make the income exceed the out-go

True economy consists in always making the income exceed the out-go. Wear the old clothes a little longer if necessary; dispense with the new pair of gloves; mend the old dress: live on plainer food if need be; so that, under all circumstances, unless some unforeseen accident occurs, there will be a margin in favor of the income. A penny here, and a dollar there, placed at interest, goes on accumulating, and in this way the desired result is attained. It requires some training, perhaps, to accomplish this economy, but when once used to it, you will find there is more satisfaction in rational saving than in irrational spending.

Here is a recipe which I recommend: I have found it to work an excellent cure for extravagance, and especially for mistaken economy. When you find that you have no surplus at the end of the year, and yet have a good income, I advise you to take a few sheets of paper and form them into a book and mark down every item of expenditure. Post it every day or week in two columns, one headed “necessaries” or even “comforts”, and the other headed “luxuries,” and you will find that the latter column will be double, treble, and frequently ten times greater than the former. The real comforts of life cost but a small portion of what most of us can earn. It is the eyes of others and not our own eyes which ruin us. If all the world were blind except myself l should not care for fine clothes or furniture.” In America many persons like to repeat “we are all free and equal,” but it is a great mistake in more senses than one.

That we are born “free and equal” is a glorious truth in one sense, yet we are not all born equally rich, and we never shall be.

One may say; “there is a man who has an income of fifty thousand dollars per annum, while I have but one thousand dollars; I knew that fellow when he was poor like myself; now he is rich and thinks he is better than I am; I will show him that I am as good as he is; I will go and buy a horse and buggy; no, I cannot do that, but I will go and hire one and ride this afternoon on the same road that he does, and thus prove to him that I am as good as he is.”

My friend, you need not take that trouble; you can easily prove that you are “as good as he is;” you have only to behave as well as he does; but you cannot make anybody believe that you are rich as he is. Besides, if you put on these “airs,” add waste your time and spend your money, your poor wife will be obliged to scrub her fingers off at home, and buy her tea two ounces at a time, and everything else in proportion, in order that you may keep up “appearances,” and, after all, deceive nobody. On the other hand, Mrs. Smith may say that her next-door neighbor married Johnson for his money, and “everybody says so.” She has a nice one-thousand dollar camel’s hair shawl, and she will make Smith get her an imitation one, and she will sit in a pew right next to her neighbor in church, in order to prove that she is her equal.

My good woman, you will not get ahead in the world, if your vanity and envy thus take the lead. In this country, where we believe the majority ought to rule, we ignore that principle in regard to fashion, and let a handful of people, calling themselves the aristocracy, run up a false standard of perfection, and in endeavoring to rise to that standard, we constantly keep ourselves poor; all the time digging away for the sake of outside appearances. How much wiser to be a “law unto ourselves” and say, “we will regulate our out-go by our income, and lay up something for a rainy day.” People ought to be as sensible on the subject of money-getting as on any other subject. Like causes produces like effects. You cannot accumulate a fortune by taking the road that leads to poverty. It needs no prophet to tell us that those who live fully up to their means, without any thought of a reverse in this life, can never attain a pecuniary independence.

Men and women accustomed to gratify every whim and caprice, will find it hard, at first, to cut down their various unnecessary expenses, and will feel it a great self-denial to live in a smaller house than they have been accustomed to, with less expensive furniture, less company, less costly clothing, fewer servants, a less number of balls, parties, theater-goings, carriage-ridings, pleasure excursions, cigar-smokings, liquor-drinkings, and other extravagances; but, after all, if they will try the plan of laying by a “nest-egg,” or, in other words, a small sum of money, at interest or judiciously invested in land, they will be surprised at the pleasure to be derived from constantly adding to their little “pile,” as well as from all the economical habits which are engendered by this course.

The old suit of clothes, and the old bonnet and dress, will answer for another season; the Croton or spring water taste better than champagne; a cold bath and a brisk walk will prove more exhilarating than a ride in the finest coach; a social chat, an evening’s reading in the family circle, or an hour’s play of “hunt the slipper” and “blind man’s buff” will be far more pleasant than a fifty or five hundred dollar party, when the reflection on the difference in cost is indulged in by those who begin to know the pleasures of saving. Thousands of men are kept poor, and tens of thousands are made so after they have acquired quite sufficient to support them well through life, in consequence of laying their plans of living on too broad a platform. Some families expend as much as twenty thousand dollars per annum, and some much more, and would scarcely know how to live on less, while others secure more solid enjoyment frequently on a twentieth part of that amount. Prosperity is a more severe ordeal than adversity, especially sudden prosperity. “Easy come, easy go,” is an old and true proverb. A spirit of pride and vanity, when permitted to have full sway, is the undying canker-worm which gnaws the very vitals of a man’s worldly possessions, let them be small or great, hundreds, or millions. Many persons, as they begin to prosper, immediately expand their ideas and commence expending for luxuries, until in a short time their expenses swallow up their income, and they become ruined in their ridiculous attempts to keep up appearances, and make a “sensation.”

