Cruising For Gold

My wife and I love to cruise.

It's the best buy for the vacation dollars you spend. Great food, marvelous entertainment, a chance to visit foreign countries, and you even meet some interesting people who like to talk about themselves. Besides, you don't have to make a bed, clean a bathroom, cook, serve. Just enjoy.
However, you do have to watch out for some scams, or extenuating circumstances that you would never suspect happening. Here's a confession from one who knows.
My wife and I have found it's the best way to get "prospects" when they are unaware of our true intentions which is to relieve them of a few of their valuables, but never on the cruise ship itself. No, we use a different method. We don't relieve them of their valuables on board, but from their home while they cruise. This provides us with great alibis, too.
Let me explain...really it's very simple.
The first thing we do is to review the ship's layout, and pinpoint where the most expensive cabins are located from brochures and information supplied unknowingly sometimes, by our travel agent, but mostly by the cruise lines themselves.
Prior to boarding, we have obtained different passports for each trip we take so that authorities do not tie into the fact that we are at sea when a consistent number of robberies occur to passengers' homes on land. After we board the ship, we pass by the cabins we have selected and note the names posted on the outside of the door (not all ships do this, but we definitely know of one but will not tell), so we are very selective on which cruise lines we sail on.
Over the next few days we make a few calls to the occupants of the cabins selected through the on-board phone system to determine where these passengers live. What we say exactly to obtain this information is a secret we will not expose. We also make calculated attempts to meet these selected passengers in various ways...at the poolside, during games played on board, trips to tourist sites, in the dining room and at entertainment venues, and especially at "art auctions" where they may be buying expensive artwork--another tip that these passengers have "money." We go anywhere we can come in contact with our selected "targets" to become extremely friendly and obtain more information than they normally would not expose.
Prior to all this modus operandi we use on board ship, we set up a special land plan as follows:
* We have found a former felon who has been convicted of burglary and wants to continue in this chosen profession, but with a bit more information than normally found. For instance, we can supply him (or her) exactly when the target's home will be empty because they will be on a cruise with us. We may also have information concerning the presence of a burglar alarm, dogs, visitors, housesitters, police checks...all important things to know beforehand. We might even learn how wealthy these cruisers are by knowing where they live since we can check various marketing Internet sites concerning the value of homes, possible income and the area in general.
* We bring our portable laptop with us to keep in touch with our land accomplice, providing there are Internet facilities aboard (now most ships have this capability).
* We try to give our land accomplice as much advance time as possible, especially since we may have to send him/her to distant locations that require long distance air flights to reach the cruiser's home. That's why we like long cruises because that gives us more time.
* We also use tactics to learn from our "prospects" what especially important things they may have that they like to boast about. It's amazing what people will tell you when you become "friends" on a cruise.
Financing our cruising and other living costs have been paid with this method. So far we have been quite successful although we are growing suspicious that our land contact is becoming a little greedy and not telling us the truth about what monies are produced by selling the stolen items. However, we are not going to push since he/she (we're not telling) really does all the hard work, and takes the most chances. Our "worker" has asked for a larger share of the pot; we'll give it since we really do not have much of a choice at the moment. You never know when things will change. We did buy our land contact some new up-to-date equipment to help enter homes more easily.
Sorry, we can't include our pictures with this confession. We really don't want to let you know when we may targeting you on your next cruise. But, Bon Voyage, anyway!

Bernard Block, editor & publisher of [http://TheSeniorConnextion.com] covers news affecting senior lifestyles from Monday-Friday on this web site. He also edits and publishes a companion web site... [http://SNN-SeniorNewsNetwork.com] which covers international senior news. He is editor of his condo newsletter, CARRIAGE HILLS COURIER, in Hollywood, FL, as well as a few other non-profit groups.

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Fine Jewelry Sales Prospects For the 2008 Shopping Season

We have all spent months hearing grim news, but as the holidays approach, how will prospective diamond and fine jewelry buyers respond?
In National Jeweler's exclusive holiday jewelry survey, consumers revealed concerns and shared details on holiday spending plans that reflect a sense of caution. The good news is that jewelry, especially gold jewelry, remains on shopping lists, and those in the highest income brackets actually plan to spend more this year.
But, of course, there's bad news too: Many consumers are heading into this holiday season with their confidence sagging amid a backdrop of general economic gloom.
Gasoline and food prices are up, the housing crisis lingers and unemployment is rising, with figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that the national unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in July, up from 4.7 percent a year ago.
So it is no surprise that 68 percent of respondents who participated in Consumer Jewelry Buying Survey said they are feeling worse about the state of the economy than they did a year ago, and just 3 percent reported feeling better about it.
And, when asked to identify the No. 1 factor influencing their decision of whether to buy diamond and fine jewelry for the upcoming holiday season, the greatest percentage, 40 percent, indicated they would bypass jewelry because it is not a necessity.
This sticking-to-the-basics attitude reflected in the survey parallels the consumer mindset the National Retail Federation (NRF) is anticipating for the holiday season.
Kathy Grannis, the NRF's manager of media relations, says consumers have held back on discretionary spending this year to concentrate on buying the necessities, a trend that is likely to extend into the yuletide season.
"Most consumers will be a bit more cautious with their spending this holiday season," Grannis says.
That crowd includes survey respondent Tracy Arntson, a college student living in Muskegon, Mich. The 22-year-old says she likes diamonds and silver but other financial obligations-her bills and the high cost of paying for college-take priority over jewelry. The bad economic news of the past year has done little to loosen her purse strings. "I don't feel that much better about the economy going into the holiday season," Arntson says. Hope, change and holiday shopping.
But retailers, take heart: Survey respondents say they will still head to jewelry stores-largely independents, with chains coming in second-to buy holiday gifts for loved ones.
In fact, when asked about the factors influencing their decision to buy, the second highest percentage of respondents, 20 percent, said holidays and special occasions will prompt them to buy fine jewelry in October through December.
Helena Krodel, associate director of media for the jewelry Information Center (JIC), points out that the promise of a new administration might brighten consumers' shopping spirits.
"If there's a feeling of hope and change in the country, that will definitely impact people's buying habits," she says. Krodel says retailers need to stock up for the holidays, buying big and bold.
Trends for the upcoming season include sentimental jewelry, which are pieces inscribed with personal touches such as names and meaningful dates, and empowerment jewelry, pieces that contain words that express a statement, such as the word "green" for those with environmental affinities.

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Personal Branding - The Best Way to Attract Leads and Prospects For Your Network Marketing Business

Are you new to the home business idea? Have you seen network marketing models or Internet businesses promise you can make thousands per month. You may be thinking, yeah right; it's too good to be true. Or maybe you're thinking, yeah I tried that and all I did was waste money and alienate myself from both my warm and cold markets. There is a better way. It's not that these methods don't work, it's just that, like everything else, they too can become obsolete.
Success comes from knowing all the stops and go's in marketing. In today's silicone age, its time we put down the cold calling phone method and the sales pitch. It's time we knew how to mine the Internet for the gold its worth.
The sales pitch will no longer work, not that it worked that well before, most people hate selling. In fact, most people hate being sold to, they are being sold to all day long and are more or less immune to the masses of messages that they get on daily basis.
The best method for pulling in people to your team or business is to let them come to you. To do this you need to attract them.
Attraction marketing
This attraction is the basic proposal in the book "The Secret" and is based on a timeless and ancient principle of attraction marketing. Attraction marketing also known as personal branding begins its idea in becoming the person you want to attract.
Attraction marketing is based on alignment with Universal law and the principles of positive energy. Using the principals of attraction marketing means you are leading not selling. It's important to give value and be of service in a genuine way.
Simply put, attraction marketing means being the person you want to attract. In other words, you are the one that needs to change. If you make yourself into a leader, toss out all those people managing techniques, and become the person you would like to follow, and you'll find that you'll easily be able to generate huge numbers of highly qualified prospects.
Identify Your Strengths
In order to brand yourself online it's best to start by identifying your strengths. What are your skills, talents? Focus on what you already know and capitalize on that. This will not only differentiate you from others in the Industry, but also you will be more confident when you know what you are talking about.
A simple plan to follow is to spend 30 minutes per day reading a book about someone who is already successful in your eyes and use some of their methodologies to develop yourself even further, then spend 30 minutes listening to a CD or other motivational tape based on network marketing, then spend 30 minutes reading about your business. This is a daily model.
Spend some time daily building up who you are. Invest in a website, or get a blog, write a bio on whom you are and why you are starting in this business and what you hope to achieve. Keep this short and to the point, people won't read long winded and complicated messages. Then, most importantly you have to tell them what is in it for them. Tell them what you can do for them and how it can help them do a few specified things in their business. Provide some experiences from people on your team, or, if you don't have people signed up yet, then find someone who is already in on the same type of market and get them to endorse you.
Keep in mind that people join up to people they know, like and trust. Not a company or product. Although, having a great and fantastic company, compensation package, or product can help sweeten the deal, your greatest achievement will be in getting people to trust you. This is how you attract prospects. Sincerely gain their trust and build relationships by being of service.

