February 21, 2004

Welcome to all of our new subscribers. Carolyn and I appreciate you allowing us into your life. We hope that you will find our newsletter interesting, informative, and useful.

February is a busy month. Preparations for Spring are underway and we all know what that means, tax time. Its time to gather up all of your records and pay Uncle Sam or get that refund. For those of you with a home based business there are many new rules that may mean more money in your pocket. Solidgold has arranged for a special offer that could save you thousands. Details are below.

Our favorite city is Charleston, SC. We spent last weekend at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition which is held every February. Artists from all over the world participate in the largest celebration of wildlife art and conservation in the United States.

I was finally able to persuade Carolyn to attend the oyster roast which she throughly enjoyed. If you visit Charleston we suggest staying at the Isle of Palms and for the best seafood "The Boathouse" can't be beat. One of the exhibitors was an old friend from high school, Larry Seymour. I always knew that Larry was talented but was not aware that he was a world renowned artist. Congradulations Larry.

Please feel free to forward this issue to your friends. Comments and article submissions are always welcome. Our email address is solidgoldhome@charter.net. If you wish to subscribe or view past issues please visit our website at Solidgold Home Business. If you have not already downloaded your fr*e ebooks the email addresses are below.

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Contents

Thought - Its a Good Time to Change

Special Home Business Tax Reduction Offer

Article - Are You Marketing to Your Potential?

Article - Comparison Shopping, Your Guide to Savings

Humor - Tech Support

Computer Tip

Don't Speed in Virginia

Fr*e ebooks

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IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD TIME TO CHANGE

The first step toward getting somewhere is to decide that you're not going to stay where you are.

You're a product of your environment. So choose an environment that will best develop you toward your goals.

Analyze your life in terms of your environment. Are the things around you helping you toward your success or are they holding you back?

Your world today is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind. It's something that you can change at any time.

You don't have to remain a captive of your environment. Don't say "If I could change, I would change," say "I can change, and I will change."

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Special Solidgold Tax Reduction Offer

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Or...

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If You Really Want to Keep more of your hard-earned income instead of giving it away to the government in taxes; Here's an Exclusive Ebook You Absolutely MUST Get That Reveals...

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ARE YOU MARKETING TO YOUR POTENTIAL?

By Charlie Cook

Many small business owners struggle to grow their businesses only to find themselves stuck in a morass of marketing, management and delivery tasks. As your business becomes more complex and time consuming, the original vision of the business usually changes or gets lost, and it can become increasingly difficult to define and implement a marketing strategy that helps you achieve your business potential.

As a marketing coach I have many small business clients whose marketing is going nowhere because they haven't clearly identified where they want to take their business/what they want their business to be/ and what role they want to play in it.

Whether you want to take your business to the next level or are just starting out, to be more successful at marketing you need to regularly clarify what you want your business to be and what your role in it is or should be. In order to develop a marketing strategy and plan that works for you, you need to first clarify:

- What are your business passions and strengths - How do you want to spend your time - What work tasks you enjoy - What type of business you want to create

DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS PASSIONS AND STRENGTHS The energy, determination and persistence it takes to build a business only makes sense if you are doing something you love - or that at least gives you great satisfaction. What do you enjoy doing the most? What are you happy doing day in and day out?

What are your Strengths? Identify your business passion, and then examine your strengths within that passion. How can you leverage your interest and knowledge to become a sought after expert in your field?

Say you love skiing and want to make a living in that industry, which you know well. Are you going to run a ski shop, be a ski instructor, or become a skiing guru, sought after by thousands, with your simple and innovate teaching techniques?

Which aspects of your passion suit your expertise and experience? How can you build a business around them?

SET GOALS FOR HOW YOU WANT TO SPEND YOUR TIME Personality and interests vary. Some small business owners have a passion for hands on delivery, others enjoy focusing on growing their business and coordinating the delivery of products and services.

Some can't stand being stuck in an office all day; others would prefer never to talk to a client or customer. What aspects of your business are you good at and which do you want to develop further?

Use the following questions to help you clarify how you want to spend your week.

- Do you like being in charge of marketing, operations or service delivery? - Are you an educator, do you love sharing what you know or do you like inventing new products people can use without your involvement? Or both? - Do you prefer managing the business and delegating daily tasks to others? - Do you like to travel or prefer to work from an office or at home? - How important is flexibility in scheduling and work location? - Do you want to work less and earn the same? - Do you want to work part time or do you love your work so much that you could do it seven days a week? - Do you want to structure your work so it is more satisfying?

CLARIFY THE TASKS YOU ENJOY We all like and dislike specific activities, excel at some and are better off delegating certain tasks to others. Clarifying what you like and dislike is essential to then defining the strategies and structures you need to create a more satisfying work environment. - Do you enjoy coming up with new products? - Do you enjoy selling your services and products? - Do you like to write or prefer public speaking? - Or both? - Is the phone your communication tool of preference? - Do you prefer to use email for most of your communication? - Do you enjoy public speaking and sharing your ideas? - Do you enjoy following up with employees to make sure they've done agreed on tasks?

SPECIFY THE TYPE OF BUSINESS YOU WANT TO CREATE What have the answers to the questions above told you about your business and your role in it? Depending on the services and products you provide, does your business need additional staff, facilities, technology, geographic presence, or capital?

Would you prefer to be a successful one person business/sole proprietor? Would you like to grow your business to include five to fifty employees? Will profit or passion be the driving force? Or both? Are your markets local, regional, national or international?

Answer these questions to define your business goals and your role in your business' growth. Once you have a clear and current idea of where you are going, you can define a marketing strategy to get there, to achieve your business potential.

