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Seth Godin makes a great point about being too polished.  Since Americans are exposed to 3000 – 4000 advertising messages every day, we become numb quickly.  Any message prepared by an ad agency isn’t designed for a consumer, it’s designed to win an ad award, which can then be touted as a success to potential clients.  Ads aren’t very effective anymore: unless they are designed by marketing people.

Marketers want to provide a service (and sell a product) but that’s secondary to the primary goal of any serious marketing person.  Marketers want to insert their product into your decision making matrix.  Advertisers want to impress you.  And since their Ad is one of 1000 that you will drive past, it will not make an impression on the consumer.

Advertisers make it a point to be polished, unless they are purposely trying to be rough. (Anyone remember the mange infested gerbils singing for Quizno’s?  Rough?  Yes.  Ugly?  Yes.  Did it get people talking?  Yes.  Did it sell sandwiches?  Do hair dripping rodents make you hungry?)

One of the suggestions a lot of direct marketing experts make is to handwrite copy onto the advertising piece.  They have studies that show it increase the conversion ratio.  Just like they have studies that show a PS increases purchases.  Why?

     People are just too busy to read a ad.  But they will read handwriting on the ad, and they will read the PS. So handwriting is rough, it’s not polished typeset that is a certain size.  Handwriting can be pretty, but most of the time we’re lucky if it’s clear.  Be rough.  Your consumers will notice.

     Being rough means a human touch.  Like handwriting envelopes to a small mailing list.  Sure, they make computers that do the font, but if you print it out, it’s mass market and not as special.  And come on, if you’re using a computer to print out a “handwritten” address, you’re trying to fool the consumer.  Give it a personal touch and have a secretary start writing.

     Can you find other ways in your business to add a rough human touch?

     Not everything has to be perfect.  Where did that concept enter into the business arena anyway?  Perfection and polish do not translate into sales.  Connection and communication usually do.  How can you connect and communicate with your consumer to turn them into clients?

Technorati Tags: anymore, Email, Newsletters, Work

When your in a relationship that comes to an end, it is very hard to except that is really over. It’s not unusual, for guys especially, to have a hard time believing that their girl actually ended the relationship. From the guy’s standpoint, it is hoped that the next day will come and all that happened, the day before, was just an awful dream. However, when it becomes a reality, do you find yourself starting to plot your strategy for getting the ex girlfriend to come back? That’s what many guys want, but most fail to have a real solid action plan.

There are alot of things that need to happen for you to be getting the ex girlfriend to come back to you. It’s really important that you follow a plan that is proven to have success. Read carefully, the next 5 points. It will help you formulate your plan to getting the ex girlfriend to come back.

1. Keep a positive attitude about the situation and understand that you may have to make some changes in order reach your goal of getting the ex girlfriend to come back. The most important exercise you need to do, is ask yourself some important questions. What are your motives for wanting to get back together with her, so ask yourself, “Is it for Love”? Next, are you really missing her companionship, or are you just not wanting to be alone? If the answers to these questions make you really feel, that you indeed want her to come back, and then move on to the next step. Otherwise you’re really treading dangerous ground and you will end up failing in your attempt to get her back.

2. So you passed the self examining questions and established that you are getting the ex girlfriend to come back. Ok, the next thing you must master is that you need to be in control of your emotions. You can’t act desperate, because that will obviously not put you in a good position to succeed. Sure you’re probably feeling really depressed and emotional over what happened, so seek out a trusted friend to talk things over with. Do not discuss these things with your ex girlfriend, because you’ll likely come across as a desperate person; and trust me she won’t respond favorably to that. Hopefully you have someone to talk with, and use as a good sounding board. It’s understandable that you’ll have emotional lows at this time, but it’s really important to hold these emotions in, especially when around your ex girlfriend.

3. Having a positive attitude will keep you from wallowing in the ‘woe is me’ syndrome. Keeping your feelings in check will be very important, and will definitely serve you well as you begin to work things out with your ex girlfriend. Keep in mind that she could easily fall victim to this too, be there for her, but stay in control of your own feelings and emotions.

4. Here is where things start coming together. Armed with your feelings and emotions in check you can look for opportunities to communicate with your ex girlfriend. Remember, you want to be in control of your own self and not try to control what she does. When you come in contact with her; be very pleasant and be willing to listen carefully to what she says. By showing this kind of interest in her, you will get her thinking to herself that something is different about him. She’ll want to naturally be around you to see what’s going on with you.

5. As you begin to have more communication, there will be good opportunities to bring up things that led to the breakup. If you keep yourself focused on listening, you will find out the exact reasons for the breakup and more importantly what lead up to it. Then you can work together to reconcile these differences and in no time you have met your goal of getting the ex girlfriend to come back to you.

Technorati Tags: Back, come, Getting, Girlfriend

The debate continues to rage over Title IX. Many have called the passing of Title IX one of the greatest reversed discrimination laws in America, while advocates of Title IX continue to claim that it has leveled the playing field for collegiate sports. Title IX, simply put, is a law that requires universities to have the same number of women’s athletic sports as men’s athletic sports. This limitation also applies to college scholarships. For male programs that give out large numbers of scholarship, like football, there has to be an equal number of scholarships given out to women. If the school doesn’t give out the female scholarships, then they will lose the male sports scholarship.