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Golden Opportunities: Smart Tips For Gold Investing

Navigating the many financial markets can be a difficult prospect. Saving money for retirement, a child's college fund, or buying a home all require long-term planning and strategies that sustain growth over long periods of time. Gold investing offers a powerful tool for investors to reach their goals while diversifying their portfolios with a proven investment vehicle. Just like any other investment strategy, it is important to buy gold with a specific end goal while keeping the condition of the overall market in mind.
Use Gold Investing To Diversify Your Holdings
When the equity and debt markets take a downturn, many people choose to buy gold. The reason is that this commodity is an excellent tool to diversify holdings, lower overall risk, and gain value when other options are losing value. Fact of the matter is, when other markets are losing worth, precious commodities will hold their value and experience sustained growth. Some investors choose to buy gold reactively, after markets have fallen. However, a proactive investment serves to strengthen a portfolio before it can lose net worth.
Gold investing is ideal for its low volatility and historical price trends. Commodities tend to hold their worth since they are based on bullion that is not subject to wild price swings. The security inherent in bullion provides a steady foundation and an overall upside to its growth potential. This is why investment in bullion can show a profit when other markets are showing a loss.
In technical terms, this commodity has a negative correlation to stocks and similar investment options. When the price of equities and stocks goes down, the worth of this commodity tends to grow. This property is what allows gold investing to diversify a portfolio and provide growth opportunities and protection during bad economic situations and bear markets. Bullion also has a tremendous upside and the ability to appreciate in value so that it is a viable option to grow wealth long-term in addition to steadying portfolios against poor market returns.
Gold Investing Timeframes To Match Investing Needs
Every investment option has a certain timeframe in order to achieve the best growth in value with the lowest amount of risk. Debt and annuities, for example, have fixed terms while equities are fairly liquid but should be held for the long term in order to minimize risk. In order to buy gold effectively, it is important to understand the appropriate timeframe and match it to your financial goals and requirements.
Bullion has aspects that make it attractive for both long- and short term investing. Its low volatility makes it appropriate for the short term since values will not fluctuate wildly. Certain 'hot coins' can even be bought and sold along similar lines as stocks that day traders might use. However, for most investors, they are interested in the longer timeframes and growth potential.
Most investment vehicles are tied to assets for their underlying value. Equities are a measure of a company's worth while debt is secured by future payments, for example. However, companies lose value and default on loans and this fact makes up the majority of the risk in equities and bonds. On the other hand, bullion has an intrinsic worth that is not tied to a company's performance or its ability to pay back debt. Its underlying value can fluctuate but it will never lose all of its value or become obsolete in a changing market.
These properties allow precious metal commodities to be taken at a long timeframe with the knowledge that values have historically trended upward and will most likely continue to do so 10, 20, 30, years into the future and beyond.
A Reputable Dealer Is Essential For Effective Investing
This tip is essential for any financial transaction and investment strategy. The right dealer will tell you how reputable they are right from the beginning of your first discussion. If a dealer asks you for your investment goals, your concerns, and asks questions, they are probably the right person for the job. A salesman 'tells' you what you need before 'asking' you what your situation is. Anyone who pushes a product before really knowing their client's unique situation is more of a salesman and less of a reputable dealer.
The right dealer will utilize their knowledge of gold investing to help their clients make the right decision for them and not a commission. In the end, the most effective strategy utilizes bullion's strengths and unique qualities to strengthen portfolios and provide lasting value and income.

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Why Washington's "Privatizing Profits-Socializing Losses" Policy is So Bullish For Gold

Since when has American business worked with a net?

Since now, apparently.
Our entire free enterprise system, both sides of that coin, always represented the chance to succeed beyond our wildest dreams...as well as fail like never before. It's a market dynamic that's worked astonishingly well-success and failure remain extremely strong motivators.
In fact, when it comes right down to it, the fear of failure in this day of unsparing media attention may actually drive a person or company the most.
But that fear, at least for an elite few, has now gone the way of 8-track tapes, slide rules and great, big cell phones. Today, Washington has slapped the "too big to fail" label on certain large corporations...although nowhere does it say that American taxpayers also get to participate in their profitability, when those businesses finally get back on their feet.
Not that we'd actually accept a corporate handout. To most red-blooded Americans, that would come awfully close to socialism. But the inequity of "privatizing profits while socializing losses" should strike home to anyone with a family, a mortgage, gas to buy, food to put on the table and no assurance whatsoever that their success would always be underwritten by a rich uncle.
Using Socialism to Rescue Capitalism?
The perceptive expression, "privatizing profits while socializing losses" comes from someone who knows a great deal about the subject. Nouriel Roubini, a former senior advisor to the U.S. Treasury, observed that Washington's rescue plan for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is "socialism for the rich, the well connected and Wall Street; it is the continuation of a corrupt system where profits are privatized and losses are socialized."
Roubini isn't alone in sounding the alarm. "When I picked up my newspaper yesterday, I thought I woke up in France," declared Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky. "But no, it turns out socialism is alive and well in America. The Treasury secretary is asking for a blank check to buy as much Fannie and Freddie debt or equity as he wants. The Fed's purchase of Bear Stearns' assets was amateur socialism compared to this."
Even so, the prospect of a failing Fannie and Freddie does challenge the imagination. The two account for some $5 trillion in mortgages, which, put in some perspective, approximates Washington's entire debt. Both companies may, in fact, have mutated into something that's "too big to fail," and could well deserve some special consideration. Still, the federal government didn't hesitate at all in putting us taxpayers on the hook for at least $1 trillion of their troubles.
Let's try to frame this picture more clearly. As private companies, Fannie and Freddie were both able to profit unconscionably on their way up by making easy mortgage money available to unqualified home buyers (thereby inflating the real estate bubble)...today, after the bailout, both corporations enjoy business almost as usual as if nothing ever happened...and, since you and I essentially just co-signed for them, these folks won't have to lie awake at night worrying about their losses on their eventual way down.
That's how a couple of private businesses are living the American dream.
"The size of the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could easily surpass $1 trillion. But Congress has no understanding, at all, of what's about to happen," warned analyst Porter Stansfield.
The Antidote for Inflation
The consequences of this and other devastations to the economy are not easy to figure. On one hand, as banks lose boatloads of money through customer defaults, foreclosures and bankruptcies, powerful deflationary forces get set in motion. On the other, Washington is infusing banks and the economy with at least that much money, which, obviously, has an inflationary impact.
Regardless of how it all comes down, fear, mistrust, doubt, deflation, inflation and war all play into gold's strength. "Watch gold prices continue to rise, even accelerate, as the US economy goes into recession, then depression, while inflationary and deflationary forces battle each other like two vultures fighting over which one gets to devour the juicier part of the carcass," declared MarketOracle.com's Alex Wallenwein.
The Remedy for Deflation
As a counter-inflationary investment, gold plays an almost legendary role. Witness how it's kept abreast and even ahead of soaring oil and food prices.
But gold can also shine in a deflationary world.
During the Great Depression-the Great deflationary Depression-the precious metal was in tremendous demand by both banks (looking to cover explosive buying and trading by customers holding paper) and individuals wanting to secure a storehouse of value during that frightening economy.
Demand was so hot, in fact, that Washington decided to terminate the gold standard at $20.67 an ounce (while confiscating privately-held gold and halting the issuance of gold coinage) then re-adopt a $35 an ounce fixed price for the precious metal in 1934...all of which meant that the now illegal-to-own gold bullion had effectively risen 69% during the first five years of the depression. Other forms of gold prospered, too. Homestake Mining stock, for example, rose from $80 in October 1929 to $495 per share in December 1935 for a 518% return, another reflection of how depressionary-era folks yearned for the precious metal.
And stocks not related to precious metals? They headed the other way. Those holding equities watched the typical $10,000 portfolio sink to $3,600 by the 1935 depths of the depression.
Does that mean you should avoid gold because the government might just confiscate it again (thanks to more unruly demand)? Not if you owned collectible or rare gold coins. The actual language of Roosevelt's executive order was that "gold coins having a recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins" were to be exempt from confiscation. That would also be the case today.
So no matter what lies ahead-inflation, deflation or a hellish combination of both-you'd probably do well to make your portfolio's root diversification gold. That's especially true if we find ourselves in the unhappy position of co-signing for more troubled banks.

