Many who have just started feel the only way they can make money on eBay is using a dropship company. They begin their search and find that while there are many dropship suppliers to choose from, there are also many problems finding just the right company. Some dropship suppliers don't carry the right products. Others charge too much money to yield a profit. Still others seem to take your money and run. This is the first of 4 articles that will cover methods for screening prospective companies to find just the right one for your business.

Locating the right dropship supplier is much like searching for gold nuggets. While there will be many rocks lying about, there are just a few gold nuggets. In fact, it may require sifting through rocks for days to find even a single gold nugget. If you are to make money on eBay your search for that gold nugget will require that you invest a great deal of time, and that you adopt a stick-to-it approach to the task. It may not be easy, but once you've found the gold nugget you seek, the investment you made to locate it will seem small indeed.

So what are some of the steps to take as you screen prospective dropship suppliers? How can you know when you've located the gold nugget you seek? How will you know when you've located the rare gold nugget to make money on your eBay business.

Each prospective dropship supplier must be put through a thorough evaluation process. Each must be screened to make sure you can in fact make money on eBay by using their services. Areas of concern start with the reputation and reliability of the company. There is no need to invest a great deal of time screening an unscrupulous supplier, so they need to be eliminated as soon as possible in the screening process. Prospects that remain should be screened for factors including product availability and processes that they use to notify you when inventory is not available. Other concerns include customer service, shipping processes, and communication. Finally, total cost requirements and your profitability must be carefully examined.

In the articles that follow in this series specific screening questions will be presented. Each question must be asked of every prospective supplier. Obtaining the right answers to all those questions is critical to locating the dropship supplier that will give you the opportunity to make money on eBay. Don't forget to start by thoroughly checking references. Many reputable companies will happily provide customer information so you can directly check references. As you begin to narrow down your search don't forget to check organizations like the Better Business Bureau and others.

1. Make use of the slide master feature to make your presentations in a simple, attractive and most importantly, consistent design. While there is nothing wrong with varying the presentation of content (e.g - text in one or two columns, bullet points, images and so on), the other elements of your design such as color, background and font should be consistent from slide to slide.
2. Limit the amount of text per slide. Pare it down to the essentials and use key phrases.
3. Don't go overboard with punctuation and definitely do not use ALL CAPS. Leave empty space on the side to make your presentation more readable.
4. Make your text easier to read by using contrasting colors for the background and text. A light background and dark text is best; avoid patterned backgrounds, these make your text very hard to read.
5. Don't be tempted by gimmicks like text fly-ins. These distract your audience; who are likely as not already tired of them anyway.
6. Going overboard with sounds and animation may make for a very flashy presentation, but looks less professional and can result in your presentation not being taken seriously.
7. Use high quality images which will appear clear even at the resolution required for projection. Good quality images will enhance your presentation, while poor quality, fuzzy images will detract from your message.
8. If you do use builds, make your content appear in a simple, consistent fashion - for instance, from the top or from the left. Only use these slides when absolutely necessary to drive a point home; otherwise, they needlessly slow down your presentation.
9. Limit the number of slides per minute. If you rapidly transition from one slide to the next, you can easily lose the interest of your audience. One slide per minute is a good rule.
10. Be ready to navigate through your presentation in a non-linear way if needed. PowerPoint allows you to jump ahead or back without having to flip back through the slides in between.
11. Be prepared to move forward and backward through your presentation; your audience may ask you to repeat a slide.
12. If possible, view your slides on the screen you'll use in your actual presentation. Be sure that they can be read from any seat in the room. Make sure that your text and images are large enough to be easily seen but not so large as to be distracting.
13. Always have a backup plan in case that something goes wrong in your presentation. Keep in mind that your animations will not be visible in handouts or transparencies.
14. Show your presentation ahead of time to someone who has never seen you present. Ask them for their honest opinion about the content, the colors and graphics, along with anything else they may have noticed.
15. Do not read from your slides. Your slides are for the audience, not you. Have your own talking points prepared before your presentation.
16. Talk to the audience, not to your slides. A lot of presenters make the mistake of speaking towards the screen, rather than to the audience.
17. Don't apologize for anything in your presentation. If there's something in your presentation which you feel may be difficult to read or understand, it's best to take it out of the presentation altogether.

SHARPEN YOUR SKILLS WITH PECHA KUCHA2

The next time you make a presentation, tell your audience you don't have a PowerPoint. Tell them you have a Pecha Kucha instead.

