Club Asteria was founded to help the people of the world escape the chains of poverty and discover new ways and methods to generate income. In turn, they would use that new-found money to help themselves, their families and the people in their community.

As the popularity of Club Asteria grew, and more people signed up, we were able to take a step in the right direction by creating a micro-loan program. The idea behind a micro-loan is to provide money to a person who wants to begin a new business, but doesn’t have access to funds

Members such as you who purchase products and services from Club Asteria generate the funds we provide. The money is used in a variety of ways, including our micro-loan program.

Nashi was just a little girl growing up in Western India near a town called Tajpur when she discovered the joys of preparing food with her mother. The favorite part of her day was working with her mother in the family’s small kitchen, preparing simple dishes for the family’s dinner table.

As she grew older, Nashi’s mother began to experience the devastating effects of cancer that made her weaker and unable to do many of the chores around the house. While her mother received cancer treatments, the disease took away most of her strength, but she still was able to teach Nashi how to cook and bake.

One of the favorite memories Nashi had was of preparing sweet confections known as besan ladoo. Created out of almond paste and butter, the sweet treats were a family favorite, and were made for holidays and family gatherings.

Nashi’s time at school continued to shrink as her mother grew sicker, and after her mother’s death, she was placed in charge of helping raise her younger brothers and sisters, and making sure the domestic responsibilities were seen to.

As her siblings grew, Nashi began to consider going back to school, but because her family needed extra income, she found work in a local factory. The work was boring and tedious, but the money she brought back was desperately needed.

One day walking back from her job, Nashi saw a storefront for rent and she immediately realized what she wanted to do – open a small bakery and tea shop that would offer the best pastries and other confections!

Working with her father, she contacted Club Asteria and presented her plans for the small shop. Nashi would fill the labor demands, and then as she grew she would hire help. The loan would get her started and allow her to purchase the ingredients and other items for the store.

While the initial first weeks were demanding, Nashi’s talent for baking and creating delectable treats became the talk of the town. Her customers quickly became fond of her personal touch, not to mention her home cooked items.

Today, the shop is a center place for the town, a gathering point where people come to talk and eat. Nashi has repaid her loan and continues to work in the shop, teaching a new generation the joys of cooking.

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!

Cambodia is a place of great beauty and historic significance, and also home to thousands of unexploded land mines that cause untold damage, decades after the war in Southeast Asia.

When you cross over by land from Thailand into Cambodia, you see a row of people with missing limbs, sitting in the dirt. Those that still have hands reach out to you spare change. Those that don’t, simply sit with a bowl in front of them.

Every one has been a victim of land mines. Perhaps they went out into the jungle to pick fruit, or hunt to feed their families. One small step and a life changes forever. There is no rehabilitation, no social safety net. There is no opportunity for prosthetics, and no check from the government. There is just sitting along the border with a bowl in front of them.

A strange thing about the culture of those limbless beggars is that those who have lost the most limbs have more status. A more visible shock engenders a greater amount of spare change.

In addition to the wounded beggars at the border, homeless children roam the streets in Poipet, begging for food and money or picking up the occasional odd job. Often they fall victim to unscrupulous people who take advantage of them. There was one young boy who used black humor to get enough food for him and his friends when I was there.

He came up to me, his arm obviously withdrawn under his shirt to make it look like he had a missing limb. Smiling and in broken English, he said to me, “Please Missus, may I have some money for food? Look at me, I don’t have an arm!” Then his friend came over and pulled his arm out of his shirt playfully, and said, “No, no! Look, he has arm! Give me money instead!”

We all laughed and continued on with this strange game and I rewarded them both with some coins, and then they ran off to the satay vendor down the path for something to eat.

It doesn’t take much to turn the corner in a place like this. With a small amount of money—at least what is a small amount to us—those who would be homeless could make a living for themselves.

I saw rays of hope in the desperation that day. I met women at the bazaar who sold clothing and home-made crafts. I met young men who had purchased motorbikes and offered short-distance rides and delivery services for people in town.

I was able to strike up a conversation with a young lady running a small booth at the bazaar. She was selling handcrafted items carved out of coconut shells, and I looked over and saw her husband doing the carving. Both of his legs were missing and he sat on a small wooden platform. “He used to sit at the border,” she told me, “after the land mine accident.”