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Prospecting - Digging a Hole or Looking for Gold

 

The fundamental core of network marketing or an MLM business is prospecting, there's no way around it. Prospecting produces the leads that make money, either by selling product or building a team. If you have no prospects, well, that's it in a nutshell; you have no future prospect of building a successful business.
Prospecting without Pressurizing
When you approach someone they have no way of knowing what's inside your head - what you know about your business. The person you are about to prospect is a blank sheet if you will, they have to be educated and informed about your business. The knowledge you have via training and experience you have built up over a number of months or years, and it is impossible to relay that information to another person the first time you meet. It would be like plugging a memory stick into a computer and downloading a few terabytes of information in a few seconds - it's just not going to happen with another human being. They don't know the product, the compensation plan and probably nothing about your company - or you.
It is impossible for the prospect to make a qualified decision about your opportunity and you should never expect them to. The last thing you should do on the first meeting is ask them to join your team, you don't know them at all, and they may end up being a bad choice.
People who are used to meeting others in business situations are very good at hiding what they're really thinking. You could be babbling on about your opportunity because he or she is smiling and looking interested but in the back of her mind she may be wishing you would shut up and drop dead. Do not assume anything or you will be deluding yourself. Put yourself in your prospect's shoes and think before you start- you will soon learn how pitching like that will make you look like an amateur.
Prospecting is about Using the Best Tools you Have Effectively
Most companies have tools that you can use when you are prospecting. These cost the company huge amounts of money to design and produce, and very often by offering those tools to your prospect you can save a lot of time and breath. A DVD offered to a prospect can be watched at home when she has time. If she doesn't understand something, she can watch it again. Written materials can be perused at her leisure. What can be done with a tatty business card? Not much.
If you can start out prospecting by respecting your prospects' time and definitely not pressurizing them into make decisions, then you have started a relationship that is more likely to flourish. By offering her something of value she is more likely to offer you something of value, such as an email address or phone number, or another opportunity to talk
If you learn to prospect in this way you can teach your team to do the same. If it gets results for you, it will for them too.
Prospecting is not about What you Can Get, it's What you can Give
Prospecting is all about building relationships and trust. Ask how you can help them, ask what they need to succeed, don't stand there and give a lecture about how successful you've been - tell them how successful they can be. When they answer, listen to their responses and look interested! Be spontaneous and practice being spontaneous, that may sound a bit silly but your body language will show the prospect that you really are a helpful, caring person. In the beginning you maybe stiff and your conversation sound forced, it just takes a little practice or, if you're lucky it may come naturally.
The best leaders and team builders are the ones who are genuinely concerned about others and want them to succeed. They focus on the other person's needs and you rarely hear the word "I" in their conversations - "you" is used a lot more.
Attract Your Prospect with Your Personality
Don't try to copy someone else you know is successful - you should use their techniques of course. Infuse your own personality into the formula, otherwise you will sound like a clone and after a while you won't know who you really are! Always be positive in your approaches and it's a good idea to be upbeat and add a little humor where necessary. You'll soon find you start to use phrases and words that are unique to you. When someone asks how you are, say something unique and witty like "if I was any happier they'd say I was nuts" - you get the idea - it will crack the ice immediately. You can charm people and compliment them by rephrasing a normal sentence, just don't overdo it, it may sound fake.
Timing is Everything
If you are prospecting, start out by saying something like "do you have time to discuss an excellent opportunity that could change your life?" Instead of "I have a great opportunity I want to tell you about." The first sentence contains the words "you" and "your", the latter contains "I" twice and the word "tell" - the first is much more effective. If the answer is "no", it may leave the person wondering later if you used the first question, and she may ask you for a business card. Using the second question, your prospect is probably walking away a little quicker after saying "no".

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Getting the Right Amount of Cash For Gold Jewelry

If people decide to sell their gold jewelry at the right time, then they should also make sure that they get the right price for the jewelry which has been sold. Since the value of the dollar has been decreasing rapidly, a lot of people have started depending on their gold in order to improve their liquidity position. The Internet also provides a lot of avenues for people where they can sell their gold at the best possible price. Many websites on the Internet specialize in the purchase of old gold jewelry.
Before actually selling the available gold, people should make sure that they ascertain the right value of the gold jewelry first. Once the right process of valuation has been performed, then they can start searching the Internet in order to find the right kind of buyer for their gold.
Once a person has found a certain buyer for their gold on the Internet, they will be provided with an envelope where the gold can be filled in and sent back to the buyer. The prospective buyer will then weigh the gold jewelry which he has received and also check out its quality and genuineness. This will help them in deciding the amount which they can offer to the seller for the gold which they have received.
But people should also exercise a lot of precaution when they are selling their gold jewelry to someone whom they have met on the Internet. The price which is being offered by some of these online buyers will be much less than the actual value of the gold. Then the person should also find out the method which will be adopted by the buyer in order to sell the gold jewelry. The charges for returning the jewelry should also be ascertained before the jewelry has been sent to the online buyer in the first place.

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Treasure Hunting for Indian Peace Medals

Originally the Indian Peace medals were made for the British Kings starting in the pre-revolutionary times, then progressed to having one for each of the US presidents until the late 1860s. They come in 2 main types -- a normal, round coin shape that everyone is familiar with, and an engraved, oval type medal.Since these medals were originally given to the various Indian tribes as a show of friendship, this is where it starts to get exciting for the treasure hunter.The main reason is to think like this: Say you were given a nice shiny medal from a US government agent declaring their love of peace. Then, a few weeks later, sitting in your teepee minding your own business, that same government agent who gave you the medal comes in again and tells you they are relocating you and your family to the middle of nowhere. Well my first instinct would be to get rid of any thing that reminds me of the government as soon as possible.Now most treasure hunters and metal detector users know that 90 percent of these medals that were lost or thrown away will be worthless due to where they ended up and what they were originally made of. We will concentrate on the ones that are not. Gold is really not affected by much, and did I mention the ones made of gold have sold at auction for around $100,000.00? Not bad for one swing of a detector!So where do we start looking? Well, since the entire US was at one time inhabited by at least one Indian tribe, that covers the general question of "where do I look?" I have always concentrated in areas of Pennsylvania where arrow heads were found. Researching these places will narrow down your initial search area. Try contacting a club or a private collector in your area that will be willing to share more information. Reading everything you can about your local history will also help.We now have a new dimension to add to our treasure hunting arsenal. As with any thing you may discover, be careful how you treat the items you've found and recovered until you know the value of your find. And it goes with out saying that you also need to be careful and considerate of the property you are hunting on.One final thought... No matter what your treasure passion is, it all comes down to research and planning. If you fail to do these 2 things your chances of success will be slim. So do the research, have fun and good luck in all you do.

