The word brand began simply as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. Related to business a brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and how it relates to key constituencies: Customers, Staff, Partners, Investors etc.A brand begins to exist when a business or individual has something to offer to the world-values, services, or products. Branding articulates the unique attributes of the business and communicates them in the right way, to the right people. A brand is not what a business says it is. It’s what the consumer perceives it to be. You are creating a brand even if you have not been doing it consciously.A brand is one of the most valuable elements of a strategic public relations plan. Your brand should communicate the right message to the right people. A brand should clearly demonstrate what is being offered in the marketplace.Remember, you are already creating a brand, even if you have not been doing it consciously. How people feel when they think of your product or service, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the brand.The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management.Brand management done correctly will make your product or services relevant to the target market.Take some time to begin looking at the things you have been doing to build your best brand, Find out from your key clients how they would describe you and your brand. If you do not like what you hear, make some changes. If you like what you hear make a conscious effort to do more of what you heard. Having a good professional reputation is an obvious key to success, but many people don’t take the time to nurture it. I find it helpful to think about a reputation as a personal brand. Developing your own unique brand is essential for success.I have discovered that there is a DNA that makes up a good brand. DNA. Dependability. Novelty. Attitude.Dependability
A good brand is consistent. With a good brand, there are never any unpleasant surprises. You can count on a brand to help you quickly sort through an unlimited list of options to identify “a sure thing.”
When applied to you, the question becomes:
What can others — your customers, employer, and colleagues — depend on you for?
What kind of “sure thing” are you exactly?
Whatever you decide distinguishes you in the marketplace of talent, make sure consistency is the bedrock of your brand.Novelty
OK, so what makes you different?
It’s not enough to be as dependable as everyone or anyone else. Brands always have identifiable differences — perceptually if not in fact — in the mind of the marketplace.
What makes you different (or better)?
For a difference to be valuable to the brand, it must be valuable to the customer.Attitude
This is the most nebulous part of a brand. It is more than a combination of novelty and dependability. I call it the brand’s predisposition to the world. It is about the vibe a brand puts out. It’s about the demeanor and flavor and orientation.
Attitude is how the brand — “you, inc.” or “organization, inc.” — presents itself to the world. I believe that all brands have a boldness about them. Even if a brand is quiet, dependable, and safe, those attributes are expressed to the marketplace boldly and definitively.What is your attitude? Have you considered it and identified it? Is the attitude of your brand something that draws others to it, or puts them off?DNA. Dependability. Novelty. Attitude. As a first step toward marketing yourself better, take some time soon to write out the DNA of your brand.

In commercial real estate, you will undertake a variety of presentations, in a variety of circumstances. Most of them are business-like in nature, focusing on the needs of the tenant, the property buyer, or the property seller.Get to the core issuesEach of these groups has unique property requirements and points of focus. It is their needs which must be identified and clearly addressed in the sales pitch or presentation. Many successful commercial real estate agents will have a preliminary meeting with the client or customer so that they can identify key issues and concerns. This allows the commercial agent to return to the client or customer in a few days with a well structured proposal that addresses the needs of the customer or client.It’s all about THEM, not YOU!When you design an investment or commercial property proposal for presentation, the document should be 90% regards the property and the client. Frequently you see this rule disregarded or broken with the proposal document being largely regards the agency and the personnel.Rarely is the property transaction a simple matter of the property rental, the property price, or the physical elements of the property. In most situations, it is the combination of these things which must satisfy a fundamental equation of need that the customer or client has. In getting them to this fundamental need, you will identify an element of pain that the customer or client is experiencing. This is what you focus on.They are ExperiencedIt is interesting to note that many clients and customers in commercial real estate are reasonably comfortable in circumstances of business negotiation. This means they may not tell you the total big picture or all the elements of a transaction until they are ready. Conversation and connection in the presentation process should be biased towards the client or customer using well selected questions which allow the agent to interpret the body language coming from the client’s response.When you believe you have identified the element of clients pain related to the property transaction, you start to magnify the problem in terms of today’s market, then offering stable and logical solutions that your real estate agency business can provide to the client or customer. Invariably, the commercial real estate transaction in today’s market centres on financial matters such as:
High vacancy factors
