Nick Yates Travel Blog

Bocas del Toro, on Panama’s Caribbean coast, is a delightfully backwater sort of place with beautiful, sandy beaches and a Caribbean flavor that certainly merits a Nick Yates travel write-up.

No five-star tourist developments here.  And that’s a major part of its winning charm for those of us who sometimes prefer the raw flavor of third world travel and the types of fellow travelers it attracts.  Instead of weekenders out of the big cities of the American east coast — you find more backpackers in a variety of nationalities.  And they’re all there to indulge themselves in some inexpensive, laid-back living of the sort only found in this part of the world before the bulldozers move in.

A quick hop by air from the capital, Panama City, Bocas del Toro is otherwise an all-day journey by bus.  And as Central American buses can make an all-day trip seem more like three — do spring for the air ticket if at all possible!

But don’t expect anything luxurious in the way of accommodations on the other end.  As I hope I’ve made clear, this is one of those places that largely pre-dates the world of mass tourism and travel packages.  So expect wooden shacks, dirt roads and minimal air-conditioning.  Also expect mosquito nets over your bed at night and the sounds of reggae music and laughter drifting across on the breeze from the nearest bar until the wee hours.

And expect the beaches to be superb!  The quality of the sand on the Caribbean side is blessed by the just-offshore coral reefs which produce it in abundance.  And the lush, tropical vegetation seen wherever one looks provides both welcome shade and a hint at the nature preserves just inland of Bocas’s seashore location.

In the Nicholas Yates catalogue of preferred beach vacations — Panama’s Bocas del Toro indeed measures up.

Here’s another travel adventure courtesy of Nicholas Yates. Its name comes from a long ago Arabic amalgam, combining the word for mountain with that of its Moorish conqueror who moved on to rule a goodly chunk of the Iberian Peninsula.  He’s long since faded from history; his name lives on.

And he picked this initial peninsular martial prize well, as comes to all visitors as they climb off their airline flights and onto the tarmac of what serves as the colony’s airport.  Hard beside the tarmac the rock itself soars like an imposing grey iceberg, straight up out of the flat coastal plain which hugs Spain’s southern coastine.  The neck of land the airstrip straddles barely affords it the necessary room.  But the daily procession of tourist flights seems hardly to care.

A cluster of two- and three-story buildings come into view as the airport taxi rounds the stone gateway into the town proper. This, with its modest sprawl extending up the nearest bit of slope and along the shoreline beyond, comprises civilian Gibraltar.

It is definitely British:  shops and pubs, restaurants and government buildings bearing Her Majesty’s seal bear witness to the fact that you’re not in Spain.  And there’re enough Brits about the streets to readily confirm that.

The native Gibraltarians themselves are a mixed lot.  Three hundred years of British rule brought in an ethnic mix from seemingly all corners of the British Empire and made loyal subjects of them all.  Or at least most.  It obviously also mixed them into a hybrid population solely distinguishable perhaps by their decidedly non-Spanish appearance.

Centuries of Spanish diplomatic near-quarantine have helped keep it that way.

Gibraltar’s popularity today is as a destination for Brits seeking a little sun and sightseeing.  Spanish beaches once off limits are now a short drive away, as are the sights of Spanish Andalucía’s beautiful mountain towns.  It has also become a trendy place to tie the knot.  A local government office arranges one-day wedding processing that ends in a marriage certificate sure to be a conversation piece.

A sunset drive to Gibraltar’s southernmost point gives a romantic glimpse of north Africa’s distant coast, and a reminder of just how strategically situated this piece of land remains.

Content approved by Nick Yates of Australia.

Director Mel Gibson’s exquisite film “Apocalypto” of a few years back has sparked a mini-boom of travel to the Central America of the old Mayan Empire.  In Honduras, this translates into increased tourism to the extensive Mayan ruins at Copan in that country’s southwest — including to the lovely neighboring town of Copan Ruinas. Mr. Yates would like to take you through this beautiful wonderland…

Set around a quaint colonial square and radiating only a very few blocks out from it, the hill town retains a surprising amount of genuine Honduran ambiance despite the percentage of foreign faces encountered during peak seasons.  Much the same can be said about hotel and restaurant prices.  The basis for such happy circumstance surely lies in the fact that Copan’s visitors are almost exclusively of the backpack variety — a travel segment which leaves a much lighter footprint on local economies than do the matching-luggage set.

