WELCOME TO VICTOR DURU'S BLOG: IGNORANCE IS MISERY

WELCOME TO VICTOR DURU'S BLOG: IGNORANCE IS MISERY: Jack MA ​, The Richest Man in China said: ​If you put Bananas and Money in front of Monkeys, Monkeys will choose Bananas because monkey...

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3 Entrepreneur tips

While 99 percent of the population is going to work every day, trading their time for money...there’s a special group of “in the know” people who are waking up to a world of financial potential that most people don’t know is possible.
There’s a simple blueprint for making money with an online business.

1: Choose a great business idea, then start to build a website that attracts visitors.

Here’s a quick tip to come up with a great business idea:Combine one of your ideas/hobbies/skills to find something that you care about and figure out how that can be used to solve another person’s problem. Here’s what to do: Create a simple website for pennies using Wordpress or Squarespace that advertises what you do, and/or the product you’re offering. You don’t need any web or tech skills to make this happen. Both resources have ready-to-install templates. You just need to know how to use the internet!
Use regular tools (like Facebook, Instagram, a blog, etc) to start driving people to your website. Nothing secret or tricky here. Just talk to your friends, family, and accessible networks and try to start solving their problems. Identify their pain points and then go about actively solving them. This will help you fine tune your idea.
Direct them to your site to pick up their free piece of value content that you’ve prepared for them. Which is the subject of Step 2…

2: Offer visitors something free in exchange for their email address.

Create free, helpful content and ask visitors for an email address in exchange.
For example, you could offer a free 15-minute consultation, a tutorial video, a downloadable checklist, an info graphic, a guide or other types of free content depending on your business and industry. The list is literally endless.
Add these people to an email list and keep building that list over time. Slow but steady wins the race. You can create HUGE results with a very small email list. I know this because I was able to quit my job with a list of about 500 members.
I know what you’re thinking, so let me stress it again -- you don’t have to be a “techie” or know any programming!! The website can be up and running in a day for less than $50. And you can use an email marketing solution like MailChimp to manage subscribers, send emails, and track results for free.

3. Turn those subscribers into customers by asking them to buy from you via email.

Now it’s time to make money.
You can sell whatever you want -- a physical or digital product, a course, a service, or even coaching. It’s all based on what’s interesting to you, and what you think you can help your subscribers with the most.
After delivering a ton of free awesome content for a while (emailing your blog posts, YouTube videos, or whatever else you create), now you have the “right” to sell. Really, this means you have a core audience—no matter how small—who anticipates hearing from you, who reads or consumes your work, and who relates to your message.
This is huge.
These people, your Tribe, actually WANT to buy from you. They’re eager for you to produce a real product because they trust you.
This satisfies our innate human instinct for reciprocity—but really it’s because they think that what you offer is valuable, and an actual product puts a price to that value.
Here’s an example how a simple idea can be turned into a $1,000/month online business:
Let’s say you’re a tutor who’s really good at preparing students for the SAT/ACT college entrance exams.
That’s a pretty in-demand skill set with a high hourly rate. But after a while, you might get burned out driving from house to house or teaching big classes.There are only so many hours in the day.

There’s an easier way.
Instead of having to go door-to-door teaching SAT, you could make a website that gave great SAT tips and strategies for free. Create a PDF guide of your top five proven strategies for raising test scores and, in exchange for their email addresses, give it away to visitors who visit your website.
Continue to build that list of email addresses over time. Your list is your money maker. Treat it with utmost care and respect. Always remember these are real people.
Behind the scenes, you build a simple six-week video course teaching lessons as if you were in front of a classroom.
(I don’t want to hear you say you don’t have the proper equipment!! All you need is an iPhone. Don’t believe me? Casey Neistat is an acclaimed film director, producer and YouTube star with nearly two million subscribers. He films everything he produces on an iPhone. Yup.)
Once every month or two, send an email to your dedicated email list selling the course.
Every time you send, there’s a good chance people will buy. As the list grows, more and more people will buy.
(Remember, you’re still peppering them with juicy content in between each sales push. That’s how they grow to love and respect you.)
If you priced the video series at just $97 (which is quite fair considering how much private tutoring costs) and sold just just 10 of those a video courses every month, you’d make a quick $1,000 automatically...every single month.From a TINY email list.
THAT IS LIFE-CHANGING.

