In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70+ birthday Maya really is a marvel who has led quite an interesting and exciting life. Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older. And, there on television, she said it was "exciting."
Regarding body changes, she said there were many, Occurring every day...like her breasts. They seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist, first. The audience laughed so hard they cried.

She is such a simple and honest woman, with so much wisdom in her words. Here are her comments:

"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.
I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.
I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.
I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

"4 Secrets to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking" by Chris Kaiffer

The fear of public speaking is the number 1 reason most people don't get a career advancement or start a new venture. In fact, surveys reveal that 85% of all people say they fear public speaking over death. Getting over the fear is not as difficult as you might think. 4 simple secrets can rid you of all your speaking fears.

The many fears people experience include looking foolish in front of others, losing one's train of thought, being judged for one's point of view or even losing one's voice while speaking.

Here is the formula to overcome you fear of public speaking:

Purpose + Heart + Organization + Relaxation

The purpose of the speech

What is the purpose of your speech-is it to teach, inform, persuade, call to action or entertain? When you are clear about the purpose of your speech, you will shift the focus from yourself to your audience. Instead of focusing on how well you will do, you will be concentrating on the benefits you want to provide to your audience.

Tip: Just before you give your speech remind yourself of what you want your message to be. In other words, what is the reason for giving the speech and what do you want the audience to leave with?

Speak from your heart

When you speak from your heart, you no longer need to fear that you are not an expert or are not credible. Speaking from your heart automatically communicates sincerity and enables you to connect to your audience. Draw from personal experiences, which will help you to illustrate your subject, and avoid sarcasm and judgmental thoughts.

Tip: When expressing an idea, bring your focus to your heart rather than searching in your mind. This will naturally bring compassion to your message.

Organize your ideas

Do you struggle to memorize your speech? There is a better way. Organizing is not simply about using bullet points, but rather about structuring your message into logical flow. A critical element to creating harmonious flow is having well prepared transitions between ideas. When your ideas are organized using transitions, you only have to memorize your main points and then speak from your heart.

Tip: First jot down the main ideas of your speech. Next, make a story connecting them with clear transitions.

Relaxation

For a stress free speech, prepare yourself physically. A relaxed body will unite your mind and soul. There is a multitude of relaxing techniques available to you. For instance, breathing techniques, body movement techniques (like Tai chi), visualization, affirmation or vocal techniques. Find one which works well for you and practice it to the point where you know how to relax within a minute or two.

Tip: Take 3 or 4 deep breaths; imagine inhaling fresh ocean air and exhaling all the stress and anxiety from your body.

In a nutshell, speaking on purpose inspires your audience's spirit. Speaking from your heart brings positive emotions to them. Delivering organized ideas seduces the logic of your audiences' minds. Being relaxed commands confidence and connection to your audiences. By using these 4 secrets, you will shift the focus away from yourself and conquer all your fears of public speaking.

Chris Kaiffer, The "Life Mechanic" www.PowerPurpose.com

Almost anyone who starts a new business, online or off, faces one common problem: marketing. You can have the best business idea in the world, but if you don't know how to market your product or service, there's no way to succeed.

In order to market your new business successfully, there are a few important things you must consider.

First, you need to decide who your main customers are. How old are they? Where do they live? How much money do they make? What kinds of jobs do they have and what are their interests? The better idea you have of who your customers are, the better off you'll be from the start.

Next, you need to know what kinds of media do your main customers use. Every radio station, newspaper, magazine, or TV program targets a certain demographic. What you have to do is match your main customers with their favorite media sources. Here are a few examples.

Most Top 40 radio stations reach teenagers and 18 to 34 year-old women. Your local newspaper may be geared to homeowners over the age of 35. An industry trade magazine might be read mostly by senior managers scattered all around the country.

Remember to be creative. Effective media can be anything from million dollar commercials to a few free pens with your name and phone number on them.

No matter what kind of media you choose, remember to limit the media you use to what you can afford to use consistently. The key to effective marketing is consistency. You have to hit the audience with your message again, and again, and again. Thus, you should choose less expensive types of media that you can afford to use over and over.