Other property choices and chances are available
Underperforming leases
Unstable cash flow
Unstable tenancy mix
Tenanted conflict
Escalating building operating costs
A shift in demographics which exposes the property to a unstable future
Mortgage payment pressures
Age of the asset
Needs for refurbishment or extension
Competition properties attracting tenants away from the subject propertyThis type of information and interpretation requires your intimate knowledge of the local region. This is by both property type and by location. This is the higher value that you bring to the customer or client. Being able to distinctly define local market awareness is a major advantage in any commercial real estate presentation or sales pitch. You must be seen as the best knowledgeable solution to the problem.From ExperienceAfter many years working exclusively in the commercial real estate industry, I found that my unique skill was in market knowledge and the display of that in any formal presentation to the client. Being able to talk about market trends and financial performance in a solid and sound way will help the client understand that they need your services. Coupling that with your extensive and relevant database of enquiry clearly shows the client that they need you.A fantastic commercial real estate presentation is a function and balance of lots of things. Things like:
A well established pre-planning process is a strategic advantage for every commercial real estate presentation. Strategy is everything in commercial real estate. Every property presentation requires planning.
Making sure you are asking the right questions of the client or prospect. Plan your questions relative to the subject property so that you help the client think about opportunity and changes that are possible.
Using your market knowledge and giving good answers. Have a variety of market facts and trends available to call on. Feed them into your presentation; facts are always useful. They can also be used as a channel to direct the discussion when the client is forcing you to justify your approach or your experience. Confidence and control must be the basic rule of your property presentation. When the client takes control of the presentation you have lost.
Using your experience in the marketplace so that you are telling relevant stories of success in similar properties. Stories of other properties will always interest of the client.
Making sure your personal presentation is optimised for the connection in the presentation. It can be that you are using a combination of the proposal document, the marketing document, and computer slide presentation, samples of your database, photographs of the subject property projected on to slides, and photographs of comparable properties projected on to slides.
Choosing the placement of people at the table or strategically positioning them in the room is always important. Much has been written about where you should sit relative to the client. The basic rule is adjacent to the client rather than across an area of barrier such as a table. Being within arm’s reach allows you to pass documentation to the client at the appropriate time. Documentation should not be provided to the client until you are ready for them to review it; otherwise it is a distraction of their attention.
Make sure that your proposal is simple and yet well directed with a clearly defined outcomes of sale or lease. Many proposal documents in commercial real estate are much too wordy so the main messages are lost and not clearly defined. The best proposals are less wordy and more illustrative. The best balance of a commercial real estate proposal is a mixture of 25% words, 25% pictures, 25% graphs, and 25% white space. This becomes a document which is clearly read and understood.
Combine good illustrations and photographs of the subject property into the proposal or presentation so that any lengthy descriptions or paragraphs are broken up. This will keep interest of the client in your documentation.
Make sure that your marketing package is value for money, and yet reaching the target market that the property serves or needs to attract. All too often, we see examples of generic marketing by the commercial real estate agent to the broader and less specific marketplace. Showing the client that you clearly know and will attract best the target market will always help your conversion to a potential listing. Be very specific about the target market and how you will reach it.
Ensure that your commission costs are fair and reasonable for the location. In most circumstances, discounting your commission should not be an option as it will make you poor and remove or detract from your enthusiasm for the sale or lease. ‘Cheap’ means ‘cheap and without focus’ and the client needs to know this. The property deserves better. You are not cheap because you are the best and you do a great job. A fair commission is always paid for a positive property outcome.
Always provide testimonials that are relevant to the property transaction. When you combine relevant history and details of happy customers into your presentation you will make the client feel more comfortable.
Always display clear and sound market knowledge that impresses the client relative to their property. This will include extensive awareness of comparable properties that compete with the subject property. You should be able to talk solidly about property prices, comparable rents, rental growth, returns on investment, changes to the future demographics of the area, and properties in the immediate precinct of relevance. In many cases, it pays to walk around the local area just prior to any property presentation so that you bring immediate and clear pictures of the precinct to the discussion. Many times this has been of significant advantage in my presentation processes. Talking about neighbouring properties localises the client and their thought processes.