A gentleman of fortune who says, that when he first began to prosper, his wife would have a new and elegant sofa. “That sofa,” he says, “cost me thirty thousand dollars!” When the sofa reached the house, it was found necessary to get chairs to match; then side-boards, carpets and tables “to correspond” with them, and so on through the entire stock of furniture; when at last it was found that the house itself was quite too small and old-fashioned for the furniture, and a new one was built to correspond with the new purchases; “thus,” added my friend, “summing up an outlay of thirty thousand dollars, caused by that single sofa, and saddling on me, in the shape of servants, equipage, and the necessary expenses attendant upon keeping up a fine ‘establishment,’ a yearly outlay of eleven thousand dollars, and a tight pinch at that: whereas, ten years ago, we lived with much more real comfort, because with much less care, on as many hundreds. The truth is,” he continued, “that sofa would have brought me to inevitable bankruptcy, had not a most unexampled title to prosperity kept me above it, and had I not checked the natural desire to ‘cut a dash’.”

The Golden Rules of Acquiring Wealth

In the United States where there is more land than people, it is not at all difficult for persons in good health to make money. In this comparatively new field there are so many avenues of success open, so many vocations which are not crowded, that any person of either sex who is willing, at least for the time being, to engage in any respectable occupation that offers, may find lucrative employment.

Those who really desire to attain independence, have only to set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done. But however easy it may be found to make money, I have no doubt many of my hearers will agree it is the most difficult thing in the world to keep it. The road to wealth is, as Dr. Franklin truly says, “as plain as the road to the mill.” It consists simply in expending less than we earn; that seems to be a very simple problem. Mr. Micawber, one of those happy creations of the genial Dickens, puts the case in a strong light when he says that to have annual income of twenty pounds per annum, and spend twenty pounds and sixpence, is to be the most miserable of men; whereas, to have an income of only twenty pounds, and spend but nineteen pounds and sixpence is to be the happiest of mortals. Many of my readers may say, “we understand this: this is economy, and we know economy is wealth; we know we can’t eat our cake and keep it also.” Yet perhaps more cases of failure arise from mistakes on this point than almost any other. The fact is, many people think they understand economy when they really do not.

True economy is misapprehended, and people go through life without properly comprehending what that principle is. One says, “I have an income of so much, and here is my neighbor who has the same; yet every year he gets something ahead and I fall short; why is it? I know all about economy.” He thinks he does, but he does not. There are men who think that economy consists in saving cheese-parings and candle-ends, in cutting off two pence from the laundress’ bill and doing all sorts of little, mean, dirty things. Economy is not meanness. The misfortune is, also, that this class of persons let their economy apply in only one direction. They fancy they are so wonderfully economical in saving a half-penny where they ought to spend two pence, that they think they can afford to squander in other directions.

Before kerosene oil was discovered or thought of, one might stop overnight at almost any farmer’s house in the agricultural districts and get a very good supper, but after supper he might attempt to read in the sitting-room, and would find it impossible with the inefficient light of one candle. The hostess, seeing his dilemma, would say: “It is rather difficult to read here evenings; the proverb says ‘you must have a ship at sea in order to be able to burn two candles at once; we never have an extra candle except on extra occasions.” These extra occasions occur, perhaps, twice a year. In this way the good woman saves five, six, or ten dollars in that time: but the information which might be derived from having the extra light would, of course, far outweigh a ton of candles.

But the trouble does not end here. Feeling that she is so economical in tallow candies, she thinks she can afford to go frequently to the village and spend twenty or thirty dollars for ribbons and furbelows, many of which are not necessary. This false connote might frequently be seen in men of business, and in those instances it often runs to writing paper. You find good businessmen who save all the old envelopes and scraps, and would not tear a new sheet of paper, if they could avoid it, for the world. This is all very well; they may in this way save five or ten dollars a year, but being so economical (only in note paper), they think they can afford to waste time; to have expensive parties, and to drive their carriages. This is an illustration of’ Dr. Franklin’s “saving at the spigot and wasting at the bung-hole;” “penny wise and pound foolish.” Punch in speaking of this “one idea” class of people says “they are like the man who bought a penny herring for his family’s dinner and then hired a coach and four to take it home.” I never knew a man to succeed by practicing this kind of economy.

DON’T GET ABOVE YOUR BUSINESS

Young men after they get through their business training, or apprenticeship, instead of pursuing their avocation and rising in their business, will often lie about doing nothing. They say; “I have learned my business, but I am not going to be a hireling; what is the object of learning my trade or profession, unless I establish myself?’”

