Archive for November, 2011

Christian Services: Service or Using Others?

I know a good Christian lady who cuts hair for a living. That’s her occupation. That’s how she makes a living. She is very good at it. Why is it that when Christians come to her shop they expect a “discount” just because they go to the same Church that she attends? There are some who refer to this practice as a “believer discount”.

Now I am not opposed to finding discounts and deals, but not at someone else’s expense. If someone decides that they want to give me a haircut at no charge, or half price, out of love, then that’s fine. But to just expect that Christian businesses are supposed to give discounts to all the “brothers and sisters” is not love. It’s actually an indication of a poverty mind set. I’ll explain that later.

For me to think that my Christian brothers and sisters are obligated to give me a cheaper price is selfish and it takes money away from them. Suppose you couldn’t find a Christian for the service or product you needed? What would you do? You would end up paying someone the price they charged.

I know some Christians who are very good at doing car repairs and some of them even do it as a business. And hardly a week or two goes by that another Christian asks them for help in fixing their car, expecting to pay little or nothing for services rendered. That is very selfish and, again, an indication of a poverty mentality.

Here’s a startling thought: pay your Christian brother or sister more than they normally charge! Now that’s a concept that has love written all over it. Why would you do that? First of all it is indeed a blessing to have a Christian provide a service or a product. If they operate their business with integrity and love, that love will have an impact on my life. Secondly, by believing God’s promises of abundance you can go over and beyond and give more to the person who is providing you the service or product. That increases their prosperity. But, if you have a poverty mentality, you are always looking for someone to charge you less for everything and expecting any Christian to give you a discount. Why not believe God’s promises of prosperity, receive His abundance, and then share that abundance with others?

Now I would rather pay a Christian for a product or service, but there is another side to this coin. Just because I am a Christian does that mean I have to find another Christian to provide my products and services? Suppose I know a Christian who could get the job done, but not with the quality I require? Am I obligated to hire a Christian anyway and then have inferior work done? Some say that would be the “Christian thing to do.” I say, “No.”
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25 Music Jobs That Most People Don’t Know About

You may have heard that music jobs are almost impossible to find, especially if you’re young and just starting out. While it may be true that few aspiring musicians will reach the top of the charts, there are hundreds of thousands of music jobs available. Some are for performers, some for teachers, and some for support staff for musicians and performers. Musicians and others in the music industry may work in production, performance, promotion, and education – even medicine. I promised you 25 music jobs that most people don’t know about – but that’s not technically true. Many of these are jobs that people know about – but don’t consider when they think of ‘music jobs’. Ready for the list? Here we go:

Music Jobs for Songwriters:

A Staff Songwriter works for a record or media company and writes songs for the artists signed by the label.

A Freelance Songwriter writes and markets his or her own songs. Your hours are your own, but you’ll have to work a lot of them to get your songs heard.

A Lyricist writes just the words to songs. He may team up with a composer, or be teamed up with one by a music production company.

A Jingle Writer writes those catchy ads that you hear on the television and radio – you know, the ones that get stuck in your head for days. A jingle writer may not become a famous household name – but he or she will always find work.

Music Jobs in Publishing:

A Music Publisher finds and acquires the copyrights to songs with the intent of licensing or selling them to record companies and musicians.

A Copyright/Licensing Administrator ($20,000 – $60,000) manages the licensing and copyrights for a music publishing company.
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Company Formations

In this day in age it is important to establish the class of your company at a very early stage and establish trust in business circles.

You might be surprised to know that if you are a sole trader you don’t have to register with Companies House.

To open a business bank account as a sole trader, all you generally need is photo id, passport and letterhead containing company logo, name, address, and telephone number.  However if your business expands and you need to hire employees, you need to register your business formation.

There are many businesses out there that can help, including this company who can help you with company formations.  Places like this will give you expert business advice and guide you through the right issues whether you are a partnership or a limited liability company.  And they will keep you up to date with new legislation passed by the government, either through email subscription or by post.

A Good Autoresponder

How many free autoresponders have you tried? Really how many? And how many emails did you get through using them? How do you know? How many people opened your followup message?

My point here is that if you have no clue for the answers above you probably are not operating a followup campaign successfully. These are crucial element that must be explored when you are choosing an autoresponder.

Some good steps to take to ensure you are getting what you need out of a autoresponder include… Compare your autoresponder with those of top marketers, chances are they are using the best in the business. You can’t go wrong with this step!

Other observations you might make are related to spam filters. Have you ever gotten an e-mail and seen something like this…”F`R`E`E” Yes this is a good way to beat the spam filters as they won’t read Free they will read something totally different. However it can be time consuming going through your article and finding which words are “Danger” words. This can go along way in your marketing efforts. So make sure you find an autoresponder that has a spam rating feature… these features will automatically show you where in your article your “Danger” words are.
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