Tag: Top

The Top B2B Sourcing Websites

Everybody sourcing products from overseas has heard of Alibaba, but for people looking for great deals on products directly from factories should check out this list. New websites have been hitting the scene, and some of them are really helpful for the larger businesses or the work at home eBay seller.

Niche Directories – These websites are focused on a particular industry and often provide better tools and filtering of information.

MFG – The best website for sourcing parts. Upload your projects, and get quotes from suppliers around the world. Also, the members have been active in leaving feedback on suppliers. You can now also source textiles using MFG. Jeff Beezos from Amazon.com is an owner of this company.

Panjiva – Great for sourcing garment manufacturers, their approach is different from other sites. They offer supplier ratings by reviewing the companies current shipments and customers. They offer information on shipment amount, and the type of customer and shipments.

Trade Intelligence – Ever wanted to know who your competitors have been buying from? US customs shipments reports are open to the public.

Zepol – The most searchable database for US customs reports allows the user to create their own custom filters. The system works within a web browser, and allows an unlimited number of searches.

Import Genius – Offers searches by customer name, product name, and supplier name.

Trade Mining – A lower cost system that allows a user to download trade intelligence reports one report at a time.

Piers – The largest trade intelligence company. Piers data is entered and analyzed, then put into their database. Reports are much better looking, but searches are more difficult and results may not have as much detail. They also offer trade intelligence on other countries.

Manufacturers and Wholesale Suppliers– Good websites for smaller orders and selling on eBay.

Doba – Sell goods on eBay without needing stock. Buying though Doba wholesale partners allows goods to shipped directly from the wholesale warehouse. The cost to the seller is 50% below retail, and the seller can select their own profit margin. Doba charges a monthly fee.

World Wide Brands – Allows you to search for suppliers, manufacturers, and wholesale companies. They charge a monthly fee.

B2X – Buy from China- Pain Free. B2X allows users to search manufacturers products online. No experience needed, B2X will ship the goods to you, and take care of all importing quality inspections. B2X charges an unstated fee that should be a great deal for smaller customers looking for good values.

DHGate – A platform for buying goods directly from manufacturers in Asia. Be careful of branded products, as there are lots of fakes being sold by companies who advertise on this site. But, there are great values if you know how to use it, and the site allows feedback.

The Wholesale Forums – An online forum with 5000 active members discussing goods, suppliers, and products. Very good information for people looking to start buying and selling online.

Liquidation and GoWholesale – A family of web sites that offer off-price goods for retail and discounts for wholesale.

Simplx – Another large platform that allows users to sell goods directly from a drop shippers warehouse.

Large Manufacturer and Supplier Directories – If you want to work directly with factories, these are the best large websites. Please be aware if you are looking for a factory that many companies advertising on these sites are trading companies.

Alibaba – The largest online sourcing community has suppliers from almost every country in the world. Also included are forums where your sourcing and trading questions can be answered.

Global Sources – The most reputable sourcing website. Global Sources verifies suppliers and works more closely to ensure smoother sourcing for its users. Global Sources also operates many large trade shows in Asia and has many print publications for sourcing.

Made-In-China – The 3rd largest sourcing website in the world. They also work with SGS and supplier audit reports can be purchased online.

Global Market – A newer souring website offers a huge amount of suppliers and products. Also, you can email them projects, and they will send you back a list of qualified manufacturers.

India Mart – As the name implies, a huge directory of Indian suppliers and products.

Product Pilot – All types of suppliers and products are listed in the most visually appealing of the large sourcing websites. An arm of the Messe Frankfut tradeshow group in Germany, most of the suppliers listed have also exhibited at their events, but since these events are so world wide, the website gets a good assortment of manufacturers.

Top Team Understanding and Commitment

If you examine all the companies who have successfully implemented any initiative of any kind into an organisation you discover one simple truth; they all have a common understanding and commitment to the initiative which has been chosen at the very top of the organisation. Think of Jack Welsh at GE or Bill Smith at Motorola, they and their board agreed that they would use Six Sigma as their improvement initiative and everyone agreed; the rest is history.

This is why you always hear the phrase ‘Top Down commitment is essential for successful deployment’. The problem is that you don’t always have all your managers with common understanding and therefore commitment to an initiative. Top managers also constantly change their ideas and launch a new initiative which gives the organisation all kinds of problems.

The fact is that most senior managers don’t understand the methodology they have selected to implement, don’t understand their own business and its culture and certainly don’t understand the work required to make it a success. They then get frustrated as they don’t get the results they expect, so they pick another idea and run with that. The result is that when we go into organisations to help them you hear things like – we tried that before and it didn’t work; don’t mention xxx around hear as it was a disaster; we are different, that kind of thing never works for us.

Why do senior managers not understand the initiatives they are trying to implement?

When we start to spend time with an organisation which is looking to change, they ask us what we can do to solve their problems. They want a quick fix and rapid changes to the organisation as they are in trouble, which is why they have asked us to come and see them in the first place. As a result they don’t have in their view point the time to spend understanding where they are, then working out how to turn things around and lastly understanding themselves how to change things.