“Have you capital to start with?”

“No, but I am going to have it.”

“How are you going to get it?”

“I will tell you confidentially; I have a wealthy old aunt, and she will die pretty soon; but if she does not, I expect to find some rich old man who will lend me a few thousands to give me a start. If I only get the money to start with I will do well.”

There is no greater mistake than when a young man believes he will succeed with borrowed money. And take note that this kind of conversation is still repeated even into the 21st century.

Why? Because every man’s experience coincides with that of Mr. Astor, who said, “it was more difficult for him to accumulate his first thousand dollars, than all the succeeding millions that made up his colossal fortune.” Money is good for nothing unless you know the value of it by experience. Give a boy twenty thousand dollars and put him in business, and the chances are that he will lose every dollar of it before he is a year older. Like buying a ticket in the lottery; and drawing a prize, it is “easy come, easy go.” He does not know the value of it; nothing is worth anything, unless it costs effort. Without self-denial and economy; patience and perseverance, and commencing with capital which you have not earned, you are not sure to succeed in accumulating. Young men, instead of “waiting for dead men’s shoes,” should be up and doing, for there is no class of persons who are so unaccommodating in regard to dying as these rich old people, and it is fortunate for the expectant heirs that it is so.

Nine out of ten of the rich men of our country today, started out in life as poor boys, with determined wills, industry, perseverance, economy and good habits. They went on gradually, made their own money and saved it; and this is the best way to acquire a fortune. Stephen Girard started life as a poor cabin boy, and died worth nine million dollars. A.T. Stewart was a poor Irish boy; and he paid taxes on a million and a half dollars of income, per year. John Jacob Astor was a poor farmer boy, and died worth twenty millions. Cornelius Vanderbilt began life rowing a boat from Staten Island to New York; he presented our government with a steamship worth a million of dollars, and died worth fifty million. “There is no royal road to learning,” says the proverb, and I may say it is equally true, “there is no royal road to wealth.” But I think there is a royal road to both. The road to learning is a royal one; the road that enables the student to expand his intellect and add every day to his stock of knowledge, until, in the pleasant process of intellectual growth, he is able to solve the most profound problems, to count the stars, to analyze every atom of the globe, and to measure the firmament this is a regal highway, and it is the only road worth traveling.

So in regards to wealth: go on in confidence, study the rules, and above all things, study human nature; for “the proper study of mankind is man,” and you will find that while expanding the intellect and the muscles, your enlarged experience will enable you every day to accumulate more and more principal, which will increase itself by interest and otherwise, until you arrive at a state of independence. You will find, as a general thing, that the poor boys get rich and the rich boys get poor.

For instance, a rich man at his decease, leaves a large estate to his family. His eldest sons, who have helped him earn his fortune, know by experience the value of money; and they take their inheritance and add to it. The separate portions of the young children are placed at interest, and the little fellows are patted on the head, and told a dozen times a day, “you are rich; you will never have to work, you can always have whatever you wish, for you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth.” The young heir soon finds out what that means; he has the finest dresses and playthings; he is crammed with sugar candies and almost “killed with kindness,” and he passes from school to school, petted and flattered. He becomes arrogant and self-conceited, abuses his teachers, and carries everything with a high hand. He knows nothing of the real value of money, having never earned any; but he knows all about the “golden spoon” business. At college, he invites his poor fellow-students to his room, where he “wines and dines” them. He is cajoled and caressed, and called a glorious good follow, because he is so lavish of his money. He gives his game suppers, drives his fast horses, invites his chums to fetes and parties, determined to have lots of “good times.” He spends the night in frolics and debauchery, and leads off his companions with the familiar song, “we won’t go home till morning.” He gets them to join him in pulling down signs, taking gates from their hinges and throwing them into back yards and horse-ponds. If the police arrest them, he knocks them down, is taken to the lockup, and joyfully foots the bills.

“Ah! my boys,” he cries, “what is the use of being rich, if you can’t enjoy yourself?”

He might more truly say, “if you can’t make a fool of yourself;” but he is “fast,” hates slow things, and doesn’t “see it.” Young men loaded down with other people’s money are almost sure to lose all they inherit, and they acquire all sorts of bad habits which, in the majority of cases, ruin them in health, purse and character. In this country, one generation follows another, and the poor of today are rich in the next generation, or the third. Their experience leads them on, and they become rich, and they leave vast riches to their young children. These children, having been reared in luxury, are inexperienced and get poor; and after long experience another generation comes on and gathers up riches again in turn.

And thus “history repeats itself,” and happy is he who by listening to the experience of others avoids the rocks and shoals on which so many have been wrecked.