Come up with a variety of ways to serve the client. Innovation and relevance will always impress. In today’s market, this is relatively easy considering the marketing opportunities and tools provided by the internet & technology. Be proactive in your property promotion processes so that the listing for sale or lease stands uniquely different in its marketing campaign from the others in the area. This does not have to be expensive to the client or to your office, given that the internet and electronic technology is historically cost effective. In today’s market, the traditional methods of publicising the property in the property pages of the local paper, is becoming much less important in the marketing campaign. Most commercial property buyers and tenants research the market from the Internet first and foremost.
Almost every property agency will say that they have excellent communication and connection skills to support the property promotion process. From experience, this is largely incorrect and typically the average commercial salesperson or leasing person will exercise ordinary communication channels with the client. Put yourself in the shoes of the client. They expect and deserve frequent updates on the promotion of the property even when nothing is happening or when the adverts are producing little response. When a property campaign is not producing the results, it is important that you act or adjust with alternative recommendations and strategic changes to the promotional campaign for the client to consider. Rarely would you get to the property campaign correct in the first week. It is in this time that you must consider fine tuning the promotion process so that the target market is being reached in a timely and effective way. This means that every property enquiry generated from your promotions must be tabulated so that you understand what channels of marketing work most effectively with the property in question.
When addressing the client or the client group in a formal property presentation, the answers and information you give must be delivered well and provide relevant solid property knowledge, in a practiced and professional delivery. Any sales or presentation tools relative to the property must be relevant and you should know how to use them with exceptional skill. Fumbling and faking information is not tolerated by the client.So there you have it. These are some of the key skills to use in a commercial real estate presentation. Whilst many real estate agents think that they are the best alternative in the market to promote sell and rent commercial property, the reality is they do not get the message across when it matters most in front of the client.To be the best commercial real estate agent in your area, you must show that you are just so, and you do this in the first 10 minutes of the time that your presentation takes. The client will have formed an opinion by then.Be prepared to walk away from any demands for discounting that the client or customer demands. In this market they need a great commercial real estate agent providing a great job; discounting is not an option. Show pride in your services and walk away when the client demands discount in marketing or lower commissions.

In The Other Path, Robert J. Klosterman’s follow-up to The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the author once again offers his astute financial and investment advice. The book’s subtitle, “Illuminating the Path Toward Volatility While Achieving Equity-Type Returns,” is apt, as that is just what Klosterman advocates that investors do to achieve optimal monetary gains with their investment portfolios. Klosterman gets his title from Robert Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken,” which he quotes at the beginning of The Other Path, a highly interesting book that offers investors insights into a different sort of investment approach than they might be used to, though a very effective one that is designed to aid investors to earn equity-type returns while reducing the volatility that many other investors experience who only try more traditional approaches when it comes to planning their portfolios.Klosterman’s book, The Other Path, is relatively short, coming in at just 60 pages, not counting the Appendices at the conclusion of it, but his approach to investing which he details in it is one which is very informative. The book is sure to interest and be beneficial to anyone who would like to lower his/her investment risks while maximizing his/her potential monetary returns.The very title of Klosterman’s book, The Other Path, alludes to an investment strategy, or road, that most people have traditionally followed, which is investing their money entirely in stocks, bonds and cash. Such an approach is a tried-and-true one that has proven beneficial to many investors, but it has also proven to be a sometimes volatile path for others. Investing in stocks, bonds and cash, Klosterman argues, is an important part of an overall investment strategy, though there are other opportunities for diversifying one’s investments and reducing the volatility many portfolios unfortunately undergo, a volatility which can cause the monetary value of one’s portfolio to experience a disastrous nosedive.Still, the main leg of the milk stool, that is, investing in stocks, bonds and cash, is a vital component in a wise investment strategy, according to Klosterman’s assessment in The Other Path. He calls it the core leg of a metaphorical three-legged milk stool, with each leg in the metaphor referring to a different but complimentary strategy when it comes to investing. If an investor diversifies his/her