If you ask a senior manager what they do with their time you get some interesting answers. Ask them to split their time in the last few weeks as an average into the following categories:

o Strategy, Leadership and Motivation for the workforce

o Tactical day to day chasing of orders, checking things have been done and answering issues

o Financial elements of the business

The answer is normally staggering. Most senior managers spend 80% of there time doing tactical day to day issues and virtually no time doing strategy and motivation. Guess what successful senior managers spend more time on strategy and motivation than anything else. This explains why when we say lets get the senior managers together even for 1 day so few can make the time to start to understand what Lean Six Sigma is and how to deploy it. How then do you think that they can get enough of an understanding to motivate and drive the methodology through the organisation? The answer is they can’t?

Toyota took 30 – 40 years to change the culture of their organisation with Ohno and Sengo providing the thoughts and drive for lean to be implemented. It took GE and Motorola decades to implement Six Sigma fully into their organisations. Yet today’s senior managers expect instant results. I think a good analogy would be football teams in the UK who switch and change managers looking for instant success where as successful team – Manchester United and Arsenal have giving there managers time to get it right.

To ensure success, it is vital that the senior management team take some time to understand the following essential elements of any Lean Six Sigma deployment.

o What is Lean Six Sigma

o How can Lean Six Sigma help your business

o How to deploy a successful program

o How to structure your organisation to ensure success

o What is the role of Lean Six Sigma Champion and sponsor

o How to select projects

o How to support and motivate your people

If a top team can spend the time understanding and planning the above then they can start to implement Lean Six Sigma and there might be success.

o It means that when they stand up to talk about the subject they know what it is about enabling them to talk with credibility.

o They understand how much time each Green or Black Belt needs in order to be successful and can be given the right kind of support.

o When they run gate reviews they ask the right questions and ask for the right behaviours from Green and Black Belts. Meaning a greater chance of projects being a success.

o They know how to structure the organisation and to choose the right people and projects.

o They know how to link the strategy of the company to the Lean Six Sigma deployment.

How to obtain top management buy in?

If you are in the situation where you know that Lean Six Sigma is the best thing for your organisation and you need to convince your management, you must consider a few things to convince them. You must also have the skills to influence people throughout the organisation that Lean Six Sigma is the best thing for the benefit of the organisation. Influencing skills are being recognised as essential in business if you wish to be successful.

The items below will help you influence and convince senior managers.

Show benefits

If you can demonstrate how the approach will help the organisation and the kind of benefits you can obtain, then you will catch the attention of your Senior Managers. To do this, Deployment Champions run a few improvement projects under no name in particular. They can then calculate the benefits using the finance community to validate them. Some benchmarking can also be done, showing what has been achieved in other similar organisations. Lastly you can highlight where your current problems are and then explain how Lean Six Sigma will help to address these issues.

Explain the concept and how to ensure success

If you understand the concepts, then you have the knowledge to explain how Lean Six Sigma can benefit a company and how to set up for success. If you don’t, then you could ask an expert to come and talk to your Senior Management group. 100% Effective Training have enjoyed the challenge of talking to management groups in many different industries and answering the questions of the Senior Management group.

Understand where it can help

Identifying where to run your projects is vital in any deployment and even more so in the early stages. You must pick projects which are not so easy that any attention would have solved them, or projects which are so big it would be like solving world hunger. If you pick a meaningful project which brings great results both monitory and other wise then you can usually gain the attention of Senior Management and then move to a full deployment in your organisation. Another problem we have been encountering is that businesses don’t really know where there real problems are. They work on solving symptoms and putting out fires, they don’t actually know where the root causes are. In this instance then, we would suggest obtaining a diagnostic of your business which would then tell you where to start in your program deployment.

Understand what motivates your Managers

If you understand the motivations of your management team then you will know what buttons to press to get the concepts accepted. This might require some work and research and would include things like how they are measured, how their bonuses are made up, where they wish to take the company, what they believe the current issues are, what they know about the concepts and what they have tried in the past. If you work on these areas, your pitch to your Managers will be considered, have the right detail and will have a chance of working.

Can you deploy without top management buy in?

The simple answer is yes you can. It is however a lot harder; you must ensure that you get quick wins to demonstrate the benefits of the approach. You must also start to use the skills of influencing with Senior Management to convince them that Lean Six Sigma is the way forward.