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Gold Prospectors and Treasure Hunters Guide to Fine Gold Recovery From Black Sand Concentrates

For every gold prospector out there that has been doing it for more than 3 hours, you have a ready supply of concentrates that are full off black sand. Your plan is to take it home because you know there is more fine gold in there than you were able to get out of the pan and into a bottle while you were at you favorite spot. Well, after doing this a few times and when it gets to be buckets of gold laden concentrates full of black sand, you need to do something to make the buckets go away and the fine gold find its way into a nice bottle!
You also know you have a problem and need to do something when you have to sweep up the basement floor and run the dirt back through your dredge before you can throw it out. There are many ways to deal with this and lots of products out there, from the spiral wheels to the GPAA marketed mini sluices, which are real similar to what I ended up using. The set up is basically a 2 foot house rain gutter with black miner's mat and some aluminum mesh over the mat. To see what it looks like, just go to eBay and search Mini Sluice For Concentrates. Make sure to click the search titles and description box. The water is powered by a small 12 volt bilge pump that sits in the recovery tub. There are also hose feed models, but I prefer the self contained units. So we will now assume you have taken the first steps and screened out all the rocks and any big things that will deter you from getting to the fine gold. There are many commercial products out there for classifying as well as using basic household colanders and screens to accomplish this. I prefer and recommend the commercial ones designed to fit into the gold pans and into each other.
Next we will use a gold magnet to start the black sand removal from the fine concentrates. Since you are starting with dry concentrates this is relativity easy -- pass the gold magnet over the concentrates to separate the black sand from the gold bearing sands. I take the black sand and put it into a rock tumbler with some different size white quartz rocks that I know every one has laying around. After running the tumbler for a few days this black sand is ready to go through the mini sluice for the first time. While the dry black sand is running in the tumbler, we will now run the sandy concentrates that were left through the mini sluice and remove more black sand. I have a smaller gold magnet for this purpose, a gold magnet lets you engage and release the magnet and put the black sand where ever you want it -- not where it wants to go. You never want to use a regular magnet with out putting some type of easily removable cover between the sand and the magnet; you will ruin the magnet because you will never get all the sand off the magnet.
With a steady flow of water running through the mini sluice, feed the concentrates or tumbled black sand into the sluice. Add a small amount (like a tablespoon at a time) and let the water and gravity do their job. While this process is ongoing, you should be using your smaller magnet to remove the black sand from the sluice and place it in a gold pan or other non magnetic container to dry. Then repeat process. This process will continue until you stop getting gold you can recover. There are ways to remove the ultra fine micro gold that you cannot see, but this involves using chemicals and other processes.
My advice is to find some one who does this and if you like them give them the black sand when you are done - if not sell it to them. I hope this information helps you to continue enjoying and profiting from your gold hunting adventures. And I hope every shovel of dirt you turn over or every dredge hole you dig is full of gold!

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Prospects for 2011

The value of gold has increased around 30% this year which is a bit more than central banks and other official bodies expected but they are usually rather modest with their predictions. Most independent analysts have said that the price will be between $1400 and $1500 per ounce by the end of the year and that is where we are now.
The main reasons behind the bull-run have been the European Sovereign debt issues and quantitative easing in the U.S. Also increasing investment demand in Asia with lacking new supply has pushed the price to record levels. As more institutions and hedge funds are starting to in invest in gold the lack of new supply might start causing problems in the future. Big institutions are buying from the same market as central banks and as the IMF can only sell 403.3 tonne per annum it is likely that some of the big players have to start using open markets to buy gold.
Presently it looks like that banks are not even considering raising interest rates in the near future which will drive people to put their money in something tangible, such as gold bullion. As more private investors are getting interested in investing in gold, the mints are struggling to keep up with the demand and the price of smaller bullions and coins is likely to rise even faster than other gold related investments.
The latest comment from both of the most problematic economic regions, the U.S and Europe, are suggesting that they are prepared to introduce more quantitative easing in 2011 if and when the economy will continue to struggle.
The issue with quantitative easing is that the money is not going where it should be. It should go down to small and medium size businesses to help them to get loans more easily and this way create more new jobs. Currently the money is just going from central banks to commercial banks and it is only benefitting stock markets and other investment institutions. This keeps investors happy but is not solving any of the issues which are causing the current situation.
The issues occurred when banks started lending money to people who couldn't pay it back and now governments are providing cheap money to banks helping them to plug holes in their balance sheets. The banks are getting away Scott free and the tax payers are left alone to pay the bill.
2011 looks yet another gold positive year as none of the issues that encouraged people to buy gold in 2010 have been solved and in fact more have been added as the domino has started to collapse. It is likely that there will be more bail outs in the Euro zone as more nations have to admit that their banking systems are on edge of a meltdown. The FED probably has to introduce one or more new rounds of quantitative easing as the U.S economy will keep slacking and without new fiscal stimulus the country will face deflation which would be even worse than the inflation following the quantitative easing.
In a nutshell we will probably see a lot more volatility in the gold price than we are used to in 2011 but there are not any valid reasons why the bull-run would end before the problems mentioned earlier are solved.

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How To Pan For Gold

You have all your new shiny prospecting gear. Pan, shovels, buckets, and most importantly the "gold fever". You bundle the kids in the van and head to the hills to find your fortune. Having no idea what you're doing, you think to yourself, "how hard can this be?". Well, when first handling a gold pan, it's a little trickier than you may think.
I suggest you start in your back yard. All you need is a large plastic tub with some water and some gravel. You can purchase gold bearing gravel, which actually contains a few small pieces of real gold. These can be great as a learning tool. By starting with the plastic tub, you won't lose any of the gold while learning. Personally I like to teach panning by using small pieces of lead. Cut up some split-shot used for fishing, into tiny pieces. Gold is about double the density of lead, so if you can pan out a piece of lead, you will be more than able to recover gold. You can even paint the lead with gold paint to make it look real.
As gold is so heavy, it sinks much faster than stones or gravel, which are made of rock minerals many times less dense than gold. The gold pan is nothing more than a means to sort material based on it's density. By agitating the gravel while under water, the heavy material sinks to the bottom of the pan, and the lighter material rises. By continually swirling the material and discarding the top, lighter material, you end up with only the heavier particles, including the gold in your pan.
Back to the practicing. Make sure your tub is large enough to work the pan inside of it. Also have enough water to completely submerge the pan. Place a handful of gravel into your pan. It is best to start with a small amount at first and then progress to a full pan later on. Next drop in one or two lead flakes. Add water from the tub to the pan so that it more than covers the gravel. Tilting the pan slightly forward while gripping it on the sides, swirl it in one direction by making small circular rotations with your hands. The gravel should move enough that you see some sorting start to take place. While doing this, the lead is sinking to the bottom. After a few seconds or swirling, submerge the front of the pan into the water, tilting it a little further forward. Now wash water gently into the pan so that as it flows out, the top layer of gravel is washed out of the pan. After doing this a couple of times, remove the pan from the water and tilt it back again. Continue swirling again to settle the lead some more. Then wash off the top layer again.
Repeat this process until you have only a small amount of heavy material along the bottom of the pan. Your lead or gold should now be in this remaining gravel. Now with just a little water in the pan, gently wash the water in a circular motion around the bottom of the pan. In so doing you wash the lighter of the remaining gravel to the back of the pan, while the heavy gold or lead remains in the front. You can now suck up the flakes with your sniffer bottle. Another way to pick up flakes of gold from the bottom of the pan is to tip the pan backwards so the water is not covering the gold, then lick your finger and touch the gold flake. The flake will stick to your sticky finger. Then touch it against the top of the water in your vial and it will fall to the bottom.
If you do not see your lead in the pan after you have finished, it means it got washed out. There are two main reasons this can occur. The first is that you never settled the lead enough and it wasn't on the bottom of the pan when you washed the lighter material out. The second, and more common mistake made by beginners, is that the washing of the lighter material out of the pan is too vigorous. This is the part that takes practice.
Repeat this panning exercise, and try and do it faster and faster to see at which point you lose the lead. You will be surprised how difficult it actually is to discard it by accident. Now when you venture to the gold bearing stream, you will feel confident that you aren't dumping any gold nuggets out of your pan.
The modern plastic gold pans have riffles on one side of the pan. If you have settled the material properly, these riffles will help prevent the gold from being accidentally washed out. They certainly make it easier to learn to pan with. When panning in a stream, you should usually be ending up with a layer of black sands. This is called magnetite and is commonly found with gold. If you are not seeing black sands at the end of your panning, it may indicate you are in the wrong spot and need to try elsewhere.
With a little practice you will quickly become proficient with the pan. The more time you spend in the stream, the more confident you will feel. The hard part is not keeping the gold in your pan - it's getting it in the pan in the first place! Knowing where to dig is the key, and that just takes experience.