Generations of well-publicized guerrilla wars in neighboring countries help insure that this won’t change anytime soon.

Beyond the cobblestones of the town’s commercial area continues a countryside of green hills, rainforest, small farms and large coffee fincas (plantations).  Within all this fine scenery are found the ancient Mayan ruins which lend the town its name.  A trip of minutes by three-wheeled cyclo-cab drops you at the entrance of the main cluster of ruins.  You wander briefly through lush foliage which opens onto a verdant pasture of stone obelisks facing stepped pyramids hundreds of years old; The largest soars perhaps seventy feet high.

Though architecturally impressive in their own right, the richly mottled exteriors of the temples’ stonework seems almost mystically enhanced by the rainforest setting.  Trees of vast size and proportions encircle the site.  Many protrude from the mounds of the ruins themselves, adding their gnarls of twisted roots to the scene and complement perfectly the chiseled stonework.  No Hollywood movie set could hope to improve upon the visual effect of all this shape and color.

Viewing the complex a second time from the surrounding hills only confirms its timeless beauty.  Impromptu horse rides form up every evening just off the Copan Ruinas town square, as a polyglot troupe of travelers trade modest amounts of lempiras for mounts, and are then led up into the sunset to view the ruins from above.

Capping the day by exchanging impressions over cold beers on the verandas of restaurants overlooking the darkening town add a mellow note of closure to your Honduran Mayan adventure. This been Nick Yates with another travel story.

Turns out that the former Yugoslavia, scene of so much ethnic conflict in past years, has developed into a trendy vacation spot with considerable Mediterranean appeal.

The ancient Greeks and Romans were perhaps the first to spot the potential of its Dalmatian coastline.  The ruins of temples and amphitheaters are regular features in some of the oldest inhabited areas, and the bright sunshine, rocky landscapes and glittering seashores are strongly reminiscent of places Hellenic.  The successor Roman Empire followed on with its own architectural statements.

“The fact that you run into fabulous ruins nearly everywhere you go here is a real surprise,” was how one fellow tourist in a local internet cafe summed up the high points of her stopover in Croatia, adding “Why is it I’d never heard of the place, the ruins, the great beaches and the pleasant ‘old town’ areas in its cities?”

Dubrovnik and Split are two such coastal Croatia cities with extensive “old town” sections to wander around in.

But to address her question:  Why indeed?  The answer may lie in the history of the sixties and seventies, when the modern era of affordable plane travel was just “taking off.”  This part of Europe was then under communist rule and largely closed off from international tourism development.  The splitting up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s was the great catalyst to the development of tourism, though the drawn-out struggle between Croatia and Serbia initially delayed even this.

You still sometimes can’t help getting the feeling that the years of ethnic conflict aren’t yet far enough in the past for many residents.  Especially among adults, one senses a disposition toward impatience with tourists finicky over accommodations or service.  People who regard themselves fortunate in simply surviving those years of internecine strife no doubt have trouble sympathizing with those who allow life’s more minor inconveniences to trouble them overly.  The younger Croat generation, highly attuned to all that’s happening in European and American culture but less so with their country’s troubled past, are a refreshingly different breed.

Generally-lower prices are one very good reason to consider Croatia’s Dalmatian coast for your next Mediterranean splurge.  But surely the surroundings will also leave you pleased with your choice.

Nick Yates would like to discuss the current Olympic situation with his readership. Beyond the glitter, the Beijing Olympics have some harrowing lessons for entrepreneurs dreaming of doing business in China.  When it comes to officialdom in the Middle Kingdom, perhaps not so very much has changed since the days of the Confucius-inspired dynasties.

Consider the case of gold medal gymnast He Kexin.  Some years back it was decided to advance the minimum age for competing gymnasts to sixteen, for reasons deemed important to both their physical and psychological development as human beings.  All agreed that this was a good and humane ruling.

Those spending much time at all before their television sets during the Olympic Games couldn’t help noticing however — even without the controversy it engendered in the world press — that one of the top competitors among China’s women gymnasts hardly looks twelve, never mind sixteen!

