With all the false starts and do-overs that come with inventing something, it is easy to feel like the Rodney Dangerfield of inventing: like you get “no respect” from credible figures in your field. If investors are turning you down, business partners are flaking out, and you can’t even seem to get your calls returned, it may be time for a change of priorities. Believe it or not, there is actually a tried-and-true formula for establishing yourself as a respected inventor. It begins be creating credibility for your invention.

Priority # 1 – Creating a Prototype

If anything separates players from spectators, it is this. Having a prototype – a real, working version of your invention – says unequivocally that you are for real and have serious intentions of entering your field. It takes your idea from, as Entrepreneur says, “your mind’s eye to the palm of your hand.”

Their article on prototyping offers some helpful guidance on how to approach the process:
“So what exactly should a prototype look like? First, it depends on your idea. Second, it depends on your budget and your goals. If possible, it’s great to start with a handmade prototype, no matter how rudimentary. For example, I’ve seen prototypes made from the simplest of household items: socks, diaper tabs, household glue, empty milk containers–you name it. If it works for your initial demonstration purposes, it’s as good as the most expensive materials.”

The number one thing to keep in mind is getting your prototype to solve the problem it aims to. Early on, it is not important whether it looks glamorous. It does not need to exactly mirror the ultimate vision you have for it. Get something up and running – something that works – and you will have taken a bold and important step toward gaining credibility for your invention.

Priority # 2 – Secure a patent for your invention.

Once you have a working prototype, you should file a provisional patent application for your invention. This will protect any new formulas, equations, processes, technologies, or methods you employed in creating your invention. Having patent protection is an invaluable asset in establishing your credibility.

For one, it enables you to approach retailers or business partners with a tangible asset. Not only do you have a working invention, but you also have the exclusive, legal right to commercialize it. This portrays you as a legitimate player with something to bring to the bargaining table.

In addition, a patent gives you some peace of mind that a sleazy ripoff artist can’t clone your operation overnight. It won’t stop all of them from trying, but it will give you the right to sue them for damages and legally compel them to stop.

Above all, being a patent holder puts you in a position to capitalize on your invention by conferring on you the status and rights you have earned.

Priority # 3 – Set some initial sales targets – and meet them!

This step is where the rubber meets the road: that fateful day when the market decides whether your invention will fly. It is a day inventors anticipate with both excitement and fear; excitement driven by hope of success, and fear driven by worries about what could go wrong. However, you can increase your odds of hitting your sales goals with some rational planning and foresight.

The first thing to do is some market research. You cannot just concoct sales goals on a whim, based on fantasies of what you would like to earn. Instead, you must research the market and determine what similar companies have sold. While this in and of itself does not determine your fate, it will give you a realistic idea of what to expect. Reliable sources of market research include industry trade journals, periodicals, and library/academic databases that include access to market data.

Another good step is to avoid overextending yourself. There is a temptation among many inventors to hit the market in a huge way. They want to get their product in as many stores as possible right up front. While the excitement is understandable, this is not always the smartest choice. A better idea is to start off by selling in one or two stores and use that to test the response. How did people respond to your invention? Were sales high? Are you maybe pricing your invention too high, or low? These questions are easier to answer on a small scale. There is an old piece of marketing advice that applies here: fail early, and fail cheap. If you can learn from mistakes at smaller stores, you can apply that wisdom and approach the bigger retailers with the most important thing of all – a track record.

It would be dishonest to say that gaining credibility is easy. However, if you are diligent and smart in your approach, it is eminently possible. Don’t give up.

Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com. You can visit the site by visiting this address; http://www.ideabuyer.com New Technology and Products, Patents for Sale.

The day you decide to invent something will probably be one the most exciting days of your life. You will look back on it as the beginning of a long journey, one that may even change the course of your life. However, it is not always clear what the first steps down this new road should be. As a result, many inventors spin their wheels without any real sense of direction or purpose. In this article, we will walk beginning inventors through the first steps that will help them succeed.

1) Start an inventor’s logbook

If you plan on getting a patent, or even if not, a logbook is an essential starting point. A logbook is essentially an inventor’s journal. It is where the inventor keeps track of his progress and dates each step. A logbook proves that you came up with your idea at a certain date and displayed due diligence in pursuing it. However, there are some definite standards you should adhere to when keeping a logbook. This will help ensure that your documentation looks legitimate to patent examiners.

