Posted by Thinker on May 4, 2009 in
Thinkable
MLM, or Multi Level Marketing, when combined with the Internet, creates a powerful formula for creating a successful home business and achieving financial freedom.
This business model is used by hundreds of companies to move their goods and services to the end consumer. In this article, my goal is to provide you with information on what this industry is and what it is not.
You can only make an informed educated decision as to whether or not this business concept if right for you if you have the required information upon which to make that decision. I hope to provide some of that information in this article.
Multi Level Marketing is simply a business model for moving products and services from production to the consumer using independent distributors with a multi level commission payout plan. Since distributors can recruit other distributors and establish teams that work together, this business model is often also called Network Marketing.
There are many myths about MLM companies, including that they are illegal pyramid schemes or scams. For true Multi Level Marketing companies, nothing could be further from the truth. Unfortunately, those who believe these myths, simply do not understand how MLM companies work.
The first thing that you need to know is that MLM is not illegal and it is not a pyramid scheme. While the organizational structure resembles a pyramid in shape, this is true of almost all businesses. There are far more workers in the lower ranks of any business then at the top, if not, the business would collapse. Not everyone in the company can be CEO or Vice President. If fact, Multi Level Marketing companies are one hundred percent legal and many multi-million dollar companies use this business model to market their products.
Some well known Multi Level Marketing companies include Herbalife, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Shaklee, Amway, Tupperware, Princess house (a subsidiary of Colgate Palmolive), A. L. Williams (Insurance), Melaleuca, U.S. Sprint, MCI, and NSA. Companies such as these have been around for decades.
There are hundreds more MLM companies and just like other companies, some are good and some are not so good. But MLM is certainly here to stay and it is an explosive growth field! In fact, increasingly you will find more and more Fortune 500 companies employing the Network Marketing business model for some portion of their marketing portfolio!
So why are MLM companies and programs becoming so popular? Well, the business model offers a wonderful opportunity for the “little guy” to start his own business on a part time basis with very little investment money upfront, but with a large income potential if she or he is willing to put in some work! Contrary to what some people would want you to believe, MLM is certainly not a get rich quick scheme and requires effort to grow your business.
John Paul Getty is often quoted as having said that he would always prefer earning 1% of a hundred peoples efforts than 100% of his own efforts. And that is precisely what Multi Level Marketing is all about. The Multi Level Marketing sales force members are not actually employees of the company, but instead they are independent distributors who are compensated for their efforts by commission based on the amount of product moved by not only themselves, but also by those whom they recruit as distributors.
As each distributor recruits others to become distributors, they create what is known as a downline and in addition to their own retail sales commissions, they earn a wholesale commission on the amount of products their downline distributors move to consumers. This process goes on for some designated number of levels and is where the term “multi level” originates.
The more people a distributor can recruit for his downline, the larger will be their total commissions. The number of levels that a distributor will earn override commissions on will depend upon the company’s compensation plan but five to seven or more levels is not unusual. These wholesale override commissions can quickly add up for distributors with a large downline.
A strong incentive is thus created not only for a distributor to recruit more distributors for their downline, but also to train them to move products as well. Thus a successful distributor will want to duplicate their success by teaching their downline members how to be successful. By making their downline members successful, they make themselves more successful.
Building large stable residual income is therefore the result of successfully recruiting, training, and retaining others. The better one is at doing these things, the larger their income will become. While it is not necessarily easy, it can be very rewarding.
Want to be your own boss? Millions of people are earning a solid income using this business model working from home. A telephone, basic computer, fax machine, a HUGE ambition, and the knowledge of how to proceed to grow your business are all it really takes! Are you ready to explore the opportunities that Multi Level Marketing offers?
If so, did you know that sponsoring people into your MLM opportunity is completely irrelevant to making money in network marketing? (And no, I’m not talking about retailing your company’s products). Find out how you can get people to PAY YOU to prospect them… rather than you having to pay for your prospects. Click here to learn more at => The Renegade Network Marketer
Posted by Thinker on May 4, 2009 in
Thinkable
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Posted by Thinker on May 4, 2009 in
Thinkable
Introduction
Welcome to Part Two of Help and Information for Big Cat Photography. Here we continue to look at equipment and common mistakes encountered when photographing Big Cats.
Lenses
Here you have quite a few choices , these points are discuss below.
Specific Lenses
Macro – a close focusing lens ranging from 50 to around 110mm in focal length – the longer the focal length the further away from the subject you can be. The drawback – foreshortened depth of field – you have just a few millimetres to get the focus point right – so you’ll need a still subject matter. But you can get some amazing close ups of teeth and paws.
Standard Close Focusing – this would apply to a 30mm or 50mm prime lens but one that has the ability to focus down to around 8 to 12 inches. These lenses can give you close dramatic pictures when on a Big Cats Experience Day.
Standard Zoom – for me this would be a lens similar to an 18 – 70mm or the 17 – 55mm. Similarly there are some longer standard zooms such as the 24 – 70mm or even a 24 – 120mm. The choice is yours and it comes down to which part of the zoom range you want to operate within, remember on a DX body the lens will be multiplied by a factor of 1.4 to 1.6 depending on which brand of camera body you have. So your 17 – 55mm multiplies up to around a 25 – 82mm when compared to a 35mm film camera or an FX digital body. On an FX body – being full frame the focal length is as stated. But remember if you use a DX lens on a FX body you’ll get edge fringing , called vignetting.
