Please Note: We receive e-mails from people who have signed up for the Tuesday Report, and then tell us they’re not receiving our weekly announcement. In most cases this is because they’re blocking unwanted e-mails.

To ensure that our weekly Tuesday Report e-mail announcement reaches your mail box, we suggest you add bmeyer@barternews.com to your address book or safe sender list.

If you are a frequent visitor to our site we suggest you hit the �refresh� button from time to time as we add information to our site several times a week

�Major Bonus� Awaits IRTA Convention Attendees

The 32 annual international convention staged each year by IRTA will have something of special interest for those in attendance at the four-star Aventura Spa Palace Resort on Mexico�s Riviera Maya.

IRTA has announced that attendees who register by August 26 will receive up to $1,500 in resort credit per room, per stay, with a 5+ night stay. (Or up to $750 resort credit with a 4-night stay, and $500 for a 3-night stay.)

Room credit can be used at the spa, for golf, wine, upgrades, and tours at the nearby Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza.

For more information on registration click here.

In Just A Few Minutes You Could Be Reading Your Favorite Issue Of BarterNews

All 64 Issues are now loadable �click here.

NATE Convention Announcement Of Board & Committee Members

The National Association of Trade Exchanges (NATE) held their 27^th annual convention at the Phoenix Marriott Mesa Hotel in Phoenix where more than 20 trade exchanges attended.

The convention, hosted by Arizona Trade Exchange, consisted of seminars for trade exchange owners, brokers, and sales representatives. Along with the seminars and discussion panels, convention attendees had a good time this year at the many social events planned as a means for networking. Those events included the NATE Trade Out and the awards banquet that was held at the F1 Racing Factory � a fun place in and of itself.

Additionally, NATE offered Certified Trade Broker (CTB) training to attending brokers. Of the 20 brokers taking the exam, 14 passed and are now Registered Trade Brokers. After completing the rest of the training requirements, they will then move on to become CTBs.

We would like to congratulate the following elected additions to the NATE board and committees:

�         Gary Oshry, of New England Trade, was re-elected as Board President.

�         Ric Zampatti, of The Barter Company, was re-elected as Board Vice President.

�         Danny Weibling was voted in as Board Treasurer.

�         Rachel Taylor Hooper, of Alamo Barter, was re-elected as a Board Director.

�         Rob Miller, of Arizona Trade Exchange, was voted in as a Board Director.

�         Paul Richardson, of Arizona Trade Exchange, was re-elected to the Ethics Committee.

For more info on the recent convention click here or contact Lauren Pound at (678) 302-6772.

Is Your Trade Exchange Missing Out On Valuable New Business?

If your barter company�s listing on BarterNews.com isn�t current, you are definitely missing out on new business. The web site BarterNews.com receives heavy traffic � with over 150,000 page-views every month. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives check the thousands of articles, the weekly �Tuesday Report,� and the �Contacts Section� of our site. They use the latter to find barter companies with which to do business.

Is your barter company�s listing up-to-date?

To keep your listing current is very easy. See the links below to (A) update any changes to your company�s listing, such as new location, phone number, web site or other information, and (B) if your company has not been listed.

Here�s how to get on board:

To make changes to your listing click here.

For new listings click here.

Cruise Lines Provide Economic Benefits

According to a new economic impact study commissioned by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a record 14.8 million people cruised in 2010, including just over 10 million Americans. That's 10.3% more than the number that cruised in 2009, the largest single-year jump since 2003.

The study, released last week, also indicated that 329,943 jobs were generated by the North American cruise industry in 2010, contributing $15.2 billion in wages. The cruise industry�s total economic impact in the U.S. in 2010 amounted to $37.85 billion of gross output, 7.8% more than in 2009.

The primary sources of the economic benefits are:

+ spending by cruise passengers and crew; 

+ cruise line shoreside staffing for headquarters, marketing and tour operations;

+ cruise line spending for goods and services necessary for cruise operations;

+ cruise line spending for port services;

+ cruise line spending at U.S. shipyards for ship maintenance and repairs.

CLIA�s Chairman Howard Frank said, �These job numbers are good news given the challenging economy. We are pleased with the strong gains in the cruise industry�s economic contributions, and that CLIA-member lines were directly or indirectly responsible for putting nearly 330,000 Americans to work.�

Five Secrets For Making It Big

Have you ever wondered how certain uber wealthy high-profile, executives became so successful? Executives who made it big probably don�t have more powerful brain cells than you � but what he (or she) probably does have are three non-glamorous but crucial qualities: focus, discipline, and follow-up.

