Exploring Sex Trafficking and Prostitution Demand During the Super Bowl: Dray Carson

Much has been said about the impact of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking, most of which indicates it is a key variable leading to a dramatic increase in commercial sexual exploitation and victimization. Recent reports and dozens of news articles strongly point to the Super Bowl as the most prominent national event where sex trafficking flourishes, with estimates of as many as 10,000 victims flooding host cities to be offered to willing purchasers intent on buying sex. While this has attracted a great deal of attention in the media and has served as a key point in the national dialogue on sex trafficking, support for such assertions has been sparse.

While some such inquiries have been conducted capably, evidence supported research on the influence of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking has been limited. With the support of the McCain Institute, researchers from Arizona State University sought to investigate and understand the true impact of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking, to further the national discussion on sex trafficking and its local and national impact as well as to develop a baseline understanding of regional sex trafficking trends for the 2015 Super Bowl which is to be held in Phoenix. What follows is what we believe to be the first comprehensive and systematic review of the quagmire that is the Super Bowl and sex trafficking and the first attempt to add clarity to a complex, national epidemic.

Source Credit: http://www.mccaininstitute.org/programs/humanitarian-action/exploring-sex-trafficking-and-prostitution-demand-during-the-super-bowl

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Andraya Carson: What does Superbowl and Sex Trafficking Have in Common? Find out.

Much has been said about the impact of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking, most of which indicates it is a key variable leading to a dramatic increase in commercial sexual exploitation and victimization. Recent reports and dozens of news articles strongly point to the Super Bowl as the most prominent national event where sex trafficking flourishes, with estimates of as many as 10,000 victims flooding host cities to be offered to willing purchasers intent on buying sex. While this has attracted a great deal of attention in the media and has served as a key point in the national dialogue on sex trafficking, support for such assertions has been sparse. While some such inquiries have been conducted capably, evidence supported research on the influence of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking has been limited.

With the support of the McCain Institute, researchers from Arizona State University sought to investigate and understand the true impact of the Super Bowl on sex trafficking, to further the national discussion on sex trafficking and its local and national impact as well as to develop a baseline understanding of regional sex trafficking trends for the 2015 Super Bowl which is to be held in Phoenix. What follows is what we believe to be the first comprehensive and systematic review of the quagmire that is the Super Bowl and sex trafficking and the first attempt to add clarity to a complex, national epidemic.

Please click here to read the full report

Source Credit: This article first appeared on the McCain Institute Website

Andraya Carson is a success in everything she does- find out more about Dray Carson

Andraya (Dray) Carson is an entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in business development, operations, sales, marketing and consulting.  She began her career as a financial advisor and quickly advanced to the position of Managing Partner for a Phoenix based, full financial planning firm, and was recognized as the top advisor each year.  Additionally, Miss Carson created and implemented training programs, documented procedures and participated in product development. She then co-founded a private equity firm where she led the Investor Relations division and the managed the firm’s operations. In 2009 Miss Carson launched Carson Connections, a boutique business development firm, and enjoys working personally with small to mid-size business owners from a variety of industries, helping them identify the possibilities of their business and find solutions to significantly improve productivity and profitability.

Currently Miss Carson is also a Business Advisor with G&A Partners, a licensed professional employer organization (PEO) founded in 1995.  Together they provide best-in-class solutions that take businesses to the next level, creating a more streamline approach to managing Human Resources, and gaining access to better benefits, stress-free payroll and administrative relief

Andrya Carson: 7 Steps to successful cold calling

Hello all you sales people who hate cold calling!!! I read this article and it helped me, so I am passing it on to you!

(MoneyWatch) A reader writes:

Will you share strategies that work best when breaking the ice with new prospects over the phone? I have to make some 20-30 calls within a 2 hour period and most clients are rushed and hurried and I find myself racing to get to the point, leaving very little time to build rapport. How do I build rapport immediately in these circumstances? I am genuinely interested in building a relationship to learn as much as I can about their core issues so I can build proposals that directly address their objectives and needs. What’s the best way to engage them (in 30 seconds or less I imagine), which would cause them relax somewhat so they want to share information with you. If you would be willing to share this, I would appreciate it very much.

Absolutely.

Before we get started, though, you need to be aware that there’s a vast difference of opinion, among experts and sales pros alike, about the effectiveness of cold-calling.

Many sales experts think cold-calling is a waste of time and prefer other forms of generating leads. Others see cold-calling as a last resort, while still others see it as a mainspring of any effective sales process.

