Seecrets on Writing: Free Requotable Quotes for Internet Writers

Original quotes, when used at the beginning or at the end of an article provide a touch of class. At the least, it will make your article different from the thousands of articles filed daily. It can be witty, satirical, funny or just a different opinion on current issues. Perhaps, it could be an outrageous prediction that even no expert will dare to rule out.

Famous quotes are often used as templates. By substituting certain words, voila, you have created something worth pondering.

If you are the author of an original quote which you want to share with the internet writing community, send an email to this author. Objectionable material, pertaining to adult content, hatred, religious intolerances will be rejected. The list will be constantly updated at the author's website

Stan Seecrets:

The sum total of all human knowledge is a prime number. (Spoof of Fermat's Last Theorem and commenting the pool of public domain knowledge is great)

The sum total of all human wisdom is not a prime number. (Spoof of Fermat's Last Theorem and commenting the lack of wisdom among our political leaders)

There are two types of people in the world ? those who know what they don't know and those who don't know what they don't know. (Commenting on the lack of common-sense among individual investors and the public)

The imminent war for world domination will be fought between the gods of the internet and the gods of finance. (Disagreeing with Samuel Huntington's claim in "A Clash of Civilizations". All wars are economic in nature)

Crypto will be a search engine's nightmare. (Commenting of the possibility of using crypto as a safeguard against search engines increasing encroachments on individuals' privacy)

Website promotion is a journey of a million sweats. Savor each drop and it will taste like honey. (Commenting on most websites' futility in trying to use shortcuts and dubious methods to improve their site's ranking)

If reading maketh the man, conference the complete man and writing the exact man, then the internet maketh writers free. (Addendum to Francis Bacon's famous quote and commenting on the writers unprecedented freedoms)

Poets try to capture the essence of the universe with the elegance of words. Mathematicians try to do the same with their formula and numbers. Therefore, mathematicians are calculative poets. (Poking fun at mathematicians, and himself)

Those who write articles cannot write software. Those who write software cannot write articles. Those who can do neither, become publishers. (Spoof of Lao Zi's 56th verse and poking fun at publishers while jealous of their top positions of the content food chain)

The brand is the website. (Spoofing Marshall McLuhan "The Medium is the Message". McLuhan is considered by many, as the prophet of the electronic age).

Where we originate is the same ? our mothers' womb. Where we are heading is the same ? six-feet under. In between, we communicate. (Inspired by George Santayana, Spanish-born American philosopher - There is no cure for birth or death save to enjoy the interval).

If scientists can communicate, the whole world will be reading Membrane Theory right now. (M-Theory is the latest all-encompassing theory of the universe since Einstein.)

The 3 C's of effective communications ? Communicate, Communicate and Communicate. (Family members of this author will have a laugh over this one).

How does any ant bring down a giant ? by releasing its toxins into a certain part of the giant's anatomy where the sun has hardly shone on. (This is an example of an exploit as defined in the field of cryptography ? vulnerability.)

[This article may be freely reprinted provided it is published with the author's bio and activating the link to the URL below. It can be edited, summarized, expanded, and translated into any human language. In the case of print media, the same condition applies except that the URL must be printed in bold letters. If you want just to use a quote in your article, a simple credit is sufficient. Violators will be required to sing Das Lied der Deutschen, La Marseillaise & The East is Red 100 times without pause in front of 1000 neo-nationalists in your country of domicile. In cases of reprinting in realms outside this planet, you are free to do anything with it ? our copyright laws do not apply to you, nor enforceable within your realms.]

About the author
The author, Stan Seecrets, is a veteran software developer with 25+ years experience at http://www.seecrets.biz which specializes in digital asset protection and total website management. You can send your views or criticism by e-mail to Stan at seecrets.biz.

? Copyright 2005, Stan Seecrets. All rights reserved.

Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last possible minute, can be a major problem in both your career and your personal life. Missed opportunities, frenzied work hours, stress, overwhelm, resentment, and guilt are just some of the symptoms. This article will explore the root causes of procrastination and give you several practical tools to overcome it.

Replace "Have To" With "Want To"

First, thinking that you absolutely have to do something is a major reason for procrastination. When you tell yourself that you have to do something, you're implying that you're being forced to do it, so you'll automatically feel a sense of resentment and rebellion. Procrastination kicks in as a defense mechanism to keep you away from this pain. If the task you are putting off has a real deadline, then when the deadline gets very close, the sense of pain associated with the task becomes overridden by the much greater sense of pain if you don't get started immediately.

The solution to this first mental block is to realize and accept that you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Even though there may be serious consequences, you are always free to choose. No one is forcing you to run your business the way you do. All the decisions you've made along the way have brought you to where you are today. If you don't like where you've ended up, you're free to start making different decisions, and new results will follow. Also be aware that you don't procrastinate in every area of your life. Even the worst procrastinators have areas where they never procrastinate. Perhaps you never miss your favorite TV show, or you always manage to check your favorite online forums each day. In each situation the freedom of choice is yours. So if you're putting off starting that new project you feel you "have to" do this year, realize that you're choosing to do it of your own free will. Procrastination becomes less likely on tasks that you openly and freely choose to undertake.

Replace "Finish It" With "Begin It"

Secondly, thinking of a task as one big whole that you have to complete will virtually ensure that you put it off. When you focus on the idea of finishing a task where you can't even clearly envision all the steps that will lead to completion, you create a feeling of overwhelm. You then associate this painful feeling to the task and delay as long as possible. If you say to yourself, "I've got to do my taxes today," or "I must complete this report," you're very likely to feel overwhelmed and put the task off.

The solution is to think of starting one small piece of the task instead of mentally feeling that you must finish the whole thing. Replace, "How am I going to finish this?" with "What small step can I start on right now?" If you simply start a task enough times, you will eventually finish it. If one of the projects you want to complete is to clean out your garage, thinking that you have to finish this big project in one fell swoop can make you feel overwhelmed, and you'll put it off. Ask yourself how you can get started on just one small part of the project. For example, go to your garage with a notepad, and simply write down a few ideas for quick 10-minute tasks you could do to make a dent in the piles of junk. Maybe move one or two obvious pieces of junk to the trash can while you're there. Don't worry about finishing anything significant. Just focus on what you can do right now. If you do this enough times, you'll eventually be starting on the final piece of the task, and that will lead to finishing.