How To Write A Job Winning Resume That Puts Yours On Top

Many people would love to get a better job. And most of these same people have the proper training and skills to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, so many job hunters have very poor communication skills. They are unable to clearly tell potential employers about their job qualifications. In short, they do not have good job seeking skills. In many cases, this prevents them from getting a high paying job that they could easily do. Often, the job will go to someone who is less skilled but who has written a eye-catching resume. Often, job seekers have a few mistaken opinions about potential employers. They believe that employers are able to easily separate the qualified job applicants from the less qualified applicants. But this is likely not true. Sometimes there are from 30 to 300 resumes for the same job. So the interviewer first does a fast screening of all the resumes to eliminate as many as possible. The “good” resumes usually make it through the screening process. Many times the best job candidate is screened out due to a poor resume. In today’s business world there is often many qualified applicants applying for the same job. What if, out of all of those who apply, one job seeker turns in a skillful resume? Who do you think stands the best chance of getting the job? It’s the one with the “best” resume, of course. This is so often true even through some of the other applicants may be better qualified for the job. In order to get a good job you must communicate to the employer that you are ready, willing, and able to do the job. So if you are capable of producing a top notch job resume, you definitely increase your chances of getting a better job. Virtually every potential employer will want to see a resume from you. The resume will determine who gets a job interview. Your resume is a mini-statement about yourself. After reading your resume the employer should have a better “feel” for you as a person and as a potential employer. It serves to get acquainted with the employer so that they can decide if they want to know more about you. The resume is the first step, your introduction to an employer. First impressions really do count. If you make a poor first impression, you’ll never get to step two — the job interview. To the purpose of your resume is to make a good first impression. In effect, your resume should tell the employer that you have good abilities and are truly interested in working. This report will help you make that good first impression. And it could very well help you to get the better job you’re looking for. RESUME BASICS All good resumes follow the same general basic guidelines. While there is some flexibility in these guidelines, you don’t want to stray too far from them. You want a resume that is bold, exciting, and enticing. But not too much so. You also want a resume that is somewhat conservative. In other words, it must be bold. Not flashy. You must show that you have confidence in your abilities, but not sound like a braggart. You must sound eager to do the job, but not desperate. So there is a fine line that you must walk in order to produce the best possible resume. You want to use intelligent language. However, you don’t want to try and impress the employer with long, flowery, or uncommon words or phrases. Use everyday language whenever possible. Of course, if you are applying for a highly technical position, it’s acceptable to use some of the special terms used in that particular profession. But as a rule you should keep it simple and straight to the point. The word resume comes from the French word “resumer” which means to summarize. So the exact purpose of a resume is to summarize your experience, knowledge, and accomplishments. Therefore, you must avoid being too wordy. Say exactly what you mean in the least number of words possible. The length of your resume is important. Resumes should be from 1 to 3 pages long. Don’t be tempted to make your resume longer than 3 pages, even if you have a lot to tell. Remember, a resume is supposed to be a summary. A resume that is too long simply will bore the reader. There will be so much material that nothing will stand out and be remembered. RESUME APPEARANCE The overall appearance of your resume is also important. A sloppy looking resume will greatly lessen your chance of getting a job interview. The first thing that an employer, or personnel manager, evaluating your resume will notice is it’s appearance. There are several different things that can be easily done to increase the overall appearance of your resume. The first of these appearance factors is the paper that your resume is printed on. There are many different kinds of paper other than regular typing paper. You could make an improvement by using a colored paper. I suggest a subdued color like brown, off- white, or gray. Next, you could use a better grade of paper. Go to a local office supply store and examine the different types of writing paper. You’ll notice some big differences. Pick out a nice looking, more expensive grade of paper for your resume. The next thing to consider is the quality of the material that is typed onto the resume. Never use a low quality typewriter to type your resume. If necessary, rent a good quality typewriter. Then make certain that it has a fresh ribbon in it. It’s very important that you make sure the writing on your resume looks good. This means clean, crisp, and sharp looking letters. Another good way to produce a top looking resume is by having it typeset. If your resume was produced using a computer and saved on a disk, you can hire a commercial typesetter who can use this file. Or, you can locate another computer user who owns a laser printer. Laser printers can produce a good grade of typeset documents. The other alternative is to find a local word processing service that can typeset your resume for you. You can use the typeset master copy of your resume to make more copies. But be certain that you use a top notch copying machine. Otherwise, you’ll still end up with poor looking resumes. Another alternative is to have the typesetter produce as many original copies as you need to ensure that they all look good. A third aspect of your resume’s appearance is more subjective. It takes into account such things as the letter spacing, how each section is arranged, and it’s overall appearance. Some resumes simply look better because of the way they have been designed. At the end of this report, you’ll see an example of a properly prepared resume. Never overcrowd the resume. Leave some “white space” so that important points can appear to pop out. Never submit a resume with handwritten corrections. You can highlight sections of a resume by using a different typeface or size or by using “bullets.” If possible, use larger letters for the headings used in the separate sections of the resume. Never try to be too fancy by using wild colors, cute graphics, and so forth. Don’t be overly creative. A simple, straightforward, factual resume will do nicely. Make it stand out, but stay conservative. Another phase of your resume’s appearance is it’s accuracy. Make sure there are no misspelled words! Mistakes will create the wrong image. Make sure that the punctuation is correct. And make sure that all of your columns line up. See that all of your facts are correct. Don’t say you attended 3 years of college, but only show two years worth of grades. Potential employers will note all inaccuracies and wonder why they appear in your resume. OPTIONAL DATA There is a variety of personal data that may be somewhat controversial if included in your resume. In the past it was acceptable to include all kinds of personal data, but times and laws have changed. Affirmative Action laws have made it illegal to discriminate based on such things as age, sex, marital status, race, religion, and so forth. Therefore, most experts recommend against placing this kind of personal data into your resume. Your salary requirements should not be listed in the resume, if you can avoid it. The reason is that if you put too low of a salary, you might be paid less than the real value of the job. If you put down a figure that’s too high, you may not get considered for the job. If an employer likes you, it may be possible to negotiate a higher salary during the interview stage. Another thing that your resume doesn’t need is your photograph. Potential employers can decide if they are interested in you after reading your resume. They can see what you look like during the interview. RESUME STYLES There are several styles of resumes along with numerous variations. Your experience and the kind of job you are applying for will help to determine the style of resume you use. The two basic styles are: Chronological Resumes and Functional Skills Resumes. Some of the variations include the main themes of business, academic, general, student, standard, professional, or engineering. A Chronological Resume lists work experience in reverse chronological order (the most recent experience first). It includes some descriptive text about each position, usually described in about one paragraph. This type of resume offers several advantages: it is widely accepted, they are easy to read, and they show a clear pattern of your development. The disadvantages include: it does not highlight your major accomplishment(s), nor do they effectively show your other skills. Functional Skills Resumes highlight your skills and accomplishments rather than providing a chronological record of your job history. Your accomplishments and skills are listed at the beginning. Your job history is listed at the end of the resume. This type of resume allows you to call attention to your achievements. The major disadvantage is that employers may find it difficult to follow your work experience. Many people discover