysts were looking for 2008 earnings, excluding items, of $7.94 a share.

IBM’s upbeat preliminary results led some analysts to speculate that the U.S. economic slowdown may not be hurting tech companies as much as expected. IBM’s news was supported by in-line preliminary fourth-quarter results from German software giant and fellow technology bellwether SAP AG.

Investors had been particularly concerned about IBM’s results because it gets about 30% of revenue from the financial sector, where subprime lending woes have led to massive write-downs by several of IBM’s biggest customers. IBM had cited a slowdown in the financial sector as worrisome in the third quarter.

Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said he believes a lot of financial companies use IBM mainframes and pay monthly fees for the software run on the big computers, so they aren’t able to cut spending dramatically. Mr. Sacconaghi said that while investors have been worried, risk to IBM is reduced because about 60% of the company’s profits are recurring revenue from software license fees and long-term services contracts not affected quickly by customers’ budget-cutting.

On Monday, Mr. Palmisano said the “broad scope” of IBM’s global business - led by strong operational performance in Asia, Europe and emerging countries - drove results.

Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore, however, said that despite IBM’s upbeat results, he anticipates worldwide information-technology spending this year will rise only 3%, compared with a 6% to 7% increase last year.

By MIKE BARRIS
online.wsj.com

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.

Due to the December law regarding mandatory retirement age for pilots, Continental said its pension liabilities would be reduced, causing the company to record a non-cash tax charge between $70.0 million and $140.0 million in the fourth quarter to raise its tax-valuation allowance.

Also in the fourth quarter, the company expects to record $47.0 million in one-time gains, most of which stems from the sale of its stake in Arinc, an aviation technology provider, to The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.

Sales for the period ending Dec. 31 jumped to $3.52 billion, up from $3.16 billion in the year ago quarter. Continental just barely beat the estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Financial who predicted sales of $3.51 billion.

While Continental is still waiting on its final calculations for the full-year of 2007 results, the company did report a pretax profit of $566.0 million, up 53.0% from $369 million in 2006. However, excluding one-time gains and losses, the company would have earned $542.0 million, up 78.0% from $304 million in 2006.

In 2007, sales jumped 8.0% to $14.2 billion from $13.1 billion in 2006.

Analyst Raymond Neidl of Calyon Securities said he expects Continental to not only earn a profit, but also beat Wall Street’s predictions. “They did better than consensus, their guidance looks strong and demand looks strong, ” said Neidl.

According to Bear Stearns analyst Frank Boroch, the market should soon begin to focus on Continental’s “best in class execution, profitable growth strategy, and attractive valuation amid likely industry consolidation.” Boroch currently has a price target of $34 on Continental and rates the stock “outperform.”

Continental ticked up 31 cents, or 1.3%, to $24.56 in Thursday trading.

Melanie Lindner
www.forbes.com

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.”

Novartis, which makes drugs like Diovan, used to treat hypertension, and Ritalin, used to treat attention deficit disorder, has been struggling to jump through the regulatory hoops of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has asked Novartis to perform further trials of its diabetes drug Galvus, causing the company to warn investors that the potential big seller would not be resubmitted for approval before 2010.

According to Citigroup analyst Amit Roy, Novartis offers “relatively low-risk long-term earnings growth.” However, with the recent product suspension of Zelnorm, used to treat irritable bowel syndrome, and early generic erosion of Lotrel, a hypertension treatment, Lamasil, an anti-fungus treatment, and Famvir, an anti-virus medication, sales growth will be limited in the near-term. Thus, due to the lack of near-term catalysts, Roy rates Novartis “hold.”

However, Banc of America analyst Chris Schott said he believes there are “several catalysts expected from Novartis’ pipeline” in 2008. He noted that the company is expected to report phase III results of its meningitis vaccine called Menveo during mid-2008, and considers this product “significantly underappreciated.” As for the status of Galvus, Schott said he wouldn’t be surprised if Novartis discontinued development of the drug due to recent delays.

On the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Novartis dropped $2.33, or 4.2%, to $53.11, in Thursday trading. On the Swiss Exchange, Novartis closed down 2.05 Swiss francs, or 3.3%, to 59.20 francs.

Melanie Lindner
www.forbes.com

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.

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.

Dell remained the leader in the United States and reversed what had been a sharp market share loss in 2006. Its share, said IDC, increased to 29.6 percent of shipments, from 28.0 percent.

The other news was Apple’s gain in share. For the year,the third largest vendor in the United States held 5.8 percent of the market, up from 4.7 percent in 2006. That is a 31.3 percent increase from 2006.
The other standout was Acer, which moved in fourth place in the United States in 2007 with 5.5 percent of the market. (In the fourth quarter, it was ranked third, ahead of Apple, with 8.2 percent of the market, up from 2.3 percent in 2006).

As a result of falling prices, PC makers’ revenue from shipments in the United States grew by only a few percentage points, he said.

For 2008, IDC predicts that shipments of personal computers will slow slightly, with a 12.5 percent full year increase worldwide.

“The wild card remains the U.S. economy,” Mr. Daoud said, hedging on the biggest question facing the market. “A recession could bring those growth rates lower.”

These numbers are estimates as most companies have not published their quarter-end financial results, but Mr. Daoud said that every company (except for Apple) has given the firm some guidance as to their sales numbers.

bits.blogs.nytimes.com