A brouhaha of global proportions ensued, pitting skeptics (most anyone with eyes) against a Chinese government that, early on, dug itself into a non-negotiable position which held that Miss He was indeed sixteen. And that the topic was closed, as far as they were concerned.  They’d after all issued her a passport that said so.  So end of story.

Now, in most other modern countries — and the Olympics were, if nothing else, China’s lavish attempt to finally be seen by the rest of us as modern — the true facts would quickly have asserted themselves:  old school photos, for instance, would have quickly popped up in the press, lending weight to one side or the other.  Copies of birth and other vital records would have been forthcoming.  Friends and neighbors would have been interviewed, and through it all the rest of us would have reached a conclusion based on something other than an apparent dictate by a bureaucrat.  But not in China.

And the vital lesson in this unseemly affair definitely shouldn’t be lost on the business person hoping to do business in China:  if the government of this yet totalitarian country can so baldly manipulate even the most essential of things — what does that say about the local marketplace and those, especially maybe foreigners, hoping to profit from its orderly running?

Are all the many licenses and permits which govern the life of any business there, as elsewhere, made any more secure and meaningful in the face of an Olympic caper carried on literally before the eyes of billions of television viewers?  Or will justice remain a commodity dispensed in China only after carefully weighing its daily value to the mandarins residing in the halls of power?

Some day that answer may dependably come down on the side of truth and justice.  In today’s China it still doesn’t. This has been another sports  review by Nick Yates.

Author: Jordan Hanthorn

Deciding what type of Home Business you want to launch is a very important issue. You will want to take into account what you love to do and what strengths you have. You will want to do a little research before you decide on which home business you are going to focus on.

For example, you need to decide on which demographic you wish to target, which product or service you wish to market and which method you want to market it. If your chosen product is or service is health related, for example, you may want to research that particular demographic. In this case, you may find that a high percentage of baby boomers go on the internet for information about health care and supplements. So it would then be logical to conclude that online marketing is a necessity.

You will also need to know what type of home business structure you are gong to choose. For some people, network marketing is the right choice because you gain leverage from building an organization, also known as a sales force or downline. To make this decision you may want to refer to one of the many good home business or network marketing print or online publications that are available as this is a huge subject.

For other people retailing the products is enough to provide an adequate income. You will also need to decide which entity is right for your home business. Generally, you will be deciding between a sole proprietership, partnership, s-corporation, c-corporation and limited-liability corporation. Each one of these entities has inherent strengths and weaknesses and you will want to consult with a qualified attorney and/or accountant before making such an important decision. Besides the product or service, choosing an entity may be the single most important decision you will have to make regarding your home business because it will largely determine the amount of taxes you have to pay, which assets you can buy with before-tax dollars, and which benefit and perks can be written off as a business expense.

….Many people want to start a home business, but do not know where to begin. Often they have trouble coming up with ideas for a home business. The best home based business will take these following factors into account. 1. What skills do you have or can easily learn? 2. What do you have an interest in, and like to do? 3. Can the business be successful? 4. Where and how will you contact potential customers? 5. Do you have the necessary marketing skills?

It is important to realize that any new business venture is a huge change. If you have never done something like this before you may question your own abilities… Don’t! Success and Leadership is not gained over-night! Keep in mind that one will yeild a hundred different capabilities and strengths if given the opportunity to do so!

Author: Julie Watson Smith

As a parent-entrepreneur, I have many different roles: wife, mom, coach, boss, speaker, author, writer, coach, volunteer, mentor, homework checker, chauffeur, cheerleader, short-order cook…the list goes on. As a parent-entrepreneur, you understand. Really, what don’t you do, right?

However, a month or so ago, and someone asked me, “What do you do?” And, usually I can roll of a short, sweet pitch, but, oh-no, I bumbled and rambled until this person’s eyes glazed over. It was awful. It really made me realize the power of the 30-second pitch.

Really, what would you do if you were riding on an elevator and Oprah walked in? You have her undivided attention for 30-seconds or less. What would you say? Now, hold that thought for a few minutes before answering.

