Hi, I’m Andrea Lucas, Managing Director of Club-Asteria. Club-Asteria is an online global membership organization that provides education, business opportunities, e-commerce and innovative programs to empower our members.  Please visit our site at www.club-asteria.com to learn about our programs and services and our goals for the future and read about our philanthropic activities in the News.

I have now started the series of blogs so I can share my views and experiences with all of my family and friends and the extended community of people that are interested in global affairs.

Everything in my life that I have lived through – both good and bad, has brought me to this moment in time.  I now have the ability to contribute to some of society’s most critical and pressing issues – the plight of hundreds of millions of people that still live in poverty despite the advances in our social network and technology.  Human beings just like you and I who don’t enjoy the simple advantages of clean drinking water, reliable electricity, adequate shelter, the simplest of health care, food and education.

As I have traveled the world in my position in the financial community I have experienced first- hand this injustice and tragedy of humanity.  My life today is dedicated to not only sharing the plight of these undeserved people of the world but more importantly to serve as a catalyst of change to truly benefit their individual lives.  I hope that you will enjoy reading about my many experiences and the people I meet and can lend support to.

My blogs will touch on a variety of subjects, from e-commerce to financial support to philanthropic assistance to most importantly, education that can benefit each of the individuals and families that we are seeking to help.

Now that the new year is here, Club Asteria is rolling out its newest resource: our Product Catalog!
This catalog contains thousands of products and services that are yours to resell through your member website. You won’t be working for anybody, just yourself. The decisions you make will be your own, so it’s time to start thinking about what your product mix will consist of.

Before you stock your website, it’s important to know your audience. You already have a solid idea of what your customers like, but that’s not enough to grow a business. It’s also important to look ahead to what they might also like.

How can you do this without the aid of a magic crystal ball? Talk to your customers! Sure, you can’t speak to all of them, but simple surveys can provide you with vital information.

Another great way to gather information is through email. When you send out a confirmation or thank you email, ask customers what they’d like to see on your site. Encourage their input; after all, they’re going to make the purchases.

After you review what is available on your site, you can go to the Product Catalog and begin to order for yourself at a discount or make recommendations for your friends and family. Remember that knowing your inventory is crucial to the health of your business. Many of the products we offer are in stock on a regular basis.

Research is also a solid method for discovering new markets, often referred to as niche markets. This might take some creative thinking, but when you put yourself in the place of your customers, you can begin to see what they might want to purchase and where their interests will drive them.

Whatever you promote, don’t forget that you will have to market it to customers. Weekly emails are a great way to remind customers that you’re around to help them, and they might find something to help their own business.

You can use communication on your site to create excitement. Blog entries about hot new items, and what’s on the horizon, keep your customers returning. Keeping a steady stream of information flowing will keep you on top of your customer’s mind!

Finding the right product mix requires a lot of hard work and research, but the rewards are so positive that you’ll be happy you applied yourself!

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”    – William Butler Yeats

One of our goals in the new year is to provide our members with the kind of business resources that help them grow their own business and experience the kind of success that we all want to enjoy.

Our first step towards our goal is the free webinar we’re offering on January 18, 2012. Entitled “Vision and Goals: How to get the most out of 2012”, this training session will be conducted by Robert Van Arlen.

Mr. Van Arlen in an engaging speaker who will be covering essential steps to success, including:

• *  How to establish a purposeful vision
• *  Establish personal and professional goals that are meaningful and aligned with your vision
• *  Learning how to stay focused and eliminating distraction
• *  Learning how to create an environment of harmony, balance and alignment

As you follow Robert in this webinar, you’ll learn how to align your purpose and push your performance so this year becomes your best ever!

You’ll also receive instructions on how to establish the right goals so that you’re working towards an end point that is not only rewarding financially, but helps you grow as a person.

Robert Van Arlen has a reputation for delivering life-changing training programs that are easy to follow, and easy to execute. A webinar with Robert will help improve your leadership skills and increase sales.

Over the years, Mr. Van Arlen has worked with clients in the government and in private business, including companies listed in the Fortune 500.

Remember that the seminar will be held on January 18 and you must sign up in order to access this life-changing event.

To sign up click here and fill out the information on the page.

Club Asteria is dedicated to helping our members succeed in whatever business they choose to start.

When you begin a business, there are so many tasks to check off your list, it seems almost impossible. As time passes, and you establish a routine, life doesn’t seem as overwhelming.

However, it’s easy to forget that a business is more than one simple product or service, and that there are plenty of steps you can take to grow your business into something big!

The first thing you need to do is see where you are the strongest, and then make sure that everything is running the right way. Are orders being filled on time? Are your customers happy with the service?