What is Pecha Kucha?

Pecha Kucha (pronounced peh-cha ku-cha) is Japanese for "the sound of conversation," and refers to a presentation style invented several years ago by a couple of architects based in Japan. Tired of the tedium of typical PowerPoint presentations, they wanted to give young designers and others involved in the creative arts an outlet to meet, network and show their work in public, in an efficient and engaging way.

To view a presentation about Pecha Kucha, by Wired magazine contributing editor Daniel Pink visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZOt6BkhUg

What are the rules?

In the Pecha Kucha style, presenters speak to 20 slides, each of which is shown for 20 seconds, for a total presentation time of 6 minutes 40 seconds. The result is that Pecha Kucha presentations are concise, participants' interest levels stay high, and multiple presenters can share their ideas within a short period of time.

Now this "20 x 20" format is making its way into the meeting rooms of corporate America. Business presentations are being run the same way - strictly 6 minutes 40 seconds in length, with all discussion and questions held to the end of the presentation.

How is Pecha Kucha different from PowerPoint?

Sometimes compared to the "10/20/30" rule in PowerPoint (10 slides, 20 minutes, no type smaller than 30 points), Pecha Kucha is substantially different because the slides change automatically every 20 seconds and the format is designed to work with as few all-text slides as possible. This forces presenters to be more focused in their message and allows the story to flow uninterrupted.

In the June 2008 issue of SpeakerNotes I talked about the importance of incorporating pictures in a PowerPoint presentation. With Pecha Kucha, imagery is more important than ever.

Powerful Pecha Kucha takeaways

Here are four facets of Pecha Kucha that I find especially noteworthy:

1. It makes the presenter concentrate on essential information - what do my listeners absolutely need to know and understand? The format forces you to stay focused on what's really important, with no time for digression. Because slides are programmed to change every 20 seconds, you have to anticipate your next slide and ensure that your narrative is synced to your visual.

2. It forces you to have a storyline, a flow that allows your listeners to quickly and easily grasp your message. With PowerPoint, speakers often make the mistake of treating each slide as a separate and discrete data rather than part of a larger story.

3. The benefit of using a presentation format that relies heavily on imagery is twofold: It gives you the ability to transfer emotion in addition to information and knowledge. And it puts the focus more squarely on you and what you're saying rather than showing.

4. It supports my mantra of "practice, practice, practice" -- you absolutely cannot go on stage "cold." With just minutes to effectively convey your message and engage your audience, rehearsal is essential.

Synaura is not a "Me Too" Company. It is not another "juice" or "High ORAC" product Company. Synaura has what it takes to be a huge name among Network Marketing Companies; in what way?

Synaura will attract many of the major marketers in the United States. The reason is that Synaura owner, Dan Maltais comes from a marketing background. He has explained Synaura through a" distributor's eyes". What did he mean?

He meant that through his personal experience as a network marketer he knows what Company's good's and bad's are and he has developed his Company with the adjustments needed to make it better.

An example of this would be the Synaura Compensation Plan he has chosen. Granted, it hasn't been released yet, but what has been disclosed is that it is projected that it will produce some of the largest checks in Network Marketing. Why so?
Because it is being fashioned after a Comp Plan that has done just that. It is a Comp Plan in Network Marketing but has never been used in a nutritional product Company. This means any Company you can think of that sells nutritional products does not use or have a Comp Plan like this one.

This particular Comp Plan will reward those who can bring in the greater numbers and therefore it should attract those that can do that. These individuals could be bringing home some of the biggest checks ever.

Synaura is bringing to market a product based upon the maqui berry. However, Avia is not just a mixture of "juices". Avia is formula based and designed with a time released delivery system. The maqui berry is considered the highest antioxidant food in the world. That means something.

However, it is what Avia can do to enhance what our body already does that makes it so outstanding. More will come on this later. Certainly, choosing a Company with such an outstanding product is very important. Some people will not be able to or will bring very few people into the Company, so having a strong belief in the product is important.

In addition to Synaura being the "first to market" this amazing maqui fruit, Avia will be a liquid supplement delivered with a natural "time release" Synplex technology. This will allow the benefits of Avia to be felt over a longer period of time.

Synaura has an exclusive contract with the largest exporter of this new botanical, limiting competition. One of the companies' investors is the same company that helped build the brands of Xango, Tahitian Noni, SoBe and Monster Energy Drink. They are doing it again with this company.

