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What do you think you need more than anything else to attract more of your ideal clients?Many people will say, “better information to show me how to do what works.”Others will say, “more motivation and drive to implement what I already know.”Another common answer is, “more time to fit marketing activities into my schedule.”And lots of people will say, “I need better goals and more clarity about what I want to achieve.”In writing this ezine/blog for the past 20 years I’ve talked about the importance of all of those.But I’m finally understanding a factor that is much more important: good habits.Over the past year, I’ve been a big advocate of the writings of James Clear. He writes a blog about success and habits. And he just came out with his first book, Atomic Habits, which is fantastic.Even though James isn’t a marketing expert, I’m convinced he’s right when he says that the ultimate determinant of success is building positive habits.This idea is simple but true: Self-employed professionals who establish regular marketing habits have a much better chance of succeeding than those who don’t.And the crazy thing is that the four items – information, motivation, time, and goals – I mentioned above don’t actually make a huge difference.Information. These days, we have access to more information about marketing than ever before in history. And much of it is free and instantly available through a Google or YouTube search.The problem is that most of us have not established a regular habit of studying what we need to know to become better marketers. The information is useless unless we become proficient at implementing it.And even if we pay good money for courses and programs, much of it goes to waste. I just learned recently online that 97% of people who buy a course online never complete it.Motivation. If we measured motivation by intention, we are all motivated. Don’t we all want and need to grow our businesses? But we keep getting distracted and don’t follow through on our intentions. Again, the issue is poor habits.Time. If only we had more of it. But unsuccessful marketers have just as much of it as the most successful ones. The key is that they dedicate more time to implementing regular marketing habits.Goals. Nothing wrong with goals except that they are only a starting point for success. And they can get us stuck in the future, instead of doing what needs to be done today – the routine marketing habits that we perform every day or week.”A habit or system beats a goal every time.” – James ClearThe research is in and the conclusion is clear.Establishing positive and consistent marketing habits have a bigger impact on marketing success than anything else.We may have great information, high motivation, lots of time, and clear goals, but unless marketing activities are performed regularly and habitually, the chances of success are slim to none.The question you should be asking is, “How do I start establishing better marketing habits?”James’s Atomic Habits goes to great lengths to share a multitude of ways to become an expert habit practitioner. So I highly suggest you get his book. It could be the most valuable ‘marketing’ book you’ll ever read.But let me also give you my perspective on what it takes to establish new marketing habits.The C – SPAT ModelThis is a model I came up with for one of my marketing programs.Coaching or Context. A coach declares the game, how it is played and how to win at it. And this creates the context in which you play the game. It helps if you have an outside source that can hold you accountable to play by the rules necessary to succeed.This principle is why when you’re working with a coach or in a program that you suddenly find it’s easier to take action and form positive habits. The context of the game helps shape your behaviors.Notice that all professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants go through rigorous training in the form of a professional school and internship. And in this context, professional habits and protocols are established.As independent professionals, we’d all prefer to do things on our own, charting our own direction. That’s nice, except that it doesn’t always work very well, does it?Study. A big part of the game is study and learning the body of knowledge necessary to perform effectively. Again, the information required to be an effective marketer is readily available, but you need some assistance in sorting the wheat from the chaff and studying what is most useful.Planning. All successful marketing needs a plan. The alternative is implementing random marketing activities with little structure and direction. So it’s not how much you know, but how you put what you know into action.Action. Success doesn’t come from being busy or doing a lot of things, but in doing the right things at the right time. This is where establishing regular marketing habits comes in.To some, it might be writing an article once or twice a week. For others, it may mean setting up more meetings with networking contacts. Or it could be booking regular speaking engagements.The secret to making this work is to leverage the first three steps of the model – Coaching, Study, and Planning, into marketing Actions that you perform as consistently as possible.Tracking. What gets measured gets done. And when we fail to measure, habits don’t tend to stick. When we measure and track habits, the chances increase dramatically that they are performed consistently.It can take some time to establish positive habits. You know that’s happened when you don’t even have to think about it anymore; you just sit down and write that article every Monday or make five calls to prospects every week.And when you’re in action like this, you create a feedback loop, learning what works the best and what doesn’t. This enables you to fine-tune and adjust over time until your marketing habits become more established.So, stop putting so much attention on searching for the “perfect” marketing strategy, getting motivated, finding more time, and setting goals.Instead, use the C – SPAT approach to establishing positive marketing habits.Cheers, Robert