that a combination of these two kinds of resumes is the best way to go. You may want to try several different types of combinations before settling upon a final design. WRITING YOUR RESUME Some specific topics that your resume should cover are: (1) Job Objective — lets the employer know that you are interested in a specific type of work. This can be done in 2 or 3 sentences. Example: work in an analytical chemistry laboratory that focuses on environmental samples. Oversee and coordinate the activities of other lab technicians. (2) Summary of Qualifications — is a short paragraph that summarizes your experience and skills. Example: I have 8 years experience working on all p samples for metals C. Used CLIP and SW846 methods hases of analytical chemistry. Including work with a wide variety of instruments and computers. Was second-in-command of a lab with 8 technicians. (3) Professional Skills — is the section where you give specific details about your qualifications. Example: INSTRUMENTS OPERATED A. Atomic Absorption Spectrometer B. Microwave Digestion System C. Polarograph D. Laser Fluorimeter E. IBM Computers ADMINISTRATION A. Supervised 8 technicians when the Department head was absent. ANALYSIS A. Waste oils for metals B. Water and soil (4) Work Experience — in this section you give a one paragraph summary for each of your previous jobs. This should include starting and ending date, reason for leaving, job title and duties, and any special accomplishments for each of the jobs. (5) Education — gives a summary of all schools attended, degrees earned, and special seminars or training courses that you have attended. (6) Honors and Awards — it’s a good idea to list any special awards you have received. (7) Personal — information about your hobbies and activities should be included. (8) Others — professional organizations that you belong to, computer or programming skills, articles or books published. (9) References — you can state something like, “references available upon request,” or list at least 3 on your resume. It’s important to include all of the basic information on your resume. But, what is also important, is the way you say it. Don’t use dull, lifeless statements. Instead use action words. Here are some typical action words: Accelerated, achieved, advised, approved, assisted, built, calculated, completed, conceived, controlled, coordinated, created, decreased, defined, designed, developed, directed, earned, edited, engineered, evaluated, found, generated, implemented, improved, invented, managed, operated, organized, planned, proved, revised, scheduled, tested, trained, verified, wrote. These words give the correct impression that you have been responsible for do different kinds of jobs tasks. In other words, you weren’t just a follower. Of course, you should always be truthful. Don’t try to oversell yourself by claiming you did things that you didn’t do. As you can see, a resume is really a very simple document. It is not that difficult to produce a good resume, if you follow the simple steps outlined in this report. By dividing it into sections it becomes a much easier job. These different sections also help you to stay organized. If you have worked on a special project or had a lofty responsibility on a previous job, you may want to include that in a section all by itself. Example: “I organized a training department for AMCO Scientific and was responsible for overseeing the production of training lessons.” Another good way to get familiar with proper resume writing techniques is to review a good resume. There’s an example included in this report. You can use it as a model. Then produce several different resumes for yourself until you find the best possible combinations for your specific skills. You may also want to have a friend to read your resume and point out any problems. UNCOVERING JOBS Many people do not have good job hunting skills. They are not experts at locating job openings for which they may be qualified. Here are some ideas to help you uncover those jobs. NEWSPAPER ADS — usually draw the greatest number of applicants, so you’ll end up with a lot of competition. If you have no geographic restrictions, you may want to check out of state newspapers. Find a way to make your resume stand out so that it isn’t lost among the many applicants. Here are a couple of ideas: (1) Send a customized cover letter with your resume. (2) Call before you send the resume in. If possible, talk to the person who will be doing the interview or who you’ll be working for. If this isn’t possible, talk to the personnel director about the job and let them know that your resume is coming. This will help them to remember your name and may help you get through the resume screening process. PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES — these are agencies that try to match employees and employers. These agencies vary in the way they work. Some can be very helpful. Others are somewhat unscrupulous. Your best chance is to go with an agency that specializes in your field. Beware of agencies that continually run the same ad because, often, they are just trying to build a list of candidates. I recommend that you only use agencies that don’t require you to pay a fee. TRADE JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS — Are often the best places to look. This is one of the primary means of job advertisement for some types of professions. Example: The magazine Environmental Science continually carries ads for environmental professionals. Other good places to look include: trade shows and professional conventions, personnel offices, college placement offices, friends you have who are in the same profession as you. Another method is to simply go through the yellow pages and look for companies which may need a person with your skills. Then contact these companies by phone and follow-up by sending in your resume. Job seeking is a skill that requires persistence. You must not become discouraged. Keep making plenty of contacts. Sooner or later, you’ll find the job that’s right for you. THE JOB INTERVIEW Most people are nervous when they go to a job interview. However, by preparing beforehand you won’t have anything to worry about. Believe it or not, occasionally the person conducting the interview is nervous, too! Most interviewers will make a decision within the first 5 to 10 minutes of the interview. There are a number of steps that you can take that will greatly improve your chances of getting the job. The first (and perhaps the most obvious) thing to consider is your appearance. No matter what type of job you apply for, you should dress appropriately. A nice suit is your best bet. Dark blue or a gray pinstripe are the best colors. Don’t wear a loud tie. Make sure all of your clothes are wrinkle free and that your shoes are polished. Women should wear a conservative suit dress. Avoid excessive jewelry, make-up, perfume and bright nail polish. Interview do’s and don’ts: (1) Arrive early. If you arrive late, you’ll be rushed and the interviewer may consider you unreliable. (2) Walk briskly, with purpose, and stand up straight. (3) Don’t smoke, chew gum, slouch, read a novel, or other similar activities while you are waiting in the lobby. If some of the company’s literature is available, read that instead. (4) Give the interviewer a firm handshake, and don’t be afraid to look him or her in the eye. (5) Be prepared. Carry an extra copy of your resume and academic record. (6) Don’t talk too much … or too little. (7) Above all, try to be natural and relaxed. Be yourself. Questions that the interviewer may ask you include: what are your career goals? How many sick days have you taken in the past two years? What are your strong points? Do you have any hobbies? Why do you want this job? Tell me about yourself. What did you like most or like least about your last job? Do you have any questions? She or he may also ask you some specific questions that relate to equipment or procedures you’ll need to use on the job. This is a way of determining your overall knowledge and skills. Before and during the interview … (1) Be positive and enthusiastic. (2) Try to focus upon your accomplishments and achievements in past jobs. (3) Find out as much as possible about the job duties and requirements of the position you are applying for. This will help you to be able to ask further questions. (4) Find out as much as possible about the company. (5) If you are really interested in the job, let the interviewer know about it. (6) Questions you need to ask include: when will the job start? To whom do I report? What would a typical day be like? (7) Don’t be too concerned about salary and benefits at first. If you are selected, they will make you a salary offer. Toward the end of the interview you can ask about benefits. AFTER THE INTERVIEW There are a number of things that you can do after the interview that will make you an even more attractive job candidate. Here are a few tips: (1) Write a thank you letter. If you really want the job, say so in the letter. (2) If you have not heard anything within 8 to 10 days, you may want to call. Assure them that you are not trying to be pushy, but that you are just interested. If you aren’t hired, you can still send a thank you letter to the company and ask them to keep you in mind for any other similar job openings. Also, you may want to ask the interviewer for a specific reason as to why you weren’t hired. This information will help you as you search for other jobs. CONCLUSION Getting a good job that you want is not always easy. There are many qualified people after every top paying position that is available. But if you use the strategies described in this report, you’ll stand a much better chance of success. Be persistent and don’t sell yourself short. You could end up with a much better job in a very short period of time. AMPLE RESUME

