There are expected to be more people traveling during this year’s holiday season than at any other time in recent years. Holiday periods are often stressful and bad for your health, but the good news is that there are a few simple travel tips that will help you maintain your fitness and nutrition goals even while on holiday.

 One good tip is to pack smart prior to flying. Before you leave the house, make sure that you put a few hunger-curbing and tasty foods in your carry-on bag, such as easy-to-eat fruits like apples, grapes and tangerines as well as a whole grain bagel. If you do forget to pack healthy food, try to get something healthy at the airport, with many terminals today offering a variety of food that you can buy while you are actually on your way to the gate. Look for fruit, nonfat yogurt and salads.

Another good tip is to keep eating healthy even at the in-laws. Maintain your healthy routine while you are on holiday by checking with your in-laws and having a corner of their pantry and fridge that is just for your healthy foods such as beans, tuna, salmon, oatmeal and cans of low-sodium soup.

Everyone experiences stress, but the good news is that there are lots of little things we can do to reduce it – and most of them are rather fun too!

 One of the best tips is to act like a teenager again and have a quickie with your nearest and dearest. The tongue, the lips and the tip of the nose have more nerve endings than almost any other part of the body, bar the toes and fingertips, so a good make-out session boosts our immune system, burns as many as ten calories in under two minutes and makes us feel rather nice too, courtesy of a hormone called oxytocin.

Even staring can cut our stress levels. Looking at something we find appealing – such as a beautiful landscape – for just a couple of seconds can make us happy and even improve our overall quality of life. Research suggests that images such as these make us feel more present and expand our sense of time, leading to greater feelings of happiness and contentment.

The first day of a new job can be exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. Even if you never plan to leave your current job, you’ll probably be promoted or switch to a new department at some point, and the experience will be much the same.

Here’s how to make a positive first impression on Day One:

• Don’t be late. Double-check where you’re supposed to be and what time you’re expected to start. If it’s a new workplace, test your route and give yourself extra time to arrive as scheduled.
• Learn the layout. Your manager will probably show you around, but make an extra effort to remember what you see so you don’t have to repeat the same questions time and again. You’ll impress people by being a quick study.
• Master people’s names. Again, you’ll gain a reputation for attention and thoughtfulness by memoriz­ing the names of everyone you meet.
• Bring your lunch. Maybe the boss will take you out to lunch on your first day (in which case you can save your sandwich for tomorrow), but don’t count on it. Stay in the workplace and eat in the lunchroom so you get a chance to meet more people, and so you don’t waste too much time chowing down on your first day.
• Smile. Put a pleasant expression on your face. Be friendly. Show that you’re glad to be there. People respond to smiles and sincerity. Ask questions and be interested in your new co-workers. They’ll remember your effort.

Did you get turned down for a promotion? For more than one? Ambition alone won’t help you get ahead. If you’re not advancing as fast as you want, despite your skills, the reason may be that you’re making these mistakes that tend to disqualify otherwise talented employees from advancement:

•  Your appearance counts against you. Like it or not, your wardrobe says a lot about your attitude and professionalism. Even in a casual workplace, a neat and clean appearance will impress the decision makers.
•  You’re seen as anti-social. Quietly doing your job won’t get you noticed. Make a point of talking to people, helping out, and attending company functions so you don’t get taken for granted.
•  You don’t grasp the big picture. Managers promote employees who can contribute to the organization’s goals. If you don’t know how your job—and the position you want—actively supports the company’s strategy, you’ll have trouble persuad­ing the higher-ups to trust you with more responsibility.
•  You don’t manage time effectively. If you miss deadlines regularly, or you’re always late, you’ll earn a reputation for being disorganized that will hold you back. Learn to master the to-do list and other time management tools so no one can complain that you’re not on top of your duties.

The great majority of people who decide to work at home choose to do so for a feeling of freedom, to save cash and to achieve a better quality of life. The moment we stop going to the office, we immediately start saving money and feeling freer, but achieving quality of life can be a trickier business. The reality is that people working from home often get less exercise than those who have to go out to work; plus, it can be very tempting to eat more when at home. Full meals and regular snacks can soon add up, and although it is important to keep up your metabolic rate, it is vital not to be so active that it ends up dragging you down.

 It is a good idea to make sure you take a couple of breaks at some point in the day. Exercise doesn’t have to involve going to the gym or running a marathon; just use a 15- or 20-minute break to walk around the block, play tag with the kids, get on the treadmill, do some stretching or even try a little yoga.

Educators all over the world have known for a very long time that one of the best methods of learning something is to teach it to another person. This is the reason teachers made you do presentations to the rest of the class when you were in school; they were hoping that by teaching something to your peers, you would get more out of the assignment.