SEO could benefit many businesses who are looking to increase their online presence and drive more targeted traffic to their websites. Unfortunately the SEO industry is not known for its transparency and this can be confusing for businesses that are wondering just what exactly they will be getting in return for their investment.The SEO industry has also attracted a lot of cowboys who employ “black-hat” techniques that go against the policies of Google and the other search engines. You should make sure that your SEO will be done using ethical “White Hat” techniques.Businesses that unwittingly employ an SEO that uses these techniques may see short term results until Google discovers the footprints left behind by these techniques, at which point they will see a negative effect on their search engine rankings. The black hat SEO offers quick fixes and is usually long gone by this point!What’s With all the Hats?The term “Black Hat” comes from the old western movies, the bad guys always wore black hats! The good guys wore white hats, you will hear ethical SEO referred to as “White Hat” SEO. Remember the bad guys always got their just deserts!What Should your SEO be Doing for Your Business?It is important to know exactly what your SEO will be doing for you and how they will provide you with measurable results. Be wary of any SEO who offers a guaranteed ranking, it is impossible to guarantee a ranking with Google or any other search engine!Any SEO who can guarantee results without even knowing which keywords you want to target is using this as a marketing ploy, how could they guarantee results if you wanted to compete for keywords like “Apple”, “Google” or “Facebook”?!Without conducting keyword research it is impossible to tell how likely the success of an SEO campaign will be and how long it is likely to take. SEO is an ongoing process of research, testing and analysis. It takes careful planning to identify the best keywords and to then put a solid strategy in place to rank for those keywords.On-site and Off Site SEOSEO takes into account factors that are both on-site and off-site. On-site SEO entails an analysis of your website. It involves looking at many factors including the site structure, use of keywords, the sites content, page loading times and the HTML and CSS that the site is built with. Good on-site SEO benefits the end user and also helps to avoid any technical “Gotchas” that search engines don’t like, such as duplicate content.A good SEO will start by analysing your site and making recommendations to improve an optimise the site for both users and search engines. Off site SEO involves creating relevant backlinks from other sites to yours.Each backlink is counted by the search engines as a vote for your site. Websites are given an authority score called Page Rank. Each time a site links to you it shares a little bit of its page rank with you, links from high authority sites share more of this page rank than lower authority sites. Incoming links to a site are known as backlinks.To Follow or to Nofollow…Some links carry no authority at all, many links carry a nofollow attribute that tell the search engines not to count that link as a vote. Webmasters and bloggers might add this attribute themselves if they don’t their link to be counted as a vote for the external site or it could be automatically added by the platform they are using to publish their content, this is often the case when a site offers its user to add comments or content and the webmaster has little control over what links get created by the sites contributors.Links without the nofollow attribute are termed “dofollow” and pass page rank from your page to the linked page. In HTML there is no actual dofollow attribute, dofollow happens by default in the absence of a nofollow attribute. You should never nofollow internal links as this will cause any page rank that would have been passed to that link to just evaporate!Where Did You Get Those Links?You should ask your SEO how they will create backlinks, a good SEO will try to build a varied backlink portfolio for you. This portfolio should include high value links that are found in bodies of text such as blog posts. These usually carry the most page rank but also require the most work as the SEO will need to build connections with blog owners and often provide the content themselves.Any good SEO will look for quality over quantity, anyone promising a high number of links is probably best avoided. The search engines like to see “Natural Links of Love”, a few high quality links will go a lot further than many low quality links.Other linking strategies include using quality business directories or commenting on blogs and forums as well as using social media and social bookmarking sites.Link exchanges are best avoided as these two way links don’t look like natural links. Search engines can see the Internet as a series of connected nodes and easily detect unnatural patterns like this.Your Business, Your NeedsYour SEO should talk with you about your business needs and goals and also try to understand as much as they can about your target audience. If they don’t do this then they are unlikely to pick keywords that will attract and convert the right audience for you business. They should conduct extensive keyword research and be able to identify the keywords that will bring in more of the right traffic. Traffic is useless if it doesn’t convert!Added ValueYour SEO should also be able to research your competition and tell you what keywords they are targeting and also how much time it is likely to take to compete for the same keywords. They should also be able to come up with alternative strategies if those keywords are far too competitive for your budget or to bring in traffic while you work towards competing for the main keywords.SEO takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. Your SEO should be able to provide you with a monthly report that shows how you are progressing through the search engine results for your keywords. They should also be able to run PPC campaigns on your behalf and also create content and copy for your site.Many SEO’s will also be able to promote you via social media and advise you on other Internet marketing techniques such as building mailing lists for email campaigns.The Bottom LineThe rate for an SEO varies an awful lot. Some agencies will charge upwards of 1000 a month! A small business should be able to find a decent SEO for around 300 a month, this depends on the level of service required but 300 should buy you a good campaign targeting 5 keywords.The first month is usually a bit more expensive as this is the month that the on-site SEO takes place as well as the keyword and competitor research.Some SEO’s offer a very cheap service, you get what you pay for and keep in mind that SEO takes a lot of time as it involves a lot of research, analysis and content creation.If the price seems too good to be true then it probably is! Don’t risk falling foul of black hat SEO techniques for a cheap price!