These are the people that Club Asteria can help.  A microloan of a few hundred dollars gave her enough capital to rent the booth and acquire initial stock, and soon after, her husband discovered his own talent for carving these delightful items.

Their new micro-loan-funded business had made all the difference—and today they have a clean home, and she confided in me that she plans to surprise her husband with a store-bought wheelchair that will allow them to get around more easily.

Club Asteria supports micro-credit programs to make success stories like this all over the world. It doesn’t take a lot of money to make a huge difference in somebody’s life, and we encourage you to support our efforts to help people like the folks I met in Cambodia have the lives they deserve.

Club Asteria members and new members already know about the latest resource from Club Asteria, it’s our fully interactive, Internet Magazine called Empower Now.

The e-Magazine is housed online, so it’s easy to access via laptop, tablet or mobile phone – and the latest one is ready for you to view and read. And best of all, share with all of your online friends, family and business associates!

The June issue contains a variety of feature articles and monthly highlights that every Club Asteria member will want to read and remember. Plus this month we unveil our 12 Steps to Success winners!

When you click on this link, here are some of the articles you’ll immediately access:

• *  8 Easy to Understand Training Videos
• *  Be the Change You Wish to See In the World
• *  Over 150 Resources
• *  Club Asteria’s Philanthropic Programs
• *  Coming in to Your Wisdom Time
• *  Your Monthly Success Tip

All of these articles, and more, are written by thought leaders from around the world, who are willing to share their insights, knowledge and experience with Club Asteria members.

If you’ve never accessed the e-Magazine before, a quick tip about the icons at the top of the page – they’re designed to make your reading experience easier! Starting from the left side of the page, here is an explanation of the icons.

• *  Thumbs – allows you to view smaller images of each page; click each page and you’ll go directly to it!
• *  Contents – displays a full list of stories in each issue.
• *  Single Page – so you can read the issue a page at a time.
• *  Full Screen – each page occupies your entire screen.
• *  Arrow Buttons – clicking either one side or the other moves you forward or backward from the page you are currently viewing.
• *  Zoom – increases the size of the page for easier reading.
• *  Search – type in a keyword and you’ll see where it’s been mentioned in Empower Now!
• *  Share – click this icon to share the e-Magazine’s link through a variety of social media platforms!
• *  Question Mark – contains a full description of each icon button in the toolbar!
• *  Pens – print out a page, make notes, or save the document in Portable Document Format (PDF), which is smaller and easier to email or save on your computer.
• *  Gears – control settings such as turning sound on or off.

Remember the e-Magazine can be shared with all of the members in your social and business networks! Simply click the Share icon (two heads) at the top of the page and you’ll be given several options for sending out the link to your friends.

“Heaven never helps the man who will not act”

The quote is from an ancient philosopher, Sophocles, but it still has meaning and impact in today’s world – and also in regard to Club Asteria.

We’ve experienced monumental growth over the last year, and as we’ve gone through this positive experience, we’ve learned valuable lessons. In addition, we’ve also been able to increase our offerings, gain access to new resources and improve the lives of our members, their families and friends.

One of the changes that we wanted to talk about is the Network Director status. Over time, this position has become incredibly powerful and much sought after by Club Asteria members.

To begin, we have announced that starting on August 1, no one will be able to purchase Asterios. Instead, members will earn these, which in turn enhances the opportunity for everyone to achieve the position of Network Director and start to earn additional revenue.

The elimination of being able to purchase Asterios elevates the Network Director position, and guarantees that the leaders in our organization earned their spot through hard work, dedication, and the willingness to help others, not just themselves.

Please note that existing Network Directors will continue to enjoy their honored position with enhanced value of their Asterios and additional income opportunities as well as discounted purchasing opportunities available only to Network Directors.

There are other changes coming in the next several weeks and months – for starters Club Asteria members will have new opportunities to purchase products and services that we’ll be offering, including technology-related items like tablets and computers.

Besides purchasing these items, you’ll also be able to sell them online and in the traditional retail sense, which will open up an entirely new income stream – and a world of opportunity!

Club Asteria is committed to raising the world’s standard of living through entrepreneurship, and raising everyone’s vision to recognize others in need and helping people all over the world that are in dire circumstances.

