However, for our clients who have fairly regular updates, we offer a second option: for a monthly retainer of $40.00, billed quarterly, we perform up to 2 hours of work per month ($160 value) without charging a further fee. If your changes and additions take more than 2 hours in a month, we will then bill at our usual hourly rate.

We also have a third option: If you would like to be able to manage your own website, we will teach you how. WordPress is an exceptionally user-friendly content management system. We are offering a workshop on Saturday, September 24th 2011 at the Trent University Campus in Oshawa to teach our clients how to manage 90% of what is typically done to update websites. For the remaining 10% we will continue to stand behind you for whatever support you need.

Finally, you can make arrangements for one-on-one tutoring if that’s what you prefer. Our usual rate of $80 applies, plus travel costs. If you would like to make arrangements to train several of your staff at one time, we would be pleased to offer you a quote on this service, after we discuss your needs.

Please contact us via the contact form to discuss the package that will best serve your needs.

Please note these prerequisites:
Participants must bring a laptop with wireless capability. We have arranged for Trent University to supply participants with guest wireless access during the workshop, but computers will not be provided.

(Note: If you do not have an existing WordPress website, or websites are completely foreign to you, we will be offering a workshop just for you on March 19th in the same location: “Create Your First Website in One Day: WordPress for Beginners.”)

Instructors:

James Dewar and Sue Reynolds have been building WordPress websites since 2006 – everything from small sites with only a few pages to massive sites that manage client databases, multiple ongoing discussion forums and other sophisticated applications.

They believe in the “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” philosophy when it comes to managing client websites – empower clients to manage their own content. Of course James and Sue will stay in the background like pleased parents ready to provide support if there are questions.

Time: 10:00a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
Place: Trent University, Oshawa Campus
Cost: $110.00
(95.00 for WCDR members and associated organizations) plus HST
_______________________

To Register:

$95.00 + HST ($12.35) Managing your own Website Workshop for WCDR members and Affiliates

$110.00 + HST ($14.30) Managing your own Website Workshop for Non-Members

Registration form

Once we have helped to create the copy that will tell people about who you are and what you do, we can also help you to put that information in printed form. Or, if you already have your own words prepared and need help in publishing your book, we can advise and help you publish your project between the covers no matter what size you’re dealing with.

Click here to go to the Piquant Press website.

Success in business today requires more than just the ability to price competitively. Every promotion you do must be designed to heat up interest in you and your products or services and make you stand out from your competition.

Piquant Productions applies years of successful business, corporate and creative management experience toward helping you spice up any area of business and personal communication — skills that will make you both more visible and attractive to potential clients.

Piquant offers a “one stop shopping” opportunity for businesses who need to coordinate media and message.

Piquant Productions ensures that you reach your clients in a consistent, professional, persuasive manner.

You Can Update Your Own Site Easily

A monthly tip on maximizing your website

If you own a Piquant Productions website you can update it with photos, text and links anytime you want, as often as you want, for free.

Our websites are designed to be used by people who want to save money and keep in touch with clients in the ways that work best for their business.

Piquant Productions offers unique training packages that teach content management basics in a quick and easy manner. Once you’ve learned how easy it can be, the only limitation will be the extent of your imagination.

Keeping a website up to date with new information and promotions speaks volumes about the health of your business. Of course if your business is so healthy you don’t have time to do your own updating, we are always here to help.

If YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE….

Contact Sue and James
by email:info@piquantproductions.ca

Or Phone:
Toronto Number: 416-435-7372
Canada and USA: 905-243-4836

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photography, SEO

This article originally appeared in Success@Work

Commitment Beyond the Commission

Everyone has been in a buying situation where that little voice in your head registers that the person you are buying from is paid by commission. Am I being convinced to buy what I really need or am I about to buy something that will net the seller the best monetary gain? Even more interesting is the notion of making a living on commission. The monthly fluctuations in earnings can be substantial in a world where costs like rent and car payments tend to stay the same, begging the question, How can they live like this?