Replace Perfectionism With Permission To Be Human

A third type of erroneous thinking that leads to procrastination is perfectionism. Thinking that you must do the job perfectly the first try will likely prevent you from ever getting started. Believing that you must do something perfectly is a recipe for stress, and you'll associate that stress with the task and thus condition yourself to avoid it. You then end up putting the task off to the last possible minute, so that you finally have a way out of this trap. Now there isn't enough time to do the job perfectly, so you're off the hook because you can tell yourself that you could have been perfect if you only had more time. But if you have no specific deadline for a task, perfectionism can cause you to delay indefinitely. If you've never even started that project you always wanted to do really well, could perfectionism be holding you back?

The solution to perfectionism is to give yourself permission to be human. Have you ever used a piece of software that you consider to be perfect in every way? I doubt it. Realize that an imperfect job completed today is always superior to the perfect job delayed indefinitely. Perfectionism is also closely connected to thinking of the task as one big whole. Replace that one big perfectly completed task in your mind with one small imperfect first step. Your first draft can be very, very rough. You are always free to revise it again and again. For example, if you want to write a 5000-word article, feel free let your first draft be only 100 words if it helps you get started. That's less than the length of this paragraph.

Replace Deprivation With Guaranteed Fun

A fourth mental block is associating deprivation with a task. This means you believe that undertaking a project will offset much of the pleasure in your life. In order to complete this project, will you have to put the rest of your life on hold? Do you tell yourself that you will have to go into seclusion, work long hours, never see your family, and have no time for fun? That's not likely to be very motivating, yet this is what many people do when trying to push themselves into action. Picturing an extended period of working long hours in solitude with no time for fun is a great way to guarantee procrastination.

The solution to the deprivation mindset is to do the exact opposite. Guarantee the fun parts of your life first, and then schedule your work around them. This may sound counterproductive, but this reverse psychology works extremely well. Decide in advance what times you will allocate each week to family time, entertainment, exercise, social activities, and personal hobbies. Guarantee an abundance of all your favorite leisure activities. Then limit the amount of working hours each week to whatever is left. The peak performers in any field tend to take more vacation time and work shorter hours than the workaholics. By treating your working time as a scarce resource rather than an uncontrollable monster that can gobble up every other area of your life, you'll begin to feel much more balanced, and you'll be far more focused and effective in using your working time. It's been shown that the optimal work week for most people is 40-45 hours. Working longer hours than this actually has such an adverse effect on productivity and motivation that less real work is done in the long run. What would happen if you only allowed yourself a certain number of hours a week to work? What if I came to you and said, "You are only allowed to work 10 hours this week?" Your feeling of deprivation would be reversed, wouldn't it? Instead of feeling that work was depriving you of leisure time, you'd feel you were being deprived of work. You'd replace, "I want to play" with "I want to work," your motivation for work would skyrocket, and all traces of procrastination would vanish.

I also strongly recommend that you take at least one full day off each week with no work whatsoever. This will really recharge you and make you eager to start the coming week. Having a guaranteed work-free day will increase your motivation for work and make you less likely to procrastinate. If you know that the next day is your day off, you'll be less likely to put off tasks, since you won't allow yourself the luxury of allowing them to spill over into your day off. When you think that every day is a work day, however, work seems never-ending, and you always tell yourself, "I should be working." Thus, your brain will use procrastination as a way to guarantee that you get some form of pleasure in your life.

Use Timeboxing

For tasks you've been putting off for a while, I recommend using the timeboxing method to get started. Here's how it works: First, select a small piece of the task you can work on for just 30 minutes. Then choose a reward you will give yourself immediately afterwards. The reward is guaranteed if you simply put in the time; it doesn't depend on any meaningful accomplishment. Examples include watching your favorite TV show, seeing a movie, enjoying a meal or snack, going out with friends, going for a walk, or doing anything you find pleasurable. Because the amount of time you'll be working on the task is so short, your focus will shift to the impending pleasure of the reward instead of the difficulty of the task. No matter how unpleasant the task, there's virtually nothing you can't endure for just 30 minutes if you have a big enough reward waiting for you.

When you timebox your tasks, you may discover that something very interesting happens. You will probably find that you continue working much longer than 30 minutes. You will often get so involved in a task, even a difficult one, that you actually want to keep working on it. Before you know it, you've put in an hour or even several hours. The certainty of your reward is still there, so you know you can enjoy it whenever you're ready to stop. Once you begin taking action, your focus shifts away from worrying about the difficulty of the task and towards finishing the current piece of the task which now has your full attention.

When you do decide to stop working, claim your reward, and enjoy it. Then schedule another 30-minute period to work on the task with another reward. This will help you associate more and more pleasure to the task, knowing that you will always be immediately rewarded for your efforts. Working towards distant and uncertain long-term rewards is not nearly as motivating as immediate short-term rewards. By rewarding yourself for simply putting in the time, instead of for any specific achievements, you'll be eager to return to work on your task again and again, and you'll ultimately finish it.

The writing of this article serves as a good example of applying the above techniques. I could have said to myself, "I have to finish this 2000-word article, and it has to be perfect." So first I remember that I don't have to write anything; I freely choose to write articles. Then I realize that I have plenty of time to do a good job, and that I don't need to be perfect because if I start early enough, I have plenty of time to make revisions. I also tell myself that if I just keep starting, I will eventually be done. Before I started this article, I didn't have a topic selected, so I used the timeboxing method to get that done. Having dinner was my reward. I knew that at the end of 30 minutes of working on the task, I could eat, and I was hungry at the time, so that was good motivation for me. It took me a few minutes to pick the topic of overcoming procrastination, and I spent the rest of the time writing down some ideas and making a very rough outline. When the time was up, I stopped working and had dinner, and it really felt like I'd earned that meal.

The next morning I used the same 30-minute timeboxing method, making breakfast my reward. However, I got so involved in the task that I'm still writing 90 minutes later. I know I'm free to stop at any time and that my reward is waiting for me, but having overcome the inertia of getting started, the natural tendency is to continue working. In essence I've reversed the problem of procrastination by staying with the task and delaying gratification. The net result is that I finish my article early and have a rewarding breakfast.