• That’s enough money for you to take a vacation.
• That’s enough money to pay off student loans.
• That’s enough money to pay down your debt and finally start saving.

And that’s what I mean. It doesn’t take a lot.
From here, the sky’s the limit. From here, the sky’s the limit. You can easily tweak the “dials” of your internet business and 2x, 5x, 10x that money easily with a few changes.
Keep growing your list and try to imagine what’s possible...





Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of Victor Duru

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The Key to Better Sex Is All in Your Breathing

You've probably considered a yoga class once or twice — maybe a friend tried to convince you — but for one reason or another it never stuck and you're still skeptical. Consider, then, one huge bonus of the practice you may not be aware of: It can improve your sex life.

Here's how it works: The key to yoga's claim on your sex drive is in the breathing technique used during yoga, pranayama. It releases the same chemicals in the brain as sex does, meaning you can leave the studio post-yoga with enhanced sexual desire. Plus, during your practice, certain postures increase blood flow to the pelvic region, lighting up your sexual response. The heart rate of yogis in deep meditative states can even mirror that of frenzied lovers.

You don't even need to go to a class to reap the benefits, either. Here are five poses you can do anywhere to get you started — in more ways than one.

1. Chair Pose

Chair pose engages your pelvic region by forcing you to lift your pelvic floor as you lower your tailbone. It's the same muscles that are used in Kegel exercises and it leads to more intense control of sexual organs.

Do it: Start with your feet together, toes touching. Sit your hips back and reach your arms alongside your ears, like you are about to sit in a chair. Lengthen your tailbone down to keep from crunching in the low back, lifting the pelvic floor to elongate the spine.

2. Squat Pose

This deep squatting pose keeps pelvic joints healthy by forcing you to work your inner thigh muscles, pull up the pelvic floor, and engage your abdominals. It's also thought to stimulate your sex glands and spleen.

Do it: From a standing position, place your feet hips-width distance apart with the toes turned out. Bring palms together in front of your heart, and slowly lower down toward the mat to come to hover just above the floor. Place your biceps just behind your knees to spread them wider and to help lengthen your spine, reaching your chest up to the sky.

3. Cobra Pose

Cobra pose stretches out your sex organs and increases blood circulation to the reproductive organs.

Do it: Lie on your stomach, feet together and pointed to the back of the room. Place your hands alongside your ribs for stability, press your pelvis into the mat, and use your back muscles to lift your chest off the mat. Gaze just six inches in front of you to keep from crunching your cervical spine in your neck. Try lifting your hands off of the mat to lift higher. Lower slowly.

4. Seated Wide-Legged Straddle

This wide-legged forward fold increases libido by releasing tension in the groin muscles and heightening energy levels by signaling blood flow to the pelvic region.

Do it: Extend each leg to a 45-degree angle from your hip joint and flex your feet. Take a deep breath in, lengthening the torso. On the exhale, fold forward, reaching for your toes. Keep the spine lengthened as if someone is pulling the crown of your head forward. Breath deeply into the crease created at your pelvis.

5. Breathing Techniques

Fast breathing shuts down the cortex of the brain, which controls higher thinking, and allows your primitive brain and limbic system, responsible for sexual responses, to activate and release sex hormones.

Do it: Take a deep breath in, and exhale through the nose in short, sharp breaths, pumping the diaphragm as you count to 50. Take a deep breath in and out. Repeat. You can do this in a seated position, such as lotus, where you are seated with your legs crossed, or while holding other positions.

Source From: Esquire

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11 Ways to Protect Your Kids' Identity Online ; Just because your child doesn't have a Facebook account yet doesn't mean he's not at risk.​

1 Keep her SSN to yourself.

If the little league team asks for your kid's Social Security number, don't feel like you have to give it to them. "Try calling and explaining that you do not wish to share that information and ask what other info you can provide instead," says Ryan Anderson, the outreach program manager at the Center for Identity. "With very few exceptions — like government services, heath care, and insurance — most organizations do not need your child's SSN, but request it because it is convenient for them." If you absolutely have to give up the number, see if there's a way to do it over the phone rather than online.

2 Teach your kids to type links, not click.

Web-surfing children need to know how g00gle.com can be different from google.com. "There are a lot of people who collect misspellings and create clone sites for the purpose of gathering information, which can then help them to commit identity theft," says Adam Levin, founder of IDT911 and author of Swiped. To avoid unsafe sites, stress the importance of typing in URLs (rather than blindly clicking on links) and checking the spelling before logging any personal information.