Jerry Jobseeker

12345 Main St.

Anytown, U.S.A.

555-5555

SKILLS

Professional Skills: Experienced in operating a wide variety of analytical instruments including, Flame and Furnace AA, Microwave digestion, Laser flourimeter, and more.

Familiar with the full range of EPA and CLIP methods and protocols for inorganic analysis

Expert with IBM-PC computers and have over ten years of computer experience.

BUSINESS

EXPERIENCE

1971 to 1977 Austin Powder Company, McAuthur, Ohio

Chemistry

Chemist:

Performed a wide range of chemical analysis on raw materials, finished products and competitor’s samples. Used classical wet chemistry methods.

1977 to 1982 Mead Paper Company, Chillicothe, Ohio Mead Research Paper Technologist: Worked to improve paper formulations, solve problems, and improve quality using pilot plant and mill studies. Performed a wide range of paper tests, wrote reports, and evaluated results.

1982 to Present Martin Marietta, Piketon, Ohio

Senior Chemist: Performed a full range of analytical methods for metals on all types of samples (soil, water, air, waste samples). Responsible for quality control and in charge of department supervising 14 technicians when supervisor was absent.

EDUCATION

Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

BS in Chemistry, 1971

Minor: History, Math

GPA: 2.4 Concentrated in inorganic chemistry

PROFESSIONAL

SOCIETIES

1975 to Present American Chemical Society

PERSONAL DATA I am very active with a number of hobbies including: golf, gardening, baseball, computers, and writing. I have authored a number of books about computers and various chemical related subjects.

REFERENCES Available upon request.

Accounting, CAD and CNC Software Among Top 25 For Businesses

In this age of technology it is almost impossible to run a business with out tools like word programs, computer hardware, accounting and CNC software, and various other technical equipments and programs. Though many times business owners find that the best way to know what you need to run your business is to jump-in head first and learn through trial-and-error what works for you, there are a few typical “must-have”s to consider.

Many publications surveyed thousands of companies from small businesses to major corporations and found similar results when compared. Remarkably, numerous surveys showed and astounding amount of varied programs, hardware, and software in particular, were being used by businesses across the board. Much more than market research experts had anticipated. PC World Magazine published a list of 25 and there is a highly trafficked website called “Software Top 100” dedicated to the topic itself.

Five Of The Most Popularly Used Software For Businesses

* Microsoft Office – Microsoft Office is a phenomenal collection of clerical software programs that are becoming household names. It’s not un-common for individuals to use these programs for domestic organization and businesses rely on them. Microsoft Office includes programs such as Word, Power Point, Excel and Outlook Express.

* Quicken – Quicken is known to be one of the most efficient and widely used accounting programs by small businesses and domestic heads of households. The extended and more complex version, Quicken Books, is commonly used by larger corporations of all fields and proportions.

