Conducting Market Research From The Back Of A Boat

I have often talked about the skewed parenting skills of my father, who, without ever realizing it, was quite the entrepreneurial genius. Though he never dabbled in business and it certainly didnt occur to me at the time, many of the lessons I learned from him about life can be put to practical use in your business today.

For example he would take me fishing and hang the dead worms on my hook and the lively wigglers on his. In business we call that, Getting the competitive edge.

He would direct me to cast my line in waters that he knew were barren while he cast his line in waters teeming with fish. In business we call that, Knowing your market.

He would turn to me every so often and say, Look, son, Ive hooked another one! That makes eight for me in the last ten minutes. How many have you caught? None? Gee, thats too bad.

In business we call that, Creating a monopoly.

There were times I recall sitting in that tiny boat with he and his big string of fish on one end and me and my empty string on the other, that I imagined myself picking up an oar and giving it a swing to see how far I could knock him out of the boat.

In business we call that, Customer satisfaction.

So lets look at a few of the lessons I learned from those fishing trips that pertain to how you should be doing business. first off, you may recall in the last column that I mentioned that the old man had surveyed every square inch of that lake and knew exactly where the fish were hiding.

In business we call that, Conducting market research, and if your business is new or contemplating a move into new markets, failing to conduct market research could leave you sitting in the boat with no customers nibbling at your hook.

Why do market research? The most obvious answer is to verify that there really is a market for your product or service and to determine if the market will support your efforts. A market should be large, easy to reach, and have lots of disposable cash. A market should be hungry for and passionate about the product you are trying to sell. Otherwise you will find yourself trying to build a business that caters to a market of disinterested, broke people; like selling house plants to homeless people, not a good idea.

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of giving consideration to their product first, without worrying about who will buy the product when its done. They come up with a great idea that they are sure the world will love without bothering to ask the world its opinion. They pour thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars into their great idea only to end up asking, Now who will buy my wonderful new widget? Hello? Anybody out there?

The old man taught me that you should find a pond full of hungry fish first, then come up with the bait to catch them. Remember, you succeed by giving customers what THEY want or need, not by trying to sell them what YOU think they want or need.

Identify a market first, develop the product second. Never put a dime into product creation until you are sure there is a market that will give you a dollar or more for every dime you spend. Never go on instinct and never trust your gut. More often than not youll find that the great idea you have churning in the pit of your stomach is just gas, and not the kind that will make you money.

Fortunately it has never been easier to conduct market research. Thanks to the Internet you can thoroughly research a market with a few keystrokes. most industries have associations that publish statistics about their market. The government publishes enough industry data to choke a horse. You can use online directories and business research tools to gather data. You can also use search engines like Google and Overture (Yahoo) to search the web for market data and gather competitive intelligence. visit forums and newsgroups to see what people in the industry are talking about. What problems are they complaining about? What needs do they have that are not being met? What itch do they have that you can scratch?

You should also research the competition in the market you are considering.

You can learn a great deal from your competitors, such as: what are the top product lines in the market, what is the demand for goods, what are the price points, what is the range in quality, what are they doing that you can do better, etc.

And if you find there are no competitors in the market take that as a red flag. A lack of competition usually means a lack of market. Rarely does a product come along that is so revolutionary that it creates an entirely new marketplace, so keep that in mind as you do your research.

At the end of the day business, like fishing, is all about finding a pond full of hungry fish and coming up with the best bait that you can use to catch them. He who reels the most customers into the boat wins the game.

Tim Knox

Yoga And Meditationny

Yoga for Beginners, A Good Place to Start!

If you've been dealing with some health challenges, or have not been exercising or stretching much recently, you can still begin your yoga practice in an easy, enjoyable way!

Yoga does not have to be difficult for it to effectively manage and relieve pain! Find out why today is a good day to start your yoga practice!

The easier "schools" of yoga include: Kripalu yoga, Hatha yoga, Gentle yoga, Sivananda yoga, Integral yoga and Iyengar yoga. Please note that Iyengar yoga can be gentle or rigorous depending on your teacher!

Here is a brief list of Yoga Classes to avoid if you're seeking a gentle way to learn yoga. The classes that are physically rigorous, and thus not ideal for beginners (unless you're a real athlete already) are:
Power yoga, Ashtanga yoga, yoga with weights, and Bikram yoga aka hot yoga.

The good news is that you can reap the benefits of yoga, whether you take a gentle class or a rigorous class. These benefits include: stretching and strengthening both body & mind, finding your balance in more ways than one, and taking time to breathe deeply, relax, and enjoy life in the present moment.

So, how can you start your yoga practice? Simply call the yoga centers and Health Clubs nearest your home and ask them about the kinds of yoga classes they offer. Ask them if they offer a yoga Class for Beginners. Most yoga centers make a point of doing this!

Then you can follow-up by trying different Yoga teachers and Yoga Classes in your neighborhood and finding at least 2 per week that fit your schedule.

Finally, you can purchase a yoga DVD, either online or at your local health food store. Please be sure that it includes gentle, easy poses that are good for beginners! This can help you jump start your daily practice at home.

For more information about upcoming easy Yoga DVDs, you are welcome to contact hannahyoga@yahoo.com so that you can be informed when the new DVDs are ready!

Now, just a bit of "yoga Lingo" for you as you start your own personal yoga Journey: the word "Namaste!" is often said at the beginning and end of yoga classes. It means, "I salute the light within you!"

May you be peaceful and well! Namaste!

Hannah Caratti provides tools, instruction, and information about methods of relieving pain and stress through techniques related to the ancient science of yoga.

Chicago Meditation Yoga

The Bad Calories

It is known that human beings need a certain number of calories per day in order to maintain their weight and health, but what are empty calories, and how do they harm us?

Calories are units of measure for energy. They are primarily used to measure the amount of energy found in foods, and the representation of a calorie (actually, kilocalorie, or C) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1C. While this is one way to explain a calorie, it isn't really that important in terms of everyday usage of the word. It is more important to understand a calorie in relation to how many calories per day we need to consume.

The average, healthy adult female should consume about 2000 C per day. This assumes that she is active, does not need to lose or gain weight, and is not suffering from any illnesses that might affect her metabolism. The average, healthy adult male should consume slightly more calories, around 2200 C. This is due to the fact that men are usually more active than women, their metabolisms tend to be higher and they also tend to be larger in weight and height. The amount of calories that we need to consume each day is actually quite small, especially if you think of it in terms of food for instance, one yogurt is about 180 calories.

So, what are empty calories? Empty calories are one of the biggest ways that people can go over their recommended daily amount of calories because empty calories often come into our bodies in covert ways. Empty calories are calories (foods) that we eat or drink that do not have a lot of nutrition within them. One of the biggest offenders is soda and other soft drinks. One eight ounce glass of soda has about 110 calories in it and no nutritional value. Considering most people will drink at least 16 ounces of soda at a time, that is 220 empty calories per glass.

There are other foods that are not so great for us so what are empty calories in these foods? Fats are often considered empty calories, especially oils that are used to fry fast foods and other snacks. They add relatively little to your nutritional value, but add many calories to the end product. Other snacks that are empty calories include candies, cookies and all of those snacks that are mostly sugar, with no whole grains, fruits, vegetables or nuts.

It is important not to consume too many empty calories, because they can add up making it so that foods you need to eat will bump your calories for the day up too high. Stick to foods that are low in calories and high in nutrition.

Walter Taguchi writes about weight loss for WeightLossLodge.com

Yoga Mat Discount