For many businesses today, there are many challenges that come along inhibiting success. It is, therefore, important to know the pitfalls that one can run into and the possible solutions. Some of these challenges are:• Lack of Integrity
• Resource management; borrowing cash
• Increased Competition and Selection
• Customer Loyalty and Marketing
• Uncertainty
• Regulations
• Risk management and problem-solving
• Finding competent staffThese are the main challenges that every business faces or will face. It will only be wise to have a prior understand what they are and hence find a proper way of solving them. No one starts a business to fail but at the same time, challenges are not meant for failing but to sharpen, strengthen and inspire growth. This article goes deeper into each of these setbacks and offers practical solutions for the same.Challenges and solutions1. Lack of IntegrityLack of integrity can put a business on its knees. With the standards of living going up the roof, workers trying to meet their quarterly goals and be successful at the same plus get that little overtime bonus, the temptation to cut corners is so great.Information is omitted or given in terms of doing what it takes to get ahead. There is head to head competition among employees, and soon the entire staff is infected. This behavior goes up the ladder whereby the managers and directors are also involved.For integrity to improve, there is a need for work policies to change. There should be no room for any minor or major misconduct. Staff should be trained on how they are expected to conduct themselves. Different kind of systems can be used to deal with problematic employees namely, counseling, warning, and termination. The greater the misconduct, the greater the action taken. Those who show high levels of integrity should be rewarded so that other employees can be won over to good virtues.2. Resource management; borrowing cashMoney is everything, and that is a statement that will be heard for a very long time to come. Many businesses are making a profit but what draws them back are heavy expenditures and borrowing. It is quite common to see many businesses, especially small ones, fail to manage cash flow.The main solution here is to ensure that there is enough capital or cash saved up to meet business obligations as they rise.Cash management becomes vital during the fluctuation period, as cash is flowing in more slowly into the business and moneylenders are less than willing to extend the loan repayment period. For the growing small business, tackling taxes and business the proprietor may handle accounting but dealing with the professionals is even better. Business books get more complexed with every client that walks in and employee you add. Having a professional bookkeeper will ensure your business succeeds where others are failing.Borrowing money from lending institutions only adds injury to the cash flow situation since these institutions have the power to dictate the lending terms and policies.3. Increased Competition and SelectionIt has never been an easy task to start a business, however, gone are the years when it took long procedures to start a business. Today you can purchase a host domain name online and register a business with just a few clicks. Nevertheless, staying in business is a much more convoluted subject. While business expertise was once a time consuming and expensive endeavor, nowadays you can find experts online who you can consult and get assistance from on any difficulties encountered. There are user-friendly interfaces and even support teams to help you set up an online store, get marketing materials and business cards, all at a very pocket-friendly price.The simplicity of starting a business creates a much wider level of competition. You are likely to find different businesses competing to come up with the best product while others concentrate more on their selling point instead product manufacturing. This contributes to increased selection, which makes it more challenging for businesses of all sizes to maintain customers who with a click of a mouse can change suppliers. It is a battle of marketing, focus and perception. Business owners who master these changes and provide a good customer experience will more likely be on the winning team.4. Customer Loyalty and MarketingAlong the same road of increased competition and selection to a potential customer, emails, social media, texting and other communication modes are making it easy for individuals and businesses to get their messages out to customers and hence sell more.The conservative fluctuation period is also causing a decrease in client base. Customers are forced to be conservative with their pockets and as a result, the normal business growth of new clients is not taking place as quickly as it should. Executives and business owners are forced to spend more time figuring how to go an extra mile in order to keep the existing clientele base. The same time, trying to figure out how to reach new customers in a cost-effective way without necessarily competing chiefly on price, this always leads to a race that ends at the bottom.Figuring out the best channel for marketing is the key for individuals to be successful in the current business world. How do you reach your clients with the right message and where can you find them? Once you get a new customer, how do you keep them and when do competitors of all sizes and types, trying to convince them that they can provide it cheaper or better, constantly barrage them? Identifying what your clients want and giving them a satisfactory experience will make a huge difference in your business’ future.5. UncertaintyEveryone including business leaders is usually uneasy with uncertainty. Because of economic struggles and global debts, uncertainty is more common today than in the past years. The sorrowful news is that uncertainty leads businesses and individuals to a short-term focus. Because of uncertainty, businesses tend to shy off from long-term planning for short-term benefits.While this might seem like a better choice, failure to plan five to twenty years ahead can end up destroying the value of the business in the end. Businesses must learn the art of balancing short term goals and long term goals. Usually, short term goals should be small steps leading towards the bigger goal. The ever changing market speculations by business analysts in the news usually leave a bitter taste in the mouth of business owners. The end result is executives and business owners raising prices, and thus, clients stop spending on the business. You need to get back to work with what you have and not media speculation.6. RegulationsA change in the regulations is always a major concern in certain marketplaces, but unexpected energy, financial and environmental policy is wrecking mayhem for nearly every business today. Whether a demand from stakeholders or clients to become environmental friendly or an imposed policy to increase costs due to the new carbon taxes, environmental consideration is among the biggest problems that businesses face. And we don’t have to give too much pressure to the issue of financial regulation and reform though we do have some suggestions about how to prepare to face that problem if you are a brokerage house or bank.The challenge to be solved is to comprehend the meaning of regulation in your marketplace, its effect on your business, and how to develop the skills which are required to deal with the challenge. Two main areas of regulatory problems and difficulties are health care and taxes. Lawmakers are still arguing over what is called the fiscal cliff, the combination of millions of dollars in budget cuts and tax increase. Even if the congressmen reach a conclusion, it is most likely that it won’t be understandable enough to the point of being required the following year.Health care has also been another problem for businesses. For instance, the new Affordable Health Care Act (ObamaCare) is so complicated that local and state governments won’t understand what to do, and businesses will have to sacrifice resources and time to understand the law hence hiring professionals to break it down for them to implement it effectively.Many businesses do not know whether they will have to continue with the national system, or the state system will be creating exchanges. Additionally, they do not know what that will mean for their costs. For some business enterprises, that information will aid them to conclude whether it is cheaper not to provide insurance and just pay the government fine of two thousand USD per employee or whether they will provide insurance to their employees and avoid the penalty. Companies that have nearly close to fifty workers may opt not to recruit more employees in order to remain outside the law’s radar.7. Risk management and problem-solvingA major problem faced by nearly all companies is assessing, identifying and mitigating risks, including the financial and human capital. The need for a more sophisticated challenge solving competency among current business controllers is limiting the possibilities of their ability to effectively deal with risks facing their businesses. This is the main reason business managers tend to land from the frying pan into the fire, depending on who among their executives they are trying to put away and in most cases the ever changing business environment is what starts these fires.So what is the challenge to be solved? We believe, to achieve more in the future, organizations must conclude that problem solving is the main path to business success then develop a strong problem-solving ability at all levels. As organizations continue to identify the challenges, they will have the right problem-solving techniques to know how to best maneuver them.8. Finding competent staffWithout exception, every business owner has faced the major business challenge, which is, finding the right staff, ensuring they buy into the business’ vision and retaining them. I firmly admit that I have no magic formulae for this challenge. In fact, if business executives can come up with the right formula to engage and recruit the right staff members, they would have made millions.A small organization is like a family and in most cases, they can dysfunction or work well. In large organizations, the main challenge in human resource is how to fit in the workplace and office politics, but when it comes to small organizations, it is skills and personality. When you work in a small firm, each individual’s personality can have a huge impact on the productivity and harmony of the business.The main goal is to learn how to deal with each staff member’s personality, find out what drives each staff member and shape your management accordingly. In spite of unemployment, many businesses try to find the ideal staff members with the precise skill for the business. Many upcoming manufacturing jobs require individuals with hi-tech skills. They include vacancies at the production sites where computers and machinery are used to build products like machines and airplane parts. Some skills require several years of perfection and training. Because of technological advancement, business executives are struggling to find the right high-skilled individuals to fill positions in their firm; that is individuals who have the right IT skills, deductive reasoning skills, and problem-solving skills.Final thoughtsWithout the right skills to identify and solve problems that arise in business, many businesses end up failing in fulfilling their core mission and vision. It is then the obligation of business owners and executives to make sure that all these challenges are looked into and come up with the right formula to solve them. Moreover, it is not only the obligation of the business executives but also all other members involved in the business to make sure that some, if not all the challenges, are dealt with in an appropriate and ethical manner.