Many businesses rely on commissioned employees to drive their sales. The reason for this is simple: motivation. However, the cliché of the door-to-door salesman intent on making any sale he can is inapplicable to the modern sales organization. Now the outbound salesperson represents the hopes and dreams of an entire corporate culture. That person selling on commission is a highly motivated individual who responds to client needs with a clear sense of what is being sold and why it is in the best interests of both the client and the corporation for the transaction to take place.

A dedicated salesperson may have been born with the traits necessary to be good at interacting with other people, but maintaining the energy and focus necessary for a career in sales requires consistent incentives. Softchoice Corporation is rated as one of the best sales organizations in Canada to work for. Steve Leslie, Senior VP of Softchoice says, “Our sales staff are successful because we know that people need reward, recognition and personal development to stay energized.”

Leslie notes that the energy generated by a sales-based organization must pervade every aspect of the company. It starts with the President, who demonstrates the values and key activities that are crucial to success, and is reinforced by incentives that recognize the efforts of employees who most consistently and creatively support the company’s objectives. “Recognition drives great performance and our incentives make it in everyone’s interest to support each other’s efforts.” Reward and recognition become bolster the standard of behaviour in every area of the company, reinforced by the enthusiasm generated by the successful sales teams.

Some of the Softchoice Corporation’s incentives involve competitions for quarterly trips to exotic locales. But each year there are also two company trips where hundreds of employees – not just the sales staff – travel to other cities to meet the other divisions and celebrate their unique dynamic.

“Communication is key to keeping everyone aware of how the business is performing,” Leslie notes. “We don’t wait for the end of the quarter or the end of the year to note achievements – we recognize that each person plays a key role in ensuring that company mandates are met and surpassed, and we celebrate those contributions all the time.”

For many years the motto of most sales people was to stay in front of their clients, develop a contact relationship, and sell them on the idea that it is better to buy from a friend than a stranger. This method was well described as “selling service”, because when the clients were ready to buy, the sales people were there to support the purchasing decisions. These days the notion of service is much more complicated — products are more sophisticated and the needs of clients often cross a range of disciplines and support organizations that are out of the control of front-line sales staff. Those working in support of sales need to be just as energized as the sales teams.

Then there is the corporate notion of profitability. Old friendships can come under intense pressure when price is the decider and the human touch seems much too small to tip the scales in the right direction. Consequently sales people are often faced with the dreaded phone call or email — that discussion with the sales manager to ask if anything can be done to lower the price. Gone is their commission in a Pyrrhic sacrifice to satiate the client.

So, how can they live like this?

It’s the quality of the sales management that makes the biggest difference in the effectiveness of any sales group. Does management provide the support so crucial to the successful completion of sales? Do they communicate the key objectives of the company? Cash bonuses and desirable incentives alone do not result in sales. A clear understanding of what is being sold and what the profit margins are must underscore every successful customer interaction. Even more importantly, each employee of the company has to understand the values and goals of the company. Success comes from making the right decisions, even if that occasionally means walking away from a deal. Sometimes the experience gained and the relationships formed are the real reward and the true measure of success.

Sales people do best when they can see beyond the individual transaction and know themselves to be a vital player in the future of their company. They hunger to learn new things and take on new responsibilities. Successful companies encourage their sales staff to grow into the supervisory positions or move into lateral positions that suit their development and the needs of the company.

Mr. Leslie attributes Softchoice Corporation’s strong position in the marketplace to its successful management practices. “We thrive as an organization because our leadership continually reinforces our staff’s connections. People love to work here. We know we are unique and we celebrate it.”

The next time you buy from a commissioned sales person, you could ask if they like what they do – and why. Maybe the incentive that motivates the most has less to do with the money than you thought.

SIDEBAR

Does Your Sales Incentive System Need Fixing?

- Selling to existing clients is important and the basis of most annual sales target increases, but few salespeople are good at getting new clients. How does your new client growth compare to the competition? What are they doing differently?

- Inside Sales reps show up in many surveys as being significantly more important to clients than their outbound reps. Is there a disconnect somewhere in your organization?

- According to a U.S. survey, the launching of new products is the activity most likely to be resisted by a sales team, particularly if their perception is that clients don’t need it. Do your researchers talk to your clients? Do your Sales Managers encourage honest feedback from their sales people?

- Sure, the best sales people earn the best money, but are there people who are being overpaid for past performance? Is morale degrading because everybody knows it?