In this Republican country, the man makes the business. No matter whether he is a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a farmer, banker or lawyer, so long as his business is legitimate, he may be a gentleman. So any “legitimate” business is a double blessing it helps the man engaged in it, and also helps others. The Farmer supports his own family, but he also benefits the merchant or mechanic who needs the products of his farm. The tailor not only makes a living by his trade, but he also benefits the farmer, the clergyman and others who cannot make their own clothing. But all these classes often may be gentlemen.

The great ambition should be to excel all others engaged in the same occupation. The college-student who was about graduating, said to an old lawyer:

“I have not yet decided which profession I will follow. Is your profession full?”

“The basement is much crowded, but there is plenty of room up-stairs,” was the witty and truthful reply.

No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded in the upper story. Wherever you find the most honest and intelligent merchant or banker, or the best lawyer, the best doctor, the best clergyman, the best shoemaker, carpenter, or anything else, that man is most sought for, and has always enough to do. As a nation, Americans are too superficial— they are striving to get rich quickly, and do not generally do their business as substantially and thoroughly as they should, but whoever excels all others in his own line, if his habits are good and his integrity undoubted, cannot fail to secure abundant patronage, and the wealth that naturally follows. Let your motto then always be “Excelsior,” for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.

Formula to Success

What you think and how you then act is the deciding factor that will help you discover the goal of success. These two attributes are important together with a set of consistent principles, which you follow through. Thoughts based on reason are a powerful catalyst to start any reaction, and once you set off, you will soon realize that courage is the simple virtue needed for a human being to traverse the rocky road.

Obstacles are natural, and they are a means to the source of acquiring wealth, as I am sure you will agree. Persistence, patience and perseverance will have to be practiced religiously to reach the goal and to overcome the obstacles. Of course that said, I would now like to point out the P’s that you should frown upon.

Do not procrastinate, do not pretend that you know it all and finally do not prolong your ‘venture(s)’. Be prepared to fight the stumbling blocks that may confront you, but pursue your goal and allow your potential willpower to predominate.

In any situation in life, it is unequivocally important to remain level headed, despite all the ‘ups and the downs’ that we are likely to face. Remember life is dualistic by nature – the obverse and the reverse sides of the same coin to put it simply. I am compelled to add that though we know that the past is the cause and the present is the effect, it is self evident that with time the present itself becomes the cause with reference to the future.

There is a very deep meaning embroiled in this syntax, and if you can relate this to success, then it can be said that if we intelligently live in the scientific self-discipline, we can become the architects of our own future.

The Basic Steps

The following guidelines will help you pave a wonderful path to your ultimate success.

The steps are very simple to implement in your daily life.

1. Do what you love and what you are good at.

2. Be prepared to learn and to be positive (motivation and enthusiasm).

3. Be an innovative individual.

4. Be prepared to invest not just money but your time, effort and resources, too.

I mentioned money – this does not mean that you have to invest a large sum to become a millionaire or wealthy.

5. You must be disciplined in having set goals and targets. Remember that persistence is the key to success.

6. You must be prepared to manage your time effectively.

7. As you evolve, learn to give back what you amass to the society. I call this philanthropy.

You must have a solid vision – one in which you ‘see’ yourself having attained success. Great people of the past and present see to it that they reach this coveted position, by employing these basic steps.

However, notice in step 2 I deliberately used the word ‘learn’, and that too for a very good reason. Life is the greatest teacher, thus you must be willing to accept challenges all the time (using the power of discrimination) and thus as a result you must learn via its eternal principles the magnificent doctrine it has revealed with the passing of time. This means that you must act when the time is right.

Action is incredibly important and highlights success – the two are synonymous to be quite honest. To succeed action is needed but the essential ingredient is how serious you are. Being too serious can ruin your business venture, so the point is to have FUN.

Any discipline will require organization and orderliness. You must as I mentioned in the introduction be prepared to listen to your inner voice as much as you possibly can. This means that rather than being too dependent on your family, friends and so on (not that this is bad) begin to have faith in your own capabilities.

Stand-alone and strive to learn and succeed. Often, failures may just result from instances where we have stopped exercising our own views, or we have become too dependent on others’.

Success is not some secret that you have to search for or unearth in order to reach your destination; it is rather the understanding or the recognition factor that you develop with respect to what you really want in life. Intuition, courage, skills, knowledge, challenges and opportunities are some of the concepts that determine the traits of people who enjoy wealth. Any task performed with the right spirit will give you victory. Mental attitude is what will give you success, but negative attitude, laziness and working unwillingly will result in failure.

Do not expect too much in too short a time, but your approach should be positive and execute your task with absolute perfection, paying particular attention to your long-term goal(s). This means that you approach your duty with concentrated energy and you execute your plans righteously. This should be your philosophy of life.