After you have your customers' attention, you need to sell the main benefit of your product or service.

How does your product or service improve your customer's life? Does it save them time? Make them richer? Make them more attractive? Your marketing should drive home this most important benefit as clearly and directly as possible. Customers love hearing about the benefits of your product or service from their own perspective. When you advertise the features of your product or service, connect those features to the benefits they will bring the customer.

And finally, don't miss out on FREE publicity. Radio, TV, newspapers, newsletters, and magazines are constantly on the lookout for good stories. Prospective customers will be impressed if a media outlet features a story on what you do. Seek out free publicity with articles, press releases, going on talk radio, even pulling crazy stunts.

Last, but certainly not least, remember to promote your business on-line. The net is open to everyone. It's the only "big" media outlet that allows any small business person to get their message out affordably. Bulletin boards and newsgroups may appreciate any helpful information that you can provide, and most won't mind if you sign your name along with a short description of your business and a link to your site.

These are the most essential steps to successful marketing. Keep them in mind as you decide how to market your new business, and keep up on them month after month.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice and copywriting. See his 10,000 marketing ideas and popular promotion packages at http://www.DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or 603-249-9519.

The Tradeshow and the Attendee By Barbara Axelson

Who's your customer?

If you are an organizer, it's the exhibitor and the attendee. If you're an exhibitor, it's the attendee.Long ago the customer was always right. But today we live in a land of cell phones and cable TV; heaven forbid you've had an argument with either provider. Actually, we have progressed beyond that technology, but not everyone is there yet.

I have a self-cleaning oven, but I don't really use it and there is even one rotary phone left in my house. Maybe I'm a throwback, but a lot of people are not as up to date as the spin folk would have you believe.

Where are we going here? The ultimate customer is the attendee, so the ultimate concern is the attendee. If we remember Econ lectures, it's supply and demand. Don't bother to supply it if there's no demand. But go ahead and demand it if there's no supply and someone will meet the challenge and provide it.

As our old friend Marco Polo used to say, "Let's organize the marketplace." Or, as even two-year-olds understand it, "This little piggy went to market." There are directors of marketing, vice presidents of marketing, marketing managers and marketing consultants. Many are sensational, professional, innovational. Some should learn their ABCs.

Last year Mark Stevens wrote a book called Your Marketing Sucks. I reviewed that book for Publishers Weekly and when they sent it to me I sniffily deemed it a childish, grandstanding title. Then I read it and it captured me. I wrote, "In a progressive format with chapter subheads like 'Be persistent, relentless, inventive, counterintuitive, challenging, combative, strategic, and tactical,' the reader may be tempted to think, 'Easy for you to say!'"

The attendee is everyone's customer. If an attendee doesn't attend, the problem extrapolates somewhat like how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? The answer is a universal truth. Market to those attendees - they're the gas in the engine, the cream in your coffee, the stars in the sky, and the creators of all the buzz/hum/noise at tradeshows.

It's the chance in a million - bring the buyer to the seller - put all the forces in motion to be a catalyst to commerce. Do not neglect the attendee. No one ever keeled over from being too courteous, too gracious or too meticulous in answering questions. What can be done for an attendee? Organizers, consider simplifying registration. Think about aisle carpet that pampers the foot soldiers. Create badges that other people can read without squinting; it's great to know that someone's first name is TODD, but if you can't decipher his last name and his company's name and location, you're coming up short. Put booth numbers in visible places, not halfway under the booth carpet; hang signs that are visible so people can look down the aisles and spot them.

Negotiate prices at concessions that don't vie with mortgage payments. Let people know where exits are; don't just comply with the fire marshal; be helpful.

Make sure the restrooms have soap! Encourage the exhibitors to only hand out bags that won't break. Open the show on time, never a minute late. If dignitaries speak, keep it mercifully short. If you cut a ribbon at opening, make sure you've got the big scissors handy. If you have bagpipers, keep it mercifully short.

If you're the organizer, make it clear to potential exhibitors that unmanned booths with literature will be taken down and made into rest areas.