3 Be wary when posting photos.

Parents often disagree about how much to post about their kids and, at the end of the day, it really is a personal preference. Just beware of the risks: You could potentially become a target for a robbery, your kid's photos could be taken and reused by a stranger, or info you post could even be used to facilitate a kidnapping. So skip that first day of class shot next to the school entry sign. "I was very protective of my son's identity when he was younger," says Tracy Gibb, the blogger behind Less Than Perfect Parents. "I never used his face on my blog or any social media sites because I was nervous some weirdo might take an interest in him."

4 Always turn off geotagging.

By disabling the location services on your cell phone, you'll save battery power and you'll make it harder for thieves to locate or track you. "If your picture is geotagged, that means someone with basic computer skills can click on the properties and get into the code to figure out where that picture was taken," says Levin. Why give away your child's school — or your home address — unnecessarily?

5 Check their credit reports.

"Most children shouldn't even have a credit score," explains Anderson, "given that those scores are only issued by the three major credit bureaus when someone has applied for or received some type of credit." (Think: student loans or credit cards.) With identity theft continuing to grow, the Center recommends that parents check their children's credit history at least once a year to be safe. Then, if something comes up, you can have the credit bureaus freeze your child's credit, which would prevent anyone from opening up more accounts.

6 Break the rules to safeguard passwords.

It's not enough to have a complicated password anymore — especially on websites that ask super simple questions in order to approve a password reset. Identity thieves can easily find out a pet's name or a school's mascot using social media. So when answering these questions, Levin has a trick: Lie. "When a site is looking for an answer to a security question, truth is not important. It's about consistency," he says. For example, if your maiden name is Brown, have your kid say it's Orange.

7 Register their domain name.

And, while you're at it, their email address. You don't have to actually build them a website, but Levin says it's smart to reserve those accounts for a few reasons. For one, they'll have easy-to-remember URLs and emails when they're ready. Plus, these accounts are reserved and can't be used fraudulently. But you might need to wait until the early teenage years: "Most social media networks and email providers don't actually allow you to create a profile for children under 13, unless you lie about their age," says Anderson. "And that account could always be flagged as fraudulent and shut down."

8 Steer clear of strangers.

Sure, your kids know not to talk to strangers in public, but have you made it clear that the same rule applies online? "Unlike the physical world where there are some easily identifiable good strangers — such as law enforcement or firefighters — there is no such thing as a safe stranger online, where someone's identity can easily be faked or concealed," says Anderson. There's no reason for them to accept friend requests from people they don't know.

9 Don't friend them on social media.

Why? It connects and exposes them to adults they don't know — and makes all of their data vulnerable, argues blogger Jessica Gottlieb. "Before you friend a child, any child... ask yourself what it might achieve. If your child is under 13, they aren't supposed to be on Facebook, but that's not because of maturity or Facebook caring about childhood. It's because Facebook buys and sells your data and it's illegal to buy and sell data from children under 13," she writes.

10 Set up separate computers.

"If you can afford it, have your kids use a different device," suggests Levin. "This way, if their device gets contaminated, your tax return and your bank information doesn't go up in smoke or end up in a ransomed file."

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11 Make sure they keep private info private.

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"Kids can become weapons of mass destruction in terms of online security," warns Levin. "They can be giving out information that they don't realize is personal, identifying info." Explain that they should never share info about themselves, their friends, their family, their neighborhood, or anything that could be used to identify them. The Center even has a free game called  Beat the Thief that will help educate kids on this very topic.

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Five major compilation of Diabetes

People with diabetes have an increased risk of developing a number of serious health problems. Consistently high blood glucose levels can lead to serious diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, nervesand teeth. In addition, people with diabetes also have a higher risk of developing infections. In almost all high-income countries, diabetes is a leading cause of cadiovasculardiseaseblindness, kidney failure andlower limb amputation.Click here to find out