 The same principle can still be applied today when you take your newly learned knowledge and skills and share them with someone else. You can start by translating the information into your own words; this process alone can actually help your brain solidify the information. The next step is to find a way of sharing with others what you have just learned. There are numerous methods of doing this; you could write a post to your blog, participate in a group discussion or create a podcast.

Whether you are a seasoned public speaker or you have never been in front of an audience before, practicing for a presentation is essential, so it is important to make sure that you set aside some additional time for it. Each time you practice, you should go through the material in full, including such things as how you are intending to move and stand, and how any visuals will be incorporated into your presentation. During your rehearsal, use the equipment you intend to make use of in your presentation, to prevent technical gaffes. Say your lines aloud to prevent them from sounding as if they have been memorized. Concentrate on your message and your wish to communicate it well rather than on your notes. If you will be speaking to a big group of people or at a high-profile event, you might even want to record your rehearsal on video to allow you to evaluate it more closely and tweak any problem areas.

I’d bet that at least 60% of Business owners have no idea how much it costs them to get a customer. Of the remaining 5% most probably don’t know how much they should be investing to keep a customer. This is important because you can work out how to best spend your marketing money to maximise return for a given marketing budget.

Let’s imagine you can buy a new customer for $487. And let’s say the lifetime profit well exceeds the costs of getting the customer. Great, you’ve got the first challenge out of the way – economically acquiring customers. Now what should you be willing to spend to keep them?

Before we answer that there are a few things to consider:

There are very few true ‘one and done’ businesses. Cars and houses are ones that spring to mind as obvious objections but I’ve owned 3 cars in the last 10 years and will probably buy a 4^th in the coming year. (Bought each one off of a different dealer. Hmmmm). Same is true of houses. I’ve lived in 4 houses in the last 10 years, listed each one with a different agent.

Those are all repeat purchases of the same product by one customer. Should those real estate agents and car dealers have been willing to invest in keeping me as a customer? Probably. Think about the commission on each of those lost sales – multiples of what any single salesman actually earned.

Not investing in retaining customers just means that you are going to be continually churning through your customers – never building stability in your business. There is long term business stability and (saleable) equity to be had from a satisfied client base that is willing to come back to you for their purchases.

If you aren’t investing in retaining customers, your business is as stable now as the day it was founded. You are going to be out hustling every day just to keep the lights on, without promise of your business getting any better.

The answer to my investment question is $486. If you will gladly spend $487 to get a new customer to purchase from you once, then spending $486 to get a repeat purchase from an existing customer makes sense. If it costs more, then you are better off to spend the $487 to go and get a new one. If it costs less you have just saved money to get the sale.

Making an investment in retention means that you need to be continually marketing to your customers, building a relationship with them and working hard to show them that you still care about them, even though they haven’t bought from you recently.

Nothing shows a willingness to invest in your customer relationships quite like a newsletter. It shows your customer you care enough about them to keep them in the loop about what is going on in your world every month. You can use your newsletter to make offers – increasing your customers’ life time value.

To find out how Newsletter Marketing Systems can play a part in your customer retention strategy call 1300 – 120- 106 for a no obligation, confidential consultation or else go to www.newslettermarketingsystems.com.au/get-started

Fire in the workplace can erupt without warning, spread quickly, and have deadly consequences for your organization. Follow these guidelines for staying safe:

•  Keep your workplace clean. Eliminate clutter—papers, boxes, and other combustibles—that can provide fuel for a fire. Don’t store anything inflammable near a heat source such as machinery or a heating vent.
•  Maintain your equipment. This can prevent problems arising from overheating or damaged electrical systems.
•  Watch your wiring. Frayed power cords and damaged outlets can pose a hazard. Also, be sure your electrical control panel is easily accessible so it can be shut down quickly.
•  Keep exits clear. Don’t let boxes, desks, or other obstacles block fire exits or sprinklers.
•  Train your people. Hold regular fire drills so employees know what to do in case of a fire.
•  Store chemicals safely. Look at the labels on paint, cleaning solutions, and other chemicals to determine their inflammability, and store them accordingly.
•  Check your fire extinguishers. Make sure they’re ready for use, and teach employees how to use them—but instruct them not to try fighting a fire that might endanger them.

There are a number of good reasons TV finance shows are not the smartest choice for investment advice. For one thing, the aim of these shows is to get the biggest audience they can in order to sell more advertising, with their financial experts there as much to be entertainers as they are to be smart investment advisors, and they have no accountability whatsoever for the results of their advice.

 TV finance shows also come with a great deal of conflicting information because of the sheer amount of advice and number of tips that such shows give out day after day. Finally, much of the information in these shows amounts to predictions of how industries or stocks will behave over the short term, such as next week, with investments that are made based on such predictions and hot topics often costing investors dearly.

TV finance shows are fine for entertainment, but for real advice an independent professional financial advisor is the best way to go.