With your main business doing well, take a look at other markets that are similar to yours. Are there any spaces that haven’t been filled by your competition? That’s where you want to start.

Before you take a big step, it’s vital to conduct research of this new market. Check out the competition and figure out what it takes to be successful. As always, you want to enter with a sound strategy, and tactics to support it.

If your business is virtual, it’s easy to build it with a website that carries a new product or service. Remember that cross marketing is a simple, yet effective way, to grow two separate entities.

Adding new lines of products is another sure-fire way to grow your business. Competitive pricing is a must, but you should take time to educate yourself about each new product line and its strengths and weaknesses.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to building a business is lack of patience!

We all want success to come almost instantaneously, and when it doesn’t we’re disappointed and quick to look for a solution. You know what? Many times there is no solution because there is no problem! You’re not failing, you’re expecting too much, too soon.

Allow new ventures to grow; it takes time, but as they gain momentum you’ll be happy that you waited. Think of these new ventures as struggling plants, they need care and shelter and lots of water to survive – and again the key ingredient is time!

Building a business is an exciting venture, and as you add new products and other offerings, you’ll be rewarded with additional income and chance to share that with your family, friends and community.

Just remember to be patient and keep working hard!

Club Asteria’s mission is to help people around the world break the chains of poverty, and improve their lives, families and communities. We’ve made a great deal of change already, and as we continue to grow, our mission to change the world continues.

One major keystone to the success of our organization is our members. Participating in the programs, purchasing products to resell, and joining your fellow members in their efforts has truly made a difference.

Thanks to the Internet, linking people from around the world has never been easier. Thoughts can be shared via email, video or even posted on forums – and those ideas and thoughts that work in one place, can certainly find traction in another.

Club Asteria provides plenty of ways for you to add to your network through our websites and social media pages.

Have you visited our Facebook page?

If not, you don’t know what you’re missing! Daily updates from our founders along with comments and postings by fellow Club Asteria members from all over the world. It’s a great way to meet new people, pick up successful business tips, and learn what’s going on with our organization!

Don’t forget about one of our newest additions, Asteria Connect. Designed for our members, this social media tool allows people to post their thoughts, ideas and anything else that’s on their mind, to share with everyone.

Similar to Asteria Connect is our Twitter stream, which is updated numerous times every day and contains links to interesting pages, more sales tips for our members, and a variety of information that can help your business.

Building a network virtually is always important, but don’t forget that your network in the real world is vital to your business. Check in your community to see if there are local networking events; organizations like a Chamber of Commerce are a great place to start searching for networking opportunities.

Once you’ve found groups that you like, go to the meetings and get to know the people you meet. Remember, you want to build a relationship first – and remember that by doing for others, you also help yourself!

A strong network of friends and business contacts will bring you new referrals and also broaden your horizons. Don’t be shy! If you can talk to other people, you can network!

For centuries, rice has been one of the staples of diet. Man has harvested this unique, nutritious grain across the world, and because it’s easy to grow and prepare, rice has enabled us to fully explore our world.

In many cultures, rice is the equivalent of bread. It is used in practically every dish and served at every meal. Blended with protein it can comprise the cornerstone of any diet, and enable a group of people to subsist on relatively small portions.

Studies show that rice was first cultivated and eaten in China, and the benefits of this “miracle grain” became well known to different tribes and cultures. Today, rice is the third most popular crop, behind maize and wheat.

Recently, we heard from Aung, a young lady of Burmese extraction who was currently living the life of a refugee in Thailand. Forced out of her homeland by a number of unfortunate events, Aung wanted to begin her own business.

For many years, she worked with her mother to feed her many sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. Now, she had a talent that she wanted to grow into business so she could help the very people she fed.

With the help of a fellow expatriate, Aung was put in touch with Club Asteria and petitioned us for a small loan. Her plans were ambitious, to open up a small café that blended the traditions, flavors and recipes of her native Burma with those of her newly adopted country.

Aung’s rice dishes would not only be flavorful, but affordable. The small loan she received from us allowed her to rent a small space in Mandalay. There she began to cook her dishes, adding local spices, meats and fish.

At first her café was quiet, but as word spread of this new business that fused both cultures’ favorite grain with other ingredients, Aung began to see her fortunes improve. She invested some of her profit in the business, and used other parts to pay back Club Asteria.

As time progressed, she began to send money back to her relatives and urged them to join her, a difficult process. Slowly, but surely, she has seen her sisters and cousins come to Mandalay and stay with her.

Micro-loans like the one used by Aung are made possible by the participation of Club Asteria members. When you join our organization and use our resources and purchase products, money generated is given to young people like Aung who are looking for a new direction in life.