Home entertainment centers are fast gaining popularity because of their space saving capabilities and the advantage they provide in storing electronic equipment and components in a compact and a methodical manner.Ranging from the existing home entertainment centers to custom made ones, these centers are either made of wood or metal. While the metallic entertainment solutions are also in great demand, it is the wooden entertainment centers that attract consumers because of their aesthetic values.The wooden entertainment centers are made of oak, cherry, mahogany, hickory, pine, maple, and walnut. If you are buying a wooden entertainment center you must keep in mind that ‘all-wood’ furniture is not necessarily all solid wood.The companies manufacturing these wooden entertainment centers usually use solid board for their constructions, but they also use veneers and particleboard. This is because a veneer is more cost-effective and helps lower the cost of the entertainment center and can also help you achieve the desired look without the additional costs that would be involved with solid wood.While searching for wooden entertainment centers, you should have a keen eye for detail. First of all, look carefully at drawers and ensure that they open and close smoothly. Apart from moving freely, they should also have automatic stops.Also, check for support blocks at the bottom of the drawers. In fact the quality and construction of the drawers are an important indicator of the over all quality of the furniture. There should also be dust proofing between the drawers. The advantage of this is that this barrier prevents papers from passing between them.If you plan to opt for custom made wooden entertainment center, you can also think in terms of intricately carved wooden cabinets. You can also consider including overlay strips of wood or blocks to attach decorative rosettes.TV cabinets with foldaway pocket doors are another option. Also, keep in mind that the oak entertainment center should have glass-covered cabinets if the electronic equipment they store operates with a remote.