I hope this article has helped you gain a greater insight into the causes of procrastination and how you can overcome it. Realize that procrastination is caused by associating some form of pain or unpleasantness to the task you are contemplating. The way to overcome procrastination is simply to reduce the pain and increase the pleasure you associate with beginning a task, thus allowing you to overcome inertia and build positive forward momentum. And if you begin any task again and again, you will ultimately finish it.

Steve Pavlina is the founder of StevePavlina.com, a popular personal development web site focused on time management, motivation, problem solving, and personal productivity. He is the editor of Personal Development Insights Newsletter and has written dozens of published articles on personal growth topics. His top-down approach to life begins with discovering one's purpose and systematically managing goals, projects, and tasks to live that purpose every day. He continues to read 50-100 books on personal growth each year and shares his best insights through his popular blog at http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog. Steve lives in Las Vegas and can be reached through his contact form at http://www.stevepavlina.com/contact-info.htm.

Introduction To ISDN, Part III: PAP

Introduction To ISDN, Part III: Configuring PPP PAP Authentication

Now we know how the ISDN link comes up (interesting traffic), and some scenarios that might cause the link to stay up, we need to look at ISDN authentication schemes. The two methods Cisco certification candidates must be familiar with are PAP and CHAP.

Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) sends the username and password over the ISDN link in clear-text. Sending any passwords over any WAN link in clear-text is generally a bad idea, but it's important to know you have this option.

Regarding both PAP and CHAP, it's a common misunderstanding that each side must authenticate the other. PAP and CHAP both support bidirectional and unidirectional authentication; that is, R1 can authenticate R2 without R2 necessarily authenticating R1. It's more common to use unidirectional authentication in a lab environment than a production network, but keep in mind that bidirectional authentication is an option, not a requirement.

The configurations of PAP and CHAP do have their similarities. For both, you'll configure a username/password combination in global configuration mode. Newcomers to ISDN sometimes put the local router name in for the username; remember that the remote router name is the username.

The only real advantage of PAP over CHAP comes in the password configuration. Since PAP actually sends the password as a whole over the link, the two routers can send different passwords during authentication. The operation of CHAP requires that both routers use the same password, and we'll see why in tomorrow's article.

Under the BRI interface, you'll enter encapsulation ppp and ppp authentication pap. So far, your authentication scheme looks like this:

username R2 password CCNA

Int bri0

encapsulation ppp

ppp authentication pap

PAP requires an extra command at this point. The ppp pap sent-username command is required under the interface, indicating the username and password this router will be sending to the remote router.

Int bri0

encapsulation ppp

ppp authentication pap

ppp pap sent-username R1 password CISCO

I always encourage CCNA and CCNP candidates to use as many debugs as possible when working in their lab, since these commands show us how things work. For any PPP authentication, always run debug ppp negotiation before sending interesting traffic to trigger the call. Watching exactly how PAP and CHAP work give you a much better understanding of what's going on "behind the command", and makes you a stronger candidate and a stronger networking engineer.

Tomorrow, we'll take a look at CHAP, and why routers cannot use the same password on both ends of the link.

Keep studying!

Chris Bryant

CCIE ? #12933

chris@thebryantadvantage.com

About The Author

Chris Bryant, CCIE (TM) #12933, has been active in the Cisco certification community for years. He worked his way up from the CCNA to the CCIE, and knows what CCNA and CCNP candidates need to know to be effective on the job and in the exam room.

He is the owner of http://www.thebryantadvantage.com, where he teaches CCNA and CCNP courses to small groups of exam candidates, ensuring they each receive the individual attention they deserve. Classes are offered over the Internet and in person in select cities. Chris has custom-written the Study Guide and Lab Workbook used in each course - no third-party training materials or simulators are used. You're invited to visit our site and check out our CCNA and CCNP courses and study aids, and to sign up for our weekly newsletter written personally by Chris. Chris is always glad to hear from Cisco certification candidates at chris@thebryantadvantage.com

The Holy Spirit is our Teacher

Now that we know God and Jesus want to release Their knowledge direct to us from Their throne room in heaven - how is this knowledge actually transmitted to us? This will now bring us into the next set of Scripture verses.

These next three verses will tell us that this knowledge is given to the Holy Spirit - and then the Holy Spirit, who is already living on the inside of us, will be the one to transmit all of this knowledge to us! The Holy Spirit will thus become your personal guide and personal teacher in this life. It will be His job to impart and transmit all of this knowledge direct to you once you start to seek after it.

Here are three powerful verses from Scripture showing us that the Holy Spirit will be the one to transmit the knowledge of God direct to us.

"But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." (1 Corinthians 2:10)

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, HE WILL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you." (John 14:26)

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, HE WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH ..." (JOHN 16:13)

The very first verse lays the foundation when it says that no one knows the things of God except the Holy Spirit - and that the Holy Spirit has been given to each and every one of us in order to reveal the things that God wants to reveal to us. In other words, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to release the knowledge of God direct to us!

The second verse confirms the first verse when it says that the Holy Spirit will be our teacher and that He will "teach us all things." Notice the word "all" - that He will teach us "all things."

Think about what is being said in this verse. This statement being made by God in that the Holy Spirit can teach us all things is a maximum intense statement being made by God. God is telling us that He is willing to go more than overboard in order to teach us things and to transmit His knowledge to us. Then the verse even goes one step further when it says that the Holy Spirit can literally bring back up to your remembrance, when you may need it, the knowledge that He has already given to you!

A perfect example of this is for those who really study the Bible in order to get it really worked and assimilated into their minds and spirits. What you will find start to happen if you are willing to spend some quality time to get the Word soaked into you - is that the Holy Spirit will bring back up to your memory the appropriate Scripture verses when you may need them on the spot when preaching or talking to others about God and Jesus. You'll literally see these verses float right up out of your spirit in front of your mind's eye right at the moment that you will need them. This is literally a supernatural transmission of knowledge direct to your mind by the Holy Spirit Himself!