Remember this story and others as you go about your day and spread the word of Club Asteria, and our mission. Members like you help us make the dreams of people like Aung not only come true, but grow and thrive.

As we come to the close of 2011, I wanted to thank every Club Asteria member who contributed to the organization through hard work, dedication and their belief in our mission and vision.

Like any year, 2011 had highs and lows, but we’re lucky that even in a world economy that continued to stagnate, we all found opportunities for growth.

Looking at the new member levels, the officers of Club Asteria and I can’t believe how much we’ve grown – and how much further we all have to go!

As you know, the goal of Club Asteria is to help breaking the cycle of poverty around the world, and to accomplish this by providing world citizens with affordable, useful resources, products and services.

We’ve accomplished this goal over the last year by rolling out a variety of new programs and products. These include:

Empower Now – this interactive magazine debuted this year and has met with a great deal of success. Members around the world are accessing this monthly periodical, and gaining new information about Club Asteria, owning a business and thousands of other subjects. Look for more variety and feature articles in 2012.

The Asteria Tablet – the Club Asteria Tablet was unveiled in the latter part of this year, and made available to a select few members who tested the tablet and the software. Our goal is to make it available to all members in the new year. With the tablet, you can work anywhere on your Club Asteria business.

Member Websites – the member website are dedicated to the members of Club Asteria who want to take their business to the next level. The sites are full of information and resources that feature well-known business leaders who share their success stories. In addition, there is a variety of products available at affordable prices – all are designed to give Club Asteria members the edge they need in the business world.

There have been plenty of other highlights for 2011; we just wanted to share a few with our loyal members. And while it might seem like a hard goal to top, Club Asteria is going to offer even more innovative and productive resources in the coming year.

On behalf of the Club Asteria management team I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and loyalty over the past year. We know that it hasn’t been easy, but listening to the amazing stories our members tell, and reading your comments on our blog and social media pages, makes all of us that much more appreciative.

So thank you again, and best of luck in the New Year!

There is no easy way to being successful, it requires a great deal of hard work, time and patience. Especially patience.

There are plenty of successful people throughout history who didn’t become rich over-night, it took multiple efforts to find the right formula. Consider this: even billionaire Donald Trump went bankrupt!

So how can you find success? There’s no place where you can simply purchase the secret to success.

The real secret: success comes from inside you. That’s where it all begins and ends. No one is going to turn over a thriving business and say, “Here you go, I’m tired of making money and being happy.”

Below are a few tips on how to find success, and while there are no guarantees in life, remembering a few of these will definitely help you on your way.

Be patient

Remember, success rarely happens over-night. It takes time, and a great deal of effort. When things don’t go right, don’t give up.

Be open to suggestion

We all like to think we can do it on our own, but there are times when someone else’s point of view or observations are just what we need. Listen to your friends and your family!

Be ready to work

Success results from working hard – and smart. When you are working on your business, leave everything else at the door. Concentrate on your plan, and be as true to it as possible. If you realize you’re going off plan, redirect immediately.

Be curious

When you’re driving towards your goals, it’s wise to study other industries and the businesses that have found success. Just because you’re in the sales business doesn’t mean you can’t adapt a strategy or tactic from a biologist or the owner of a farm.

Be positive

Attitude determines your outlook on life. If you’re always negative or looking on the dark side, you’re not going to find that success. Sure there might be setbacks, but keep positive and stay that way! Good things happen to good people. Why? Because everyone likes doing business with positive people.

Be ready

Wherever you go, wherever the day might take you, keep your eyes open for the opportunity to learn and grow. Life experiences not only shape you as a person, they hold the information and ideas that you can use in your business operations. The world is a laboratory and it’s up to you to discover something new every day!

As 2011 draws to a close, Club Asteria continues to produce resources that are designed to help our members perform at their highest levels.

Every month, we publish an electronic magazine known as Empower Now, and this month is no different. This magazine is designed to be read wherever an Internet connection exists.

In addition, the link to Empower Now can be shared via email, social media or by posting it on a website. No matter how the link is published, you can share it with your friends, family and business connections.

This month, Empower Now is filled with vital information and articles – all written to help you reach your goals, and improve your income streams. In the pages of Empower Now this month you’ll find:

• *  Andrea Lucas discussing the latest news from Club Asteria. While we wrap up one year, a new one is ready to unfold. Don’t miss her monthly column!

• *  Sandee Kastrul discussing the many positive benefits of lending funds to people who are eager to start their own business, but don’t have access to funding.The newest offering from our Product Catalog – a Targeted Email to 3,000 people. That’s right, for a Gold Member Price of $75 you can purchase this service and we’ll send out emails until you have 1500 visitors to your site. Talk about a way to kick-start the new year!