* CAD & CNC Software – CAD software is an essential part of hundreds of fields of work such as web development, film making, video game creation, engineering and architecture. CNC software, nesting software and CNC machines essential in numerous businesses for maintaining and increasing throughput, labor and material efficiency. CNC programs also help enhance quality control, reduce overhead expenses and the machines and software are eligible tax deductions.

* Adobe Programs – Adobe software programs are a fairly standard and frequently used tool of business professionals of all occupations. It’s not un-usual to have to open files and web pages on public websites using an Adobe reader. Adobe is also the preferred method of creating and sharing PDF files.

* Photoshop – Hundreds of businesses are saving a fortune on graphic designers for web development and marketing graphics for print by downloading Photoshop and similar photo manipulation software. Most fairly tech savvy people with a little creativity can learn these programs in a short period of time and are able to create custom advertising material, logos and graphic web content.

It just goes to show you that the more we advance in business, the more we depend on advanced technology. The more advanced technology we acquire, the more our businesses grow. It’s a not-so-vicious circle leading us ultimately to success. With innovative solutions like CNC software, photo manipulation programs and desktop publishing capabilities there is little reason for failure in business today.

Welcome back economy!

Top Ranked Business Schools in Washington DC

Washington D.C. is home to a number of top ranked business schools including the American University Kogod School of Business, George Washington School of Business, Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, and Howard School of Business.

The Kogod School of Business is an undergraduate and graduate business school at American University in Northwest Washington, D. C. and is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

The American University Kogod School of Business is globally recognized for its world-class programs. It was ranked 56th nationally in the U.S. News & World Report Ranking of Best Undergraduate Business Schools (2013), and 23rd in a specialty ranking of International Business programs.

Additionally QS has ranked Kogod online MBA program as the 22nd best online MBA in the world, the 8th best online MBA in the US, the 3rd best class experience in the world, and the 8th program with the highest proportion of women worldwide.

The George Washington University School of Business is also ranked as one of the top b-schools in the United States. Its undergraduate program was ranked in the top 25 in the categories of ethics, sustainability and corporate strategy by Business Week 2013 “Best Undergraduate Business Schools by Specialty” rankings. It was also ranked in the top 5 of schools nationwide for its undergraduate international business program in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.

The Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business is the business school of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Its undergraduate program was rated 10th in Businessweek’s 2011 “Best Undergraduate B-Schools” ranking. The school was also ranked in the top 10 in the areas of academic quality, median starting salary of seniors, and schools that send the most undergraduates to top MBA programs.

McDonough has also been ranked No. 21 in Best Business Schools and No. 14 in Part-time MBA programs according to U.S. News and & World Report rankings. In addition the Full-time MBA Program at McDonough was ranked 17th in the world and 9th in the United States in the 2021 Financial Times Global MBA ranking.

Howard University School of Business is also one of the leading b-schools in the United States. It offers a traditional full-time and part-time MBA program and several dual degree programs in health sciences, law, and more. The Princeton Review has ranked Howard School of Business No. 1 for “Greatest Opportunity for Minority Students”. Howard was also placed among the top 10 schools in the category of most competitive students in the Princeton Review 2013 Edition: The Best 296 Business Schools.

Top Gaming Influencers on YouTube

In YouTube and other social media platforms, any niche and any topic could lead you to earn huge profits just by uploading your videos and sharing it with the world. Every view counts, every like is worth a penny and every share is a traffic booster.

Online games have brought a lot of fun and excitement to our online community. As online games and online community increases from time to time, influencers are making more and more profits too. How does it work?

Here’s a list of Top Gaming Influencers on YouTube and how they started:

Mark Fischbach

Also known as Markiplier, a Hawaii-born army dropped out of college where he studied engineering, to grow his career as a YouTube gaming commentator. Specializing in the horror genre, his videos have been viewed over 7 billion times in five years. His ultimate sign of crossover success? He inked a deal with mega-agency William Morris Endeavor in 2016.

Felix Kjellberg

Also known as PewDiePie is the world’s highest-paid YouTube Influencer in 2016. The Swedish gamer would have topped the Gaming category if not for the nine videos he posted in early 2017, which contains Nazi imagery. Maker Studios, a subsidiary of Disney which is also his multi-channel network partner severed ties with him. He was also booted from YouTube’s Red platform and the Google Preferred program. He continues to make millions from YouTube ads alone while his brand is tarnished.

Evan Fong

A Canadian-born also was known as VanossGaming, to pursue his online career full-time, he dropped out of the University of Pennsylvania. He chats and makes jokes with his friends and collaborators while playing games like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto on his YouTube Channel. He began voicing a character in adult cartoon series ‘Paranormal Action Squad’ for YouTube Red in 2016.

Sonja Reid

Also known as Omgitsfirefoxx, she first started live-streaming on gaming platform twitch in 2013. She posts highlights to YouTube where she quickly amassed an impressive following which had lead to partnerships with brands like Audi, Syfy, and Intel.

SSSniperWolf

A British-born YouTube influencer is also known as Lia Wolf which specializes in Call of Duty gameplay videos, also dabbles in cosplay and anime. With her over 5 million subscribers and followers, it had led her to partnerships with the likes of Activision, EA, Ubisoft, and Disney. She said, “I wanted to show that girls can play and be good at video games too.”