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Prospecting For Your Business

Understanding prospecting can help you understand your business. Boating in big boats can enable you to achieve success. You'll see what I mean.
I had the honor of finding out how much effort goes into gold prospecting recently, and I found some likeness to what is happening (or not happening) in business.
If you have a big dream, you need to involve other people in it for it to come to fruition.  How do you find these people?  Prospecting.
If you have a big goal of having a sack of gold nuggets, you got to hit pay dirt and start-a-digging.
That is what we did and here is the ratio of effort to payoff that we had:
We moved enough dirt and river rock to bury a full-sized file cabinet.
All said and done, the process took all afternoon and at the end, our search resulted in a sore back, a mild sunburn, and a few wimpy flakes. If it weren't for our friendship, Pabst Blue Ribbons and us having a great, adventurous time, the day would have been a total waste.
In my experience, the prospecting you can do for a business can involve the excavation of a lot of material and working yourself silly to produce similar, wimpy flakes.
Back in the day, mining was very inefficient and often invasive and damaged the landscape. Hydraulic mining eroded entire hillsides and ruined watersheds.
What are you doing in your business? From experience, I can tell you that there are some inefficient methods that are invasive to your relationships with friends and can alter the landscape in your family. Isn't there a way to have the gold come to you?
Old school methods of calling up friends and family are just bad marketing and often result in frustration and feeling rejected and creating alienation.  If you are a spammer, all you are getting is carpal tunnel and frustrated. People just delete your hollow invites.
Geologists estimate that only twenty-five percent of the gold was taken out of the hills of California. New technology can get at the gold more efficiently and with less harm to the environment.
You know what these technologies are?  Attraction marketing, search engine optimization, social media, blogging, content syndication, and personal branding.
Thank God I was with some experienced miners the other day.  I could have smashed my thumb or maybe only have found one flake and then maybe even lost it.
Here's where boating comes in. It is the technology that has never changed.  Ships.  Mentorships, Friendships, Partnerships.  HOLY SHIP!  If you don't have these boats and nautical skills, you will still be finding flakes and losing them while the nuggets get scooped up by the guy next to you.
How do you get these big boats and have them work for you?  Get out of the mining business. It is old fashioned, ineffective and pollutes your environment. You are not in the taking business. You have to be of the giving mentality.
A lot of people talk about creating a difference in their business and making huge money. They have a lot of big dreams but they are fantasies if they aren't backed up by and effective work habit. You need to change what you are doing if you want different results. If you can get real about getting what you want from your business, prove it. There are things to do now. You need to get the tools and mentoring that is available to you.

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Blogging For Gold - Digging at the Lesser-Known Veins

People used to blog for fun and for social interaction, but these days people blog for money, too. It's not just through direct sales or AdSense. There are other ways like generating leads for your online enterprise (or someone else's for that matter), affiliate marketing, and signing people up for subscriptions for site newsletters.
The most common and most profitable use of your blog is lead generation. To "generate a lead" means that you will try to find someone interested in a particular product or a service that you can provide or find another provider for. This can be as easy as having the potential lead fill out a web-based form, usually for free. The data collected from these forms would then give you the opportunity for negotiations or be forwarded to an interested party for a fee. The amount can be anywhere from $3 to$12. In case the potential lead pays out or signs up with the provider, especially in the mortgage and refinancing industry, you could be looking at a commission of up to several thousands of dollars. Lead generation isn't also just for finding consumers or clients, you could also prospect for business recruits or suppliers and producers.
The next method is affiliate marketing. Affiliating means that you will link up with another website and help sell their products or their affiliate's website in your blog. You have to act as an agent and only make money if you actually close a deal or a sale. On the high side of this scale, you can earn up to 75% of the sale price if you sell from information peddlers like Click Bank or Commission Junction. If you opt to sell more tangible things from Link Share retailers, (Walmart, Bloomingdales), the commission drops down to 7-15%. This, however, is not multi-level marketing. The long and short of it is that if you are in MLM, you are likely part of a network that has uplines and downlines. Affiliate marketing is more like a lateral attachment.
The last option mentioned is to sell your blog directly by getting people to subscribe to your page. You can do this by offering an opt-in page or "squeeze page" where they can sign up for a trial subscription. The success of this venture depends entirely on how good your blog is written, how interesting your topics are, and of course how good you can promote your blog site.
In the topic of promotions, you can also use your blog to promote other people's site by selling advertising space on your site or selling memberships to sites that will let members use server-side tools.

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Cash for Gold - How to Use Online Buyers To Get The Best Cash for Gold

The state of the recent economy has proven a financial challenge for many individuals and families prompting many of them to consider looking into the cash for gold online opportunities. With dwindling bank accounts and feeling the strain of making some bills, the prospect of selling scrap gold is becoming more and more appealing to many.
Legitimate Cash For Gold Buyers
Any kind of legitimate scrap gold, whether it is in the form of broken jewelry or dental pieces, can be turned into cash easily online. This option enables many people to earn some extra money without the hassle of lenders and additional short term loans.
Utilizing a cash for gold online system is a great deal more simple than one might initially think as there are a variety of websites out there to peruse complete with information about various companies and the rates that they offer in exchange for your scrap gold. Usually, a buyer will make you aware of the current going rate of gold on the market before purchasing your gold.
The lender will then examine your pieces for authenticity and be able to provide you with a quote. Once they complete the purchase, they will then compensate you by either transferring the money electronically into your bank account or send you the money in the form of a check and often this transaction takes place within the span of 24 hours.
Golden Opportunity
The option of cash for gold online is one of many creative ways that people are turning to in order to make ends meet or supplement their current incomes. Many homes are filled to the brims with forgotten or useless pieces of gold that could potentially yield some much needed cash. Now is the time to scour your old jewelry boxes for the items that you haven't worn in years or that have been taking up space, unrepaired and ignored. Gather up your scrap gold and you may be surprised with the amount of money that you have had laying around your home for so many years.
Turning your scrap gold into cash is a simple, hassle free and quick method to earning some fast cash for little effort on your part. Not only does is provide you with a legitimate way to supplement your income, but it can be achieved simply by sitting at a computer and making a simple transaction.
Be Prepared To Bargain
However, before you decide on handing over your gold, consider your negotiating skills as it may be necessary to finagle a bit if you decide on utilizing an online buyer. Although turning to local businesses in the gold buying market will still guarantee a return, the structure of haggling over the price can be unappealing to some and leave them feeling as if they were cheated in some way.
While cash for gold online opportunities provide you with valid and reliable companies in order to do business with, they will also usually offer simply a straight forward amount based upon the current market price of gold leaving you with less negotiating complications and more time for you and your newfound funds.