Later, I’ll discuss some of those other viewpoints. For now, let’s just get the basics down. Andrea Sittig-Rolf, author of “The Seven Keys to Effective Business-to-Business Appointment Setting” is an extremely well-known proponent of cold-calling as a lead-generation technique.

When I spoke with Andrea a couple of years ago, she observed that cold-calling is all about getting the appointment. She therefore gears the entire cold-calling process toward achieving that end. Here’s a summary of her approach:

Research a list of prospects. Before making your calls, research your prospects. Look for prospects who have a similar profile to those who have bought from the past. They’ll be easier to sell. Next to each prospect, note any of your current customers in the prospect’s industry, region, job classification, or anything else that might help you to position your offering. Don’t spend a lot of time on this, just find out enough so that you can pitch using terms that the prospect can understand.

Build your script. Once you know whom you’re going to call, focus on what you’re going to say. Write a brief script (no more than three or four sentences) that introduces who you are, what you do, and what you provide. An effective script asks for the appointment early. Please note that the purpose of the script is NOT to communicate substantive information about your offering. Instead, the purpose of the phone call is to win the right to actually sell to the prospect.

Anticipate objections. Each time one of them materializes, you’ll need to handle them appropriately… and then ask for the appointment. Most objections are common to all sales situations, so you should have little or no trouble listing them out. The trick here is to practice handling objections until the response is automatic. Note: the most important part of handling the objection is asking for the appointment.

Get positive and get calling. Attitude is everything. If your offering has value to the customer, you’re doing the prospect a favor by giving him or her the opportunity to meet with you. Therefore, have confidence in your ability to provide value. That confidence not only helps you communicate more effectively, it provides the motivation that will drive you to actually sit down and start making the cold calls.

Leave a message (if necessary). If you end up in the contact’s voice-mail system, don’t despair. Leave a very brief message based upon your calling script. However, rather than setting a time for an appointment, say that you’ll be calling back on a certain date and time, but would appreciate a callback. The next time you call, ask the admin if the contact is in. If not, tell the admin that you’ve been trying to connect with the contact and would like to know when would be a good time to call.

Handle the objections. Once you’ve got the contact on the line, execute the script. Don’t read it! Put it into your own words, with enthusiasm. In almost every case, you will get at least one, and probably more, objections. Since you’ve anticipated these objections, you should respond to them as necessary and then ask for the appointment again. If you receive more than 3 objections, it’s fair to assume that the prospect is not going to meet with you, so thank the prospect and politely end the call.

Repeat the process on a daily basis. if you’re determined to excel, commit to an hour a day attempting to achieve two appointments. If it takes fifteen minutes to get the two appointments, then you can quit early. Practice this regularly and, according to Andrea, you’ll very quickly have a calendar full of qualified prospects.

This post originally appeared on BNET.com

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

ByGEOFFREY JAMESMONEYWATCH  Originally posted on: September 20, 2012, 1:49 PM

Andraya Carson is a Success as Panelist for the Oprah's launch event for Live the Life You Want to Live in Atlanta

Andraya Carson recently spoke at a Women's Conference in Atlanta, starting off the weekend of Oprah's The Life You Want to Live tour launch.  Because of Dray Carson's extensive business experience in the areas of Business Development, Sales, and Outsourcing, Andraya Carson's topic was how to do it all without having to do it all. The panelists interacted with the audience and viewers offered feedback that Andraya  Carson's input was valuable in their business and personal lives. Dray Carson shared the stage with Mary Lou Henner, Dr. Melinda Silva, and other thought leaders in their areas of expertise. There were 300 in person attendees and an additional 500 live stream attendees. There were over 13,000 attendees to Oprah's event, where she personal recognized the COO that invited Andraya Carson to be a part of the event.

Andraya Carson is also passionate about speaking up against Sex Salvery and Human Trafficking in the USA and globally.

Andraya Carson :: Our Minimum Wage is Low, Really Low

The value of the federal minimum wage has been on a steady decline since it peaked in the late 1960s. In fact, it’s worth 20 percent less today than it was in the 1980s, making it difficult for a full-time worker to pay their monthly bills or even buy the basic necessities. With an income of $15,000 a year, this puts many workers – including many with families to support – below the poverty line.

In fact, the U.S. lags behind many countries when it comes to the minimum wage as a percentage of median income. In America, far too many people at the bottom of the income ladder are working harder and harder but still falling behind.