Giving a PowerPoint presentation sometime soon? Probably the answer is yes. It seems like the PowerPoint program has become a constant of the modern business world. Yet PowerPoint speeches can sometimes frustrate more than illuminate. Here are ten ways to achieve an even better outcome with your next presentation.

1. Brand your slides. For a presentation to external audiences, put your company's logo in the corner of every slide and close with your logo and web address. This reinforces your authority and helps people learn where to go to find out more about your organization.
2. Plan realistically. Given the rate at which most people speak, a good rule of thumb is one slide for every two minutes. If your information is particularly dense, plan on a few less.
3. Openly state why your topic is relevant and important to your audience. Don't make your listeners try to figure out the context themselves, as it will distract them from hearing what you have to say.
4. Keep it simple with fonts and movement. Yes, you can really customize your presentation, but surveys have shown hard to read fonts and moving images merely annoy people. Stick to something clear, easily readable and professional looking. Sadly this rules out dancing animals of any kind.
5. Use bullets and be concise. PowerPoint is not a script. It's there to provide a summary and help you remember the things you want to say.
6. Lighten up. Do use visuals, including charts, graphs, photographs and even cartoons that tie to your topic. Non-stop copy gets monotonous after a while. Provide some imagery to break it up and help keep people focused.
7. Proof, proof, proof your copy! And then get someone else to proof your copy. When you give a presentation with typos and grammatical errors, you not only distract your audience, you make them question whether you really are the expert you seem to be.
8. Summarize. Wrap up your talk concisely and restate your main points at the end. Make it easy for your listeners to "get" the main takeaways of your presentation.
9. Give some thought to what you want them to do. Would you like your listeners to take action of some kind? Know in advance what that action is. For example if you'd like them to go to your website and take a survey, tell them so and provide a deadline and incentive for them to follow through.
10. Give handouts. This is especially true for presentations to external audiences. Useful takeaways help listeners remember and apply your messages, and they give them an easy way to follow-up with you.

One of the biggest misconceptions I've come across in the field of marketing is the notion that advertising is a one way form of communication. If you give this notion careful consideration, though, I think you'll agree with me that this is a faulty idea and one that can only hinder your ad campaigns. Advertising is more than just making a blind pitch to a silent, faceless customer.

Indeed, as soon as an individual takes note of your ad, they start engaging in an internal dialogue that determines their thoughts and feelings about your ad, your company and your product, which ultimately guides their desire (or lack thereof) for what you're selling.

Unfortunately, you simply won't be privy to this half of the conversation and the only solid reply you'll receive is a sale or a new business inquiry. There are a few conversational basics that can help you navigate the perils of a seemingly lopsided dialogue.

Be Genuine - Yes, honesty does work in advertising. It's actually the rule and not the exception, contrary to popular belief. You're either looking to sell a product or sell your business name and image, there's no two ways about it, so don't hedge your language. Make your claim and ask for a sale without a lot of flowery language meant to obscure reality. Consumers in today's market are very savvy about advertising and you'll find that potential customers will reject your ad if they sense you are making impossible claims you can't follow through on or if they get the impression you are trying to "snow" them. Instead of telling customers your product will change their lives, tell them how it will help them.

Be Direct - Ever been in a conversation with someone who rambles through a lot of seemingly unconnected and unimportant details while telling a story without ever seeming to get to the point? Of course you have. Do you remember how frustrating that conversation was? Well the same holds true for ads. You have a limited amount of time once a potential customer engages your ad before they judge its worth. In addition to that, you only have so much ad space available to get your point across. With that in mind, it should be clear how important streamlining your message is. Give your headline, make your offer and give just enough product information to pique your customer's interest.

Be Responsive - This is the tough part and the one that requires the most insight. You have to anticipate and respond in advance to questions your customer might have. Fortunately, the single most important question to answer is also the easiest to anticipate. Consumers have one primary question they'll ask themselves every time - "How do I benefit from this?" While they may phrase it differently depending on the individual, the basic idea will be the same. You have to appeal to a need or a desire to get your customer to pay any attention to your ad and to give you a response.

If you aren't engaging consumers in a real dialogue, you are losing potential business revenue. Instead of holding a one sided conversation, use your color printing to actively communicate with your customer base. After all, customers talk with their wallets, as the old saying goes, and that's just the sort of response you were hoping for, right?