- Service starts at the top and works down. Clients are more likely to resent defective service than defective product. Is there a service disconnect in your corporate pyramid?

- When service suffers what are your clients told? The excuse that causes most resentment is that your rep can’t be reached during business hours. The first assumption clients make? They’re golfing with another client. Are there ways to motivate your performers to stay connected?

This article originally appeared in Careers magazine

Most of us who have never been involved in a court case or legal dispute develop some understanding of what makes a good lawyer by watching the popular television programs. Almost all of these cases usually involve criminal law which is only a small segment of the many aspects of the law that require good representation. There are lawyers who specialize in many areas that range from property and employee relations to civil and corporate law.

If you are interested in a career as a lawyer it would be best to contact the various Law Schools in the province where you intend to practice law. Initially you will need a minimum of a 3 year university degree earned at a recognized university. While in your second year of completing that program you must apply through one of the recognized application services. In Ontario it is The Ontario Law School Application Service (OLSAS), a non-profit centralized application service for applicants to the six Ontario law schools: Osgoode Hall Law School (York University), University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, University of Toronto, The University of Western Ontario, and University of Windsor.

The key element of that application process is the writing of the mandatory LSAT (Law School Admission Test). The LSAT is a half day exam in 4 sections designed to measure skills that are considered essential for success in law school: the reading and comprehension of complex texts with accuracy and insight; the organization and management of information and the ability to draw reasonable inferences from it; the ability to think critically, and the analysis and evaluation of the reasoning and arguments of others. The general rule of thumb is that the better the Law School you wish to apply to through the OLSAS, the higher your university average and LSAT results must be.

But other than obtaining a law degree from a reputable Law School, what are the attributes that you should have to consider a career as a great lawyer?

The first thing to remember is that the law is centred on the idea of justice. What is an equitable and fair result to a problem? What is a just decision? In order to answer those questions one has to be capable of knowing the law and of keeping current on the ever-changing features of the law. This requires a dedication and a capability for the lifelong learning of complex information.

Another key component is the ability to communicate the full spectrum of the issue landscape based on an understanding of the law, what is right and human nature. “Clients need good advice that they clearly understand”, recommends Bernard Noik of Noik and Associates. “The obligation of the lawyer is not to promote something that is foolhardy or unreasonable but to understand client’s needs and ambitions within the controls of what is legal and proper.” This means that a lawyer needs to be able to understand human nature and to be able to both apply common sense and to help his clients see the common sense in the issues involved.
Anyone who wants to pursue a career as a lawyer should also have a natural sense of empathy for people. A lawyer’s job requires him to reduce the effects of stress in the situation and to ensure the client does not become overwhelmed with worry. He works behind the scenes in resolving anything from a house purchase or marital separation to a criminal trial. “A lawyer needs empathy to be able to reassure the client about what is likely to happen,” Noik adds, “considering how emotionally draining and stressful people are during these situations.”

The court system is designed to find one person or issue right and the other one wrong. Because neither side in a court case wants to lose, an important feature of being a lawyer is the notion of mediation. “Mediation is designed to bring about a respect by all parties involved for everyone’s legitimate interests in the dispute.” In most cases the objective is to ensure that neither party is totally happy or totally offended. This takes a great deal of tact, patience and stamina. Burning the midnight oil when a client needs help is often necessary. “It is important to be organized at all times and be able to react quickly to urgent client needs effectively and efficiently.”

In order to continually hone these special aspects of the profession, Noik recommends that anyone considering a successful career as a lawyer should be interested in continuously broadening experience and understanding people and the changing nature of society. “Get involved in community work,” he advises. “Enjoy helping people, being with people, understanding and helping them achieve what they want.” Imaginative and creative thinking outside the box is so crucial that the more experience a lawyer has in understanding the people he may represent the better his chances are of identifying unique solutions that will satisfy what they truly wish to achieve.

“If you apply the skills we’ve been discussing, you will always be busy,” Noik adds, “but you will never be bored.”