Let’s take a step back…What do you say when anyone asks you, “What do you do?” Are you are completely tongue tied and stumped? Or worse, you rattle off a five-minute explanation including your services or products from A-Z, your credentials, your education, your clients, etc? By the time you’ve finished, that other person’s eyes are glassy and they are mentally writing their grocery list in their head. Why? Because, they don’t understand what you have said, don’t need what you have, or are just not interested. So, what do you do? You need an effective 30-second pitch that it distinguishes you in a busy, overcrowded, and at times, indistinguishable marketplace. It must set you apart!

Following are seven tips to crafting your 30-second pitch:

1. Make it about them: I think it was Stephen Covey who said, “Be interested to be interesting.” Apply this philosophy be making your pitch about them - it focus on what you can do for them not just what you can do.

2. Be clear on your niche and specialty. Niche is the who and specialty is the what. Often entrepreneurs think, well, everyone is my customer. Yes and no. Yes, because, technically, you can sell to anyone. But, no because, you will not effectively reach your ideal clients if you are trying to market to everyone.

3. Focus on purpose rather than skills - what will the person gain (or in some cases, lose). Too often, an elevator pitch merely describes your skills, as in “Hi, I’m Julie, a coach, speaker and author.” Yes, this is all true info, but, well, ick. It doesn’t set me apart from the thousands of other coaches, speakers and columnists. It is useless info. What’s your purpose for what you do and who you serve - basically, how do you add value. For example, I could say, “Hi, I’m Julie Smith. I inspire solopreneur-parents to align family and business while also designing their million-dollar lifestyle through inspired success.: Better, right

4. Start with a hook - an intriguing story or question to capture their interest. My good friend and colleague, Kelly Paull, owner of Slumber Parties by Kelly, has a great hook. Here it is: “Picture your husband eagerly taking your children out of the house for the evening, your girlfriends arriving giddy with excitement for ninety minutes of side-splitting laughter and adult entertainment with a lady-like twist.” At this point, the listener is intrigued and wants to know more. She’s hooked ‘em. This listener is either her ideal customer or knows her ideal customer (think referrals!) You can also use a question that addresses your target markets challenge and the outcome of that challenge as your hook. “Have you ever noticed the amount of frustration and guilt is placed on juggling the needs of both a family and home-based business?” (This is where you want heads nodding in agreement, maybe someone says, “Oh yeah that’s me or my sister, or my friend”…you get the picture). “I support these parent-entrepreneurs by providing them with 7 fundamental tools to give guilt the boot by aligning family and business.”

5. Share a resource. I love sharing resources. I have so many fabulous resources that I share in my Million Dollar Connections and Contacts. Individually or in a group, share a favorite resource and how it helped you. One of my favorite is Vista Print. I think they have impeccable service, quality and pricing. So, I often share this resource with the added reinforcement of a business card or flyer. It shows the quality of the work from the resource and provides a visual pitch.

6. Prepare and practice. The big secret to your pitch here is constant preparation and practice. Consider your audience and how you can help them (remember, it’s all about them), and what they can gain. Next, write it down, practice it out loud in front of the mirror and with others.

7. Practice more! Nothing sounds worse than a poorly prepared or canned pitch that sounds like you don’t know what you do or aren’t confident in what you do. Keep practicing it!

Your 30-second pitch is your one of your most valuable marketing tools for distinguishing and branding yourself and your business. So, keep practicing and perfecting it so the next time, you are on an elevator and Oprah walks on, you’ll know exactly what to say to set yourself apart!

Author: Chetan Walia

This is about the Big Picture.

There is an interesting aspect associated with Breakthroughs. Breakthroughs are always in front of us, staring at us, waiting to be discovered. Unfortunately, we do not see them.

Let me give you ‘The story of the tiny frog.’

There was once a group of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer the competition. The race began.

Honestly, no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. They kept saying, “Oh! Way too difficult. They will never make it to the top.” “Not a chance, they will not succeed. It’s too high.’

The tiny frogs began collapsing one by one, even while there were those who were climbing higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell, “it’s too difficult, no one will ever make it.” More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.

But one tiny frog continued higher and higher and higher. This one will just not give up! In the end all the others had given up climbing the tower, except for this one tiny frog who after a big effort was the only one to reach the top!

Then all the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one had managed to do it? One of the contestants asked the tiny frog who had won that how he had found the strength to reach the goal. The tiny frog did not answer. The winner was deaf!