That’s why President Obama has proposed that we raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. The president’s opportunity agenda is about rewarding hard work and responsibility with fair pay. And that’s why he and Secretary Perez are pushing so hard for an increase.
Raising the minimum wage isn’t just the right thing to do for working families — it’s the smart thing to do to grow our economy. Consumer spending accounts for almost 70% of GDP.  Business owners know that in an economy driven by consumer demand, more money in people’s pockets means more customers for them. That’s especially true for low-wage working people. When you put more money in their pockets, they don’t stash it in offshore bank accounts, they pump it right back into the economy – spending it on groceries, gas, school supplies and more. In fact, more than 3 in 5 small business owners support a $10.10 minimum wage.
Additional spending from this increase could help the U.S. compete on the global stage; greater consumer spending and a higher GDP mean a stronger economy – and fewer countries outranking us when it comes to comparing the purchasing power of our minimum wage to theirs.
by JASON SURBEY on SEPTEMBER 7, 2014
For full article visit: http://social.dol.gov/blog/our-minimum-wage-is-low-really-low/
For more information on ideas on how to lower your overall labor costs, while increasing your value in the market place as an employer of choice, please contact Andraya (dray) Carson for a complimentary consultation at G&A Partners, at acarson@gnapartners.com. 

 

Andraya Carson :: Our Minimum Wage is Low, Really Low

The value of the federal minimum wage has been on a steady decline since it peaked in the late 1960s. In fact, it’s worth 20 percent less today than it was in the 1980s, making it difficult for a full-time worker to pay their monthly bills or even buy the basic necessities. With an income of $15,000 a year, this puts many workers – including many with families to support – below the poverty line.

In fact, the U.S. lags behind many countries when it comes to the minimum wage as a percentage of median income. In America, far too many people at the bottom of the income ladder are working harder and harder but still falling behind.

That’s why President Obama has proposed that we raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. The president’s opportunity agenda is about rewarding hard work and responsibility with fair pay. And that’s why he and Secretary Perez are pushing so hard for an increase.
Raising the minimum wage isn’t just the right thing to do for working families — it’s the smart thing to do to grow our economy. Consumer spending accounts for almost 70% of GDP.  Business owners know that in an economy driven by consumer demand, more money in people’s pockets means more customers for them. That’s especially true for low-wage working people. When you put more money in their pockets, they don’t stash it in offshore bank accounts, they pump it right back into the economy – spending it on groceries, gas, school supplies and more. In fact, more than 3 in 5 small business owners support a $10.10 minimum wage.
Additional spending from this increase could help the U.S. compete on the global stage; greater consumer spending and a higher GDP mean a stronger economy – and fewer countries outranking us when it comes to comparing the purchasing power of our minimum wage to theirs.
by JASON SURBEY on SEPTEMBER 7, 2014
For full article visit: http://social.dol.gov/blog/our-minimum-wage-is-low-really-low/
For more information on ideas on how to lower your overall labor costs, while increasing your value in the market place as an employer of choice, please contact Andraya (dray) Carson for a complimentary consultation at G&A Partners, at acarson@gnapartners.com. 

 

Andraya Carson :: 5 Ways to Get the Most from Virtual Employees

BY PETER ECONOMY  @BIZZWRITER

Today, your staff can work from anywhere, but to make the most of that increased flexibility, leaders need to pay special attention to remote workers. Here are the key things you need to focus on.

The virtual work force is growing fast and bringing many benefits to companies. According to Chris Ducker, an expert on virtual staffing and author of the book Virtual Freedom, a typical business saves $11,000 a year for each virtual worker it hires. Beyond that, the ability to hire the best people you can find, regardless of whether they work from your office, can produce immeasurable benefits.

But although that's all well and good, managing virtual employees brings challenges that you just don't have in a standard office environment. The good news is that these challenges can be conquered with just a bit of effort on your part. Here are five tips for managing your virtual employees more effectively than you ever thought possible.

1. Increase communication as you increase distance

The old saying "Out of sight, out of mind" really applies when it comes to virtual workers. It's easy to forget that they're out there--at least until something really good or really bad happens that involves them. Make a point of reaching out to your virtual employees regularly, even if it's just to say hello and ask how things are going. The farther away you are from your virtual workers, the more important it is to keep in touch. Put a weekly call on your calendar to each of your virtual employees, and make sure you follow through on it.

2. Bring your virtual employees into meetings

Technology now makes it easy to include your virtual employees in regular business meetings. Invest some money in getting a quality speakerphone system for your conference room that allows everyone to hear and be heard clearly, or set up a PC or laptop with a camera that you can use to make calls on Google Hangouts, Skype, or a platform like GoToMeeting. There's no reason to leave anyone out of your meetings, regardless of where he or she may be.