portfolio and does not solely focus on the main leg of stocks, bonds and cash, but also invests his/her money in nontraditional ways, Klosterman argues, using a series of useful and informative charts and graphs, that one’s portfolio is much less liable to experience a disastrous financial loss and the volatility of one’s portfolio will be reduced.The second of the three legs of the milk stool is “Diversifiers,” and the third leg is “Absolute Returns.” Klosterman argues that “Diversifiers,” or alternative or nontraditional Investments, help reduce the volatility of an overall investment portfolio. Some examples that the author gives of nontraditional investments include real estate, private equity, “developed and emerging international equities,” distressed debt, and managed futures. These sorts of nontraditional investments can reduce volatility by either having a “very low correlation with traditional markets,” as Klosterman writes, or by delivering “consistent returns year after year, with little or no volatility.”The third leg of the milk stool, “Absolute Returns,” is also the name of Chapter Four of The Other Path. Absolute returns are investments, according to Klosterman, which “demonstrate the same qualities of a bond with the assurance of return of principle and consistent payment of interest.” The author writes that they are similar to ten-year treasury bonds but “they are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.” Despite this, Klosterman states that aspect of absolute return vehicles can be considered to be an advantage. That is because strategies involving absolute return vehicles, as the author writes, “can invest in sound ideas and not have to fit restrictions that other institutions have.”One example is investing in companies that lend money to small businesses and house flippers. These companies can work fast and close loans faster than banks. These companies have the ability to provide quick access to loans for money to people like real estate developers or house flippers, in comparison to banks.In The Other Path, author Robert J. Klosterman writes about a no-nonsense approach to nontraditional investing and how it can benefit one’s investment portfolio and help reduce volatility. The book also examines and identifies “trouble signs” besides volatility when planning one’s portfolio, like groupthink, market disruptions and inflation. While Klosterman recommends that investors follow the advice of professionals who are experts in planning investment portfolios and have proven track records over at least a decade, The Other Path is an interesting and insightful look at adding nontraditional investments to an individual’s portfolio. Whether investors want and like to plan their investment strategies on their own, or with the advice of professionals, The Other Path is an eye-opening Must Read designed to inform investors of types of alternative investments that can balance out their portfolios and reduce the negative effects of market volatility. It is a book I would highly recommend to anyone who has ever considered expanding their investment portfolios and adding nontraditional investments to them.

The healing techniques that you can resort to in case you suffer from any kind of body related problems are many. However, against the very conventional ways of taking the simple medicines provided by the doctor are losing significance. The alternative health care is coming into picture, present day, with flying colors. People are becoming more aware about the alternative health care ways as a result of which the newer ways are being devised. A huge number of the pharmaceutical companies work for providing the best remedies for most of the upcoming health problems. This is not the only field of development. The alternative health care ways like the acupuncture and the different massage techniques all extend to fighting against a wide range of health related issues.Taking into consideration, the wide range of alternative health care ways that have come up in different parts of the world, the ancient eastern secrets have made their mark. The acupressure and the acupuncture, known to almost people all over the world, also owe their origin to the ancient eastern secrets. There has been an exponential rise in the number of people trying the alternative wellness care ways. A huge number of practitioners work for this cause, which has its foundation on bringing the soul and body together. This kind of alternative health care is based on the meditation principles.The secret behind the miraculous effects of these kinds of health care techniques lies in the ingredients. Most of these constituents making up the alternative health care ways of healing are availed from the dense forests scattered all over the planet. They have the special power to extract all the positive energy elements so that they can do well to the body suffering from different kinds of diseases. The question often arises, against the big pharmaceutical companies as to why be these elements provided by them? The answer is very simple to guess based on the principles of profitability of the running business.These techniques have lots of positive effects, yet there is no assurance that they will always work without fail. The results provided by the alternative health care ways depend on many other factors. As a result they may at times fail, just as the other pharmaceutical medicines. However, they are readily available in many health stores and also a simple internet search can give the results.Note: You’re free to republish this article in any way you want, as long as kept in its entirety. No changes and all links intact.