To begin a new venture, it vitally important that you realize the following, which I have to say is crucial. You have to appreciate the fact that to start a business you need to acquaint yourself with the term cash flow. Investment in the form of a capital is a requirement, but more importantly it is the concept of viability of the business venture that matters most.

AVOID DEBT LIKE A PLAGUE

Young men starting in life should avoid running into debt. That’s a given. There is scarcely anything else that drags a person down like debt. It is a slavish position to get ill, yet we find many a young man, hardly out of his “teens,” running in debt (and yes, this has been going on for centuries as long as men and history could remember). He meets a chum and says, “Look at this: I have got trusted for a new suit of clothes.” He seems to look upon the clothes as so much given to him; well, it frequently is so, but, if he succeeds in paying and then gets trusted again, he is adopting a habit which will keep him in poverty through life. Debt robs a man of his self-respect, and makes him almost despise himself.

Grunting and groaning and working for what he has eaten up or worn out, and now when he is called upon to pay up, he has nothing to show for his money; this is properly termed “working for a dead horse.” I do not speak of merchants buying and selling on credit, or of those who buy on credit in order to turn the purchase to a profit.

Money is in some respects like fire; it is a very excellent servant but a terrible master. When you have it mastering you; when interest is constantly piling up against you, it will keep you down in the worst kind of slavery. But let money work for you, and you have the most devoted servant in the world. It is no “eye-servant.” There is nothing animate or inanimate that will work so faithfully as money when placed at interest, well secured. It works night and day, and in wet or dry weather.

So do not let it work against you; if you do there is no chance for success in life so far as money is concerned.

Choosing a SEO Company

A Search Engine Optimization Company can be an invaluable asset in your Internet marketing campaign. They specialize in knowing how to raise your Search Engine positions, monitoring those positions on the regular basis, and adjusting their strategies to account for undesirable results in any given month. Since this takes a lot of time, effort, and specialized knowledge, it can be in your best interest to go to an outside source rather than try to maintain high Search Engine positions on your own.

However, like every business, there are good companies and there are lemons. Knowing the right questions to ask and the criteria to look for will help you in choosing an affordable, effective Search Engine optimization company.

When looking at different companies, begin by considering the approach they employ to raise your Search Engine positions. Steer clear of companies that use cloaked, doorway, or bridge pages to raise your positions. These techniques violate most Search Engine policy, and in the worst case scenario, will only get your website severely penalized, if not removed entirely from a Search Engine's index.

A cloaked page is a page that is created which is invisible to the regular visitor to your website. The cloaked page is coded to detect a Search Engine spider and divert them to this special page, which is set-up to artificially boost your Search Engine position. Doorway or bridge pages utilize the same concept, but often reside on an entirely different server. Google, the largest and most important Search Engine on the Internet, will remove your website from their index if they detect you have cloaked pages. So never, never employ any company that uses this technique!

Another important element is to get a guarantee that the company you hire will not work with your competitors while they are working for you. Obviously, this would seriously compromise the effectiveness of the Search Engine optimization campaign. Be aware that some companies will use the success they achieve for your website to sell their services to your competitors. So get your guarantee in writing, and make sure it is legally binding.

Of course, one of the most important factors you want to check out is the company's track record of results. However, don't take the company's word for it. They will undoubtedly be slanting their results in order to sell their services to you. To go beyond their simple statement of success, ask them a few pertinent questions, and verify their answers.

Ask them which engines they have achieved the best results on. The ones that are important are the most popular engines, and these are the ones you want to see good results on. Since the popularity of Search Engines can change with the landscape of the overall Internet, check out the Nielsen Netratings page at Search Engine Watch.

You can access this at

http://www.searchenginewatch.com/article.php/2156451

Next, find out what keywords and phrases they are claiming great results with. It's easy to get high rankings with unpopular words. For instance, the keyword "cat leashes" will get high popularity ranking because no one else would think of using it. What you are looking for is good results using popular keywords.

Check out the software Wordtracker, available at http://www.wordtracker.com. You can order a free trial, or a subscription ranging from 1 day to 1 year. This software rates the popularity of keywords and phrases based on actual Search Engine use.

Next, look for good results over an entire site that the company claims to have successfully worked for. You want to see a wide range of positions over a number of different Search Engines using different keywords or phrases for the entire site. Request a report for any client the company claims to have done well for. This report should show good positions on a number of the most popular Search Engines for a variety of different, popular keywords and phrases.

When you are checking out Search Engine optimization companies, make sure they have actually done the work they are claiming to have done. Some companies will use other company's results in order to get you to sign on with them. If you are in doubt, call the company they are showing you results for, and ask for the name of their Search Engine optimization company.

It's important to keep in mind that a successful Search Engine optimization campaign will result in maximum exposure across a wide range of popular Search Engines using a variety of keywords and phrases. This is the formula for a successful campaign, and you should keep it always in the forefront of your marketing strategy.