To serve the exhibitor, who serves the attendee - in the show office, have someone who knows what's what - don't hire a temp and subject her to a day of saying "duh?" Provide an exhibitor lounge for coffee and escaping to. Make it clear pre-show that exhibitors are to arrive on time and remain until show close.

If a booth dweller doesn't show, and their number is in the directory, just put up a sign where they woulda/shoulda been so that the six people who are dying to see them have a clue.

If you can budget it, offer a shipping service - there's nothing like downloading junk from your briefcase before the bursitis sets in.

Watch those pesky cords under the bumblebee tape; make sure your contractor has done the very best with these ankle-busters. Clean the tops of the trash baskets. Don't permit dirty, dusty drape on the tables. Post coordinators for the shuttle buses. Get enough taxis.

And give 'em a big Goodbye, See You Next Year (with dates) banner. After all, it was so nice of them to come.

Barbara Axelson is a Chicago-based tradeshow consultant and writer. Previously an editor with Cahners Publishing Company, she later directed public relations for Reed Exhibition Cos.' Chicago division. She contributes to industry publications and also presents seminars on media relations at exhibitions and conferences. E-mail her at baxelson@aol.com

With the growing safeguards being made available to fight unsolicited email, the spamsters are turning to spyware. Spyware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software (Adware).

It is a way for software authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several large media companies that offer them to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, you don't have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them, by paying the regular licensing fee. The email client "Eudora" is a good example of this.

Adware (spyware) can arrive on your computer from many sources, but does so primarily from software you may download from the Internet. It may even be bundled into software that you buy.

So _ What are the symptoms of adware? If you suddenly find that your "Home Page" has changed and when you sign on the Internet, you are taken to a different site. If 'pop-ups" start appearing on your system when you are not connected to the net, you are infected. If you see unusual activity on your computer when you are connected to the net, odds are that spyware is sending information from your system about you to someone.

Why does Spyware and Adware affect every internet user?

* All information you enter via the web can be intercepted
* Unauthorized sites can add themselves to your desktop (icons)
* Unauthorized sites can add themselves to your internet favorites
* Your browsing activity can be tracked and monitored
* Unwanted toolbars and searchbars can attach themselves to your browser without your knowledge or approval
* Your personal information can be sold to other parties without your knowledge or consent
* Your default homepage and settings can be hijacked so you can't change them
* These malicious components not only invade your PC so they can not be removed, but take up your hard drive space and slow down your PC!

How do you get rid of it? There is a basic problem here. The software that you got, actually generates the code for the pop-up ad presentations. Software is available that can find the actual pop-ups and eliminate them. But the software that is generating the ads is still there. When you remove them, it simply recreates them.

I purchased "Spyware Nuker" which I thought would find and remove spyware on my computer. Much to my chagrin, I found that the amount of pop-ups increased by a measurable amount.

I then downloaded (free) "Ad-Aware" from Lavasoft and it found the spyware and removed it. Next day they were all back again.

Thinking about this, the only software I had downloaded recently was "Spyware Nuker" (that was when the trouble started) and Ad-Aware. I uninstalled "Spyware Nuker", ran "Ad-Aware" and guess what - all my problems went away.

I do recommend "Ad-Aware" you can get it free at: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ - click on "Ad-Aware Personal"

Email Bob: bosgoodby@comcast.net Subscribe to his newsletter: Click Here

Technology News by Bob Osgoodby

Survey Shows U.S. Computer Users Unaware Of Security Risks

A survey commissioned by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) shows significant gaps of understanding among U.S. computer users about the actual threat posed by computer security problems.

According to the survey, 30 percent of Americans believe they are more likely to be hit by lightning, to be audited by the IRS, or to win the lottery than be the victim of a computer security problem; among users under the age of 25, the rate of those who believe this rises to 40 percent. In truth, cybersecurity threats, including viruses, phishing scams, and hacking, affect about 70 percent of computer users, while the odds of being hit by lightning are 0.0000102 percent, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

The survey also found that 90 percent of computer users remember Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl, but only 60 percent remember when the security software on their PCs was last updated. Ken Watson, chairman of the NCSA, said that 91 percent of PCs are infected with some variant of spyware.