Jacksepticeye

His real name is Sean McLoughlin. He first took to YouTube in 2012 and then started posting daily in 2013. He is best known for his energetic and funny commentary. With his videos that have been viewed over 7.2 billion times, he is signed with Revelmode, a subnetwork of Disney’s Maker Studios.

DanTDM

Daniel Middleton is a professional gamer who is known online as DanTDM or The Diamond Minecraft. His mastery of popular family-friendly game Minecraft and his following had set him a Guinness World Record in 2016 for amassing the most views for a dedicated Minecraft channel which is 7.9 billion at the time.

TheSyndicateProject

Tom Cassell, the longtime gamer who was the first person to hit 1 million followers on live-streaming platform Twitch way back in 2014. Since then, he has received more than 10 million YouTube subscribers for his playthroughs of game franchises like Halo and Call of Duty. He is now signed to gaming influencer agency 3BlackDot with his fellow list members Sonja Reid and Evan Fong.

SkyDoesMinecraft

Adam Dahlberg, a YouTube veteran at the age of 24. He started as a voice actor for gaming videos back in 2006 and more than a decade on, his main channel focused on the hit kid-friendly game, Minecraft. He boasted over 11 million subscribers and he is now partnered with Amazon, Netflix, and Nintendo and sells merchandise to fans like posters and pillows.

Mari Takahashi

AtomicMari was the only female member of the mega-popular YouTube channel, Smosh Games, until early 2017. She stars in Maricraft, a sub-series with a focus on Minecraft gameplay. The former professional ballerina started hosting her Smosh Pit Weekly way back in 2010. Now, she boasts a social audience of over 2 million and in 2016, she competed as a cast member on the 33rd season of CBS hit called ‘Survivor.’

These YouTubers make millions a year by just playing and narrating video games.

Top Online Business Opportunities – What is Your Biggest Fear When Starting?

What is the biggest fear of starting top online business opportunities? Have you thought about it? It can be very overwhelming to begin a new venture online. The survival rate is about 3%. Many are not cut out to be in business for themselves. Are you struggling to find success in working from home?

Since most do not make it starting a top online business opportunities then you are probably fearful. This is very normal. The best leaders have fear within them but they choose to act in spite of the fear. But since few do, do not fall into this trap. What you must understand is that you will have fears but to face the fear upfront will be the key to your success.

The biggest fear of starting a top online business opportunities is the fear of loss. Most are looking not to lose rather than to win. An example of this is when a football team is winning with 2:00 left to go in the game and the losing team has the ball. The team that is losing has to go the length of the field to score and win. But the team winning currently is in a “prevent” defense and in giving up the yards to the offensive team and there main focus is just not to let the team currently losing score on them. The defensive team that is winning is playing to lose the game instead of to win. What usually happens in this situation is the team that is playing the “prevent” defense ends up losing the game. You cannot be fearful of losing nor have a fear of loss.

What most people fear of losing is their money. The biggest question that I get from people that are looking to start a top online business opportunities is they want to know if they will lose their money if they fail. Well, we all know that in being in business that there are risks. The risk of having their money at stake is part of the game. But I cannot answer this question for them. I tell them that it is “up to you.” I say to them that failure only exists for people who quit. The sad part is that most people do quit usually right before they are on the brink of success.

The fact is being in business as an online entrepreneur is a real business. This is where most of us are unsuccessful. Most people come online from many different backgrounds but they all have the same thing in common. This is that they were never trained in their personal development or in running a business to succeed. Most come from the corporate world where you are trained to be an employee not an entrepreneur. You must treat your business as a real business not a hobby and you will succeed. That means hard work and effort only! If you have a strong work ethic then your fear of loss will diminish.

In order to crush your biggest fear the fears of loss join an opportunity that will allow you training in your own personal development as a leading entrepreneur. Very few companies offer this benefit so choose your top online business opportunities carefully.

Top 10 Secret Tips for Online Business Success

Online businesses don’t succeed by accident or without effort. Out of the thousands of would-be entrepreneurs who start an online business every year, only a small percentage will succeed. A recent survey estimates that a stunning 90% of new internet business fail within the first year.

You can avoid being part of that unsettling statistic. I have put together the top 10 secret tips for online business success. These may not be what you’re expecting to hear, but if more entrepreneurs heeded them there will be a lot more success stories.

1. Have a Plan

Everything begins with a plan. In principle, online business is no different from a real world brick and mortar business. People who fail in online business are very often those who think making money online “sounds like a good idea” instead of seeing it as a real business. They jump in without any idea of what they want to do or how to run their business.

Planning should involve:

– what type of business you’re going to start online

– what it will cost

– how you will market it

– what tools and skills you need to start

– how you will finance your online business efforts

– how much time you have to spend on it

– how and where you will network and make business connections

Without taking stock of factors like these before you even begin, you’ll be lucky to achieve any kind of success.

2. Add Action

Taking action is what separates most online business successes from the failures.

That “Earn a Million Online” seminar you went to, presented by the top online business minds? It’s worth nothing if you don’t act on what you learn.

That ebook full of secret online business strategies? They are of no worth until you actually use them.

That brilliant product idea swimming around in your head? Stop dreaming about it and create it.

While there are other factors as well, you must realize that you can’t win the game if you’re not in the game. Never let the fear of failure stop you. If you never try, you’ve already failed.

3. Learn to Test and Track

Yes, it can be a pain to test and track your results… until you finally do it and realize how much money you’ve been leaving on the table.