1) You should start your logbook as soon as you think of an idea. Write down detailed records of key concepts, test results, and anything else having to do with the creation of your idea. This is the type of material that belongs in a logbook.
2) While there are pre-made logbooks for sale, you can easily make your own. Be sure to use a bound notebook, however, and not a loose-leaf. The reason is that bound notebooks make it hard to conceal the fact that pages were added or taken out.
3) Number each page consecutively. This establishes that the progress you made on your idea took place in a sequential order that anyone with common sense can observe. When one notebook is full, begin a new one and specify that this notebook is a continuation of the last one. There should be no visible gaps in your record keeping.
4) Each entry you write should be signed and dated by you and anyone else who participated in that step of the invention process. If at all possible, get a notary public to sign as well.
5) Give each entry a header with information about what is contained in it. For example, the date, subject, number of participants, witnesses, etc.
6) Include records of everything you do. When in doubt, assume that it is best to include it. Do not just include successful test results, for example. If you exclude negative findings or tests, the patent examiner may decide that you “cherry-picked” only the good stuff and reject your application.
7) Any and all other participants in the invention process need to have their roles disclosed. The importance of this convention cannot be stressed enough. If you omit an inventor’s name from an invention he helped create, it is considered fraud.
Any loose materials like drawings, photos, or sketches should be signed, dated, and cross-referenced to the notebook entry they pertain to. It is best to tape or staple this material to the notebook entries in question.
2) Create a prototype of your invention

With your logbook set and ready to go, the next step is to get to work on your prototype. A prototype transforms you from dreamer to doer by virtue of forcing you to actually create your invention. An eye-opening article on About.com called “The Basics on Prototype Making” offer some other compelling benefits for making one.

– Legally, a prototype proves what is called a “reduction to practice” and if the question ever comes up, a prototype can be proof that you were the first inventor. The United States uses the first to invent rule, granting a patent to the first inventor who conceives and reduces the technology or invention to practice, for example a working prototype or a well written description.
– You can include photos of your prototype in your inventor’s logbook.
– A prototype helps you figure out any design flaws your invention has and if it really works.
– It can help you make sure your invention is the right size, shape, and form.
– A prototype helps you sell or license an invention.

About.com has an entire direction for tips, tricks, and strategies on how to whip up your prototype the right way.

SRC: http://inventors.about.com/od/prototypes/Prototypes_for_Inventions.htm

3) Apply for a provisional patent

Once you have your prototype and have documented each step of your progress, you can apply for a provisional patent. A provisional patent is what anyone who ever slapped a “Patent Pending” label on their product has. In essence, you fill out a provisional patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office. If approved, you have full patent protection for 12 months. During this time, smart inventors will try to gauge the demand for their product and see if it is worth forking over the money for a full patent.

Here is a link to the provisional patent application from the USPTO website.

SRC: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/provapp.htm

Structure your work days around getting these 3 steps accomplished and you will be head and shoulders above most beginning inventors in the field.

Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com. You can visit the site by visiting this address; http://www.ideabuyer.com New Technology and Products, Patents for Sale.

“How to cash in on network marketing stock”, it feels good just saying the term right? Admit it, once you understood the concept of network marketing and the power of leverage it’s oh so hard to ever go back. Leverage is where millionaires are made, without it we struggle. How can you cash in on network marketing stock?

You can either purchase network marketing stock or earn it for free by being a successful marketer. This article is all about the ladder, how to cash in big time on network marketing stock, simply earning it from understanding and applying good marketing principles.

Typically, a great MLM company will have cash bonuses in which they give out to their reps whom earn it and when they do earn that bonus, they then have the option of exchanging the cash bonus for stock options. Think about it, if you earned a 100K bonus in your MLM company and they offered you either 100K cash or 200K in the company network marketing stock options and the company is doing nothing but exploding, approaching critical mass, what would you do?

Anyone wise would take the stock options and double, maybe even triple their money, right? Well this example is a true story of someone I personally know. He took the 100K bonus in network marketing stock options for 50 cents on the dollar and it soared up to 400K worth in no time. This is how you want to cash in on network marketing stock, but first we must build a successful organization of leaders, I will explain how this is done.