The biggest challenge facing group health care in the last few years has been the dramatic escalation in prices, due mainly to the increasing cost both of prescription drugs and of medical care. This has forced every health insurance agency Pittsburgh to increase premiums, and this in turn has meant that many companies have had to cut down on their employee medical benefits. Some regions, like Pittsburgh PA, appear to be in the forefront of the fightback against these trends, by bringing in measures to achieve the best possible health outcomes combined with maximum value for money.One not-for-profit organization leading these efforts is the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI). Although there are similar groups across the nation, the PRHI is unique in incorporating businesses and personnel from outside of the health care field, which enables it to bring in innovations from other areas of industry. One of these is the health home model of care, whereby the whole of a patient’s care from start to finish is coordinated by a designated physician. This has already been achieved at some of the city’s health centers.This model of coordinated care is increasingly being seen as the way forward, and is being taken up by at least two of the largest health care insurers in the region. One of these, Highmark, has set up a large scale health home pilot project incorporating about 150 providers of primary care, encouraging the providers to look at agencies outside themselves to increase coordination of patient care. The results are so encouraging that it is considering expanding the number, even before the completion of the pilot. Meanwhile Pittsburgh’s other major insurer, UPMC Health Plan, has set up its own health home program, which tracks recently discharged patients to ensure they are receiving the follow up care they require. The company report spectacular improvements in health outcomes as a result.Pennsylvania is also in the lead in encouraging other means of reducing group health insurance costs. Healthy spouses are being encouraged to insure themselves individually, as it has been shown this can be done more cheaply than under a family care plan. Pennsylvania has also pioneered the Children’s Health Insurance Program, offering free or low cost coverage of children to parents living in the state.Every health insurance agency in Pittsburgh is only too aware of the problem to employers posed by the remorseless rise in health care costs. It is becoming increasingly clear to these agencies that coordination of patient care has a major part to play in bringing about greater efficiency, and combining this with improved outcomes for patients. Provision of group health care can be daunting in the current climate, but this region is in the lead in utilizing the power of innovation to make the provision both more affordable, and more effective.

A person is said to be physically fit if he or she is physically sound, healthy and he or she has the ability to perform physical activities well. Nowadays more than 60 % of people say that they don’t have enough time to running for an hour or hit the gym. But all these people want to be fit and get into better shape.No doubt people all over the world are more and more health conscious, but most of them don’t know how actually complete fitness can be achieved. Although one can prepare his / her personal fitness plan provided some important tips and precautions have been taken into consideration, otherwise it can cause adverse effects.Online books and videos about fitness training can be helpful to some extent but has the drawback of non confirmation that you are adopting them correctly.If you can not visit gyms or health clubs and also are not able to make up your mind to rely upon books or videos, then the best option for you could be hiring a personal trainer for few days. Personal training sessions are very popular these days among people who want a focused fitness program designed for their individual needs and implementing it in the right direction at their own place.You may hire a certified and professional personal fitness coach who can provide you fitness training sessions with a well organized fitness plan as per your age, sex, medical condition and your daily works schedule at your home or office.Benefits of hiring a Personal Fitness Coach:Diet plan – Personal fitness coach prepare daily diet plan in which he / she decides that what are your calorie requirements and how can you get it perfectly. Fitness trainer know very well that according to trainee’s age, height, weight and medical condition what calories requires to get high fitness results.Fitness training sessions – On the basis of trainee’s age, sex, weight, height and medical condition fitness instructor prepares the physical exercise session plan in which he or she decides what type of exercise is required for trainee and which exercise a trainee should do first and for how many times. Fitness coach divides the whole fitness programs in different small sessions and set the priorities and time of exercise according to particular fitness trainee. This training program you can further continue by yourself at your home.Exercise Equipments- Personal fitness trainer generally bring fitness equipments needed for exercising and also can guide you what kind of equipments you should use to carry on with your fitness program.Physical and Mental fitness- Perfect physical fitness is directly correlated to mental fitness. A certified fitness trainer trains you to develop a positive attitude and motivates you for exercising so that you lead a healthy life.