3. Schedule periodic team-building events

People naturally build strong relationships when they work together as a team. It's much harder for virtual employees to build these strong relationships with co-workers--especially co-workers whom they never meet in person. You can help your virtual employees build strong bonds with their co-workers, both virtual and nonvirtual, by hiring a facilitator and scheduling periodic team-building sessions with all of your employees. Not only will these employees enjoy meeting one another in person, but you will help them build better working relationships and bridges of trust that will make them more effective and productive.

4. Make your expectations crystal clear

Because virtual employees don't work in the office, they are not subject to the standard rules that your other employees have to adhere to. If they work at home, every day may be Casual Day, and you may find them working at a Starbucks in the evening or on a schedule that has little relationship to the one your business runs on. Although some amount of independence in your virtual workers is usually a good thing, if you have specific expectations for them--for example, that they will work during normal business hours or that they will always be available by phone--then you need to make those expectations perfectly clear. If everyone's expectations are in sync, you can avoid a lot of misunderstandings and potential conflict.

5. Celebrate their successes

All your employees need to be recognized and rewarded when they do good things for your company, and this includes your virtual workers. Make sure you take time to reward your virtual employees, and publicize this recognition widely throughout your organization. Though you may not be able to bring your virtual employees into the office for recognition, you can send them thank-you notes and recognition items such as gift cards, coffee mugs, flowers, or any number of other items to celebrate their success.

FOR SOURCE CREDIT, AND TO SEE COMPLETE ARTICLE, VISIT: http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/5-ways-to-get-the-most-from-virtual-employees.html

Andraya Carson against Sex Trafficking and Prostitution

Andraya Carson is passionate about people and life, valuing highest the human body, and feels that people are not meant to be traded as a commodity. Therefore Andraya Carson is involved with organizations that promote social awareness and relief support to help in ending the ongoing issue of modern slavery, known as human trafficking. Andraya Carson’s long term goal is to exclusively dedicate her time towards the mission of eradicating sex and labor trafficking in the United States and worldwide.

Andraya Carson has a blog that is dedicated to the purpose of social awareness in the areas of sex trafficking, prostitution, labor slavery, and other forms of oppression that hides under the category of Human Trafficking.

Blog: http://andrayacarsonagainstprostitution.wordpress.com/

Andraya Carson goes above and beyond in business to help people

Andraya Carson has a large heart and willing to help another in need at the drop of the hat. I have known Andraya Carson for over 6 years and in that time I have experienced nothing but good from her. A few years ago I was going through some legal issues and I reached out to Andraya Carson and she linked me up the the right people to get the job done. kuddos to you Andraya. I have also experienced Dray Carson in action at local charity events giving her all and promoting health wellness and unlimited living to all. Andraya Carson has done awsome work with the desert mission foodbank and tumbleweed foundation helping to support teens to get off the streets and back in school promoting a new generation of healthy young vibrant workforce. Andraya Carson is top notch in my book.
-D. Wortman

Andrya Carson is amazing in business development and Dray Carson is a great friend

I met Andraya Carson about 8 years ago. She helped me close the financing on my first house. Andraya Carson worked her but of for me then and I can truly say she got me the best deal and made it so easy. Thanks Andraya!!

In the meantime, Andraya Carson has become my best friend. I have seen her go through the up’s and down’s of life and she has seen me do the same. In all of this I have seen Andaya Carson always rise to any occasion she was faced with. Be it business development, treating friends right, being inspiring and forward thinking, in every way Andraya Carson comes through with the highest quality and the highest ethics.

I am grateful to have Andraya Carson as a friend and am looking forward to many more adventures with her.

Andraya Carson and Business

Andraya Carson (Dray Carson) is an entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in business development, operations, sales, marketing and consulting.  Andraya Carson began her career as a financial advisor and quickly advanced to the position of Managing Partner for a Phoenix based, full financial planning firm, and was recognized as the top advisor each year.  Additionally, Andraya Carson created and implemented training programs, documented procedures and participated in product development. Andraya Carson then co-founded a private equity firm where she led the Investor Relations division and managed the firm’s operations. In 2009 Andraya Carson launched  a boutique business development firm, and enjoys working personally with small to mid-size business owners from a variety of industries, helping them identify the possibilities of their business and find solutions to significantly improve productivity and profitability. Currently Andraya Carson is also a Business Advisor with a privately held professional employer organization (PEO) founded in 1995.  Together they provide best-in-class solutions that take businesses to the next level, creating a more streamline approach to managing Human Resources, and gain