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Metal Detecting For Gold

There are basically three kinds of metal detecting for gold: nugget hunting, metal detecting for gold rings, and detecting for gold coins. There are many different types and levels of metal detectors, so it is difficult to know which metal detector would be the best metal detector for you if you are hunting for gold.
For eons mineralized quartz arteries and unexposed ore bodies have been shedding pure gold for nugget hunters to find. The best spots for nugget hunting are the desert areas in Midwestern states like Arizona and California. Although many gold nuggets have been uncovered, geologists agree that 95% of the gold in our western states has yet to be found. Most of this gold is in the form of nuggets that are in reach of a good gold metal detector.
Remember that gold prospectors during the gold rush did not have a metal detector and could not see the gold. Therefore, many of these nugget rich spots have been left un-molested. For this type of hunting for gold the best metal detectors would have the correct frequency for gold detection. Metal detectors that operate at higher frequencies are good for detecting gold nuggets. This is difficult because most detectors operate at a low frequency to be able to ignore iron and to go deeper in the ground.
A good solution to this problem is the Treasure Hunter XJ9-3050 with its dual frequency technology. The problem is that gold has the same magnetic field as iron so many gold detectors will also get a lot of false signals. Pulse induction metal detectors are great for nugget hunting as they have a special technology and operate at extremely low frequencies and can find gold nuggets deep in the ground. The Minelab GPX-4500 is a favorite among gold nugget hunters but these are also not great at tuning out trash items. You should always consider a gold nugget find as a good indicator that there are more nuggets in the area. Gold nuggets are very rarely found by themselves. The best all around metal detector for gold nugget hunting is probably the Treasure Hunter XJ9-3050.
Hunting for gold rings is another type of gold hunting. Gold rings are different than gold nuggets because they are often alloyed with other types of metal. They are usually close to the surface and sometimes cannot be tuned out or selected for with a notch filter even with the best metal detector. By far the best place to look for gold rings is at the beach. Particularly in the shallows of a dropping tide at a popular resort location. The reason is because many vacationers do not realize that the colder water can make their fingers shrink and unsuspectingly lose their highly valuable ring jewelry.
Also, the shallow water is the most recent area that was occupied by vacationers. Miami's south beach is notorious for one of the most lucrative metal detecting spots on the planet and many of the local metal detectorists are very secretive and territorial about their spots. Because you will find many other types of jewelry besides gold, it is best to have an all purpose type of metal detector for ring and jewelry hunting. A great metal detector for beach hunting is the fully waterproof Treasure Hunter Poseiden detector.
It really helps to have a metal detector that can work well in the water fully submersed as well as being very capable in dry sand. Of-course dry sand metal detecting in popular resort areas is also highly recoverable detecting. Another great detector for these conditions is the Garrett GTP 1350 or the Treasure Hunter 3019. Both detectors have many different modes for different target selection or rejection and can detect small targets at large depths. Don't forget your sand scoop when detecting at the beach!
Metal detecting for gold coins is an entirely different animal and different strategies must be applied. This type of find is the most rare and valuable among treasure hunters. The best areas to find gold coins would be shipwrecks. The best and most valuable type of find and the fantasy of every treasure hunter is to find a new shipwreck with gold bullion coins and similar gold treasure. This type of find is extremely rare, but there are undiscovered shipwrecks with treasure to be found. The best place to look is along the shipping routes in the Caribbean where tons of treasure was taken from the Americas to Europe and of-course there is the notorious Pirate booty to be found.
For these spots you would need one of the more highly advanced underwater metal detectors like the Treasure Hunter Poseidon underwater metal detector. Also, rare gold coins have been found washed up at all the beaches of the East Coast, and indicates that there is much more treasure hidden out there. Overall the best metal detector for gold hunting would probably be the Treasure Hunter XJ9-3050 because of the dual frequency allows it to detect gold at great depths. Just remember that treasure is where you find it and you must be out there hunting it with your metal detector to find it!

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2010 - A Very Important Year For Gold

2010 was a significant year for gold not only in the official sector, that of central banks, but also in the private sector of consumers or retail investors. As regards central banks, in spite of their second five-year gold sales agreement, they did not sell any gold last year other than to their domestic mints. Instead, they started to become eager buyers of gold, among others, Russia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand adding further to their holdings, without speaking about the greatest buyer, China.
Given their buying by the ton, central banks, in general, determined an unprecedented increase in the gold price. If during 2004-2009, the average gold price was about $717, all over 2010, gold rates had been above $1,000, reaching even about $1,500. This price was mainly the result of the buyer conduct of central banks and of the fact no large quantities of gold were expected to be sold into the open market, IMF itself finishing to sell its planned 400 tons of gold bullion. And, anyway, banks' acquisitions actually outpaced any potential sale. Russia for one bought 18.66 tons in October, while IMF sold 19.5 tons in the same month.
On the other hand, in spite of the soaring gold prices, the gold demand on part of consumers continued to grow, especially in China, India, Turkey and Russia, the most significant markets for gold jewelry, actually accounting for 63% of global demand. At the same time, retail investment increased by 25% against the previous year, especially in bar hoarding, which increased alone by 44% by comparison with the previous year. The industrial demand also increased by 13% from the previous year, mainly due to the demand from the electronics industry that uses gold components for its state-of-the-arts products.
The steady economic growth of the two main emerging economies - China and India - played the most important role in the increasing demand for gold, both citizens and central banks there buying gold eagerly. China's national demand increased by 11.4% in comparison with the previous year, and it seems that overall China has even overtaken India as the most important gold consumer worldwide.
On the other hand, the worries about failing currencies in the developed economies also contributed to the demand for gold, people opting for diversifying their portfolios with gold as a hedge against the collapse of bank-paper assets. It seems that gold took advantage of the global financial crisis, a fact reflected both in demand and international rates. Perceived as the only safe asset left in case the global bank system doesn't recover, gold may be expected to hit as high as 3,000 - 10,000 dollars an ounce; therefore, not only it had a great year, but it also has great prospects.

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What Has Influenced the Demand For Gold in 2009?

Over the past few years, gold has proved its value by acquiring records of investment by investors. Gold has reflected that it is a safe haven for the investors, even for those who have an inclination towards the stock market. Gold is expected to have a stellar year since its investment has tripled over the past years. Not only had its worth increased but it has also proved to be a consistent source of benefit for investors.
Worldwide financial uproar and devaluation definitely helped in predicting that it shall certainly continue to control gold costs in the near-term. However, gold prices were expected to rupture additional records throughout 2009. Gold had reached as high as $1,300 during 2009, which definitely reflects mere profit and benefit of over 50% from existing levels.
2009 has been marked as a record breaking investment since it was able to gain double profits of high value in a row of nine years. The gain was equal to 77%. In the future, it can be predicted that prices will be inflated and the cost of gold shall also increase, because 2009 was an addition to its high stature. Since gold is required in terms of jewellery, it can store the struggle that one has been making all his life and cannot risk in a stock market share, and it also provides one with the edge of security from the circumstantial turmoil.
Moreover, gold has been given due consideration as compared to other products because it has had a consistent level of progress in the trade market. Thus, it can be regarded as a secure possession. Not only investors but common people also look upon it as a precious asset, as it has given them some hope of financial security.
2009 has been labelled as the year that encompassed all the profits of gold that had been recorded over the history of gold. People, who had been switching from stock market to prize bonds, have had not much luck in these prospects. Thus, they had to face some crisis. In this regard, gold happen to be that single and secure asset that did not face any decline.
Due to the oil and the worldwide recession, dollar faced downfall and, at the same time, the gold rate inflated. Thus, supply and demand amalgamated together to contribute and increase the worth of this product. Gold has been a successful combat with the US dollar and acquired around 23.9% in 2009, which marked its high quality and worth. 2009 was a year of immense success for gold. It amplified in opposition to all nine of the most important world currencies.
Also, the fact cannot be ignored that even though the price was too high, like around $10,000 per ounce, but there was no decline in the interest of its buying strength. Companies, stockholders, business investors, all contributed greatly in order to acquire an edge of monetary safety for the future. All the above factors contribute enormously in augmenting the demand for gold in 2009.