Fast Zoom Lens -by this we are looking at how much light the lens can let in at its widest aperture. For example a lens with a minimum aperture of F6.3 will let in far less light than one of F2.8. Remember the smaller the number the bigger the hole in the lens and the more light it lets in. This then gives you quicker shutter speeds, which you need with longer focal length lenses, for example those over 200mm. Tip – you should always keep your shutter speed over your focal length – so if you‘re at 200mm, you need 200th of a second, but hang on you’re using a DX body and lens so you need to add in the crop factor multiply by 1.4 to 1.6 so at 200mm you really need 320th or 400th of a second. Even some standard zooms with F2.8 aperture used by the professional photographer can still be expensive, for example the Nikon 17-55 F2.8 is around £900.
Standard Telephoto – this would be something like a 70 – 300mm lens or some of the more all day lenses – like an 18 – 200 or 55 – 200, all day lenses are covered below. You can get a 70 – 200 F2.8 but these are pricey , most standard telephotos range from F4 to F5.6 in terms of speed and are good all round lenses, just watch the light levels. OK you can up the ISO but again remember the noise compromise.
Super Telephoto – this would apply to either a lens over 300mm or one that I feel is a prime lens, fixed focal length, that sits around F4 or F2.8. These are not cheap lenses and entry levels are around £2,000. Personally I like to use the 200 – 400mm VR lens from Nikon, now selling at a suggested selling price of £5800, but I didn’t pay that for mine, I got in before the 2009 price rise.
All Day Lenses
A Definition – by this we are talking about an all in one lens, a lens that will zoom from wide angle to standard telephoto, for instance an 18- 200mm.
The Benefits – it gets you all the shots you need, no swapping lenses no down time. Often light and compact they are not much to carry about.
The Compromise – optical quality! You’re asking this lens be all things to all people . A prime will always out perform a zoom. And an all day lens has to do a job at all levels through the zoom range, the edges of the image will suffer and so too will the speed of the lens, remember the F number and the amount of light it needs. You don’t find professional lens made at F2.8 or faster that cover that wide a range – and there has to be a reason for that – optical quality – Pros carry 2 or more camera bodies with a shot and a long lens set up using matched equipment.
Depth of Field
Depth of Field (DOF) – if you are fortunate enough to own f2.8 maximum aperture lenses then be mindful as to how short the DOF can be, especially if the subject comes within the zone where the distance to subject is under the focal length – for example, the DOF on a 200mm lens will be further foreshortened if the subject is inside a 2m (2000mm) range in front of the lens. Some 200mm lenses will focus as close as 1.5 – 1.8m so the impact of this is that you may focus on the nose of say a tiger only to find the eyes are blurred, or out of focus.
Shutter Speed
As a commercial photographer – remember this rule as we mentioned earlier – keep your shutter speed above the focal length of your lens, e.g. 200mm shoot at 250th sec or more, allowing for the crop factor I’d suggest at least 320th sec on a 200mm lens.
RAW or Jpeg
This is probably as much discussed on the camera forums as brand names, each has its advantages and disadvantages. Personally I shoot RAW as it gives you an insurance policy if the shot is slightly out. Added to that I personally think it gives you more post production options. The choice as they is yours. I do shoot Jpeg for press work but only because you don’t have the time for post production.
Picture Composition
Detail – this is great option, stripes, spots, eyes, ear noses and tails – there is so much choice.
Action – running, jumping, pawing for food on the ground or in the air, lost of options. And when it all kicks off with the three male lions make sure you’re ready.
Portraits – sitting, lying down with a full belly and a low sun in the sky and the lions look great. Contrast that with an angelic Tiger that just can’t be bothered. All of these give you great options for images.
Close Up – teeth, paws and claws, similar to the details shot but much closer, using macro photography.
Use of flash – this can be done, watch out for green or yellow eye, this is the same as red eye in humans and it’s a lot easier to get and harder to get rid of due to the size of the cats eyes. Also watch out for the wire, make sure the flash gun is a fill to the available light and close to the wire else you get wire stripes.
Common Errors
Wire – while the gauge of wire will have an effect on what can be done, I still see many shots with the wire right through the middle of the image . It’s best to get the centre of the lens lined up with the square of the wire – i.e. the hole. Ensure you don’t have a vertical or horizontal wire passing in front of your lens or worst still a join, giving a big cross in the shot.
Background – try to get the background as natural as possible use head shots or a short depth of field to bur the background. Also use any landscaping in the enclosure to mask the cage behind or above. Remember to get down low, take the cats perspective.
Machine gunning! – is the photographer that presses the shutter button for long periods of time, shooting continuously without checking the shots back. This will fill up your memory cards very quickly and give so many similar images to edit, when all you really need are short bursts of 3 to 6 shots. Take your time.
Metering – Try and avoid average metering and use spot or centre weighted, remember to metre off the subject. Matrix metering is too general for Big Cats.
Accessories
Tripods – these are not really usable around the Big Cats enclosures as they are cumbersome and you don’t have the flexibility to move.
Monopods – these are very useful on longer lenses and have the ability to be more manoeuvrable.
Laptops – if you have one it’s a good idea to dump your shots half way through the day. Alternatively use the laptop to check shots back, say at lunchtime, and see how you are getting on. Also remember to back up your cards – the last thing you want is a card failure and no images.
Extra cards – a very good idea, keep them smaller, now-a-days around 4GB. 16GB cards are all well and good but if it fails, that’s a lot of lost data. 1GB used to bethought of as large, a while back, now using this card in a modern DSLR and it more resembles the number of shots you’d get on a roll of film.
Clothing – Check the weather before you go. Take a few options to allow for a change in the weather or for getting down on the ground.
Author : Peter Davey MA DipM
Hapiness Tips