Ask the Search Engine optimization company you are considering for a report that shows you rankings across a number of popular Search Engines for a period of at least six months. Remember: Search Engine marketing is a process that is continual, and you need a company that not only understands this, but keeps constant tabs on your Search Engine positions. That company must also be able to adjust its strategy in the event that Search Engine rankings drop.

Since Search Engine marketing is an on-going process, your positions must be constantly monitored. If you want your Search Engine optimization company to do this for you, request a sample of a monthly report. It is essential that this report should show rankings for the most popular Search Engines. Don't be impressed by a report that only shows great results for a limited number of small Search Engines. These are fairly easy results to acquire. Also confirm that the popular Search Engine results they are showing you are indeed the popular Search Engines currently.

Be sure the sample report the company shows you is in a format that you can easily understand. For example, it could be in the form of a chart that covers a period of at least six months and presents data such as the top 50 positions broken down on a monthly basis or the top 5 pages each month. Then, ascertain that the company you are considering actually monitors these positions or pages every month, and that the sample report they show you includes findings and recommendations for the specific site. This insures that the company will actively monitor and make adjustments to their strategy on a continual basis rather than simply gather statistics on your positions. You need a company that is actively participant in your Search Engine marketing campaign, not just an information gatherer.

Obviously, your finances have to figure into your choice of company, but bear in mind that a Search Engine optimization company is crucial the success of your marketing campaign. It is not just a casual accessory. If you cannot afford a company that will do a thorough and reliable job for your website, you might consider waiting until you do have the finances in place.

If you have to find a company and can't wait for your finances to catch up, you may be able to find an affordable company that will also be able to supply quality, reliable work, such as a fairly new company. Just remember that there are risks involved with using a company without a proven track record - and that risk is your money! Don't take that leap unless the company can supply you with a least a few references.

References are the most reliable indicator of a good company. Don't use a company that won't show your references because of any reason, confidentiality included. Remember - even doctors will provide references! The firm you choose should provide you with a minimum of two references, one that is from the past, and one that is current.

When you contact these references, be prepared to ask precise, specific questions so that neither of your time is wasted. Ask them what their experience was like with the company, such as their availability to answer questions and deal with problems and their ability to meet deadlines. Ask the reference to rate the overall performance of the company.

Find out if the company requested that the reference make significant changes to their web pages that affected the visitors coming to their site. You are looking for a Search Engine optimization company that can balance the needs of both Search Engines and site visitors without compromising either.

The most essential question to ask is whether the work of the Search Engine optimization company resulted in higher profits for the reference. Without profits, it doesn't matter whether your positions are at the top of the list or not.

Search Engines and How They Work

Search Engines are special sites on the Web that are designed to help people find information stored on other sites. There are differences in the ways various Search Engines work, but they all perform three basic tasks:

ü They search the Internet - or select pieces of the Internet - based on important words,

ü They keep an index of the words they find, and where they find them, and

ü They allow users to look for words or combinations of words found in that index.

Early Search Engines held an index of a few hundred thousand pages and documents, and received maybe one or two thousand inquiries each day. Today, a top Search Engine will index hundreds of millions of pages, and respond to tens of millions of queries per day.

Before a Search Engine can tell you where a file or document is, it must be found. To find information on the hundreds of millions of Web pages that exist, a Search Engine employs special software robots, called spiders, to build lists of the words found on Web sites.

When a spider is building its lists, the process is called web crawling.

In order to build and maintain a useful list of words, a Search Engine's spiders have to look at a lot of pages. How does any spider start its travels over the Web? The usual starting points are lists of heavily used servers and very popular pages. The spider will begin with a popular site, indexing the words on its pages and following every link found within the site. In this way, the spidering system quickly begins to travel, spreading out across the most widely used portions of the Web.

Once the spiders have completed the task of finding information on Web pages, the Search Engine must store the information in a way that makes it useful. There are two key components involved in making the gathered data accessible to users:

ü The information stored with the data, and

ü The method by which the information is indexed.

In the simplest case, a Search Engine could just store the word and the URL where it was found. In reality, this would make for an engine of limited use, since there would be no way of telling whether the word was used in an important or a trivial way on the page, whether the word was used once or many times or whether the page contained links to other pages containing the word. In other words, there would be no way of building the ranking list that tries to present the most useful pages at the top of the list of search results.

To make for more useful results, most Search Engines store more than just the word and URL. A Search Engine might store the number of times that the word appears on a page. The engine might assign a weight to each entry, with increasing values assigned to words as they appear near the top of the document, in sub-headings, in links, in the META tags or in the title of the page. Each commercial Search Engine has a different formula for assigning weight to the words in its index. This is one of the reasons that a search for the same word on different Search Engines will produce different lists, with the pages presented in different orders.