Not only can the Holy Spirit do this with Scripture verses - but He can also do this with any other bits of knowledge that He may want to give to you. He can give you His words of knowledge and wisdom all day long on whatever else you may need His help on. That is why the Holy Spirit is called "the Helper" in the second verse above. The Holy Spirit cannot help you unless He is able to transmit words of knowledge and wisdom to you as you will need them. The last verse says that not only will the Holy Spirit be our Helper and our Teacher - but that He will also be our Guide in this life. Think about those three words - Helper, Teacher and Guide! This is a powerful three-fold ministry that the Holy Spirit has with each born again believer. The last verse says that the Holy Spirit will guide us into "all" truth. Again, notice the word "all" - all truth - not just some or part of the truth. If you can learn to be led by the Holy Spirit and pick up when He is starts to try and communicate with you, you can literally start to receive the knowledge of God in every area of your life where you need's God's knowledge and guidance to get you through!

Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible knowledge. They currently have over 100 Bible articles. All free of charge.
The article was an excerpt from Michael's E-book titled, Seeking After the Knowledge of God You can go to their site and download the book free of charge. ? 2005 by Michael Bradley. All Rights Reserved.

Accepting Rejected Thoughts

Sometimes we are in a position to look into the lives of other people. It could be through a book, or a movie, or a story we hear, or occasionally it could be someone that we meet. Sometimes when this happens, we see qualities that we truly admire, and we think that we would like to have those qualities. Perhaps we just look at the person and think that we would like to be like them. Maybe we hear what they have said and think that we would like to be able to say things like that. It could be that we would like to have what they have, or do what they do.

When this happens, what we are thinking about are our own rejected thoughts. Sometime in the past we have rejected a thought or thoughts, that the person we are admiring has accepted.

When, perhaps when we were very young, we rejected the thought that we could have what we have just been admiring in someone else, we accepted a lesser thought, and allowed that lesser thought to become part of our self image, and therefore part of our definition of ourselves.

Our self image lives in our sub-conscious mind. Because of the way the sub-conscious mind works, we can only have one self image with regard to any particular quality. If we really want to have the qualities we are admiring, and there is no reason why we can't, then we need to change our self image.

The first step is to be prepared to do just that. Think about this for a minute. Are you prepared to let go of what you have learned in the past, that you believe is true about yourself? By that I mean to examine the ideas that you 'know' are true about yourself, and then to take the new idea that you are considering, and to examine that idea, entertain that idea, to see if it will improve your view of yourself. Will accepting that new idea, and rejecting the idea that you currently 'know', result in a happier, healthier or more prosperous life. If the answer is yes, and you are prepared to do it, then you have the possibility to change your self image.

The methods we use to change our self image is outside the scope of this article, but taking the above actions is the first step.

If you are prepared to go through this process of examining what you 'know' about yourself, and deciding to reject what you 'know' and replace it with a more empowering 'fact', when you see a quality in someone else that you admire, why not do it more often?

Rather than merely listening to the messages, questions and statements that flow past you every day, why not think? Ask yourself what could this mean to me, how could I apply this idea in my life. Forget the questions you have asked in the past like 'Is this right?', or 'Is this wrong?' and ask instead 'Could accepting this idea improve my life in any way?'

Tony McGlinn runs personal development programs, writes and is a personal coach and consultant. You can visit him and subscribe to his newsletter at http://www.mypowerfulmind.com

Busting the Dairy Myth ? The Truth About our Health and Dairy

Millions of people around the UK consume dairy products on a daily basis. Our huge consumption of dairy is due not only to the convenience it brings to cooking and the habit of cooking with and eating dairy for the majority of our lives but more alarmingly because of the mantra that we are fed by government and the dairy industry that it is beneficial to our health that somehow you need dairy to ensure you consume enough calcium to maintain strong and healthy bones.

The stories we are told about why we should consume dairy are based almost entirely upon half-truths and are driven, not for the benefit of the nation's health, but to ensure the continued profits of the dairy industry.

The Myths Surrounding Why We Should Drink Milk

We Need the Calcium Provided by Dairy for Strong Bones

Dairy UK advocates the promotion of three portions of dairy products per day. They claim that research results show that dairy is 'even more favourable (in terms of blood pressure, cholesterol, weight control, certain cancers, bones and teeth) than fruit and vegetables'.

This has been the golden ticket of the dairy industry for many, many years ? regardless of the fact that it simply is not true. Literally hundreds of highly respected research studies conducted over many years and with a huge cross section of participants have shown that increased dairy intake does not correlate with improved bone strength (Cumming and Klineberg, 1994; Huang and Himes, 1996; Cummings, Nevitt and Browner et al, 1995; Nordin, 1997). In several studies, dairy calcium has been shown to actually increase the risk of osteoporosis and decrease the strength of bones!

How the dairy industry is still allowed to promote their products on the basis of the benefits of dairy calcium is beyond comprehension. Research has proven beyond doubt that bone strength is not related to calcium intake.

Bone strength is increased through exercise (Lloyd, Petit et al, 2004), increased intake of vegetables and fruit (Tucker, Hannan et al, 1999) and a reduction of animal protein and sodium (Finn, 1998).

3 Servings of Dairy Helps Weight Loss

'Dairy Management Inc. (responsible for the 3-a-day campaign) is the non-profit domestic and international planning and management organization responsible for increasing demand for U.S.-produced dairy products on behalf of America's dairy farmers.' ? So clearly our welfare is more important than sales and profits then?.

The UK and US dairy industries are allocating more and more of their marketing spend to the message that three servings of dairy can actually help people to lose weight.

This campaign has clear commercial, rather than health goals as the dairy industry looks to ensure that dieters are given a reason to continue consuming dairy. In the US, the $180-million milk-moustache ad campaign during early 2005 was spearheaded by celebrities such as Dr. Phil, giving consumers very little information, but sending the message that it is ok to consume dairy on a regular basis. This campaign has been met with mixed reviews in health circles, but the bottom line is that it has boosted sales of milk in the US through the publicising of just one research study, funded by the dairy industry and with very questionable data. Is this legal?

The basis of their argument is that dairy contains calcium (stronger bones argument again), plus potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins D, A and B12, riboflavin and niacin. However, nowhere on throughout the 3-a-day literature are quantities of these nutrients or daily requirements discussed ? nor the fact that you can get each of these nutrients in abundance from fruit and vegetables without having to consume the cholesterol, calories, saturated fats and sugars contained in dairy produce.