more:www.goodhealthnest.comMaintaining blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol at or closeto normal can help delay or prevent diabetes complications. Therefore people with diabetes need regular monitoring.*Cardiovascular disease:affects the heart and blood vessels and may causefatal complications such as coronary artery disease (leading to heart attack) and stroke. Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in people with diabetes. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood glucose and other risk factors contribute to increasing the risk of cardiovascular complications.Click here to find out more:www.goodhealthnest.com*Kidney disease (diabetic nephropathy):caused by damage to small blood vessels in the kidneys leading to the kidneys becoming less efficient or to failaltogether. Kidney disease is much more common in people with diabetes than in those without diabetes. Maintaining near normal levels of blood glucose and blood pressure can greatly reduce the risk of kidney disease.Click here to find out more:www.goodhealthnest.com*Nerve disease (diabetic neuropathy):diabetes can cause damage to the nerves throughout the body when blood glucose and blood pressure are too high. This can lead to problems with digestion, erectile dysfunction, and many other functions. Among themost commonly affected areas are the extremities, in particular the feet. Nerve damage in these areas is called peripheral neuropathy, and can lead to pain, tingling, and loss of feeling. Loss of feeling is particularly important because it can allow injuries to go unnoticed, leading to serious infections and possible amputations. People with diabetes carry a risk of amputation that may be more than 25 times greater than that of people without diabetes. However, with comprehensive management, a large proportion of amputations related to diabetes can be prevented. Even when amputation takes place, the remaining leg and the person’s life can be saved by good follow-up care from a multidisciplinary foot team. People with diabetes should regularly examine their feet. Click here to find out more:www.goodhealthnest.com*Eye disease (diabetic retinopathy):most people with diabetes will develop some form of eye disease (retinopathy) causing reduced vision or blindness.Consistently high levels of blood glucose, together with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, are the main causes of retinopathy. It can be managed through regular eye checks and keeping glucose and lipid levels at or close to normal.Click here to find out more:www.goodhealthnest.com*Pregnancy complications:Women with any type of diabetes during pregnancy risk a number of complications if they do not carefully monitor and manage their condition. To prevent possible organ damage to the fetus, women with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes should achieve target glucoselevels before conception. All women with diabetes during pregnancy, type 1, type 2 or gestational should strive for target blood glucose levels throughout to minimize complications. High blood glucose during pregnancy can lead tothe foetus putting on excess weight. This can lead to problems in delivery, trauma to the child and mother, and a sudden drop in blood glucose for the child after birth. Children who are exposed for a long time to high blood glucose in the womb are at higher risk of developing diabetes in the future.Would you like to get a perpetual cure? Kindly visit this link to get the shocking revelation=>:www.goodhealthnest.com

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11 Things Great Leaders Do that Managers Only Think About

The biggest thing holding back organizations is the lack of leadership.
I’m continually asked by companies large and small, “What are the traits that make a great leader?”
Here is my list of what it takes to be a great leader:

1. Leaders realize their number one job is not to lead others but to create other leaders.
How many times have we watched a terrific organization fall apart when the leader retires or exits their position?
Unfortunately, it happens far too much and it’s due to what I call “ego-leadership.” It’s where the leader wants to be the one in charge and does little to ensure there are others capable of stepping up and leading.


2. Leaders know their results are measured not by what happens when they’re present, but by what happens when they’re not present.
The organization that falls apart the moment the leader is not present is indicative of one being led not by a leader, but by a manager.

3. Leaders know it’s not what they do that matters, but what their people do that matters.

Click on above image for a free infographic on signs of sales leadership!

They know their own limits and realize the real power of an organization is when everyone is contributing and focused.

4. Leaders know their ability to lead is based on their ability to listen.  
What value are others if they can’t contribute?  Who is capable of knowing everything there is to know?  Leaders seek out others both within their organization and outside their organization to gain input and advice.

5. Leaders know their job is to be focused on people, not on processes.  
Leaders know processes are important, but it’s far more important for their people to know the processes. Leaders are willing to spend the time to develop their people.

6. Leaders know their greatest asset is their people.
It’s not the product they make or the service they provide that allows them to succeed.
Leaders know there will always be competitors seeking to take their business.  Leaders know the only true advantage they have is their people, and as a result, they continually invest in their people.

7. Leaders know they’re being watched and measured, not just on what they do in public, but what they do in private as well.
It’s easy to do the right thing when everyone is watching, but leaders know what they do away from the front-line of their organization impacts how they act when they are on the front-line.
They know other people are watching them in all scenarios.

8. Leaders know goals without plans are worthless.
Leaders plan, but they don’t just plan — they act on their plans.  At the same time, they know their focus is not on the plan, but also on the goal. Therefore, they know that plans may have to be modified.