This article originally appeared in Moxy Femme Magazine

When Priya Thomas stepped off the stage of classical dance and music and stepped up to the microphone as a singer/songwriter she started turning heads immediately. Her well educated parents were not entirely charmed about the new direction, but by then she was driven and just couldn’t sit still. Her stage show became a unique combination of raw energy, wild liberating body movements and the power performance of her own clever and timely songs.

Just returned from a very successful tour in Great Britain, Priya agreed to take a few moments from her current work on her upcoming CD, “You and Me against the World Baby” to discuss her major influences and talk about being a woman in music today.

Dance has always been a major component of her live shows. “I started taking dancing lessons when I was so young that I thought my dance teacher was my mother,” she laughs. Consequently, dance is a natural component of her self expression. In addition she received extensive musical training and can play several instruments which makes it much easier and more efficient for her to produce her own music. As for artists who have affected her the most, the names Maria Callas, Pina Bausch, Sylvia Plath, Hannah Hoch, and Emily Bronte spring to mind. Musically she cites Kate Bush and the lyrical talents of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds as major influences.

On her last tour she was invited to play at The Cavern Club, where the Beatles first started out. “It was like being in a magical place,” she sighs with that smile that comes from having been somewhere very important to us all. “And Liverpool is such a dark and difficult town. It’s the perfect place for the devil to be lurking around with watches to sell.” Priya explains. And so her chance meeting with Allan Williams, the original manager of the Beatles was quite eerie. After all of these years his whole being still seemed to radiate a sense of missed opportunity and that opened her eyes to one of the central themes in her own writing, the dichotomy of looking both forwards and backwards as an artist.

“Artists seem to be much more in touch with their childhoods and memories in general,” she relates. “Looking backwards creates a connection that wants expression, but trying to rely on those old stories to provide continued inspiration can trap you in the past…even though we are all continually having conversations with the “dead”, whether they be actual deceased people, or parts of our past that are long buried, or ideas that we never ran with…”

Add to this idea, Priya’s other insight that Canada is in many ways a country full of orphans. She grew up in Montreal, in a culture that was riddled with nostalgia and questions of political autonomy and cultural legacy. “Many people in this country and in the world feel displaced, out of touch with family legacies, histories, communities or themselves.”

So what are the unique challenges facing Priya Thomas in the music business today?

“The challenge is to be both a writer/performer and a producer at the same time,” she says. The trend has been for women to make it big by teaming up with a visionary male who was adept at pulling the strings and/or writing the music in the background. We won’t go into names at this point. Working along with this notion is the tendency of producers to want every act to sound like some commercially successful act or to mimic that acceptable homogenized radio sound.

“It is much harder for the men who run the music business to see a woman as a visionary,” Priya points out. They want to keep the control while the artist lives in the studio writing new material and is then off on the road playing it. The industry is reluctant to allow the merging of the two facets into one, but it is starting to happen more and more often. She intends to continue to produce herself and stay true to what she wants to say and how she intends to communicate it.

When asked what a woman can do to change things, her answer is immediate and straightforward: “Do what you want to do. When someone asks who is responsible or wants to be responsible for an important task, don’t just stare at your shoes.” Every challenge taken on willingly is a valuable learning experience that makes a woman stronger and more capable of taking on the next one. Win or lose, the path ahead will become more clear and the obstacles less frightening.

“This is a great time to be a woman.” she asserts proudly. She is confidently optimistic and the certainty in her language is inspirational. She recommends that women enter into any area that has been, traditionally, a male domain. “We’re at a point in time where history has already opened up to new voices, the critical shift has taken place through the work of so many trailblazers. All we have to do is keep working.”

Priya is an interesting and smart young woman, a very talented musician, songwriter and singer, and she shares it all with us when she gets up on stage and delivers her typical outstanding live performances. She will be playing Toronto again in March, 2005. Come on out and help her celebrate.

This article originally appeared in Moxy Femme Magazine (2005)

This article originally appeared in Best of Life

If the human body is maintained in optimal condition, its heart is a well-designed pump that reliably circulates life-giving blood through the many arteries, muscles and organs for an entire lifetime. This is hard work. Maintaining the heart health necessary to perform vital functions requires consistent exercise, the correct balance of nutrients provided by a healthy diet, lots of rest and other key factors. If the heart’s fundamental needs are ignored or it becomes stressed or abused to the point that the circulatory system becomes damaged, then deterioration sets in.