The NCSA has declared October to be National Cyber Security Awareness month in the United States and is sponsoring educational efforts to teach users about the real risks of ignoring cybersecurity.

Bob Osgoodby, publisher of Tip of the Day website

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A personal message from the publisher...

How I became a proud, single, work at home grandma.

My name is Francine York, publisher of Modern Opportunity Web site and newsletter. I welcome you to what is fast becoming the quintessential business opportunity web site. Not only will you find a wide variety of interesting and profitable opportunities; but you will find services and products as well. Feel free to browse the site and read the many informative articles and columns geared to assisting you in becoming a successful entrepreneur. My email "door" is always open to you; so email me anytime and you will receive a personal reply from me.

And now, about my background and how I came to publish this site and newsletter... Due to budget tightening, my job at a not-for-profit agency was cut back to part time. Because I needed more of an income, I set out looking for a new position. At about the same time, my daughter and son-in-law gave me the wonderful news that they were expecting their first child and my first grandchild! My joy was boundless until the reality of economics deflated my euphoria. My daughter would have to go back to work three months after the baby was born. I started envisioning he/she being cared for by strangers in a day care setting. Fortunately, when I had my three children, I was able to stay at home until the youngest was in full day nursery school; but she could not financially do the same.
EUREKA! It suddenly became crystal clear...I would stay home and care for my grandchild.

First I headed for my financial advisor to review my finances and see if I could do this. He politely and firmly said, "Get a job, send your grandchild to day care like so many others do; sell your house; giveaway your three dogs; and rent a small apartment, then maybe you can afford to stay home." Needless to say, I was horrified and angry. You see, I had recently separated from my husband of many years and could no longer rely on him to help with the income.
The more people told me what a crazy idea this was, the more I was determined to do it! I began looking in the classifieds for home based business opportunities. Most listings were for opportunities for which you needed a great deal of money; and that I would not be able to run from my home. That was not going to do. Unfortunately, at the time, I was not knowledgeable about the myriad business opportunities available which can be operated from the home. Finally, I saw an ad for newspaper for sale. The same week my grandson, Ethan Jacob, was born (May 11, 2002), I became the new owner of a business opportunity newspaper. Since I knew the impact the Internet has on today's existence, I immediately started designing a web site. Today, after a year of changes, improvements, redesign and hard work, the site has grown to over sixty pages with more on the way.

I am a proud, single, work at home grandma now; and loving every minute of it!...and guess what?
On March 18, 2004, I became a grandma for the second time...Ryan Caleb!

To give readers, some info about my educational background...I graduated from Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY with Bachelor and Masters of Science degrees in the field of education. I spent the next four years teaching in a N.Y.C. public junior high school. Coming next was a move to the "burbs" in 1973 followed by the birth of my third child. When he turned four, I returned to teaching in a Brooklyn High School. The commute, the conditions and having a mother who was quite ill caused me to rethink the teaching profession. I decided that I needed a change, a challenge and to be closer to home. My next venture was opening a retail business...a Hallmark card and gift store on Long Island. Fifteen successful years later, that was sold. Not at all ready to sit idly by and watch the world pass me, I sought a new focus. I found a job working for a small marketing company. Since writing was always my hobby-I have been published several times-I was able to write copy, marketing plans, radio commercials and the like. It was during that time, after many years of marriage, that my husband and I decided to separate. The week after my daughter was married, 8/13/00, I lost my job. Luckily, I was hired to do public relations, write press releases, oversee the computer program, assist with development, etc. for the not-for-profit agency at which I had been volunteering as a crisis counselor since 1995.

My story comes full circle...I am here, it's 2003 and I am a very happy stay at home, single grandma whose mission is to offer money-making opportunities, services, products and essential information so others who desire, or need to, will be empowered and able to stay at home; and they will be able to find all the resources necessary to do just that right here...so, WELCOME and much success in your endeavors!

Thank you for your interest in Modern Opportunity... Business Opportunities for Long Island and the world!

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