Generally speaking, based on its basic definition as the way people comprehend the word, investment is the process of putting money into a business or an organization to earn money in return. It is one of the most popular methods of increasing your finances in a very easy way. In fact, as many people projects it, investing is always better than saving or depositing your money in the bank as investing can acquire less tax and higher revenue.The process of investment starts with the different investment resources, especially for people. The money collected is processed to work or move on a specific business to earn. The investments may give a certain position or share in the company where the returns or the revenues are given back to the investors depending on some their investments. That means that if you invested a higher amount, then the returns are higher than others.What is good in investing is that you don’t have to work to earn. All you have to do is to invest, and wait for the earnings to come. Good examples of investment methods or practices are a stock market and cooperatives.There are several factors you need to consider when investing. These factors are important to ensure best results on your investment. Check the following factors below.Company BackgroundThe first important factor is to check the company background where you want to invest your money. The company should have a strong foundation and stable income with a forecast to exist in the next 20 years.Investment ResourcesYou have to make sure and be certain that you have the right and accurate investment resources to invest. Do not put all your money on the investment. This consideration will give you security if there are problems that will arise.Always ObserveThe last factor is to be observant. Earnings may be easy with no efforts, but you have to observe the amount that you earn, and the rate of its earning. This consideration will help you decide if you have to continue the investment or back it out immediately.ConclusionInvesting may be an easy way to be successful, isn’t it. But before putting your resources, you have to be knowledgeable about what are the pros and cons of investments. If you fail to do so might lead to a waste of money, time, and effort. The question is, are you ready to make investments now?