An index has a single purpose: it allows information to be found as quickly as possible. There are quite a few ways for an index to be built, but one of the most effective ways is to build a hash table. In hashing, a formula is applied to attach a numerical value to each word.

The formula is designed to evenly distribute the entries across a predetermined number of divisions. This numerical distribution is different from the distribution of words across the alphabet, and that is the key to a hash table's effectiveness.

When a person requests a search on a keyword or phrase, the Search Engine software searches the index for relevant information. The software then provides a report back to the searcher with the most relevant web pages listed first.

The Ladder to Success Part III

Very strong willpower is needed in order to develop internally, and the need for two most important attributes, namely courage and confidence are essential ingredients. Thus poverty and prosperity does not necessarily depend on knowledge wholly (e.g. business acumen, marketing strategies and so on) but it certainly depends on the three C’s and they are character, creativity and your innate capabilities.

Courage and confidence alone can bring about unique transformation while the opposite will only bring much sorrow and despair in times of distress and crisis. However, despite life’s problems we should resist obstacles and hindrances and as such constantly remind ourselves of the supreme inherent or innate power which we all posses and which we can all successfully develop through spiritual insight. Thus ignoring our abilities and potential for developing the personal power that we need for going through ego-breaking experiences requires immense fortitude and discipline, and I explain to you in this book on how you could achieve all this here and now.

Without these qualities you are destined to fail, and that is the reason why a large portion of people feel despondent because they got into competition or they simply gave up under pressure, through lack of self-courage and dynamic willpower.

When our fantasies and expectations are not fulfilled, there is a tendency for us to revert to our old ways – the hollowness we experience can be most annoying and we cannot ignore it forever. A lot of the time what exactly happens is that whatever good we undertake in life, it does not mean we will continue. This is not because an impossible discipline is required but because we lack courage and confidence we are overwhelmed with negative attitude – this is what stops everything in its tracks!

The initial burst of enthusiasm begins to fade, and what seemed so wonderful becomes a peril a dilemma and a problem. The mind takes over and questions surmount raising doubts after doubts whether the whole idea or concept is worthwhile – a conflict ensues, the mind says the one thing and the intellect and our intuition urges us to follow the path to ‘success’.

Even before we begin the journey the end is imminent, because we are undecided what true path to follow. Success lies in what you make of it not what you ‘think’ it ought to be (do not fantasize success).

The Ladder to Success Part II

You may want to add various different types of themes to your art portfolio in order to maximize your capabilities to reach an audience far and wide with interests in different themes/subjects.

Contact groups, forums and even Internet newsgroups and explore various other avenues (such as photographers, photo and framing galleries, arts councils and government organizations that provide help including loans etc.) that will allow you to step up your enquiry – the idea is to pursue the goal relentlessly and with a positive attitude.

As far as your theme/subject matter is concerned post questions, polls, surveys, and determines what people are looking for, and then simply find the need and fill it.

Every little will help, but it is the force required to get the momentum going and that is the key point. Another useful point is not to just try, try and to continue trying – instead develop an attitude whereby you DO the thing you have decided to pursue, implement and apply the strategies shown in this book.

Finally do not just stop at that – keep faith and do not yield to any defeat. Once you have decided to put the ‘plan’ into action, make sure that it is kept ignited and glowing…rejections and disappointments should in no way curtail your hope, progress and your desire to success. People who have succeeded despite all the hardship, pain and struggle have inspired countless millions around the world – it is time you too set an example for others to follow in your footsteps.

You must remember that the methods employed by different individuals in procuring wealth may be distinct, but the goal is common to all, and the steps spoken of earlier are in effect your tools to your overall success.

The Ladder to Success Part I

It is the privilege of man to achieve all round greatness, and in reality success should be one’s habit. Man is essentially perfect, and therefore infinite are the possibilities that lie dormant in him.

In order to bring out the very best from within, a life organized and perfectly disciplined for the discovery of the potentialities that lie lurking within us, is a life well spent.

The vital point is not how many talents each on of us has, but the importance should be focused on how much of our existing talents, attributes and capabilities are we prepared to develop, exploit, explore and implement in our daily lives.

The question you must ask, is whether you are making a practical use of at least one great talent lying inherent within you? The one supreme fundamental principal is to understand that all our success entirely depends upon ourselves.

The best way to be happy is to do the things that you naturally love and enjoy doing – something that you are absolutely passionate about! Likewise the best way to succeed and become wealthy is to see to it that you achieve the things you have earnestly desired to seek in life. This will require that you implement your efforts in to activities that will allow you to measure success.