The author, Marketing Coach, Charlie Cook, helps independent professionals and small business owners attract more clients and increase their earnings with the 5 Principles of Highly Effective Marketing. Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Guide and the 'More Business' newsletter, full of practical tips you can use at http://www.charliecook.net

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Joke

Dear Tech Support: Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0. I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources. No mention of this was included with the product information. In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now launches during system initialization, where it monitors all other system activity.

Applications such as Poker Night 10.3, Football 5.0, Hunting and Fishing 7.5, and Racing 3.6 no longer run, crashing the system whenever selected. I can't seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run my favorite applications. I'm thinking about going back to Girlfriend 7.0, but the uninstall doesn't work on Wife 1.0. Please help!

Thanks, A Troubled User.

REPLY:

Dear Troubled User: This is a very common problem that men complain about. It is due to a primary misconception. Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0, thinking that it is merely a Utilities and Entertainment program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its Creator to run EVERYTHING!!! It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and to return to Girlfriend 7.0. Hidden operating systems files cause Girlfriend 7.0 to emulate Wife 1.0, so nothing is gained.

It is impossible to uninstall, delete, or purge the program files from the system once installed. You cannot go back to Girlfriend 7.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed to not allow this. Some have tried Girlfriend 8.0 or Wife 2.0 but end up with more problems than in the original system. Look in your Wife 1.0 manual under Warnings- Alimony/Child Support." I recommend that you keep Wife 1.0 and work on improving the situation.

I suggest installing the background application "Yes Dear" to alleviate software augmentation. Having installed Wife 1.0 myself, I also suggest that you read the entire section regarding 'General Partnership Faults'! (GPFs.) Your Wife 1.0 does a scan for GPFs during it's monthly program maintenance scan (PMS). You must assume joint responsibility for any faults and problems that occur, regardless of their cause. You will also find that GPFs are cyclical. The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE. Avoid excessive use of C:\YESDEAR because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal anyway.

Remember, the system will run smoothly as long as you share the blame for all GPFs. Wife 1.0 is a great program, but it tends to be very high maintenance. Wife 1.0 comes with several support programs, such as Clean and Sweep 3.0, Cook It 1.5 (which replaces Burn It 1.0), and Do Bills 4.2. You must, however, be very careful how you use these programs. Improper use will cause the system to launch the program Nag Nag 9.5. Once this happens, the only way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software. I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Diamonds 5.0 should this happen.

WARNING!!! DO NOT, under any circumstances, install Secretary With Short Skirt 3.3. This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system. Best of luck, Tech Support

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Comparison Shopping - Your Guide to Savings

by Wayne Patterson

In last month's article I made the recommendation that you should comparison shop for any purchase. One of our readers asked that if I could provide some more tips on this subject.

Fortunately you have at your fingertips the most powerful comparison shopping tool in the world, your computer. Almost any product can now be ordered online and delivered to your doorstep in a matter of days. The real benefit of online shopping is that you control the shopping experience. You don't have to rely on pushy sales people or incomplete information. You have the power to make the best decision for you. Here are a few of the best sites for the comparison shopper.

Shopping.Com has over 5,000,000 products. The core of their service is information. Product information , like reviews, buying guides, pictures, and product specifications. Store information, like prices, ratings, coupons, and availability.

In short, Shopping.Com has all the information you need to make the best decisions.

PriceGrabber is a feature-rich shopping comparison site, which provides online buyers with valuable information to assist in their purchasing decisions. The site provides free, unbiased comparative information on computer hardware and software, electronics, apparel, jewelry, movies, music, books, video games, photography and toys, comprising over 3.5 million products.

TraveLogia.com is a full service online travel company that works with "Best of Breed" travel partners from around the world. Unique to TraveLogia.com are our multiple booking engines so members can search for maximum savings and discounts for airlines, hotels, cars, cruises, vacations, last-minute specials and business travel.

TraveLogia.com has already set itself apart as the world’s only online travel company providing a FREE 3-day, 2-night hotel accomodation plus over $1,000 in travel savings coupons to EVERY eligible person that registers as a FREE Online Member.

It is not unusual to save 30 to 50% just by spending a few minutes to compare prices and quality. Happy shopping and saving.

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Computer Tip

Are you tired of being asked for your Windows password each time you boot your computer? This is easy to remedy. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and select Control Panel. Double-click the Passwords icon. Select the Change Passwords tab , and click the Change Windows Password button. In the Old Password text box, type your current password. Leave the New Password and Confirm Password text boxes blank, and click OK twice to save the setting. The next time you start Windows, you won't be prompted for a password.

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Virginia Speeding Ticket story from an online forum

107/55 Fairfax County, VA

finally had my hearing for a ticket issued way back in november. Got nailed for a 107/55 on Rt. 66. Cop was actually pretty cool, but needless to say, the judge was far from amused. $2500 fine of which $2000 was suspended and 5 days in the county lockup. just got out a few days ago. bottom line - if ya haven't been to jail, ya don't want to go.

was it a dumb mistake? absolutely. but **** happens - take your lumps and move on. The main reason for posting this though is to warn all you guys: If you have a hard time controlling the throttle, DO NOT pass through the state of Virginia. They do not **** around at all and will not hesitate to lock you up. keep it safe it out there fellas, and don't learn the hard way like i did.

New Article-Speeding Ticket Frequently Asked Questions

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Fr*e ebooks

For The Bluelight Special send a blank email to

mailto:bluelightspecial@sendfree.com

For Ebay Marketing Secrets send a blank email to

mailto:solidgoldebay@sendfree.com

InfoProducts Masters Course How to brainstorm, create, produce, and sell your very own infoproduct online

mailto:timssolidgold2@sitedsell.net

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Happy Birthdays to us

Wayne and Carolyn

512 Hood Road