Imagine writing a sales letter for your $30 product and it converts 2% of all visitors into sales. A hundred sales per month is $3,000 in your pocket.

Now, imagine if, by simply changing the headline on that sales letter it converts 3% of visitors into sales? You would have been losing $1,500 per month.

Testing and tracking are crucial in tweaking your marketing campaigns for maximum profit, especially when you are paying for traffic.

4. Forget About Perfection

Repeat after me: it doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to work.

Many people spend months tweaking their websites on their computers without putting them online. They spend months trying to perfect a product instead of publishing and marketing it.

Don’t get bogged down in trying to have everything just right before launching.

An ugly website that’s actually live on the internet can make money and can be tweaked to perform better. A beautiful one sitting unpublished on your hard drive will not only make no money, but won’t even provide you with any real-world data for improving it.

Create it, then get it out there. Warts and all.

5. Maintain Your Focus

Focus on doing one thing at a time, and doing it well. Getting your business off the ground is the hardest part. Focusing on too many tasks, too many avenues of income and pursuing too many different opportunities will dilute your efforts and lead to confusion and overwhelm.

Many new online entrepreneurs suffer from this because there are so many income opportunities available. They start one thing, then abandon it for the next shiny opportunity that comes along. Pretty soon they’re stuck between 7 or 8 unfinished projects with no income and a lot of disillusionment.

Realize that you cannot chase them all. Decide on the business you’re going to start with, and focus your efforts on that.

6. Build Multiple Traffic Streams

There are a myriad of ways to generate traffic online. The more of them you can use, the bigger your potential income and the safer your online livelihood will be.

For example, if you decided to do affiliate marketing and your only source of traffic is Google, you are on shaky ground. If Google decides to penalize your sites for whatever reason, or an algorithm change sinks your rankings, most of your income can disappear overnight.

Make sure that, over time, you set up different income streams that draw their traffic from different sources. The “all eggs in one basket” approach is a dangerous one in the volatile online marketing arena.

7. Build & Maintain a Mailing List

This is still one of the most important secrets to online business success. A well-maintained mailing list can make you money every time you broadcast a message. It is a robust and trend-proof way to secure an online income.

Build your list and treasure it. Provide value to your subscribers and build a strong relationship with them.

8. Provide Value

Truly valuable websites, products and services take on a life of their own. They get more social sharing, more word-of-mouth exposure and affiliates are more likely to promote them.

It is possible to make money online by selling low quality products or building low quality websites. The problem is you’re going to have to do all the work and start from scratch every time your spammy content gets trashed by the search engines, or when the bad reputation of your product starts killing its sales.

9. Kick the Destructive Myths

Have you ever heard any of these phrases:

– Make money while you sleep

– Be your own boss and work when you want to

– Make $X00,000 dollars working just 2 hours a day

These are they typical myths and hype that marketers use to sell the online business dream. Is it any wonder then that so many start-ups fail?

Acquire a business mindset: one that expects hard work, failures, long hours and a stiff learning curve before it expects rewards. Just that simple shift will already put you way ahead of most new online business owners.

10. Learn to Outsource

This is a hard one for the control freaks out there. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Right?

That philosophy may be true in some cases, but in online business it will hold you back. Time really is money, and you need to use what precious time you have to focus on your strengths.

You will definitely have a few bad experiences with outsourcing. However, once you’ve separated the good from the bad, you’ll have gathered a handful of reliable people helping you build your business just the way you would have done it yourself, and perhaps even better.

Good luck with your online business. Ignore the hype, do your planning, work hard and never give in to the fear of failure.

Top Ranked Online MBA Programs in New York

There are a number of top rated online MBA program schools in the state of New York, including Hofstra University, Syracuse University, Clarkson University, and Marist College.

Hofstra University’s Online MBA Program is the first distance learning program in strategic business management in New York. It was ranked 71st nationwide and was the only online graduate business program in the New York metropolitan area to make the top 100, according to U.S. News & World Report 2013 rankings.

In addition Hofstra Online MBA Program is among the best in the nation, according to Fortune magazine. It was ranked 25th out of 104 universities for 2021. The universities were measured in four areas including results from average test scores, retention and graduation rates, among others.

The Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University also offers a top rated online master of business administration program, which was ranked No. 11 in the Financial Times’ 2018 ranking of all schools and programs globally and No. 7 in the nation. Graduates of the program are well equipped to apply their education to a wide variety of industries, including financial services and consulting, health care, media and entertainment, and more.

Additionally the Whitman School of Management is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and its online master’s degree program has been ranked among the top online programs by the Princeton Review.

Clarkson University is highly regarded for its online program. The Online MBA at Clarkson University’s Reh School of Business has been ranked in the top 50 programs globally in the QS 2021 Global Online MBA Rankings, which assess the programs based on faculty and teaching, class profile, employability, and class experience.

Clarkson University’s Reh School of Business has also been ranked in the top 30 programs nationally by Fortune Education. Its online MBA offers high-quality management training for working professionals who are often balancing work and family commitments.

Marist College offers the top online MBA program in New York. It is a comprehensive graduate degree program that emphasizes business practices alongside business analytics, leadership, and more. Students can complete the program while still pursuing a full-time career.

Marist College’s Online MBA has been ranked among the top in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Online Education Programs”. The Princeton Review also ranked Marist College’s program in the top 50 nationally. Launched in 1998, the College’s program was New York State’s first AACSB-accredited, fully online master of business administration program.

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