For instance the simple way to explain this is to take into consideration the following example: if you take a liking for art, painting, and drawing then the way to proceed is to seek guidance on ways to enter competitions, and ways to submit your artwork via galleries (approach galleries directly and leave work on a sale or return basis) or fine art publishers’ or even exposing your talent by entering seasonal fairs where you will find a large gathering of all kinds of retailers.

Pursuing Wealth

The statement ‘haste makes waste’ stands true even today, and more often than not, some of us tend to feel frustrated when we cannot live up to our ideals and the standards we set for ourselves all the time.

On other occasions, we may feel that had we taken the challenge that came our way that perhaps things may well have changed for the better, yet there is also the possibility that in our over anxiety to reach the goal we try too hard and burn ourselves out entirely!

Has This Happened to You?

The question that now remains to be asked how do we begin, how can we achieve success in life?

Well, my friend, rest assured that this book has been written to answer this question satisfactorily, eliminating confusion or anomalies whatsoever.

There are many strategies that one can employ and various means through which you can plough yourself to achieving the goal. One common thread in all of them is self-belief, self-righteousness or honesty and ethical living (in words, deeds, thoughts and actions) pertaining to your lifestyle – this is Step four.

In any business the emphasis on moral and ethical standards ranks the highest, and this should not be ignored or overlooked.

The only way to achieve equanimity, balance or equilibrium even after you become the wealthiest individual is to have your sense of realizing the true essence of life.

Nothing in life is constant. Life is ever changing and things that seem to have existence today may cease to exist tomorrow and this is a fact that you – and everyone else – must learn to accept.

Step five, when you discover something profound and beautiful, the natural tendency is to share it with others.

It Can Never Happen?

While pessimism warns us of dangers lurking before our very own eyes, optimism may propel us into false security. Pessimism should only be considered initial and not a final predicament in any situation – this is the first step to success.

Time and again, we have been subjected to instances that are disturbing, and deep within us we ‘realize’ the potential dangers and risks surrounding us, and the ‘voice’ within adamantly rejects this threatening situation confronting us, as such because we fail to recognize this ‘voice’ within us our mental clinging to the outer world detaches us from the inner voice of ‘TRUTH’ thereby throwing us totally of the tracks as it were.

The second step to success and wealth is to convince yourself of the importance of self-control, self awareness and self-discipline.

We must listen to the voice within and realize the existence of the innate force or the Dynamic Willpower – the mighty power expressing through the mind, body and the intellect! Thus the second step qualifies that you develop faith in not just what you can do and achieve but most importantly developing faith in yourself (your innate, inherent and latent qualities).

Step three requires that through constant vigilance, employing the power of intelligence, self analysis and introspection and through careful understanding and use of these concepts, you can learn to live beyond the demands of the mind in whatever environment you find yourself – this will qualify you to implement and embrace the road to wealth.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you hate to put in any work/effort but love to attain success, you will have to reconsider your views.

So to achieve the latter, you have to do the former and the sensible idea is to find out what really gives us pleasure and then find out if it is possible to make money from doing it.

The 5 Principles to Unlocking Wealth

These principles are a key to unlocking amazing cache of wealth, abundance and success. They are all centered on our true innate qualities, which as a matter of fact are universal and have a spiritual basis. These principles are:

· Truth

· Righteousness

· Peace

· Love, and

· Non-violence

The practice of these virtues will enable anyone to progress in life without any doubt.

The reason is simple.

These universal principles are all attractive and needless to say, they form the cornerstones of the code of ethics. You cannot go wrong practicing the importance to moral values, codes of conduct and obeying the Law of Nature in your pursuit of Wealth.

In the coming pages, you will discover the goal of reaching financial freedom while at the same time, acquiring the perfect art of happiness through the understanding that the measure of joy is not ‘directly’ proportional to just monetary wealth.

This concise, precise and straight-to-the-point manuscript explores avenues that are most definitely going to change your life for the better.

Unlike many other books on the same subject, this manuscript delves on subject areas relevant to aspects of your personal life and growth that I can guarantee will bring back that smile on your face. It is clear, focused and above all a readable book, which you will enjoy.

Brief Introduction

One of the most difficult points to reconcile in life is the paradox that suffering exists in this world. Suffering is eminent.

Of course, what is equally important is realizing that the acquisition and possession of wealth is not a ruler that measures one’s happiness. If joy truly were to be found in materials, then all those who experience the ‘thrill’ of it by coming into contact with the object would observe the same measure of joy.

In life, men are continuously motivated by two inevitable impulses of repulsion – from sorrow and craving to seeking joy and absolute fulfillment. In the quest to embrace all happiness, he is compelled to run after the enjoyable and agreeable, while confronting the opposites, he avoids undesirable objects and disagreeable environments.

The fact is this: throughout history, all achievers conscious or subconsciously have used five principles, which are common to absolute progress in all aspects of life.