Cyprus: Birthplace of Aphrodite

Cyprus, probably named for its copper, smelted since Neolithic times, is the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite. Two impressive mountain ranges surround a huge fertile plain and lovely beaches circle the coastline. Its climate has long attracted visitors, it is now renowned as a place for retirement – or partying.

Lying close to the Middle East and always strategically important, it was taken by many great powers including Greece. Rome and Egypt. The long reign of the French Lusignan dynasty brought prosperity and Roman Catholicism. In 1570 the Turks took the island.

It became a UK Crown Colony after World War II Independence came in 1960, but intercommunal strife increased and in 1974 an unsuccessful Greek coup prompted a Turkish invasion. The island was divided. It is now possible to cross the border, but violence and negotiation alternate and rules can change overnight.

However, north or south, the islanders are warmly welcoming and Cyprus has many attractions. The southeast with its raucous resorts also has archaeological sites and sunsets from Aphrodite’s ‘birthplace’ at the Rock of Remios. Pafos, though surrounded by development, remains a charming town. To the northwest is the remote Akanas Peninsula, with further isolated regions along the coastal hinterland, the magnificent Troodos region has forested mountains, lost villages, painted churches, unique wildlife and winegrowing.

In the North, small resorts cluster around the beautiful harbour town of Kyrenia. Famagusta is full of ruined Gothic churches inside its golden stone walls; outside lies a haunted, wired-off modern town, The rocky coast and bristling Kyrenia range hold unspoilt beaches and villages, classical sites, monasteries and Crusader castles.

Lefkosia (Nicosia) is the world’s only divided capital, Inside the massive Venetian fortifications, both sides – the cosmopolitan south and the north with its dusty lanes – are fascinating. Both have streets which end in a wall fluttering with defiant flags.

For all your travel needs both international and domestic talk to Flight Centre. We have cheap flights to Sydney, cheap flights to Melbourne and cheap flights to Perth, call or visit today.

The Cocos Islands

Stick a pin in a globe through the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and it emerges almost exactly through the Cocos in Costa Rica.

Discovered in 1609, these islands were settled and owned by a single family from 1827 until the Australian Government forcibly acquired them in 1978 for a payment of over $6 million.

Lying 2,770 km (1,732 ml) northwest of Perth, the 27 coral islands are formed into two large, heavily vegetated atolls. Not only are they the only atolls that Darwin ever visited, but the coral ecosystem remains intact and you can still see in their pristine condition exactly why they played such an important part in his theory of evolution.

North Keeling, set apart from the other islands, isn’t even inhabited; but you can see extreme rarities like the Cocos buff-banded rail, robber land crabs, and both green and hawksbill turtles among other wonders, under its protection as Pulu Keeling National Park, covering both North Keeling and its surrounding waters.

The 600 or so Cocos (Keeling) islanders live on Home and West Islands, both given over to copra and coconut plantations that only add to their tropical glamour. There is no tourist industry at all. Instead, there are facilities for visitors, sponsored by islanders who take an almost personal interest in everyone who comes.

If you happen to be there, you’re genuinely welcome to participate in the school fete, sports day, or concert night; and you’d be unwise not to join in quiz night at the Cocos Club, or not to watch the annual Ardmona Cup Aussie Rules football match. The tradition of hospitality is both Australian and Malay, representing the origins of the tight-knit community.

The islanders, as much as the islands themselves, have retained a form of unpolluted innocence, and share a mutual respect that visitors immediately respond to. These islands are a dreamscape worthy of Gauguin.

Interested in Australian holidays or Vietnam holidays? For great holiday deals and cheap international flights, talk to Flight Centre today.

Selling Skills

“I can’t sell”, I hear you say. Rubbish, everybody can sell. If you ever got hired, sold your car or sold yourself to another person (ie. got married or formed a relationship), you have proven your ability to sell. We sell ideas to other people all the time, we just don’t see it as selling.

The role of a sales person is to find out what the customer wants rather than whether the customer wants something at all. Once this is done, a sales person should then help the customer satisfy that need to the customers’ satisfaction. The principle skills a winning salesperson needs are:

* Putting your customers in a acceptance state of mind, making them feel at ease and unpressured.

* Showing interest in their requests or problems.

* Using opinions as selling points (both yours and theirs).

* Supplying facts and helpful data.

* Answering objections in a positive way and never becoming defensive or aggressive.

* Seeing things from the customer’s point of view.

* Suggesting additional merchandise or services.(Value adding)

* Building repeat business.

It’s important that you learn to apply these skills, although if you use courtesy, friendliness, honesty and you know what you’re talking about, you’re 90% there. Not difficult when you think about it.

I know of quite a few small business people who would never consider themselves sales people but have remarkable success at selling their products and services by just being themselves. Is this being a good sales person? Probably.

An old friend of mine, Steve owns a book business in one of Perth’s trendier suburbs. He spent many years of his life working for the military. It never ceases to amaze me, and his business partner, how this “untrained” person can sell products by just being himself. He is a natural salesman.

On the days he looks after the shop instead of his partner, the sales are always up compared to when he’s not there. If you were to ask him if he thought he was a good salesman he would probably say no, but the sales figures speak for themselves.

He does it by being a friendly, nice guy that loves a joke and a chat with his customers. Most of his clients would never go elsewhere because they like him. I’m sure even if he put his prices up, he would still attract the same clients because they have a relationship with him. They feel good about shopping at his shop; he makes sure they do. Everybody can sell, simply use your own personality and be friendly and courteous. Treat customers the way you would like to be treated.

Top sales people make a point of remembering regular customers’ names, ensuring each time they come to the store they receive a small discount or offering other little extras like helping them to the car with their parcels. As I mentioned before with my friend, he fosters friendships with his regular customers. This fosters loyalty to the business by the customer, quite often regardless of price, because they get preferential treatment. You’ve probably had the feeling yourself when you constantly use a particular business and each time you walk in the people don’t just ask for the order.

Generally, sales people feel awkward about asking the customer for the order. These sales people will never be really successful in sales. A lot of sales are lost simply because the sales person doesn’t put the onus back on the customer to make a decision, they simply leave the whole matter up in the air which allows the potential customer to quietly drift out the door without having to commit themselves to a buying decision. How many times do you do this? I do it all the time and think to myself, “I’m glad nobody put me under pressure, I probably would have spent money”.

This article supplied by forex trading, sales course and web

designer brisbane.