There is simply no way that dairy can help support weight loss. Even skimmed milk is over 50% sugar (as a percentage of calories) and of the thousands of research studies conducted on dairy and its role in health, only one researcher claims that milk aids in weight loss. And his research is funded by the dairy industry.

The Facts about Dairy

The increase in cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and asthma that has occurred in the Western world over the past century directly correlates with the increase in dairy consumption.

In fact, a Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, Colin Campbell, has undertaken the largest study of diet and disease in medical history. His findings are incredible - high animal calcium and animal protein intake is the primary cause of degenerative disease.

Granted, dairy may contain certain useful nutrients in varying proportions. However, similarly to how we often hear that coffee, red wine and dark chocolate are 'good for us', it doesn't mean we should ignore the negatives or start on a diet of red wine and chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As with all life choices, we have to weigh up the pro's and the cons ? and with dairy, the cons far outweigh the pros .

Twelve pounds of milk are required to manufacture one pint of Ben's very rich ice cream.

Reasons to Kick the Dairy Habit:

1. Trans Fats, Sugar, Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, Chemicals, Calories

Dairy products are riddled with dangerously high levels of bad, saturated fats, cholesterol and sugars which all contribute significantly to degenerative disease. For example, butter is 100% fat, Cheddar cheese 74% fat, whole milk 49% fat and even '2% milk' is 35% fat .

High fat diets are, without doubt, strongly linked to the alarming obesity levels in the US and UK, with research showing that 59% of American men and 49% of American women now being overweight. In relation to dairy, this may have something to do with the fact that the average American consumes approximately 600 pounds of dairy products every year ? that is five times more dairy than fruit!

2. Cancer

Dairy products are directly related to an increased risk of prostate cancer , ovarian cancer , prostate cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and testicular cancer

The American Cancer Society states that "about one-third of the 500,000 cancer deaths that occur in the United States each year is due to dietary factors?Although the committee recognizes that no diet can guarantee full protection against any disease, we believe that our recommendations offer the best nutrition information currently available to help Americans reduce their risk of cancer."

Furthermore, their two highest recommendations are: "1. Choose most of the foods you eat from plant sources"; and "2. Limit your intake of high-fat foods, particularly from animal sources."

3. Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

CVD is the number one cause of death in the UK and the US with research suggesting that over 3,000 Americans suffer a heart attack every day ? and over the past 40 years, research from highly respected journals such as, the International Journal of Cardiology , European Journal of Epidemiology and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have all found a direct correlation between regular dairy consumption and a massive increase in CVD.

This increased risk of CVD is not just a result of the cholesterol and fat contained in dairy produce , but also the animal protein, milk carbohydrates and milk sugar lactose which play havoc with our bodies health.

4. Osteoporosis

For many years milk has been marketed for its supposed ability to prevent osteoporosis ? however, research has shown this to be untrue . According to the 12-year Harvard Nurses' Health Study, milk intake had absolutely benefit with regards to bone fracture risk and that increased dairy calcium could actually have the reverse effect and lead to a decrease in bone strength!

Studies into the factors that effect bone strength in young adults have highlighted that exercise is actually the predominant determinant of bone strength. Another research exploration which examined over 58 studies into nutrition and bone health found very little evidence to suggest that increasing milk or other dairy intake improved the bone strength of young adults .

5. Diabetes

Medical science has proven, beyond doubt that there is a direct relationship between frequent dairy consumption and an increased risk of diabetes. For instance, a cross-cultural study conducted with children from 40 different countries identified that the higher the consumption of dairy and other animal products, the more likely the child was of developing diabetes. The study also found that those children who had a largely vegetarian diet has a highly decreased risk .

Diabetes UK claim that 'over 80 per cent of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight at diagnosis. The more overweight you are, the greater your risk of diabetes.' They also add that those with cardiovascular illness and those with high blood pressure are also highly at risk of diabetes. As it is clear that a diet high in dairy dramatically increases the likelihood of being overweight and of suffering from cardiovascular problems, the chances of suffering from diabetes are also increased.

Life After Dairy

Transitioning to a dairy-free diet or reducing the amount of dairy you consume is not as difficult as you would think ? and the benefits are well worth the sacrifices. However, many people retain dairy in their diet due to the belief that you need dairy to ensure you give your body certain nutrients. This is certainly not true as a diet that is rich in leafy, green vegetables and fruits offers you far more nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants:

• Sources of Calcium: Green vegetables, such as kale and broccoli, and almonds are far better than milk as calcium sources.
• Iron: Milk is actually very low in iron and also causes blood loss from the intestinal tract, which even depletes the iron stores from the body. Dried beans and dark leafy green vegetables are excellent sources of iron, and are even reported to be a more efficient source of iron on a per calorie basis than meat or any other animal produce.
• Protein: It is a common misconception that vegetarians or those who do not consume dairy regularly are somehow going to be deficient in protein. This could not be further from the truth. Although animal products often contain more protein than certain vegetables, the important fact to note is actually how much protein the body needs on a daily basis. The RDA of protein is only 47g for women and 54g for men. This is easily consumed on a varied dairy-free diet ? in fact, over consumption of protein can have a very negative impact upon the body inlcuding reduced kidney function and potentially the onset of osteoperosis.

  Non dairy sources of protein include cereals and grains; leafy green vegetables; Legumes - beans, lentils, peas, peanuts; Nuts; Spirulina; Seeds; Soy products; Sprouts; Wheatgrass and other grasses/ green powders;

  Wheatgrass juice is actually a complete protein and contains, amongst others, the following amino acids: arginine, serine, absenisic, lysine, aspartic acid, glycine, alanine, methionine, leucine, tryptophane, phenylalanine, valine and valine.

There is actually no health related reason why one should consume dairy on a regular basis. For the nutrients that it does contain, the sacrifices and damage it causes to the body far outweighs any potential benefit.

Energise for Life aims to bring you all of the information you need to make the most informed decisions about your diet and lifestyle - as well as all of the benefits you would associate with the ideal online shopping experience: exceptional choice, effortless ordering, speedy delivery and excellent customer service.

The Perfect Wedding Budget

Creating a wedding budget is one of the first things a bride should do. Although it is extremely important, brides often fear the task and in turn do not create one at all. This is a huge mistake. Brides who plan weddings without a wedding budget spend anywhere from twenty to fifty percent more than they anticipated. This can be a financial disaster for whoever is taking care of the wedding bill. So, be a responsible bride and use these helpful ideas to create your own personal wedding budget.