The speed of heart muscle decline increases with the distance wandered from healthy living. Activities that speed up the destruction of the cardiovascular system are:

• Carrying excess body weight for your height
• Smoking cigarettes
• Living a lifestyle that does not include effective exercise
• Consuming alcohol in excessive amounts
• Living in conditions that are so stressful the heart becomes exhausted
• Abusing drugs and binging on substances that affect normal heart activity

Any one of these side paths is damaging enough, but combinations are particularly lethal and also wear away at other parts of the body. Everyone who participates in these harmful behaviours hopes to beat the statistics and still enjoy a lengthy lifespan. However, even if they live to an odds-beating age, the quality of life experienced is unlikely to match that of people of the same age and height who have made the effort to take care of themselves.

Many heart victims die so fast they never know what hit them – here one minute, gone the next. Most of those who do survive require extensive medical treatment and aftercare.

Certainly, the effects of this disease are difficult and debilitating for the direct sufferers. Factors such as inherited traits and accidents may contribute to or cause these illnesses. However, given the high costs emotionally and financially to families of heart patients and the overstrained health care system, sufferers must take a hard look at the personal lifestyle choices that contribute to cardiovascular diseases.

That’s where you come in – the healthy you who hopes to finally enjoy that hard-earned retirement you’ve been dreaming about all these years. Wouldn’t it feel good to finally take those long trips you’ve been planning and then eventually leave something for the kids instead of spending it all on expensive medications and oxygen canisters?

It’s never too late to walk down the road towards good health again, and those who love you will gladly walk there with you. If you haven’t listened to their pleas to take better care of yourself so far, try listening to your heart instead.

James Dewar is a freelance writer, editor, and a heart attack survivor. He leads therapeutic writing groups for people traumatized by life events, particularly heart attacks.

This article first appeared in Careers Magazine

As a boy growing up, Dr. Scott McLennan was convinced many times over that chiropractic care was invaluable. “My dad suffered enormously from back pain,” he says, “I saw how much relief it gave him. And I had my own sports injuries through high school, so I experienced that relief firsthand too.”

Back pain and musculoskeletal discomfort are two of the most common reasons that people seek health care, so chiropractors are in the forefront of being able to provide relief from suffering. They can also help headaches, neck pain and tension as well as chronic conditions such as stiff joints, tendonitis, and arthritis.

Chiropractic education in Canada is offered at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) in Toronto, and at l’Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres (UQTR). Both programs are fully accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education in Canada.
Chiropractic students undergo a rigorous course of study, similar to that of other health care professionals. Entrance requirements are also similar. Students are required to complete a minimum of three years of university before they are eligible for admission to the CMCC. There is just one entry point each fall semester. Applications to CMCC are due October 31 for entry the following year.

After acceptance, students embark on four years of academic and clinical studies. The program requires 4,500 hours of education, including studies in anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, neurology, embryology, principles of chiropractic, radiology, immunology, microbiology, pathology, nutrition and clinical sciences specifically relating to diagnosis. In particular, chiropractors receive training in radiology that covers a range of topics from radiation biophysics and protection, to clinical X-ray interpretation and diagnosis.

In addition to the academic program, one of the four years of education will by an internship at one of the College’s clinics, under the supervision of highly-qualified chiropractic faculty. This experience includes clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and referral protocols.
CMCC graduates pass rigorous national and provincial regulatory board examinations. The pass rate of CMCC students on the Canadian Chiropractic Board Examinations has been consistently over 95% and over 90 percent of CMCC graduates are established in practice within 6 months of graduation.

Dr. McLennan has been in practice three years now. When asked what his biggest joy is in his chosen profession, he says, “I like so many things about this profession. I like its approach to health care, the focus it places on prevention and preservation of health, the way it deals with health issues in a safe and very effective way. Also its focus on educating people so that they stay healthy. But my greatest joy? The difference this care makes in people’s lives. When you take someone who has come to you in terrible pain that affects every facet of their lives: work, sports, leisure, even their sleep, and you help them through that time in their life… I get my greatest joy from seeing the positive changes I can help make in people’s lives.”