Breakthroughs are about seeing opportunities where everyone sees problems, obstacles, limitations or boundaries. Fortunately, we have enough people who see all of this so there in lies the possibility to discover a Breakthrough. However, unfortunately we aren’t deaf or blind. We start seeing them too.

There are some very interesting real life parallels to the Frog Story. I’ll just not down a few..

A gentleman named Frank Howser designs and constructs displays and booths for trade shows. A few years ago, two young guys asked Frank, if he could design something for their little start up company so they would look ‘flashy’ at a trade show. They couldn’t pay him so they offered him stock in their start up business. Advised by people around him (who saw red) Frank declined the offer. Someone else chose to turn deaf to those around him and took it up. The two young men were Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. The little company was Apple Computer. That someone else made a lot of money.

Richard and Maurice McDonald sold their hamburger stand, concept, and name to a fifty-on year old salesman named Ray Croc. The rest is history.

A man named Lewis Crandal sold half of his tore for a mere $1200 to his partner Mr. Woolworth.

The first group of people in the above examples NEVER saw the opportunities that existed right in from of them. The second group did and acted on them.

Turning DEAF is not to be equated to ‘don’t hear, don’t listen, don’t see’ etc. Rather listen, see, hear, feel the reality and defy the mindset.

One last incident: In 1972, in USA, the Democratic convention nominated George McGovern to run for president against Richard Nixon. During the convention McGovern dumped his vice-presidential candidate Eagleton. A young sixteen year old entrepreneur saw a one time opportunity and bought up five thousand suddenly obsolete McGovern-Eagleton buttons and stickers. He paid about five cents apiece for them. Post Nixon’s victory once the mudslinging began in the Democratic circles, he resold these as historical and rare political memorabilia for $25 per item.

Obviously the young man’s one time windfall profit did not result in any industry breakthrough. But this is an excellent example of an attitude that is needed to see an opportunity where others do not. The young man, by the way, was Bill Gates

Major Breakthroughs are always in front of us and are always discovered with the correct mind-set. It’s an attitude, an attitude to look for opportunities and possibilities. People who generate breakthroughs are opportunity focussed (not problem focused), those who don’t aren’t. It’s no rocket science. It’s really simple.

Author: Ernsley Denizard

The more success you achieve as an entrepreneur, the more attractive you become to your followers or potential clients. The magnetic impact tends to grow; the law of attraction will also come your way as you get more calls and referrals. How you turn those leads into sales and nurture the business relationships going forward are major factors for the longevity of your business. As those sales and customers come in, you need to nurture and build a solid relationship with those new members of your team. Here are some valuable tips to consider when nurturing, coaching, counseling or mentoring your new business partners:

* Be positive - Always offer an achievable solution to reassure you teammates that it can be done and you are here to help. Hard work and positive results work hand in hand.

* Be specific - When assigning tasks or resolving an issue, break it down to the simplest form and focus on one specific task. This approach compliments the previous tip as well.

* Be Supportive - Use references and manuals to reinforce a concept or belief. Show support on all levels by encouraging the teams to ask questions. As it is commonly said, a closed mouth cannot be fed.

* Encourage consistency and repetition - It is vital in building confidence and improving the knowledge base. This also helps eliminate doubts.

* Emphasize positive mindset - Develop a path to understand why you do what you do.

* Coach valuable skills to overcome objections - Always think of an objection as an opportunity to validate and possibly open the door to other considerations.

* Do frequent meetings, conference calls or webinars to keep your teammates engaged. Always offer maximum efforts in order to achieve maximum results.

By harnessing those key points, you will build a solid foundation for your team and develop a reliable support system that will guarantee sustainable growth. As a new entrepreneur starting a new business venture, you do not want to feel alone. The team and buddy factor can help overcome major hurdles and create lifetime relationships.

Team collaboration with Platinum7 Profits provide the needed support system to ensure your success. If you are interested in joining a business or marketing team that promotes these practices and dedicates resources necessary to create a turnkey system that will enable you and your affiliates to prosper, this is the opportunity you should tap on. this is definitely the marketing system you should consider evaluating since they will guide you through the process of starting a business every step of the way.