One of the reasons technical analysis works, is because stock prices do tend to move in a particular direction for quite some period of time. This direction can be up, down, or sideways. Newton’s first law of motion applies to this quite well. It states there is a natural tendency for objects to continue in the same direction. Momentum is another word to describe this phenomenon.

The most important tool in stock market technical analysis is the trend line. When a stock is following along a trend line, it will have a tendency to continue moving along that line. Properly analyzing this line will give you the ability to spot a trend. At this point, you will have an immediate edge over a majority of participants in the market. Putting as many factors as possible in your favor before taking a position in the stock market, is crucial to long-term success.

Marketwise, an uptrend is identified by a series of successive higher highs and higher lows. A downtrend is a series of successive lower highs and lower lows. Spotting an uptrend using a trend line involves drawing and connecting at least 3 lower points along the line. A downtrend line is drawn by connecting at least 3 higher points. In a sideways trend, both upper and lower points are pretty much parallel, straight horizontal lines.

The longer a stock has been moving in a trend, or inside a parallel channel, the stronger this trend most likely will be. On a breakout from a price channel, you want to see a major increase in volume. This helps to confirm the breakout as most likely being successful. Trends on a weekly or monthly chart, generally are more reliable than trends on charts of shorter durations.

My next article on stock market technical analysis will be about volume. Volume is a key factor, and analyzing it properly can be worth a fortune. Volume tells you what big institutions such as mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds, and other big stock market participants are doing.

Into the 3rd brief introduction parts of Internet Marketing, the Business Model pack: No matter from which direction you approach this, you will need to form a business model or adopt one from a mentor in order to succeed online. You may already be bogged down with information overload if you have been searching and trying out different methods from different sources. Just remember this, The basics are the same, what may be overwhelming is how to get the wheel in motion, and in the right direction, aligned with what you are proposing to do.

If you are going into Affiliate Marketing, The path you will adopt will be to research the targeted market and find out what product amongst those available on such sites such as Amazon, eBay, ClickBank and the like. Get one to begin with and follow a plan that will make an offer to the market. The next step would be to find a way to generate traffic to the product, formulate a way to monitor this in order to discover the best way to direct traffic to the site.

If you are going down the route of information marketing, you need to conduct research as well of your targeted market to find out what information is being sought out online and package your information product accordingly. Remember to make an offer during development, and just like affiliate marketing find a way to monitor and send traffic to your product.

Marketing sites just like eBay and Amazon allow you to research on them and the products available whether information based or physical goods. choose what product you deem to have a demand and find out what would be involved in terms of your shipping and handling costs, packaging and payment. Next List the product you want to sell on these site(s) and wait for the sell. These sites drive automatically to their sellers pages and you may not need to drive traffic necessarily to it. When you achieve a sale, you will be automatically be informed and you will be provided with the details of the order and customer information which you may use later on as well to inform them of new products or similar items that you will be offering.

The other option if you have multiple items for sale would be to open your own online store, this is of course after deep research and evaluation through one or more of the previous mentioned market sites. This will enable you to gather similar data but more importantly set you up with a niche to work on and develop as well as to drive traffic to.

Making money is simple once you have developed the skill, gained the knowledge, and followed a system in your niche. The best method and sure way to get into anything is by following a mentor and replicating what they do. Do not try to re-invent the wheel as this may waste your time and frustrate you.

Here is more on my success story that has worked wonders for loads of other people, packed with a great bonus starter pack of information plus the tools and tricks used to make your niche earn you a fortune. I believe this will happen to you so long as you keep up with it and stay focused.

There are many avenues you can go with this title with many options to consider. You may be asking this question because you want to be your own boss, work your own hours while balancing it around your family life. Or you may have been recently been made redundant, or in worse context – fired. For whatever reason you are considering joining or starting your own party plan business, you will need to sit down first and have a firm handle on what your motives are and what you want to get out of it.

Some questions you may start with are

What are your interests? Do you have a special skill or hobby you enjoy that you could utilise?

Make a list of all these things – they are all potential business ideas.

Would you like to start a business from scratch or would you prefer to jump aboard a ground floor opportunity already presented by a successful business?

By honing in on your interests and skills, you will ensure that you will find something that will maintain your enthusiasm for the long haul.

HOW TO CHOOSE WHICH ESTABLISHED PARTY PLAN COMPANY TO STEP INTO

Essentially, once you have found your niche, or interest, do your research. Find companies that support this interest with their service or product line and ASK, ASK, ASK!

Pester a consultant until you are satisfied with all answers to these questions

How worn and well-trodden is the territory?

In other words, how many other companies are out there marketing the same or a similar product or service? Questions to ask may include:

What does this company offer that stands out from the others in the same industry?
Do they offer regular and usable promotions to their customers?
Are their regular product prices reasonable or excessive? How about postage costs?
What does the host/ess receive for hosting a party? Are the rewards ‘WOW’ or just ‘good?
How about the product line itself – is there enough products and variety that will interest a whole range of consumers?
Does it give need for customers to re-order from you or is it a type of product that you buy once then never again?
Ask yourself -Do YOU love the company products? Have you tried/used them and know their benefits firsthand? If you are thinking you may grow to love them, perhaps think about another company. The way you feel about the line you show will come across in your presentation and if you only ‘like’ the product, your potential customers may not receive the enthusiasm or vibe that your products are as great as you say they are and may go elsewhere.

What is the company’s start-up kit price and what do you get for this?

Some companies supply a kit with all products in their range, while others may supply the bare minimum to get you started with.

If you do have to purchase more for your kit, does the company offer a discounted rate for consultants?
As a general rule, most companies will require more stock to be bought at some point, either for new product lines or promotional items. If the company you are looking at is a consumable line (food and drink), then find out an average amount of stock & ‘samples’ you will need to have on hand for an ‘x’ amount of parties (however many you would like to hold over a typical month)then work out an approx. cost per year.