Tips

A good thing to remember is you can plan a beautiful wedding on any wedding budget. The most important thing to remember is to stick to your budget, no matter if you must forgo things you truly want to include. Will you really remember if you had to use cheap ribbon for your wedding favors instead of the designer ribbon you desired? Probably not, and it is certain your guests won't know the difference anyway.

A wedding that has a guest list of over 400 may need a professional wedding planner. However, if you feel capable of taking on the task yourself, then by all means, give it a try. If you start to feel too overwhelmed you can always call in for backup later.

Breaking It Down

A bride can take the total amount she plans to spend on her wedding and divide it for each planning category. This formula is great no matter what your total wedding cost goal may be however it is based upon a $5000 wedding budget. At any time, if you must spend more on one area than the other, then you will have to deduct allotted money from another area to compensate. Try keeping a journal of every purchase you make in order to fulfill you wedding plan successfully. Opening a specific bank account for wedding expenses is a great way to stay on track as well.

Location

Brides should set aside no more than ten percent of their total wedding budget for their wedding location rental. Brides who desire church weddings may find that it is sometimes free for them to use their family church. Other ways to save money are to hold your wedding at the home or garden of a friend or family member.

Attire

The bride should not spend more than twenty-five percent of their total budget on wedding attire. This includes attire for the bride, her attendants, the groom, and his attendants. A good way to cut down attire costs is to ask your attendants to help pay for their gowns and tuxedos. If you simply cannot ask them to help contribute, then you should choose lower costs gowns for them to wear.

Reception

A total of thirty percent of the total budget can be spent of the wedding reception. Couples usually spend more on the reception than the ceremony because they are entertaining their guests and the reception lasts a lot longer.

Decorations

Decorations can account for twenty-five percent of the total wedding budget. Brides must be very careful in this area, and be sure about their purchases before hand. Many brides waste money in this category simply because they change their minds about the d?cor several times. A bride with a tight budget cannot afford to be unsure and should wait until they are certain before purchasing. Making your own wedding decorations is a great way to save money in this area. Using creative and easy decoration ideas, you can make your wedding look fabulous for much less.

Extra

It is a good idea to leave ten percent of your total budget for last minute details or unexpected costs along the way. This is a good way to save money in the case you might not stick strictly with your budget and need extra funds.

Now that you know how important your wedding budget is to the success of your wedding, you can be motivated to stick to your plan. Sticking to your budget will not only free you financially but also give you the satisfaction of knowing you planned your ideal wedding by staying in your budget boundaries.

Whitney Acke is a freelance writer from Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to freelance writing she also enjoys songwriting. She and her husband have two young boys and four dogs. She is a regular contributor to http://www.wedding-decoration-idea.com

A Teak Chair - Create a Livable Outdoor Space with One

When creating a comfortable, usable outdoor space, nothing could me more inviting and warm than furnishing that space with natural products such as wood. Often, though, there are problems associated with wood furnishings. Wood is susceptible to the elements and can splinter and degrade if not cared for properly. That's why many people choose teak chairs and teak furniture for their outdoor spaces.

Teak, a hard strong durable yellowish-brown wood, grows in the region of Southeast Asia, mainly in Java, Indonesia, and is harvested from the surrounding forests and teak plantations by the locals and the Indonesian government. The wood of the teak tree is naturally resistant to insects, warping, splintering and the elements, which makes it an ideal wood for creating chairs and other outdoor furnishings.

Many people choose teak over other natural materials because it requires no sealing, varnishing or finishing, and it only gets better as it weathers. A teak chair is able to withstand the elements for decades; retain its beauty, durability and smooth texture; and, over the course of time, weather to a gorgeous silvery color.

Not only are teak chairs durable, they come in a vast array of styles and designs to complement your individual personality and space. You can make your selection from numerous different pieces of teak furniture including teak Adirondack chairs, teak dining chairs, teak rocking chairs, teak swings, and teak folding chairs, just to name a few.

There are also a large number of teak chair styles to choose from. No matter whether you prefer the intricately carved designs often associated with country French designs or the sleek lines of the teak Adirondack chair, you will not be disappointed when you shop for teak chairs. Some of the styles available include Nantucket, Derby, Normandy, Mandalay and many, many more.

If you find that you are in the mood for a little color, you can add your own stylish flair with a couple of throw pillows or teak chair cushions. There are over 40 colors available, and you can choose from both solid colored fabrics and patterns.

And teak chairs are affordable. While you may find that you spend a fraction more on teak chairs than chairs made with other materials, you will be more than compensated by this furniture's beauty, comfort and durability. To help put it into perspective, think of how often you have to purchase outdoor furniture because it has succumbed to the elements and is not attractive anymore. Wouldn't it be worth it to spend a little more, but enjoy that furniture for decades? Not only that, but there is very little maintenance required for teak furniture. How much more will you spend staining and finishing weathered outdoor furniture made out of other kinds of materials? After you take all of this into consideration, you would agree that teak furniture is the better buy.

So remember teak the next time you shop for furniture for your garden or outdoor space. Whether you need teak furniture or simply a teak chair for your poolside or formal flower garden, you will be sure to find something that is perfect for you.

Jennifer Akre is a successful business owner of numerous furniture websites such as http://www.MoreThanTeak.com. Her sites offer product and information about teak furniture and other decor for your home and garden.

Electrical Safety and Power Tools

Power tools are one of the greatest conveniences for getting handyman jobs and professional jobs done quickly, but since power tools often run on electricity, it is essential that safety instructions are followed.

Here are a few quick power tool safety tips.

Tip 1 - Always use the correct power tool for the environment.Power tools that are made for outdoor use have better insulation, heavier wiring and a three way grounded plug.

Tip 2 - Keep your power cord tangle free and away from the tool "action" zone.

Tip 3 - If you get any nicks or cuts in the cord, inspect them immediately. If it severe consider replacing the cord. As a last resort use tape to shield it from the elements for minor nicks.

Tip 4 - Inspect the power cord and all connections regularly for signs of breakage.

Tip 5 - Avoid using electric power tools on wet surfaces as water is a good electrical conductor. In combination with other factors - broken cords, machine malfunctions etc, it can put you at risk of shock.