Stay tuned and continue to keep checking the Club Asteria website and when you sign in, be sure to read the latest News stories that have been posted.

As always, be sure to spread the word to your family, friends and business associates about the many benefits of our organization – that way you’ll be helping yourself, and all of the members of our community!

Over the next several months, we’ll be profiling various services, resources and tools offered by Club Asteria to our members. Each of these tools have been tested and verified by our team, so you can use them with confidence. Remember that certain resources are available only to Gold and Silver members.

Traffic Optimizer

Like a regular brick and mortar store, website owners want to have as many visitors to their site as possible. The more people who visit a site, the higher your chances are of selling a product or service. Plus, when you can show potential advertisers your site is popular, it’s easier to sell advertising space, and bolster your income stream!

The challenge to building website traffic is having the major search engines – Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. – locate and index your site. This is where Traffic Optimizer shows its true value.

The system allows you to submit videos, articles and podcasts to the Club Asteria server. These files are then broadcast out to websites around the internet to generate traffic. We set up your account to link back to all of your content’s primary web pages. These views contribute to your search engine rankings, and increase your traffic!

The Traffic Optimizer also teaches you how to adjust your video or article to appear different, giving you the ability to make up to 10 different submissions using the same file! As the search engines register these different submissions, your site rockets to the top of the rankings – this traffic is key in attracting advertisers.

The cost for Traffic Optimizer is $127 for the first submission, and then only $20 per subsequent submission. We will register your account, create a username and password and send the information out to almost 100 sites. If you want to reduce your setup costs, register your own sites with the same information and we will submit your videos for $20 per submission.

Traffic Optimizer is a crucial tool in making the most out of your website. Increasing the amount of page views, without spending a great deal of time, benefits your site in terms of search engine rankings, page views and overall traffic production.

You can find out more about Traffic Optimizer by visiting our site!

The Indian subcontinent is an exotic success story, home to some of the largest business process outsourcing companies in the world, some of the best technical colleges in Asia, and at least 69 billionaires. But while business journals hail the success of India Inc., there’s still another story to be told.

Microfinance in India is catching on—there are plenty of people in local villages who want to take advantage of it, and perhaps even more importantly, there are plenty of people in the monied class who are willing to fund it. Microfinance works especially well in India because of the way retail works. Although we always hear of big multinational chains wanting to move into the Indian market, the majority of retail is still informal—that is, most shops are very small, specialized, and run by family members. Unlike in the U.S., where you need an expensive storefront and tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of inventory, somebody in India can launch a small, informal retail shop with a relatively small amount of money. That start-up capital can easily be provided with microfinance.

Take the case of a young jewelry maker named Gulab, who has a talent for putting together beautiful necklaces. Never having finished high school, she was sent to work by her parents early on in a bidi factory, rolling the small, hand-rolled cigarettes in a tiny factory for less than a hundred rupees a day, to help support her family. The factory was actually one small room in the upstairs portion of an apartment building in Kolkata, where some twenty young people labored for ten hours a day in the stifling heat, with just one ancient electric fan to cool the entire room.

When the boss wasn’t looking one day, she started folding the cigarette papers into elaborate shapes and chaining them together into necklaces. She was caught, and was beaten for her trouble—but the necklace was a thing of beauty. She had a talent and an eye for design. She never made jewelry out of the cigarette papers again, but whenever she could get her hands on a few beads, she would save them in a tin box, and when it was full, she would beg her mother for a spool of thread, and string them together in wonderful patterns. One day she got up enough courage to offer one of her necklaces to a tourist that was wandering through the village, and she was presented with two American dollars—almost a full day’s wages at the bidi factory! She was uneducated, but smart enough to know where her future would be, if only she could get enough money to invest in some beads and a small push cart. When she heard of a microfinance opportunity from some of the village elders, she got some help in applying, and was fortunate enough to be able to make her plea in person and show her talent with some attractive hand-made jewelry. With an initial microfinance investment of 4,500 rupees – about US$100 – she was able to get everything she needed. She was able to pay back the loan in just a few months, and today is enjoying her new life as a jewelry vendor. And she’s set a new goal for herself—she wants to save up for a motorbike!

