A Commonsense Approach to Getting Free Publicity
Of the many channels of marketing, public relations is one that no business should ignore. And because PR is nearly free, that makes it an ideal channel for small and start-up businesses.
READ MOREFinding True Wealth (in ANY Economy)
I just spent a week with family – mostly my sister’s boys and their wives and kids.
I was sitting in my sister’s living room, watching the grandnieces and grandnephew play (ages 2, 4, and 6) with rambunctious glee… and I realized that all the adults were reading books.
READ MOREWhat a Theme Park Can Teach You about Business
Say what you will about theme parks. (Too expensive! Too cheesy and artificial!) But at least some of them get one thing right: They bend over backward to make the customer experience as good as it can possibly be. Take, for example, a few conveniences for visitors with young children that I noticed on a recent trip to an unnamed park in Orlando. (Funny … I never even saw these things until I had a little one of my own.)
READ MOREWhat? No E-Newsletter?
There are a number of business models for making money on the Internet. Of these, my favorite – and the one I recommend to those who want to sell information products, dietary supplements, or just about any other product online today – is the “Agora Model.”
READ MORECan You Eat Pizza on a Fat-Loss Program?
One of the questions I frequently get is, “Can I eat pizza (or burgers, or fries, etc.) on a fat-loss program?”
READ MOREThe $10 Billion Coat
The sun was shining, the sky was blue. And the bare-chested young man walking down the street looked like he could have been on his way to the beach. Except… it was two days before Christmas in Northern Montana. Even worse, it was 17 degrees below zero.
READ MOREHow to Create a Perfectly Organized Office
What does your office say about you? That you are orderly and businesslike? Messy but creative? Hopelessly overwhelmed?
READ MOREHave Fun, Lose Fat
On Sunday morning, I was reviewing my daily motivational quotes when I stumbled across this one: “Enjoy life. Treat it as an adventure. Care passionately about the outcome, but keep it in perspective. Things are seldom as bleak as they seem when they are going wrong – or as good as they seem when they are going well. Lighten up. You’ll live longer.”
READ MOREThe Dividends That Don’t Stop
Getting steady income from dividend-paying stocks is getting harder. During the entire year of 2007, only seven companies in the S&P 500 cut their dividends, and only three did away with them entirely. 2008 was a different story. 39 companies cut their dividends, and 22 suspended them. 2009 promises to be just as bad.
READ MOREA Harsh Truth About Nutrition
For one reason (kids) or another (spouse), they have junk food in the house, tempting them every day. And, in fact, snacking on that junk food – often between the end of work and dinnertime – is what prevents many people from losing weight. It can even cause them to gain more weight.
READ MOREMisplaced Modifiers
In The Careful Writer, Theodore M. Bernstein offers good advice: “There is no rule about the placement of modifying phrases excerpt perhaps the very general one that they should be as close as possible to the things they modify.” Applying this simple guideline often solves the problem. To convey what the writer probably meant, the first example could be reworded this way: “I am sure that Mr. Obama, a lawyer, must know this.”
READ MOREThe Parable of the Talents
Why do some people retire rich and most people retire poor? This question has fascinated philosophers, mystics, and teachers throughout the ages. There have been so many men and women – hundreds or thousands, maybe even millions – who started with nothing and became financially independent that people are naturally curious to know why it happened and if there are common rules or principles that others can apply to become wealthy as well.
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