Tip 6 - Never immerse your power tool in water - seems obvious but has to be said.

Tip 7 - Keep your work area clean - dust can ignite from a spark. Avoid using power tools near flammable liquids or gas.

Tip 8 - Follow any specific instructions from the manufacturer.

Ok, so these are some safety tips, nothing beats a safety consciousness and putting safety as a priority when using power tools. So be safe and enjoy your work.

Graeme Sprigge is the webmaster of Power Tools Info. For more information on power tools and accessories of all types visit Power Tools Info

Selecting a Venture

The basic rule is simple: "Find a market need and fill it!" The process of finding the need, and the method chosen to fill it are where the difficulties arise.

Based on our opportunity scan, does the market need a product or service that is not currently being provided? Is there a needed product or service currently being provided in a less than satisfactory way? Is some particular market being underserved due to capacity shortages or location gaps? Can we serve any of these needs with some competitive advantage?

Remember that a business idea is not a business opportunity until it is evaluated objectively and judged to be feasible. You may wish to choose two to five of the ideas that seem most promising for more detailed study. Trying to consider too many would spread your time, energy and focus too thin. At the same time, if you focus too early on only one business idea, you are more likely to become "attached" to it, and could lose your objectivity.

Testing the feasibility of your top business ideas involves time and effort to collect key information. A first pass might consist of consulting recent journal articles that evaluate the market of interest; most libraries have computer-based indexes of periodical articles, such as InfoTrac. Other useful library resources include industry trade books, directories, and other sources of industry statistics.

Data collected from industry sources and journal articles is often referred to as secondary data, in that it was collected for purposes not directly related to our specific venture. Sometimes this can be sufficient, though we may find the need to fill the gaps with primary data. Collection of primary data can be very expensive. It generally consists of conducting market surveys, in person or by telephone, of a statistically significant random sample of our prospective clientele.

Craft an entry strategy. What type of business could best seize the chosen opportunity? Would taking in partners with complementary skills enhance my chances for success? What would be the optimum location? Whom would we serve, and how? Would my chances be improved by buying a franchise or an existing business, as opposed to starting a venture "from scratch?"

A small business is the usual product of entrepreneurship. Can a person start a large business? Only 4% of businesses employ over 20 people at start-up. What kinds of businesses are the larger start-ups likely to be? My sense is that most would be food service businesses, and many of those would be franchises.

Over half of business start-ups consist of 1 or 2 employees. What kinds of businesses can you enter with only 1 or 2 employees? Most would probably be considered professional practices (medical, law, accounting) rather than commercial businesses.

Small businesses are characterized by independent management, closely-held ownership, a primarily local area of operations, and a scale that is small in comparison with competitors. Many are small by design, or are "lifestyle" businesses, where the primary objective is employment for the principals.

Many are intended to be more "entrepreneurial ventures," with the intention of generating substantial growth in scale of operations and profitability. Successful entrepreneurs craft such an idea into a business concept that, hopefully, fills a void in the marketplace. You should enjoy your concept and be excited enough to relay your feelings to your market.

Your concept does not need to be a major breakthrough. It could simply be an improvement to an existing product or service. The improvement could be as simple as better service and/or quality than is currently available, a faster or otherwise better method of delivery, or a technological improvement.

Solicit input from friends and other consumers of the product as currently offered. Ask questions like: Is there a need? Would YOU buy it? What price would you expect to pay for it? Is there a better way to provide it?

Check out how the competition is providing the product to the market. Determine what makes your concept different from the competition. Why would the market be better off doing business with you? What can you give the market to improve their experience with the product? Does your product or service exceed the expectations of the market?

Define the needs of your market by listening to the customers and understanding how your product might fill that need. Is there something more you could do, to make it more attractive to your market? Is your product a solution to a problem in your market? How will you handle customer service complaints? What are your guarantees to your customers?

Statistics show that 80% of company sales come from repeat orders and referrals from satisfied customers. Exceed your customers' expectations and they will be back, and they will refer you to others.

Refining and improving your concept is an ongoing process. Maintain a high profile in your community to develop relationships that help promote the product and serve as a referral and constructive feedback network. This involvement will only produce these benefits, however, if you are sincere in your willingness to work hard for the community you live in. If you don't the available time to offer your community, perhaps you could give your product as a gift to local charities or sponsor a local event where your community would benefit.

John B. Vinturella, Ph.D. has almost 40 years experience as a management and strategic consultant, entrepreneur, author, and college professor. For 20 of those years, Dr. Vinturella was owner/president of a distribution company that he founded. He is a principal in business opportunity sites jbv.com and muddledconcept.com, and maintains business and political blogs.

How To Write Headlines That Get Attention

No doubt, the headline is the most important part of any advertisement or sales letter. The reason is very simple. The headline is the first thing your prospect sees when he or she looks at your advertisement.

It's an advertisement for your advertisement.

The only purpose of your headline is to get your prospect to continue reading your ad or sales letter. It must get your reader's attention and it must pull them into your ad.

Your headline must be so irresistible that your reader has to find out more.

It doesn't make a difference how good your product or service is or how good your advertising copy is, if your headline isn't any good, your ad or sales letter won't get read.

Let's take a look at what two legendary copywriters have to say about the importance of good headlines:

"Advice to copywriters: When you are assigned to write an ad, write a lot of headlines first. Spend hours writing headlines -- or days if necessary. If you can come up with a good headline, you are almost sure to have a good ad. But even the greatest writer can't save an ad with a poor headline." --John Caples

"On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. If you haven't done some selling in your headline, you have wasted 80 percent of your money. The wickedest of all sins is to run an advertisement without a headline." -- David Olgilvy

It never ceases to amaze me how many advertisements I see that don't have headlines.

All advertisements should have a headline.

Let's talk about the rules you should follow when writing headlines, the different types of headlines you can use, proven words to use in headlines, and how you can become an expert at writing headlines.

Rules to follow when writing headlines:

1. First and foremost, your headline must appeal to your reader's self interest. Communicate the strongest benefit (or benefits) to your prospect. Everybody's favorite radio station is "WIIFM" -- What's In It For Me? Your headline should answer this important question.