Keeping a secret can be tough – you want to share it with someone, but once you do, it stops being a secret. However, the secret we have is worth telling, because it’s going to help every member of Club Asteria who takes advantage of it!

Our latest secret is that we’ve teamed up with internet marketer Nate Bloom, who’s going to show our Gold Members how to earn additional income.

As the owner of Auto Marketing Pros, Nate is an experienced leader in internet marketing, and his secret is showing you how to take advantage of our Affiliate Program. This program rewards members who refer their friends and business associates to Club Asteria – when that person becomes a member, you receive a monthly financial reward!

You can join Nate’s growing group of successful followers by visiting this Facebook page and completing the online form. Please remember that you first have to be a Gold Level member of Club Asteria.

Once you’re signed up, you’ll have access to Nate’s personal coaching, training videos and other resources. He’ll hand you tips, tricks and strategies that unlock the door to success with Club Asteria!

We’re happy to be partnering with Nate Bloom, and his resources and experiences are going to help out Club Asteria members who are interested in succeeding. The extra income you generate with Nate’s guidance will improve the lives of your family members, friends and members of the community.

I’ve written in these pages in the past about how the retail industry in poor and developing nations is very informal, with stores often being run out of peoples’ homes, and put together on a very low budget. Now I’d like to tell you about how the restaurant business works in rural Thailand.

There are different types of restaurants throughout Thailand, ranging from five-star tourist destinations with the finest international cuisine, to very informal “footpath restaurants” that are set up along the sidewalk, and everything in between. In most of Thailand, you’ll see these footpath restaurants everywhere. What does it take to become a restaurateur in Thailand? You could of course, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a high-end destination, bring in one of the finest French chefs from Paris, and cater to rich tourists. But of course, if you’re like most people there, you don’t have that kind of money. In fact, you probably don’t have any money at all. But launching your own footpath restaurant isn’t a capital-intensive venture. You buy some cheap plastic tables and chairs, a wok and a propane tank, throw it in the back of your old pickup truck, and find a spot on the sidewalk. Make a few signs. Unload your paraphernalia and start cooking. Voila, you’re a restaurateur! If only it were so easy in the U.S. and Canada!

Tourists are often afraid to eat at these places, because the food tends to be very local and unfamiliar, and English is less likely to be spoken. Many are skittish about eating food that is being cooked out in the open. But it’s a great experience, and I recommend it highly if you ever have the chance to travel to Southeast Asia. You’ll get the real experience—real Thai food that the locals eat—and get to interact with some of the most friendly and interesting people in the world. The first time I ate at one of these places, I was with my Thai friend who ordered for us. I had no idea what was in store, but the food was wonderful, savory and fresh, and lunch for both of us cost 150 baht—about four U.S. dollars. I have to admit, I ate some things I probably wouldn’t have ordinarily ordered, but the fried fish maw was a lot tastier than I ever would have imagined. We ordered an exceptionally spicy Tom Yum Goong soup, and cooled off with a wonderful dessert of mango and sticky rice.

Everywhere in the country, from Hat Yai to Chiang Mai, these food stalls provide good food at cheap prices to locals and tourists alike. But the biggest miracle is the opportunities these small food stalls present to people with few options at hand. Twenty-six year old Noi learned how to make pad thai noodles from her grandma. Grandma had a reputation for making the best noodles in the neighborhood when Noi was a little girl, and Noi always paid special attention when Grandma was cooking in her traditional outdoor cooking area.

A year ago Noi, having lost her job at a small retail store, decided she’d like to open up her own footpath noodle stall near her modest apartment in Nonthaburi, a bustling suburb of Bangkok. With the help of a microloan, she was able to get the equipment she needed, an initial supply of ingredients, and some signage. She already had the most important part—the lessons and inspiration her grandmother had given her years ago as a little girl.

Today, Noi makes twice as much as she ever did as a retail clerk (minimum wage in Thailand is about fifty cents an hour), and she’s fast gaining a reputation as the “Noodle Lady of Nonthaburi”.

We’re always so pleased when we here at Club Asteria hear about people like Noi, whose lives have been transformed for the better, with just a little help from some unknown friends. Join our group today and help us in our effort to promote microlending around the world.

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.