Tag Archives: Tips

10 Top Tips to Improve Your IELTS Score

So you’re thinking of taking the IELTS test and want to maximise your score? Here are my top ten tips based on my many years of teaching IELTS to a variety of students in different countries. They are presented in no particular order.

Top Tip One

Prepare, prepare, prepare….yes, I know it sounds obvious, but I have known many “over confident” candidates take the test with little or no preparation. One candidate told me that they had lived and studied in America for over 4 years and so considered their English level to that of a native speaker. He was expecting to score at least an 8.0 – unfortunately he only scored 6.5 because he didn’t understand the way the test works. A good preparation course will prepare you for the test and enable you to achieve a score based on your true English level. Look for reputable schools or online courses.

Top Tip Two

Speed! One of the criticisms of the IELTS test is that it asks the candidates to do too much in too little time. Many candidates find that they do not have enough time particularly in the reading and writing sections. So what can you do?.

Start by doing a search on the internet for speed reading techniques – there are many good sites with some excellent tips. Once you are confident that you have mastered the techniques read some IELTS practice papers and time yourself. Is it taking too long? If so, why? Maybe your vocabulary needs improving or perhaps you need more practice with the speed reading techniques. In general try to read as much as possible in the lead up to your test.

Speeding up your writing can be just as daunting, especially when you have to come up with your own ideas during the test to answer the question. To help speed up your writing practice writing out paragraphs from a book and time yourself – make sure that you are not squeezing the pen too tightly, but use a relaxed grip with a fluid motion.

Listening takes practice – listen to English as much as possible so that your ear becomes attuned to the language. Listen to the radio in English or turn off the subtitles on a DVD movie. Try having an English evening out with friends to practice both your listening and speaking – one group I knew used to have a small fine for anyone using a non-English word during the evening and they gave the money to charity each week.

Top Tip Three

Make sure you read the examination instructions – too many candidates just dive into the test without taking this important step. The instructions can contain vital information needed to answer the questions correctly. For example the listening test instructions may contain details about the place where the ‘conversation’ is taking place. e.g. the student dormitory. You might think you are saving time by skipping the instructions but it may cost you in the long term.

Top Tip Four

Keep up in the listening test – unlike in reading and writing, in the listening part of the test you have no control over the timing. If you notice that other candidates are writing and you are not then you may well be lost – do not panic – listen for the sound of other candidates turning to the next page and do likewise. You may well find that you can get back on track just by following what the other candidates are doing..

Top Tip Five

Don’t leave blanks – in both reading and listening you are required to answer a variety of question types including multiple choice, gapfills, short answer and so on. If time is short or you have no idea of the answer then GUESS. When guessing use logic to try to work out the answer and make sure you insert the appropriate answer style. You do not lose marks for the wrong answer and you may get lucky and earn a few extra points.

Top Tip Six

In the speaking test – it may not feel like it – but this is the one part of the test that you have control over. To be in control you must be willing to talk, and be positive. As with any interview first impressions count – if you are asked a question give more than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Be helpful and willing to answer questions. As a general rule you should be speaking about 70-80% of the time. Show the examiner that you are fluent and have good grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. Be careful of your body language – your body can take on a life of its own when you are under stress. Sit comfortably, with good posture and hold your hands together in your lap in a ‘formal style.’ Be aware that your examiner may not come from the same cultural background as you so controlled body movements are usually the best strategy.

Top Tip Seven

In most speaking test interviews you will be asked to introduce yourself – be careful not to become a robot: my-name-is-George-and-I-graduated-from-xyz-university … try to be natural and friendly, a person who is willing to speak and has interesting things to say. To get better at introducing yourself write out a “2 minute me” on a piece of paper. Include information that you think is interesting and maybe a bit different from other candidates. Then go out and practice, firstly with people that you know and then with people you don’t know – is the content interesting? Does it sound natural when you speak? and so on. How do people react when they hear it? Adjust the content as appropriate.

Top Tip Eight

Articles – many candidates find the use of articles one of the most difficult tasks in English. There are two kinds of articles in English, the definite and indefinite. The definite article (the) can be singular or plural. The indefinite article (a or an) is singular. Check your writing to make sure that you have included and used articles in the correct format. Use a good grammar book to practice your use of articles before the test.

Top Tip Nine

Keep up to date with current affairs. Make sure that you read a newspaper each day because the IELTS writing tasks are based on items of general interest. In theory no special knowledge is required to answer the questions but it is always useful to have a knowledge of topics that are of concern particularly in English speaking countries. For example, you probably know about global warming but do you have sufficient ideas and vocabulary to write an essay arguing for or against the banning of cars in city centres?

Top Tip Ten

Writing word count – writing task one usually requires you to write 150 words and writing task two 250. If you fail to write a lot less than the correct number of words the maximum score you can be awarded is 5.0. If you write too many words in one task and not enough in the other again you will be penalized. The best strategy is to keep an eye on the clock – divide the time by the total number of words that are required for each task, generally 20 minutes for writing task one and 40 minutes for writing task two. However, as stated before, read the questions carefully and make sure you follow the instructions in your test.

Good luck with your IELTS test, and remember, prepare, prepare, prepare!

3 Network Marketing Tips That Guarantees Sign Ups of MLM Reps

In Early 2010 I joined the Network Marketing Industry and till today it has been the best decision I have ever made. It is quite funny how much money one can make if they spend time to learn some very basic skills.