�These three qualities might not sound extraordinary, but they can truly set you apart,� says Michael Feuer, cofounder and former CEO of OfficeMax and author of the new book The Benevolent Dictator: Empower Your Employees, Build Your Business, and Outwit the Competition (www.benevolentdictator.biz).

�The truth is, there isn�t a simple magic bullet that will propel you straight to the top. Success in any endeavor, especially business, really comes down to specific character traits and habits. If you have those qualities, you�ll excel. And if you don�t, you probably won�t.�

Feuer speaks from experience, having launched a number of successful business ventures, including OfficeMax and his latest business Max-Wellness, a unique health and wellness chain. He insists that making sure that you consistently work with focus and discipline, and always follow-up are crucial ingredients of getting the results you want. This is true whether you�re launching a start-up, leading a team of employees, or going after that big promotion.

�Before you ever craft a sales strategy or walk into a client meeting, whether or not you have a chance of success has already been decided by how you think about your work, what you have to do, and how you do it,� Feuer asserts. �Outcomes are shaped by your focus, discipline, and commitment to follow-up � or lack thereof. It�s important to remember that achievements are often less dependent on your technical know-how and more dependent on how you organize and think.�

Learn what these three qualities look like in practice, and how you can make them work for you:

Take good notes. Taking notes in business is just as important as it was in your advanced economics class in college. Your brain isn�t always as powerful as you think it is, and having a written record of your boss�s project analysis or your colleague�s sales strategy can save you from having �oh darn� moments. It can set you apart from the pack, putting you on a straighter path to success.

�I�ll frequently dictate the notes from a meeting the second I walk out, or appoint someone to act as a scribe beforehand,� Feuer shares. �I keep all of my past notes in a folder on my computer, and I also always make sure to jot down next steps. These habits ensure that nothing falls off the radar unintentionally, and that I always have a good idea of what needs to happen next.

�Oh yes, I often shock new team members by writing the letters �FU� and a date at the bottom of my notes. New people are always relieved when they learn that those letters aren�t a pejorative, but a shorthand I use as a reminder to �follow-up� by a specific date!�

Do what you say you will, period. In today�s dog-eat-dog environment, a person�s word isn�t always his or her bond. And that�s a shame. When you fail to follow through on promises and commitments, you imply that you lack discipline and perhaps shouldn�t be trusted with more important tasks and objectives. However, if you cultivate a reputation for being completely reliable, you�ll enjoy more responsibility and success as well as better business relationships.

�I routinely tell my employees that I�m not their father and won�t babysit them. If they tell me they�re going to do something, they�d better make good on that assurance,� Feuer says. �I can�t afford to have people on the team who are undependable. However, I do provide alternatives by giving everyone three acceptable excuses:

(A) they can tell me that they can�t finish on time,

(B) or they don�t want to do it my way, because they have a better idea,

(C) or that they think their assignment isn�t worth the effort and can convince me why.�

Give homework assignments. A leader�s job is to make people think and discover alternatives. It�s a great way to determine who on your team you can rely on and who is capable of taking a project to the next level. You can afford to invest in developing someone who is interested in developing.

�When I give assignments, I keep a running tally of what happened or changed from previous sessions on the same topic or project,� Feuer elaborates. �No matter if you�re on the giving or receiving end of homework, remember that the way these assignments are handled is a great way to gauge attitude, commitment, potential, reliability, and whether or not someone is a player.�

Scrap your iron-clad five-year plan. Being able to work with focus and discipline is generally a good thing, unless you�re focusing on things that won�t help you or propel you forward! To help prevent this, Feuer recommends developing a short-term plan with a six- to nine-month outlook. This plan will help you get through the year.

He also recommends creating a longer-term plan with an eighteen-month strategy. It will encompass the goals and benchmarks you need to achieve during this time period. Why have two plans instead of one? Well, the world is simply evolving too fast to rely on a one-size-fits-all five-year plan.

�I�ve found that many organizations spend too much time thinking about what�s going to happen way down the road, when all they�re doing is guessing. And when their predictions turn out to be inaccurate, they find out too late that they�ve been focusing their efforts on the wrong things,� he says. �You must always be ready to modify your plans when necessary, change quickly, and deal with the unexpected. That�s what will make the difference between a company that might get by and one that is good or even great.�

Use a rifle, not a shotgun. When you fire a shotgun, your shot hits a wider area, but it lacks focused precision. In business, a shotgun approach gets the job done � but usually without outstanding results. A rifle or laser-sharp approach will take more planning and forethought, but in the end you�ll probably save time and resources. It pays to identify exactly what needs to be done, and then focusing relentlessly on accomplishing those objectives.