We already established we don’t want to pay for network marketing stock because we are going to earn it, correct? Ok, to build a successful network marketing company we MUST find leaders on our team. Now there are only 2 ways of getting leaders on your team, you can either steal them from another MLM company or you can develop them, the ladder is the ethical and more effective way. Why, well if you steal a leader from another deal well then they will eventually be stolen from you because there is no loyalty there and besides we all reap what we sow, right. Well how can you build leaders on your team?

Well first off let’s start by becoming a leader, with leadership comes great responsibility. If you don’t have the leadership skills needed then simply find a leader you wish to become like and follow him until you become him, this is a monkey see monkey do business after all. “The only way to become a good leader is to first become a great follower.” Only then can we cash in on free network marketing stock.

Ok, so now you’re the leader, you need build your team into what you now are. This is done simply by teaching and mentoring your team , again this is a monkey see monkey do business we’re in. What happens if you already have a large team and can’t mentor everyone? If this is the case look for your potential leaders already inside your organization. Well how can you tell whom has potential. The ones that listen to what you tell them and actually follow your directions, doing what your doing are the ones to put your time into. As long as they are teachable they have the potential to become great leaders inside your organization.

Once you build just a few leaders and your finished shaping and molding them, only then will you experience the true power of leverage. Now you can cash in on free network marketing stock.

Justin Verrengia is the author of the “How To Generate 1 Mlm Email Lead Per Minute” blog, and articles about personal growth as well as network marketing. To view more great free tips visit his blog at: How To Generate 1 Mlm Email Lead Per Minute

Just as a growing number of people are starting to sell their patents, there is a rise in the number of people looking to buy them. However, it is wise to do some homework and number-crunching before spending big bucks to own a patent. It is also altogether imprudent to buy patents or ideas from certain sources. This article will help prospective patent buyers sift through this complexity and determine when it makes sense to buy.

The first thing would-be patent buyers should know is that patent or idea listing services are generally bogus. You do not want to spend your hard-earned money to buy something from those sites. Our article “Presenting Patent Ideas” explains one example, which is typical of the idea listing and marketing field:

As recently as 2007, the FTC went after the Patent & Trademark Institute of America, or PTI. A startling finding of this investigation was the fact that PTI extracted over $60 million in fees from more than 17,000 inventors since 2000 without having one happy customer to speak of. Full details are available in an FTC release called “FTC Charges Invention Promotion Swindlers with Contempt.”

When you think about it, it is just common sense. Think of the great innovations all around you, big and small, from the automobile to dental floss. Do you think the great fortunes behind this intellectual property were made by some lucky guy stumbling across these ideas right out in the open, where anyone else could find them? Of course not. The reason this is important is that presumably, you want to purchase a patent to profit from it. And for that purpose, patent and idea listing websites are probably not going to turn up many opportunities.

However, we understand that there are exceptions to every rule and diamonds in every rough. If you do choose to search for patents on these websites, there are some things you should consider before buying them. These rules apply to buying patents from any other source, as well.

The first consideration involves the seller’s asking price. Is it reasonable? By reasonable, we mean, what makes you think you will recoup that cost? Do you plan on selling this patent for more than you paid? If so, what makes you think this is realistic? What are you going to do to show this patent in a more favorable light than the current seller? Maybe you can do that, but the point is that you should consciously think about it and have firm reasons for your optimism. The higher the seller’s asking price, the more important and pressing these questions become.

Or maybe you intend on actually creating something from the idea behind a patent. This is a perfectly reasonable strategy, but questions are still in order. Have you done any market research? Is there a group of customers who really want what you intend to produce? How much can you justify charging them? Based on those numbers, how long would it take you to recoup what you spent on the patent? How many sales would have to be made?

You won’t have exact numbers, of course, but you do need to seriously consider these questions before money and patents change hands. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement and wonder of all the great possibilities patent ownership offers. It is a bit more difficult to sit back and consider soberly how you will actually capitalize on those possibilities.