Learn how to buy gold in the times of recession by taking help of professionals.

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Gold Prices to Increase Dramatically: Favorable Time for Gold Trading

With most countries around the world regularly buying gold for the last five years, the world has seen around 142 percent upsurge in the price of gold since 2008. Experts believe that the current scenario is just perfect for gold trading. According to projection by the World Gold Council, the total purchase of gold by central banks may reach 500 tons by the end of 2012. Interestingly, central banks have already purchased 254.2 tons of gold in the first half of 2012. Here's a look at some interesting facts revealed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In July, 2012, South Korea and Russia purchased consecutively around 16 tons and 18.6 metric tons of gold.
The Kyrgyz Republic, Turkey, Ukraine, and several other countries have spent more money for buying gold in 2012.
For the 12 consecutive months, Kazakhstan increased their bullion reserves
In an interview with MarketWatch, Justin Harper, a market strategist at IG Markets said, "Gold prices continue to be underpinned by growing demand from central banks... we believe this trend is likely to ramp up once liquidity increases in global markets,"
According to a report by Don Miller, published in Money Morning on October3, 2012, "the cheap money policies by many of these same central banks, such as the Federal Reserve's recently announced QE3 program, will also help fuel the rise in gold prices." In the report, Miller projected that gold prices may rise up to $2,500 by 2013. Now let's take a close look at some major reasons why majority of central banks are currently investing in gold.
Why Most Central Banks are Currently Buying Gold
According to the report by Don Miller, central banks had a major shift in policy regarding buying and selling gold after they signed the Washington Agreement on Gold in 1999. Prior to signing this agreement, central banks had only been into selling of gold. But this, according to Miller, was destabilizing the gold market to large extent. The second version of the Washington Agreement on Gold includes some reasons why the agreement was signed. Let's take a look.
"The agreement came in response to concerns in the gold market after the United Kingdom treasury announced that it was proposing to sell 58% of UK gold reserves through Bank of England auctions, coupled with the prospect of significant sales by the Swiss National Bank and the possibility of on-going sales by Austria and the Netherlands, plus proposals of sales by the IMF."
The article by Miller also revealed that the agreement helped to restrict sales of gold to 400 tons per year for the next five years. Here's a look at some important things to know about this agreement.
The agreement was signed by the European Central Bank and the central banks of many countries, such as Austria, France, Belgium, Ireland, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom
After 1999, the agreement was renewed twice - once in 2004 and once in 2009
As a result of the agreement, all signatories, as well as several other countries throughout the world, reduced selling of gold
In 2009, all central banks stopped selling gold. Instead, they started buying gold.
According to experts, this trend of buying gold will continue in the coming years. With more and more countries likely to increase buying gold, experts believe that the price of gold is expected to reach unprecedented height in recent years. Some experts also believe that the current scenario seems just perfect for those who want to invest in gold.

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Increase Your Sales: Prospecting for Dollars