Opponents of Title IX see this as unfair. Statistically more men play sports than women. Likewise, before the passage of Title IX, there were far more male sports and male sports scholarships. Now with the rules about equal scholarships, fringe male sports are lacking the scholarships to attract athletes to the schools. The money making sports such as basketball and football have been basically unaffected by the change, but since schools must match scholarship for scholarship with women’s sports they can’t afford to give fringe men’s sports the scholarships. Supporters of Title IX say that those scholarships should have always been going to women to begin with, and if women had the opportunity to play collegiate athletics then more women would play sports.

Title IX whether right or wrong is an excellent opportunity for women to go to college for free. Many high level universities have struggled with the Title IX requirements, with finding enough women to play sports. Some have even gone as far as to advertise that they need women for different teams, and they will get full ride scholarships for playing on the sports team. The schools weren’t even looking for girls that could actually play the sport; they just needed warm bodies to fill out the roster.

If you are a girl in high school that is looking for a way to pay for college, consider learning a sport. While basketball, volleyball, soccer and softball are popular, they are also the best recruited of the female sports. There are limits to how many scholarships that each of the women’s sports can give out each year. It is a principle of supply and demand. There are few scholarships for many girls in the popular sports. Yet, there are lots of scholarships in the fringe female sports. Sports like golf, tennis, archery, track and field, cross country and many others. Find a sport that interests you, and then excel at it. The better you are the more that top schools will be looking to fill their teams with winners.

The best way to excel is to get in top physical conditioning. Even in the popular women’s sports, female athletes have yet to take full advantage of sports based training. The better conditioning you have the better you will be at a sport. Plus, there are the added benefits of having a better physical appearance. Training and adding healthy supplements like whey protein to a good diet will help to build lean muscle, which is important for better muscle memory. It also helps you to lose excess weight which will slow you down in any sport that you try to compete in.

Scholarships for girls are sitting their unclaimed right now. Learning a sport, training, and excelling will bring opportunities to get an education.

Technorati Tags: Advantage, College, Free, Fringe, Girl's, Sports, Take

South Africa is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. For sun drenched beaches, a temperate climate all year round, safaris, the stunning Table Mountain and pulsating cities. These are some of the reasons South Africa is a must for your next travel destination.

A wide range of South Africa hotels, guesthouses and B&B’s are available on BookMyRoom-SA.com. So whether you enjoy the hustle and bustle of a big city like Johannesburg or relaxing on the beach in Durban you’ll find the right accommodation on BookMyRoom-SA.com.

Some of the top South Africa hotels are located in Cape Town. One of the most beautiful cities in the world and BookMyRoom-SA.com offers luxury accommodation like the 3 Palms Luxury Cottage or The Grand Daddy to name a few.

Kwazulu Natal also offers a wide choice of South Africa hotels with excellent beaches. The warm water of the Indian Ocean allows for almost all year round swimming. Or head to the Drakensberg mountains for hiking, peace and tranquility and take in the breathtaking scenery. BookMyRoom-SA.com offers self catering accommodation in which you can unwind after a long day of hiking.

In South Africa you can experience a safari and spot the Big Five. Even in the bush you can experience luxury accommodation. South Africa is an open and diverse country with lots to explore and experience and BookMyRoom-SA.com offers accommodation to suit all budgets.

If you’re going to South Africa for a holiday or to enjoy the 2010 Football World Cup let BookMyRoom South Africa assist you with your accommodation.

Technorati Tags: Accommodation, Africa, Destination, next, Options..., right, South, Travel

Everyone thinks they know how to find a job. Right? Wrong! Take this little test. If this is your version of how to find a job, you already flunked! To find a job you write a resume, distribute it to employers via online job sites, emails, letters to agencies and recruiters, and, of course, to a bunch of companies. Then you wait for someone to respond. If they don’t, you repeat the process. Now, this is OK if you’ve got weeks or months to wait. Or if you don’t care what comes up as long as it’s work. On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who wants to select your next job rather than settle for it, then you have to try an alternative approach. You can’t expect to make your way successfully through the job marketplace without a roadmap . . . or a job search market plan. That’s because the successful job candidate these days must learn to run a job search like a small business.

A carefully prepared job search market plan guarantees how to find a job with success. It’s one of the most important strategies for the 21st Century job marketplace. Why is a job search roadmap so important? Because since 9/11 and Katrina everything’s changed. There have been significant advances in hiring practices. Employers have new and different expectations of a job candidate. And all this has required new and alternative ways of thinking about finding a job. Here are the components of a successful roadmap:

1. Identify and list your work-style values, ethics and philosophy that guide your everyday employment activities. This list must go way beyond a ritual recital of your accomplishments or work history. Employers today are much more interested in the kind of person you are rather than what you used to do for someone else.

2. Target companies and organizations that hold an interest for you. Make your written list expansive. Do not eliminate employers because you think they wouldn’t hire you.

3. Identify the hiring decision-makers in those organizations. In other words, who would your next boss be?

4. Build a list of contacts who can assist you in your search. On this list are the names of any individuals who could help by introducing you to hiring decision-makers, or to someone who could open the door for you through a referral. Do not pre-judge who could or could not help you. Remember people are always anxious to give you advice even if they can’t refer you.

5. As a last step, put together a resume to use as a “business card” to leave behind for your contacts.

6. Begin contacting everyone on your list in person to ask them for their advice as to how they can assist you in your job search. Putting together a job search roadmap with this information gives you a real head start when you’re anxious about how to find a job. From here you’re ready to explore the unique opportunities that may be waiting for you in today’s amazing marketplace.

Technorati Tags: Don't, Find, Know, Roadmap, Without