The best time to purchase a patent is in the normal course of invention, when something you want to create crosses the path of someone else’s patent. Maybe you thought of an invention that requires alloy formula some obscure scientist patented decades ago. By this point, you are better situated to make a patent purchase decision because:

A) You have a clear, well-researched use in mind
B) You know (roughly) what a justifiable asking price is, and
C) The patent in question is probably not on a shady patent-listing website.

In closing, you should subject all patent buying opportunities to careful scrutiny and research. Intellectual property is not cheap, and the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars you spend on patents should be a prudent, considered investment – not an exercise in whim-worship.

Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com. You can visit the site by visiting this address; http://www.ideabuyer.com > New Technology and Products, Patents for Sale.

Every inventor knows that it’s a mistake to go around bragging about your idea to everyone who will listen. Careless mistakes should obviously be avoided. However, there is another kind of inventor who commits just the opposite mistake, and suffers the same failure. That mistake is paranoia. It is an irrational, unfounded fear of everyone in his field that causes the inventor to clam up and wall everyone off. An excellent article called “Inventor Paranoia” profiles the problem as such:

Many beginning inventors are obsessed with secrecy. They’re convinced their latest invention is their “best” — and that anyone who hears of it will certainly “steal” it. They then become so obsessed with “protecting” their invention as to virtually guarantee that they’ll never see a dime from it.

Hey, guys, you can’t “protect” an invention. You can seek to acquire certain intellectual property rights in the invention. e.g., with a patent. And if your solution to the problem is truly superior, and if it’s commercially viable, and if the rights you acquire are sufficiently “strong”, i.e., your intellectual property covers ALL economical ways of providing the intended user benefit — you MAY be able to sell or license those rights.

However, even if you do everything ‘right’ — by the book — there’s no guarantee you won’t get ripped off. If someone chooses to copy your invention — without acknowledging your rights — all you can do is sue them. And a typical infringement suit starts in the range of a quarter million dollars.

If this is the case, why are there any paranoid inventors? And what is so disastrous about being a paranoid inventor? To answer those questions, we must first understand what drives this paranoia in the first place.

Nine times out of ten, an overly paranoid inventor places an enormous value on “ideas.” Not even just on his particular idea, but on ideas as such. In his or her mind, the quality of an idea is the sole determinant of whether an invention succeeds or fails. Consequently, inventors who believe this are extremely overprotective of any ideas they might have. They view the entire professional community as potential adversaries who, if they happened to discover the idea, would immediately drop what they were doing to pursue it. While this can indeed happen, it is far from likely. The truth is that ideas in and of themselves are not nearly as important as execution and the personnel behind them. However, many naive inventors continue to think that ideas are sacred assets to be jealously guarded against intruders.

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Paul Graham clears up this misbegotten notion in his article “Ideas for Startups”

“They overvalue ideas. They think creating a startup is just a matter of implementing some fabulous initial idea. And since a successful startup is worth millions of dollars, a good idea is therefore a million dollar idea.

If coming up with an idea for a startup equals coming up with a million dollar idea, then of course it’s going to seem hard. Too hard to bother trying. Our instincts tell us something so valuable would not be just lying around for anyone to discover.

Actually, startup ideas are not million dollar ideas, and here’s an experiment you can try to prove it: just try to sell one. Nothing evolves faster than markets. The fact that there’s no market for startup ideas suggests there’s no demand. Which means, in the narrow sense of the word, that startup ideas are worthless.”

Invention ideas are somewhat different than ideas for startups, but the basic truth holds. If you never network with anyone or get your plans off the ground for fear of “your idea” being stolen, you are damning yourself to failure. You will turn away valuable networking opportunities. You will make it impossible to find the technical talent you need to create the invention. You might even turn down funding or buyout offers that would get your product to market faster or let you capitalize on all of your hard efforts. Clearly, this is not a smart or rational approach to inventing. So what is the solution?

The key is to abandon the fetish with protecting your idea. Instead, take reasonable steps to protect yourself and trust that you are smart and competent enough to get it to market. You cannot hire a database programmer, for example, if your refuse to tell him what his job is or what he’s doing. Therefore, you should have him sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement stating that anything you tell him is legally confidential.
This gives you recourse against him if he spills your secrets, and more importantly, it gets you started in the invention process rather than stuck in analysis paralysis about what happens if someone steals your idea.