These Network Marketing tips I will be sharing with you today are personal experiences I have had from consistently learning from leaders and these network marketing tips are things that I personally do to recruit people into my business.

When you finally understand these principles and follow these network marketing tips I am about to share with you, there is no limit to amount of money you can create for yourself and your family. It is possible… ONLY IF YOU’RE SERIOUS.

Most people will never make a penny in this industry because they think they got everything figure out.

One of my favorite quotes of all time was by one of my favorite authors Robert Kiyosaki. He said

“The Rich and Professionals have coaches, but the poor and amateur do not”

A common trait of every serious entrepreneur is that they always seek a mentor and they always want to learn from successful people. They do this because they know they do not have all the answers yet.

Most new marketers NEVER take advice; they assume they know it all… This is why they simply do not make money.

With that aspect covered, let me share with you 3 network marketing tips that will ensure you sponsor 1 new rep per day into your business.

Network Marketing Tips #1- Choose a good Company

Now most will say, well duh.. but majority of people will just jump into a company because of HYPE and FLUFFS. They simply hear about an amazing compensation plan and they rush right in and get wiped out.

So a couple of things you want to have at the back of your mind.

1.) Make sure the company or product matches your core value (You MUST be passionate about the product and your goals and that of the company must match). If you are not passionate about the product you won’t be able to retail it effectively. You must personally believe in your product.

2.) Make sure they have leaders in the company who are really devoted to changing the lives of people with their products and with real life education.

3.) Make sure they have leaders that are PERSONALLY committed to teaching you their marketing secrets- If your Up line has no marketing skills or isn’t willing to invest time in showing you how to build and duplicate, you basically have been screwed BIG. This is why most people fail in Network marketing… no marketing training

4.) The company’s products must have a really good market; preferably look for a company that has a developing trend… (Huge secret… Baby boomers are about to retire and the U.S dollar is about to COLLAPSE… something to think about)

Network Marketing tips #2- Create a no objection sponsoring system.

In my whole years of marketing online, the realization of this concept was what made me know that you can virtually print your own money through network marketing.

Here is what you’ll need

1.) A compelling, powerful Lead Capture Page to capture the name and email address of leads

2.) A Sales Page- This should contain your Company’s Presentation or a webinar.

3.) An Application form at the end of presentation.

Now the next step is to create an ad and target the people with whom you know would be interested in your business. Facebook now has close to 700 million users (Bigger than the United States and is the 3rd largest population of people in the world!!).

CRAIGSLIST- Craigslist unlike Facebook, your ads are 100% completely FREE. Craigslist has over 20 Billion page views per month, it is ranked #7 in world wide in terms of page views, it is #9 in total traffic in the U.S.A, and 50 million people just in the U.S.A uses Craigslist.

I left a link at the end of this article were you can access these training on Facebook and Craigslist.

When you create TARGET ADS and set up a system like this with an application form at the end of the presentation, if they like what they saw THEY will need to fill out an application.

This will automatically place you as an UPLINE and them as their DOWNLINE because the person asking questions always holds the power and controls everything and this way you are only talking to people already sold and are interested in your business.

I personally teach people the kind of questions to ask in the application form to qualify a prospect before you even pick up the phone and call.

If you create this system, then when you call your prospects they are already credit card in hand ready to join.

Network Marketing tips #3- Talk to AT LEAST 10 people per day

After creating this system, you would have ELIMINATED any objections by a prospect. This is because the application form ready qualified them. They obviously like what they saw. The ad attracted them, they loved the information on your lead capture page else they wouldn’t opt in, they watch your presentation, they liked what they saw, and they decided they want in (that is why they filled all the fields in the application form right).

If you apply these network marketing tips as I have outlined here, you will succeed.

Now generate 10+ leads per day online with the above system and call all of them and sign them up based on the answers they presented to you in the form.

For example you asked them in the form “how many hours per day are you willing to invest in building your business to make X amount of dollars”. Say he says 3 hours per day and want to make an extra $5000 per month

(Key Note: It is all about posturing). Now you are on the phone with John

YOU: Now John you told me you were willing to invest 3 hours per day to make this work… is there anything else am missing? John (says no not really, I really like what I saw and would like to know more)

YOU: Very cool… here is what am going to do John… am going to invite you into my inner circle, you going to join this (tell them they are joining…VERY IMPORTANT… remember they want to join else they won’t entered their phone number to be contacted) you going to join this John and we are going to work together in creating that $5,000 a month game plan sounds fair?

He says Yes/absolutely/sounds great etc.

Go ahead and enroll him/her to your business… it’s that simple. That’s how easy it to recruit on the phone

If you go through all this and you are constantly talking to 10 people a day and putting them through this process… do you think you would recruit at LEAST 1 person a day to your business? You will, only if you do it.

So those are my network marketing tips. Apply them and see a whole new world of possibilities open to you. This industry is fun and has the potential for making you very wealthy fast if you do the right things.

Now most people (about 98%) would look at all this tips and say to themselves “well it all sounds good, I keep look for the right answers” and they would end up going back to what they previously do.

To those who TAKE ACTION, they will see success.

See you are the TOP

Kelechi Ibe
Business Building Experts &
Attraction Marketing Strategist
Direct: 832 790 6946
Email: kelechi (at) ibewealth (dot) com
SKYPE: ebaykc