You can't strike it rich mining for gold unless you are in the river prospecting for it - and it's NOT on the bank - it's in the water!
First let's take a look at how you feel about prospecting - because how you feel about prospecting determines how you will act.
Do you feel uncomfortable? Do you dislike it? What's hiding under the rock?
We'll first take a look at your hard-wired belief system about prospecting.
Let's face it: some sales professionals love it, some hate it, and some have even built up some fear around doing it. This is all perfectly natural, but it's also stopping you from being as effective as you can be in identifying new customers. So you have a task before you: you have to learn to love it!
If you fear it, you have to figure out why you fear it. Have you had negative prospecting experiences in the past? If you really think about it, prospecting in person or over the phone is just having a conversation and what's so scary about that? Most people don't bite - and if they do, they aren't a good prospect anyway. (Who wants to sell to a biter?)
If your product has value (if you don't think it does, you better think about it harder!), then talking to people about it should be fun, exciting, and interesting - to both of you!
One last thought - if you don't like prospecting and you look like you are in pain when you are doing it, what kind of message are you sending? You wouldn't want to see it on video - The Blair Pitch Project - scary!!!!
Prospecting = How can I help?
Instead of prospecting blindly, or worse - prospecting as about 80% of salespeople do with a mindset of "What's in it for me," you should try netweaving.
Netweaving turns the tables 180 degrees on prospecting and starts with you asking every new person you meet "How can I help you?"
Using netweaving is easy - and it makes you the bedrock for doing business.
Getting started with netweaving is simple: connect people that should be connected.
Specifically, one of the quickest ways to convert one of your prospects into a client is to bring THEM a prospect or valuable contact!
You should develop a genuine focus on being "of service." Develop authentic curiosity - focus on everyone's favorite subject, ME.
Ask questions focused on them, such as "tell me how you got started in this business?" or "who would be a good referral for you?"
I once worked with a salesperson who pointed out a lawyers office as we were driving and then a few moments later, a chiropractor's office and said, "They do business together because of me - I brought them together. They are both my clients and now each others clients." That's netweaving and it's one of the most powerful ways to prove your value to people - and stand head and shoulders above the crowd of other me-me-me sales people.
In fact, your goal should be to become a you-you-you sales professional!
Are you magnetic?
Another aspect involves the concept of magnetism. Working like a magnet - to attract people to you, almost irresistibly - instead of laboriously panning for gold among the pebbles can make the single biggest difference in dramatically increasing a sales professional's effectiveness.
What if, through your efforts, you drew people to you? You have heard of people with magnetic personalities? This is called magnetic marketing!
In magnetic marketing, you move away from sales "rocks" to find your valuable iron ore - or sales "magnets."
Here is a question to get you started thinking about magnetic marketing - How can you convert prospects into SUBSCRIBERS?
That's right - subscribers. People who actually want to hear from you, value the information you bring to them, and look forward to the next time you call, email, or send them something in the mail, simply because of its intrinsic value.
In other words, how do you keep prospects coming back for more of what you have to offer?
Simple: offer useful information on a regular basis.
Becoming a geyser of information
That leads to the next logical question, which is How can you become a valuable geyser of useful information?
Once you've answered this question, you'll start pulling people toward you so they will WANT to do business with you. They will call YOU! Wouldn't that be something? Well it can be done!
The way to do this is to develop a marketing/ prospecting plan, including creating information products, outreach tools, and using speaking and publishing opportunities (yes, for salespeople) to build your expert status.
Publish a newsletter on a regular basis and send it to your clients and prospective clients. Fill it with valuable tips, advice techniques and information. Don't use boilerplate newsletters prepared for your industry - make this real, make it personal, and aim it squarely at your best prospects and clients.
Let's face it: you are an expert in your particular product and industry - or should be. So show off your expertise!
In the age of technology, cost is no barrier, because you can create a wide variety of valuable tools electronically: annotated PowerPoints, white papers, audio programs, cost and savings calculators, short articles, tip sheets, and checklists. These take minutes to create (maybe an hour or so to do one really well) and can pay off in huge ways.
Just make sure you don't produce a thinly disguised sales pitch (people can see right through that!) and do provide solid information to increase your credibility.
Secret #1: Publishing
Most publishers of industry and trade magazines and newsletters are HUNGRY for content. Not to mention websites, e-zines, industry specific online forums, and countless in-house publications (probably a good number of which are published by your prospect companies!)
The content is gobbled up every month and editors are always looking for NEW stuff. So all you have to do is ask and submit! When you get published you now have (wave the magic wand) TAAA-DAAA...Instant credibility!
Suddenly you're an "industry expert." Hey it's not fair - but that is how it works! Wouldn't you want to buy from an industry expert? Or at least speak to him or her for a few minutes on the phone to tap into their expertise?
Secret #2: Speaking
Associations are HUNGRY for speakers and they need one every time they have a meeting.
Package your expertise as a nice little 30 minute talk and you are now ready to speak to your future buyers!
Again, don't make it a sales pitch; make it content rich and helpful.
If you sell copiers, do a talk on 10 Hot Trends in Office Technology. If you sell restaurant supplies, do a presentation on How to Increase your Business Traffic 100%.
When you speak, you become an expert - and usually get a list of the attendees so you can follow up.
Now you may say, "I'm not very good at public speaking."
Usually when I hear people say that, it means one of three things:
oThey tried it before and didn't like it because they gave a pitch from the podium and got zero response (which is exactly why I warned you about this a minute ago!)
oThey don't want to put in the "extra work" to create, develop, and pursue delivering short, value-rich speeches.
oThey don't know where to begin.
If you fall into the first two categories, all I can suggest is that in order to change your results, you'll need to change your behavior.
If you're in the third category, there are many options open to you, including the truly valuable Toastmasters organization, and presentation coaches who can get you comfortable, and even excited, in developing good speaking skills within a couple of months. Here is the formula:
PR+V= Cx10
Good PR and Visibility increases your Credibility times 10!
Secret #3 Tradeshow Tips
Every day, hundreds of tradeshows happen around the world, and hundreds of sales and marketing people make the same dumb mistakes over and over again. Many sales professionals do not understand the dynamics of how to behave at a trade show to make it a profitable prospecting activity.
Your main job at a trade show is making the connections that create new customers. Sounds simple, right? Well, read on.
Trade show visitors' activity levels range from the very aggressive to the virtually comatose. Remember, all visitors are prospective customers, regardless of activity level. Don't interpret low energy as meaning they aren't interested.
You want to match your opening line to the prospect's activity level. Ask aggressive visitors strong, open-ended questions. Ask uncertain visitors easier, gentler questions.
"Can I help you" just triggers the automatic response "No thanks, just looking." This doesn't let you tell your story or find out what your visitor wants or needs.
Try asking "Have you heard of our company before?" If no, then say "Then you'll be glad to know... [10-second audio logo]" If the answer was yes, you can say "Then you probably know that... [10-second audio logo]"
Want to know how to up the WOW! factor? Your opening line should tell the most amazing fact about your firm. The very things that you take for granted because you hear them [or say them] every day. Find something that makes people say "Wow!" and use that as your opening.
Active Visitors. Greet these visitors by introducing yourself, a handshake, and saying:
Thanks for coming in. What caught your interest?
I see you're taking a closer look. Do you currently use/have any of our products/services?
You seem to know something about us already. What are you looking for? or What questions do you have about our services?
Uncertain Visitors. Avoid yes/no questions with these visitors. Be gentle, avoiding a sales approach or a pitch. Greet these visitors by introducing yourself, offering a handshake, and saying
What did you come to the show to see?
What brought you to the show today?
What about the show have you found the most interesting so far?
How much do you know about our offerings?
Take notes when qualifying a prospect. Don't bother taking detailed notes. A few words will suffice to remind you of the key issues for that particular visitor. Taking notes accomplishes five things:
1.Helps you focus on what the visitor is saying.
2.Your visitor knows you're paying attention and listening.
3.You don't have to stare the visitor in the eye the whole time.
4.You have key details that you can use to resume the conversation when you follow up.
5.When you have a record of the conversation, your prospect is less likely to change his mind.
Qualifying questions. Try some or all of these:
What do you want in a... [product/service]?
Who/what are you currently using?
How has that been for you?
What's the most frustrating aspect of buying [product/service]?
If you could change one thing about your current [product/service], what would it be?
Has anyone reviewed your needs and situation recently? Things can quickly get outdated if...
Even if you don't use us, you should consider updating/reviewing/buying more [product/service]
Then, invent a few more qualifying questions of your own!
How to connect QUICK. There are 5 steps to a trade show sales call. They make up the acronym QUICK.
Q - Qualify. Best questions start with "tell me about."
Tell me what you're doing about [product/service]
Tell me about your current [product/service]
Tell me about what makes you crazy when buying [product/service]
U - Understand. Why is this person at the show? What is he looking for? What problem does he want to solve? What need does he want to fill? Restate and clarify the visitors needs. Then demonstrate how your [product/service] fills those needs. If the conversation wanders, restart with "Earlier you said..." and get back on track.
I - Identify. Identify how you can help. All you really need to do is isolate one or two key points. The visitor is looking for a 15-30 second overview of what you can do to solve HIS problem.
C - Create an action plan. You and your visitor should decide what to do next, write up an order, get more information, set up an appointment, mail literature - or nothing! This lets your visitor buy or move quickly to the next step in the sales process.
K - Kick 'em out! Once you've agreed to the action plan, restate the key points of the plan, shake hands, and thank them for stopping by. Move them on gracefully with this process, and you're free to meet your next visitor.
Make sure to capture their name, vital statistics, an understanding of what they need and want, brief notes on your conversation, and a plan to follow through. Also, confirm that the phone number they give you is the best one with which to reach them directly.
If the prospect is a dead end and unlikely to buy, move on FAST. Say something like:
"Based on what you've told me, I don't think I can help you right now."
"Thanks for stopping by."
"Enjoy the rest of the show."
"If I can be of service to you or people you know, here's my card. Thanks."
That's it about trade shows. Now your job is to make the next trade show you attend 300% more productive than the last one!
Finding radioactive clients
OK folks, pull out your Geiger counters.
We want to encourage you to begin using a "selectivity" mentality where you qualify prospects, just as they would qualify you.
Do THEY deserve a callback?
Do THEY deserve a face-to-face appointment?
Do THEY deserve a proposal?
Are you looking for short-term checks or long-term clients that will be thrilled with you and refer you and buy more from you? Think about it.

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Best Combinations of Professions for Gold Farming in Cataclysm

Have you already chosen your professions in World of Warcraft? If you haven't, hold it right there! Not all the WoW gathering and crafting trade skills go together and to do some decent gold farming in Cataclysm, you must choose the right ones.
So, which profession combos should you choose to make a decent buck in this game? Here are a few ideas.
1. Mining - Engineering.
Everyone knows that mining will earn you nice money in World of Warcraft, but very few know about the possibilities to make gold when it comes to engineering. Everyone considers engineering a PvP professions and it pretty much is. You can enhance you mining with engineering though. Volatile Air is quite hard to gather in the Cataclysm areas, but if you craft yourself an Electrostatic Condenser, you'll get plenty while mining. If you also are part of a high level guild, you can benefit from the guild perk "Bountiful Bags". This perk grants extra pieces of ore from each mineral vein.
2. Tailoring - Enchanting.
Regardless if you're a tailor or not, you can still get cloth scraps from the humanoid and undead mobs in Cataclysm. However, if you want to skill up enchanting smoothly, you need tailoring as a backup profession. Using your cloth gathered from mobs to craft items, you can disenchant them afterwards for parts and sell them to AH. Now, that's fine for skilling up, but once your enchanting is 525, you don't need to craft anymore. I usually check out the Auction House for green items listed for low prices, buy them then DE them and sell the parts. Hypnotic Dust and Greater Celestial Essences sell like hot cakes.
3. Mining - Jewelcrafting.
The last profession combo excellent for gold farming in Cataclysm, that I'm going to present here, is mining-JC. Gems, especially the blue ones are pretty expensive even uncut. So, if you have mining to backup your jewelcrafting, you won't have to pay outrageous prices for Obsidian or Elementium ore to prospect. This profession combination works for farming sessions in low level areas as well. For example, Thorium still sells pretty nicely but in case you fill up your vault with this mineral and the price drops, you can always prospect it
If you choose the right professions, gold farming in Cataclysm won't be a problem anymore. However, there are many other ways to earn gold in WoW without farming anything, without wasting time and without cheating, of course.

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