Risk is a part of invention because it is a part of life. The best you can do is take responsible actions to guard against worst-case scenarios and focus on getting to market as quickly as possible. Do not let paranoia prevent you from taking bold steps to succeed.

Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com. You can visit the site by visiting this address; http://www.ideabuyer.com New Technology and Products, Patents for Sale.

Developing new technology is, as Edison once said, “one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” It makes sense when you consider what technology really is: technique. It is, at root, a new way of doing something; presumably a way that never existed before someone painstakingly established it. Since developing new technology is hard work, it stands to reason that only a relatively few people devote their lives to doing it. But let’s say you are one of them. Where do you start? How do you begin? And what principles should you keep in mind?

As is so often the case, Viaweb founder and venture capitalist Paul Graham offers an eloquent answer in his latest essay “Six Principles for Making New Things.”

“I like to find (a) simple solutions (b) to overlooked problems (c) that actually need to be solved, and (d) deliver them as informally as possible, (e) starting with a very crude version 1, then (f) iterating rapidly.”

Graham elaborates on each step of his formula, but we will limit our discussion to how they relate to new technology development. The first is the well-known but often-overlooked advice of opting for simple solutions.

This first step is so important that engineers have a saying for it: “Keep it Simple, Stupid!” Unfortunately, inventors of new technology often reject this advice because, as Graham says, simple solutions don’t seem as impressive as complex ones. However, this is a dangerous mistake. With consumer attention spans shorter than ever, technology that gets the job done in the simplest way tend to win out. For this reason, you should deliberately and on principle strive to make your technology function in a simple way. Often, this means putting in more effort. It might seem easier, for example, to make the customer fiddle around with settings to get your invention working right. Instead, take the extra time and effort to configure it so it will perform optimally out of the box, with as little fiddling as necessary. Decisions like this can make all the difference in new technology development.

We will assume that you have chosen an overlooked problem that actually needs to be solved. Even if you picked an irrelevant problem, the technology development steps to solve it would not change. Therefore, we move to delivering your technology as informally as possible. What this means in practice is to keep moving at all times. One of the biggest sinkholes of wasted time is to endlessly plan, speculate, and wonder about your technology instead of actually developing it. Going hand in hand with this is the fear that “maybe my customers won’t like the way I developed this.” However, at root, these attitudes are nothing but roadblocks to your success. If customers don’t like the way you developed something, it will be readily apparent to you and it will get you back to the drawing board faster.

Naturally, this leads to starting off with a very crude prototype of what your technology will ultimately be. This frightens some new technology developers who are so blinded by their “ultimate vision” that they refuse to roll out anything less. This is a mistake, because their vision may not be what customers actually want. Therefore, developers should pay less attention to whether their prototype is glamorous and more attention to whether it solves a thorny problem.

This moves us right along to the last step of Graham’s formula – iterate rapidly. Once you have developed something that may not be pretty but works, you can gauge people’s response to it. Are they impressed by it? Do they wish it worked in a slightly different way? A totally different way? Is it actually fine as-is and ready to be sold? No matter what the answers are, you will not know them unless you kick Inventor Baby Syndrome to the curb and develop a quick-and-dirty version of your technology to roll out with.

If you have noticed a common theme among all of these steps, you are one step ahead of the game. The common theme is to always be moving and pressing on toward that next step. Technology development can be made into an endless labyrinth of analysis-paralysis and second guessing, but this does not need to be the case. If you are always pressing yourself to complete something – anything – that solves the problem you’re after, you will finish developing your technology far sooner than the average inventor does.

In that sense, new technology development is more about attitude than about any specific methodology. If you resolve to keep moving and let nothing stand in your path, you will most likely take a course similar to the one Graham laid out anyway. As a practical matter, re-read these steps at the end of each day you spend developing something. If you can honestly say that you are following along, success should soon follow.

Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email him at EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com. You can visit the site by visiting this address; http://www.ideabuyer.com New Technology and Products, Patents for Sale.

You’re thinking about starting a home-based business. To many people it’s the American dream: make a lot of money, be your own boss and working from home. Plenty of people achieve success working from home, but its usually not as easy as you might think.