What are the company’s contract conditions & policies?

Find out what you will need to do in order to start with the company. Some companies will expect so many parties or sales within the first month or so from their new consultants. This is usually along with a condition of either receiving a heavily discounted or free kit, with the company maintaining a policy that you will be liable for the full retail cost of your kit if these conditions are not fulfilled.

Also, it is a good idea to check out if the company has a minimum amount of parties that need to be done per month on an ongoing basis, as if you fall below this amount, you can become inactive and quickly be removed from the company. You will find these conditions will also be on your contract when you go to sign (usually at the bottom of the page in the teensy tiny small print that most of us are guilty of not reading at the best of times)

Does the company offer ongoing support and training?

Great companies will offer support and training to their consultants for FREE. Find out if this is offered and by what means. It may be in a book form, online meetings, or an online forum or meeting place where you can put your questions and concerns forward, while connecting with other consultants’ experiences and ideas. There should also be an up line or team manager which will be your direct source of contact – someone who you can contact straight away should you run into difficulty or need support.

What is the pay like?

The majority of companies follow a commission structure. Of the ones I have researched, they vary typically between 15% – 35% commission on sales made.

So – how much does the company you are interested in offer?
Do they offer any added incentives?
Generally, companies also have a minimum party sales requirement, averaging between $100 – $400, in order for the host to receive their benefits. Work out how much you will receive on this minimum amount and then ask the company consultant if they know the party average sales for their company. This will give you an idea of how much you can earn within the company on a per party basis.

Obviously, in order to correctly ascertain your expected pay, it also depends on how many parties you would like to hold over a week or month. Once again, check the companies minimum ‘parties to be held’ requirement and work off this as a guide.

Some companies also go the extra mile and along with the usual commission, may also offer incentives based on performance or sales. Some I know even offer free trips and holidays for those consultants who achieve a certain amount in a year.

How can you get your name out there?

You will find that most companies supply their consultants (either free or at a small cost) with professional brochures as well as other business stationary. Some even may supply you with business cards. Find out what they will supply and what you will need to supply for yourself. Then work out your personal cost per month.

As well as paperwork, ask if the company uses consultant websites, allows personal websites or any web marketing at all (such as Facebook for example).

Also find out if you are allowed to distribute flyers or participate in market days or other event or fundraising activities. Most companies will allow these things, some with consent first, but others are quite strict with their advertising rules and have a zero tolerance, which means you can immediately lose your job if you do participate.

Ideally, you should find yourself a company that will make it easy to promote yourself to others, not make it a nightmare. As a side point, Vista Print offers some great free cards and other business tools you may like to consider if you are allowed to utilise extra marketing.

STARTING YOUR PARTY PLAN BUSINESS FROM SCRATCH

If you are thinking you would prefer to start your own party plan business from scratch – some questions you should have answered before you go any further would be:

What product lines are you interested in selling? Are there other companies in your state selling the same or similar product line?
What areas would you need to strongly compete with in order to stand out from these other companies?
Can you identify any areas in which your competition are lacking in, and then capitalise on these areas?
Have you chosen a name for your business?
Have you worked out government tax and looked into GST?
How much commission will you pay your consultants?
What will be in your product range? Where will you source these items from?
How much inventory will you need approx. in order to start your venture?
What will you include in the kit and how will you price these for your consultants?
Where will your stationary come from? And, will you change your consultants for these?
How much will shipping be? And how much will you charge to cover this cost per customer & consultant?
Where will you find your initial customers?
There are many sites available online to help answer these questions. The ones I like are:

You – This 3 letter word is probably one of the most powerful words in the Internet marketing language.

If you’re sitting there scratching your head, wondering if I’ve lost my mind, I haven’t. The word “you” is probably one of the most powerful words you can use in your advertising campaign. Why? Let me explain with a very odd example.

You’re walking down the street. You see two kids. One appears to be a big bully and the other is some skinny little kid who the bully just happens to be picking on. You don’t want to just barge in there and bust it up so you want to do something to get the bully’s attention so that maybe the skinny kid can get away. You think for a second and come up with the perfect solution. You fill your lungs with air and scream at the top of your voice, “Hey YOU!!!”

The bully turns his head, while taking his hands off the skinny kid to see who wants him. In the meantime, the skinny kid breaks free and runs away.

Why did the bully turn his head?

Simple. You said the magic word. “You.” When people hear that word, they automatically think that the person speaking it is speaking to them. Think about it. The bully wasn’t looking at you. Heck, he didn’t even know you were there. But he heard the word “you,” which could have been directed to anybody on that busy street, and he assumed that he was the target of the scream.

Got the picture? The word “you” is indeed very powerful. When expert copywriters communicate with potential customers they always ask questions like, “Don’t YOU want this kind of life? Don’t YOU deserve to be happy?” Why do you think they do this? Because it works. It’s on the most personal level. You are speaking directly to the person. This has now become a one on one conversation. You’re not talking to him or her or them. You’re speaking directly to the person, just as I am speaking directly to YOU. Yes, YOU. Think you won’t take this article more seriously and use these techniques in your promotion? Of course YOU will.

There are certain techniques to copywriting and this is one of the top ones. You want all your sales copy to be personal. The person reading it doesn’t care about what you can do for the other person. They are concerned with what you can do for them. Just like YOU’RE concerned with what I can do for YOU. That’s why you’re reading this. You want to get the best advice that you can when it comes to using words that make people buy. Well, using the word YOU is probably one of the best ways to get people to buy.

Try it with your next advertising campaign and see how it goes. My guess is that YOU will get the best results of YOUR life.