Presentation is a communication process of transmitting the message from the presenter to the audience. This message can vary in length and complexity. Different presentation aids can be used e.g. flip chart, PowerPoint presentation with the video beamer, whiteboard with erasable pens, laser pointers, etc. Presentation can be done in different circumstances in a more or less formal way.

In fact, everybody is in the position to be a presenter at some point. At school, at the university, during the business presentation or even you can be a professional presenter. Now we come to common problem for most of the people. This problem is "Stage Fright" combined with lack of technical skills of presenting.

Stage fright can be really terrifying to some people. Many people have the fear of the audience, lights of the stage, they are afraid what will be if someone ask them difficult question. This is causing nervousness, sweating, accelerated heartbeat, dizziness or even panic attacks.

On the other hand, presenting skills are technical aspect. Presentation skills are a broad area. It takes some time to develop this skill, for some people more, for the other less time, depends of a talent. Since all of us can be in situation to be presenters, to be in the center of the audience, it is useful to learn basic skills of presenting.

Anybody can prepare at least a decent presentation. Presentation takes some time and effort for preparation. During preparation try to follow basic rules:

· You need to have a minimum of expertise in the area of presentation. This means that you cannot just learn your lines that you will say during the every slide, but you also need to be prepared to answer to potential questions from the audience. Simply, you need to have at least the basic knowledge on the subject presented.

· Make concept for your presentation ( intro, main part, conclusion ). Your presentation needs to have meaningful flow. It should have a theme, the message and learning for your audience. Set up learning goals for your audience and check the results at the end. Longer presentation should have detailed agenda developed.

· Use aids ( power point or flip chart ), but remember that you are still one who is presenting, not the slides. Do not exaggerate with the presentation aids. They should assist you, instead you assist to them.

· Use not more 3-4 lines of text on presentation slides, with maybe 1 photo. If you put too many details, nobody will read it. Average audience is not reading the content of the slide, in case that there are too many details on it. Slides should be clear in content, visible for everybody in your audience, with graphic and color that will not distract audience, or make them difficult to read. If you are not skillful with graphic and colors, use predefined templates.

· Exercise your presentation, so that you get a feeling about it. Check all slides before presentation. Check the video beamer, cables, remote control, room lights and other technicalities before beginning of presentation. Check the colors and readability, since video beamer can present colors in different way than your computer screen. Distorted colors can make reading difficult or impossible.

· Assess the time needed for you presentation and check the timing during your rehearsals. If your presentation is longer, divide it in sections ( e.g. 45 min ) with breaks ( e.g. 10 min ). Time management is critical during the presentation, since audience might start to feel bored if presentation is too long. You can even not finish your presentation, if it takes too long time.

· Try to move around during your presentation. Use your body language. If you just stand still in one place, you will become invisible soon to you audience and their eyes and mind might start to wander around. By moving your self and using your body language, in accordance the dynamic of the subject presented, you are keeping the audience alerted.

· Use examples for your statements. That can be your experience or something you read. If you are using somebody's examples, quote source of information. You can even say a short story or saying, if you find it suitable for supporting your presentation.

· Use humor in your presentation. This can be planned or spontaneous, but within limits that will not change normal flow of presentation.

· Ask questions to the audience. Ask for volunteers, or pick someone to answer. This will help you to keep the audience alert. They will pay more attention to your presentation, since they know that you might ask them later on. Asking questions will make your presentation more interactive, more interesting to the audience and easier for you, since you will animate people to participate.

· Do not say something like "Sorry about my presentation" or "I am nervous". I remember some of my friends that used to say something like that during the presentation. I found that to be wrong, since their presentations were actually good and I wouldn't ever guess that they are nervous or unprepared, if they didn't say something like that. If you state that you apologize because you are not a good presenter, you are ruining your credibility before you even started. Even if you are a bit nervous there is no reason to say that.

Actually, everybody, even the most experienced presenters, have some "stage fright". It is normal. But as soon as the presentation starts, you will be released, since you will involve your energy into the presentation.

I am not "born presenter", since I am an introvert person, but I learned some basic presenting skills and I am using them during occasional business presentation.

Finally, you are born without knowledge of speaking any language, without knowledge of mathematics, without knowledge of driving the bike or a car. But you learned that and adopted these knowledge and skills as your portfolio. Why wouldn't you make Presentation Skills to be part of your personal competences?