Starting a home-based business allows you flexibility between your job and home life, but it isn’t exactly a guarantee for an easy life. Working for yourself (and often by yourself) can be a rewarding experience, yet it also requires you to keep working to gain new customers, stay organized and network with others to spread word about your home based business. Running a business out of your home takes dedication, commitment and the ability to get the job done without someone watching over your shoulder.

There are many different options for home-based businesses. If you have a service or product to sell, starting your own home-based business may be a natural step in becoming successful. If you do not, then perhaps you’re research various options for a home business.

Either way, consider the following tips as you proceed:

1. Have a plan to follow. If you’re considering a company who has a business program in which you might enroll, then inquire if they have a plan for you to follow – a plan that has a proven track record.

2. Research any business program and the company offering it. Check with the Better Business Bureau. Research the company on the Internet. If you discover any red flags, keep going with your search.

3. Choose a product or service in which you believe. Building a business, any type of business, can be tough at times. You want your passion for your product or service to help you get through any challenges you might encounter.

4. You need solid communications skills to build and run a successful home business. So, if you do not have such skills, start look now for resources that can help you develop those skills.

5. With any business you need to be able to close the sale. Now, this may sound unattractive to you – selling that is. But, selling is not necessarily trying to push people into something. Nor does selling have to be a situation in which you’re trying to convince someone to buy. Believe it or not, but there is a way to sell where you never even experience rejection. Quality selling, selling that is most effective, has most to do with helping people solve their problems. So, you need to know how to do that effectively – and that’s where your communication skills can play a major role.

Though it may take some digging, it is possible to find a legitimate home based businesses. Take your time to find one that is right for you.

Also keep in mind that there are no guarantees when it comes to achieving success with a home based businesses. However, if you do your research, can be self-disciplined, create structure for yourself and continually develop yourself as a professional, your success with a home business is far more likely.

Kimberly Anne is a seasoned businessperson with over 20 years of marketing experience. With a BA and a MBA, she has helped thousands of people start home businesses and achieve success. For ideas on specific home businesses to start visit Kimberly’s site www.all-about-home-businesses.com.

Soda machines are very popular these days particularly in hospitals, colleges, bus stands and airports. We like convenience, options, low prices, and vending machines offer all of these. Vending machines, an extremely profitable market, have become a significant new battleground in the soft-drink business. We’re in a period of intense competition among bottlers and full-line vending operators for the control of soft-drink vending machines.

While installing choose an indoor location for the Vending Machine that is not too close to heat, sunlight, wet conditions. Install it out of reach of small children. Place the Vending Machine Fridge no closer than 4 inches from walls to ensure enough air circulation through the ventilation grills on the back side of the soda vending machine. Prefer a location within 6 feet of a wall outlet to avoid usage of an extension cord; if an extension cord is needed be sure to choose an UL approved cord that is as short as possible. Plug electric cord into the socket on the cooler and the wall outlet. Always push or pull on the plugs, not on the cord itself to avoid damage. Do not place the power cord under heavy objects to avoid damage. Replace any damaged electric cord. Turn the power switch to the on position. The power indicator light will illuminate and the cooling system will be ready.

If space is an issue, the six-selection soda vending machine will allow you to offer a sort of beverages in a minimum amount of space. Six selections allow you to mix and match bottles and cans to satisfy public demands. The ability to vend both bottles and cans gives you the versatility to serve people the beverages they most desire including bottled water, sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks and juices.

The ten selection soda vending machine vends almost all of the beverage containers in the market, including cans and bottles. These features and many more make this vending machine a best choice. Cold sodas, chilled juices, bottled mineral water, iced teas, sports drinks, energy drinks and more, this soda vending machine vend them all. The 12 selection dispenses a variety of both canned and bottled beverage packages and has the biggest capacity in its range. To dispense a beverage push lighted buttons situated on the front of the Vending Machine in the display window.

Periodically you will need to take out, clean and dry the tray where the cans descend onto when dispensed. This will require more frequent care in wet conditions. High humidity can also cause condensation inside the soda vending machine that should be wiped up with a dry cloth. While cleaning, turn off the power switch and unplug the power cord. Vacuum out the ventilation grills which are on the back of the vending machine. Use only a soft warm cloth and a mild detergent for cleaning purpose. Avoid the use of harsh cleaning agents and solvents. If storing the Vending Machine switch off the power unplug the power cord, then clean and dry it thoroughly.