9. Leaders don’t talk about having integrity. They live it.
The leader who talks about having integrity is the last person to have it.
People who have integrity don’t walk around telling others they have it.  People know the leader has integrity because they see it in the leader’s actions.  Their integrity is what anchors them and allows others to believe and place value in them.

10. Leaders are continually learning.
Leaders know things change and, therefore, they must be continually learning.  Leaders never end a day without having learned something new. They do this by approaching everything as a learning opportunity.

11. Leaders know it starts with them.
Leaders realize this not from a sense of ego, but from a sense of understanding they have to walk the talk.   They know in this era of 24/7 where every action is noticed, the easiest way to lose respect is by attempting to be somebody they’re not.

Is this the entire list things great leaders do that managers only think about?  No, I would never say this is all it takes.
From my vantage point of 15 years of consulting, though, and watching thousands of managers and leaders, this list hits the mark in many regards


Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of Victor Duru

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10 Top Tips For Effective Selling

1. Find out all you can about your prospective customers, all their past contacts and transactions with your company and their probable needs, before you ever meet them. You can’t possibly know all that you will need to know about them in advance, but the prospects you meet will not be much impressed if you know nothing about them at all!


2. Practise a powerful introduction. If you don’t believe passionately in your company, its products, and what you can offer, why should anyone else? But don’t present yourself ‘off the cuff’ each time. Know your products really well and develop some really powerful, short introductory phrases that work well for you. Of course your introduction needs to feel spontaneous and authentic — but all great, powerful presentations take a lot of practice to perfect!

3. Ask questions, as these are any sales person’s very best friend. In doing so, allow extravert buyers to talk about themselves by all means, but if they seem rather quiet or retiring, don’t fill the silences for them. Introvert buyers in particular will need time to reflect and consider their answers carefully. While they are doing so, anything else you might say may at best not be ‘heard’ and at worst, will almost certainly make them feel uncomfortable and unnecessarily pressured.

4. Develop empathy with your prospects and build rapport. So shine the light on your products and services and what they will do for your customers – not on yourself and what your customers might do for you! Most prospects actively dislike egocentric/egotistical sales people, especially those who don’t listen or don’t answer their questions.

5. Hold back on your proposal(s) until you have heard their full story. And then pause. Too prompt a response to any problem/opportunity may sound glib, ill-considered or pre-packaged.

6. Use customer references, but carefully. Great references from other satisfied customers can be wonderful, but your favourite clients may not actually be admired by your prospect for reasons you may never know of. Worse, your prospect may suspect that if you will talk so freely about your other customers’ details, you may be indiscreet in telling others about theirs! So keep your other customers’ details anonymous unless you have their permission to mention them by name.

7. Sell your price! Never be ‘modest’ about your price, but support it and ‘sell’ it with the benefits you offer. Any early suggestion that your price is negotiable, tentative or even in the wrong ball-park will only suggest it may be aspirational and that you don’t believe in it. And then, why should your customer?

8. Never duck an objection. Rather, see customer-objections as potential buying signals, which they often will be, and welcome them! And remember? – an un-resolved objection will always remain an objection. So consider making a habit of the using the following 5-step process?
a) clarify the real objection ;
b) repeat the objection back in your own words, to show you have properly understood it;
c) then pause — don’t pounce! However often you may have heard the specific objection before, don’t let    your prospect feel that your response is not going to value their point of view.
d) ‘pivot’ the objection into a genuine advantage
e) explore the consequences of your reply and ask for any other objections. .

9. Ask for the order! ‘Closing’ a successful deal is a finely tuned sales skill, and most experienced buyers will probably know as many professional sales closes as you do! Each approach to closing may warrant their own place in your personal armoury, but if you have built a sound rapport you really can’t beat just asking for the order on many occasions, once you have been through the steps above with a genuinely compelling offer.

10. Know when to go! When you have won the order and confirmed the details, congratulate them on their decision by all means, assure them they have chosen wisely of course, but then LEAVE! The longer you stay thereafter, the more time you may give for buyers to change their mind. I see more sales lost this way than any other!

Jeremy is the author of the tips booklet ‘115 Essential Tips on Pricing’ and a frequent public speaker and workshop presenter on business topics to a wide range of organisations internationally.



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