Summary
SPDN is not the largest or oldest way to short the S&P 500, but it’s a solid choice.
This ETF uses a variety of financial instruments to target a return opposite that of the S&P 500 Index.
SPDN’s 0.49% Expense Ratio is nearly half that of the larger, longer-tenured -1x Inverse S&P 500 ETF.
Details aside, the potential continuation of the equity bear market makes single-inverse ETFs an investment segment investor should be familiar with.
We rate SPDN a Strong Buy because we believe the risks of a continued bear market greatly outweigh the possibility of a quick return to a bull market.
Put a gear stick into R position, (Reverse).
Birdlkportfolio

By Rob Isbitts

Summary
The S&P 500 is in a bear market, and we don’t see a quick-fix. Many investors assume the only way to navigate a potentially long-term bear market is to hide in cash, day-trade or “just hang in there” while the bear takes their retirement nest egg.

The Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bear 1X ETF (NYSEARCA:SPDN) is one of a class of single-inverse ETFs that allow investors to profit from down moves in the stock market.

SPDN is an unleveraged, liquid, low-cost way to either try to hedge an equity portfolio, profit from a decline in the S&P 500, or both. We rate it a Strong Buy, given our concern about the intermediate-term outlook for the global equity market.

Strategy
SPDN keeps it simple. If the S&P 500 goes up by X%, it should go down by X%. The opposite is also expected.

Proprietary ETF Grades
Offense/Defense: Defense

Segment: Inverse Equity

Sub-Segment: Inverse S&P 500

Correlation (vs. S&P 500): Very High (inverse)

Expected Volatility (vs. S&P 500): Similar (but opposite)

Holding Analysis
SPDN does not rely on shorting individual stocks in the S&P 500. Instead, the managers typically use a combination of futures, swaps and other derivative instruments to create a portfolio that consistently aims to deliver the opposite of what the S&P 500 does.

Strengths
SPDN is a fairly “no-frills” way to do what many investors probably wished they could do during the first 9 months of 2022 and in past bear markets: find something that goes up when the “market” goes down. After all, bonds are not the answer they used to be, commodities like gold have, shall we say, lost their luster. And moving to cash creates the issue of making two correct timing decisions, when to get in and when to get out. SPDN and its single-inverse ETF brethren offer a liquid tool to use in a variety of ways, depending on what a particular investor wants to achieve.

Weaknesses
The weakness of any inverse ETF is that it does the opposite of what the market does, when the market goes up. So, even in bear markets when the broader market trend is down, sharp bear market rallies (or any rallies for that matter) in the S&P 500 will cause SPDN to drop as much as the market goes up.

Opportunities
While inverse ETFs have a reputation in some circles as nothing more than day-trading vehicles, our own experience with them is, pardon the pun, exactly the opposite! We encourage investors to try to better-understand single inverse ETFs like SPDN. While traders tend to gravitate to leveraged inverse ETFs (which actually are day-trading tools), we believe that in an extended bear market, SPDN and its ilk could be a game-saver for many portfolios.

Threats
SPDN and most other single inverse ETFs are vulnerable to a sustained rise in the price of the index it aims to deliver the inverse of. But that threat of loss in a rising market means that when an investor considers SPDN, they should also have a game plan for how and when they will deploy this unique portfolio weapon.

Proprietary Technical Ratings
Short-Term Rating (next 3 months): Strong Buy

Long-Term Rating (next 12 months): Buy

Conclusions
ETF Quality Opinion
SPDN does what it aims to do, and has done so for over 6 years now. For a while, it was largely-ignored, given the existence of a similar ETF that has been around much longer. But the more tenured SPDN has become, the more attractive it looks as an alternative.

ETF Investment Opinion

SPDN is rated Strong Buy because the S&P 500 continues to look as vulnerable to further decline. And, while the market bottomed in mid-June, rallied, then waffled since that time, our proprietary macro market indicators all point to much greater risk of a major decline from this level than a fast return to bull market glory. Thus, SPDN is at best a way to exploit and attack the bear, and at worst a hedge on an otherwise equity-laden portfolio.