• *  Vital accounting tips by Almira Bardai, where she covers a variety of different accounting programs. All of them will make your business run smoother, and save you valuable time and money.

• *  Confused about social media? Want to get the most out of our Facebook page? Then there’s an article written just for you on page 21. Quick and informative, the information will turn you into a Facebook expert in no time.

Staying on the social media trend is an article about Twitter and how to use this mini blogging program to increase your business and get the word out to the world!

Empower Now contains all of these hot topics and more – and all of it is provided at no cost to you.

Don’t forget to share the link with everyone in your network.  The publication’s professional layout and writing shines a positive light not only on Club Asteria, but on every member associated with us.

A few years ago, the editor of Wired Magazine wrote an article about the Long Tail and used Amazon.com and Netflix as examples.

Basically, the long tail theory says that you can do more business by selling small amounts of hard to find items than trying to sell large amounts of easy to find items.

Amazon stocks hundreds of thousands of items, and sells only a few of each, but because the stock isn’t residing in an actual inventory, the overhead is negligible and Amazon is able to sell millions of dollars worth of product.

Any online retailer or business can mimic the same model of the long tail – especially if you’re a Club Asteria member!

First, you need to figure out the niche that you serve – are your customers looking for business solutions or residential solutions? Do they want to purchase software or are they looking for specific business books?

The next step to finding a niche is to research the market that you are currently targeting. Start by listing the “easy guesses”, that is, the popular products that everyone carries and sells. The strong sellers are what help pay your overhead, keep your site running and the bills paid.

Now look closer at your sales over the past several months, what are your steady sellers that might only be purchased 5-10 times a month? Do they all fit into one category or do they represent an entirely different kind of market?

The best way to test this theory is marketing these steady, smaller sellers and observing how they perform. Another great way to discover niches is to survey your customers, based on their past purchases, and ask what other products or titles they would like.

Another way to discover a niche is test marketing, and with the Internet that’s easier than doing it the traditional way. If you’ve noticed a trend in business and found a product that compliments that trend, offer it as a special deal on the front page of your site.

Using your analytics and tracking programs, you can determine if this new product is getting a lot of attention. You may have to tinker with this process, but you won’t be taking a big risk, since the inventory doesn’t have to be purchase by you until orders are generated.

Niche markets are always waiting to be discovered – and if you can’t find one, building a niche is the next best answer.

This process takes more time, but if you realize there’s a market that hasn’t been serviced, matching up existing products or developing new ones, can result in significant profit.

Again, the initial investment of time and money is sizable, but when you grow a niche market yourself, you benefit from being the first one there!

Club Asteria has been adding a variety of new products, tools and resources to all of our sites in the past several months. Hopefully you’ve been able to test some of these out and decide which ones will make the most impact.

I’m sure that during your testing and trials, you may have noticed that some of the products or resources weren’t good fits for your business. Once you identified that, you moved on to the next project.

Identifying strengths and weaknesses of products and resources is vital to the growth of your business. You don’t want to waste time on a product that doesn’t fit the needs of your audience, do you?

We spend a great amount of time judging the positives and negatives of the world we inhabit, but what about ourselves?

Locating and identifying your weaknesses, and strengths, is a vital exercise. Acknowledging what you do well, and what you don’t do well, makes your business stronger, especially if you’re leading people.

The process is simple. Find some time where you can sit alone and not be hassled by the cell phone, computer or laptop. Then be honest with yourself and write down the areas where you excel, and the areas where you’re weak.

Once you’ve established this list, pay attention to your strengths. How are they being used to run your business? Are they being used correctly? For example, say you wrote down “Organized” as a strength. “My office is neat and orderly and my files on the computer are easy to find when a client asks for information.”

Excellent, but are you applying this same strength to other areas like your finances or your ordering process? If not, now is the time to focus on those areas and apply your strength – remember that practice makes perfect! (It also helps you develop your skills to an even higher level!

What about the weaknesses? If you were honest, you probably have a few, and it’s time to get to work on them. In some cases, it might be a lack of knowledge which can be remedied by taking courses. Other weaknesses may not be solved as easily, and if they play a key role in running your business, you may want to hire someone.

For example, say one of your weaknesses is understanding finances and taxes. Instead of educating yourself and purchasing software, you can hire an accountant or book keeper – the cost is set off by the fact that you’ll be able to spend more time growing your business while someone else looks after your financial information

Working on building your strengths, and identifying and correcting your weaknesses, is something corporate and world leaders do constantly. So why shouldn’t you?

Becoming a more rounded individual, and establishing balance translates into a more positive feeling, and that’s always good for business!