Chris Robertson is a 9 year vending operator who works out of Toronto,Canada. http://www.toronto-vending-services.com.
For more information about how you can get started in the vending business feel free to visit Chris’s site http://www.your-vending-resource.com/vendingbusiness.html

Mixing drinks is about more than just using the right cocktail shakers, it is also important to remember that bartenders interact with people constantly, and as such, need to have excellent people skills. An engaging personality, good grooming, a great memory, the ability to be both fast and efficient, and an extensive knowledge of beer, wines, cocktails, and liquor are all absolute musts.

When you begin work at a new bar, begin by opening all of the coolers and cabinets to get an idea of the stock, noting the locations of keys, extra bags, and martini and cocktail shakers. Ask where the restrooms are located, which types of bottled beers are served, what the policy is on running tabs and credit cards for customers, where the back up mixers and shakers are located, what types of glassware are used in that particular bar, whether or not coffee is brewed at the bar as well, and any other relevant questions that you can think of, with the goal of sounding, ultimately, like an experienced bartender, even if you have not really had much practical experience.

If you really want to look like a pro, be sure to use both hands when you are mixing and preparing drinks, always make more than one drink at a time, and keep your head up as much as possible. The real defining trait of a top bartender, however, is efficiency. If you notice that you find yourself taking a lot of trips to search for bottles and cocktail shakers, you should take the extra time to create a set station for yourself, a place where all of your equipment will remain at all times during your shift. When this is in place, you can concentrate on keeping your stools, glasses, bar surface, prep area, and shakers and mixers immaculately clean, and insuring that all of your garnishes remain fresh, and that the proper garnishes are always used for each drink.

Top bartenders also make a concentrated effort to really get to know their regular customers. This does not mean that you will be required to cultivate a friendship with each one, but you should expect to spend as much time as possible talking with people who come in on a regular basis. This leads to better tips, and the recommendations of these people to their friends, which in turn leads to more tips, and so on. Bartending is an art, and a skill, and as with most skills, practice really does make perfect.

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I get this question from my clients on a regular basis. If you’re considering using leads to build your business, I recommend taking the following steps.

First, consider how you might use purchased leads: Are you going to mail something to your leads? Or, do you want to call people and talk to them about your products, services, or program? Or, are you thinking in terms of initially contacting people via email?

Answering the above questions will enable you to determine which types of leads are best for you. For example:

Mailing list leads: First name, last name, mailing address, and, if relevant, additional information such as company, position, date of birth, etc. is provided. Costs can vary depending upon the age of the list and how the list was created.

Phone leads: These are usually the most expensive type of leads, especially if the leads are fresh (1-15 days old). Often phone leads have been surveyed to further ensure the quality of the leads. Phone leads can cost from $3-$5 a lead. But, for this price, the leads should only be sold once, meaning to you. The price per lead will go down below $3 if the leads are sold to more than one person.

Email leads: Typically email leads are used in large volumes, such as tens of thousands to even a million or more. At least one campaign is created that consists of a series of messages that will be sent to each email addresses purchased. Each campaign created has a purpose and focus. Email leads can be fresh or old (90 days or more). The cost can range from less than a dollar to a penny per lead.

Second, determine a target market. There are leads available for countless target markets. Here is a sample of the types of markets you can target with leads:

Businesses
Consumers
Network Marketers
MLM Genealogy
Opportunity Seekers
Mortgage Refinance
I.T. Pros
Non-USA
Investors

Third, find a good vendor. Make sure you can actually speak to a real person before you order leads from a company. There are a lot of “fly-by-night” lead vendors who simply have a web presence. Avoid these. Choose a company that specializes in providing quality leads, has good customer service, can answer your questions and help you decide what’s best for you.

If you’re going to spend the money on leads, make sure you get the assistance you need in order to use your leads in the best, most informed and effective way possible!

Kimberly Anne is a seasoned businessperson with over 20 years of marketing experience. With a BA and a MBA, she has helped thousands of people start home businesses and achieve success. For more home business advice visit Kimberly’s site www.all-about-home-businesses.com.