2. Attract the attention of the prospect you'd like to target. If your headline doesn't attract the right people, it has failed. Your headline must reach out to your prospect, grab them by the throat and say, "Hey!!! I'm talking to you!"

3. Your headline must deliver a clear and understandable message. Most people read only the headlines. Because of this, your headline must make a complete statement and compel the prospect to continue reading the body copy.

4. If you have news, such as a new product, be sure to get that news into your headline in a big way.

5. Don't try to be clever or humorous with your headlines. These type of headlines are ineffective and a waste of money.

6. Include the words "quick" and "easy" if it fits what you are communicating.

7. Use specifics in your headlines, not generalities. For example, "Make $5,274 In 30 Days" is a better headline than "Make Money Fast". Specifics are more believable.

8. Always test two headlines against each other to see which one pulls the best.

9. Use upper and lower case letters for your headlines. This is easier to read than all caps. I also like to put quotation marks around my headlines. Studies have shown that quotation marks around headlines increase readership.

10. When it's time for you to write a headline for your ad, write at least 50 headlines. Some direct marketers spend days writing hundreds of headlines in search of the right one. To come up with selling headlines takes more than just a few minutes. You've got to commit yourself to sitting down and writing at least 50 headlines!

Your headline is the key to your entire ad's success. If you don't tell your prospect what's in it for them, you won't get their attention. If you don't get their attention, they won't read your ad. And if they don't read your ad, you've wasted your time and money.

Different types of headlines:

To help you write headlines that get attention, let's take a look at the different types of headlines you can use, how and when you may want to use them, and actual examples of headlines that were successful.

? The News Headline. If your product or service offers something newsworthy, announce it in your headline. Newsworthy is usually the introduction of a new product or the improvement of an existing product.

Here are some words you can use in your News Headline: New, Announcing, Introducing, Finally, Just Released, Now, At Last.

Examples:

"Now! Own Florida Land This Easy Way... $20.00 Down And $20.00 A Month"

"New Diet Burns Off More Fat Than If You Ran 98 Miles A Week"

"Announcing... The New Edition Of The Encyclopedia That Makes It Fun To Learn Things"

? The Guarantee Headline. Guarantee Headlines state a desirable benefit, and guarantee results or other benefits. If you offer a powerful guarantee, let your prospects know by stating it in the headline.

Examples:

"Play Guitar In 7 Days Or Money Back"

"Announcing A New Technologically Advanced Golf Ball You Will Never Lose, Never Slice, And Never Miss... 100% Guaranteed"

? The How To Headline. These two words -- "how to", are very powerful words. You can never go wrong using a How To Headline. (Over 7,000 book titles start out with How To.) How To Headlines promise your prospect a source for information, advice, and solutions to their problems. If you ever get stumped for a headline, use the How To Headline -- it works!

Examples:

"How To Win Friends And Influence People"

"How To Get Your Cooking Bragged About"

"How To Form Your Own Corporation Without A Lawyer For Under $50"

? The Benefit Headline. The key to a winning Benefit Headline is to know your market so well you can offer them a powerful, compelling benefit they can't easily get somewhere else. You must thoroughly research your target market in order to know what benefits are going to motivate them to take action.

Examples:

"If You Are A Careful Driver You Can Save Money On Car Insurance"

"It Cleans Your Breath While It Cleans Your Teeth"

"Get Rid Of Money Worries For Good"

? The Question Headline. Here again, to use this headline, you must really know your market. You need to know what your prospect is thinking, what their anxieties are, and what they're hoping to accomplish. If you know your target audience this well, then the Question Headline is an effective headline to use. The Question Headline must focus on your prospect's self interest and ask a question they want to know the answer to. The best type of questions to ask are questions that get your prospect involved.

Examples:

"Do You Make These Mistakes In English?"

"Can You Pass This Money Test?"

? The Reason-Why Headline. With the Reason-Why Headline you give your prospect specific reasons why they should read your ad. Reason-Why Headlines are effective because they contain facts and specific numbers. Reason-Why Headlines don't need to include the words "reason why". You can use "38 ways", "7 steps", "5 secrets", etc.

Examples:

"38 Fun And Easy Ways To Earn $500.00 Next Weekend"

"7 Steps To Freedom"

"67 Reasons Why It Would Have Paid You To Answer Our Ad A Few Months Ago"

? The Testimonial Headline. The Testimonial Headline is just what it says -- it uses a customer testimonial for a headline. With this headline, you get your customers to sell for you by talking about the benefits they received.

Examples:

"I Lost My Bulges... And Saved Money Too"

"How I Retired On A Guaranteed Income For Life"

"I Was Tired Of Living On Low Pay -- So I Started Reading The Wall Street Journal -- By A Subscriber"

? The Command Headline. The Command Headline tells your customer what to do. Your command should encourage action by offering your prospect a benefit that will help them. Effective Command Headlines start out with action verbs.

Examples:

"Stop Dreaming And Start Making Money"

"Throw Your Wax Can In The Trash Can -- The New No-Wax Floor Is Here"

"Order Christmas Cards Now -- Pay After January 20"

There you have it! Several types of headlines you can use for any kind of circumstance or market. Each headline type works well on its own or it can be combined with the other headline types.

Now, let's talk about words you can use in your headlines.

Powerful Headline Words That Are Proven To Work:

* Advice To * Amazing * Announcing * At Last * Bargain * Breakthrough * Discover * Do You * Easy * Facts * Guarantee * Here * How To * Immediate * Life * Magic * Money * New * Now * Powerful * Proven * Quick * Sale * Secrets Of * Success * Surprising

And finally, the three most powerful headline words:

FREE You Your

The words that you use in your headlines are very important. Dan Kennedy has talked about how adding just one letter to a headline (with no other changes to the ad) almost tripled the response of an ad that ran in a magazine.

Let's take a look at the headline Dan talked about. Here's what the headline said before the change:

"Put Music In Your Life"

And here's what it said after the change:

"Puts Music In Your Life"

Adding the "s" to the word "Put" almost tripled the response of the ad! (The first headline implies that you have to do something. The second headline implies that something is done for you.)

This example proves how important it is to spend lots of time writing dozens of headlines and then testing different headlines.

How To Become An Expert At Writing Headlines:

The first thing you can do to become an expert at writing headlines is to start a collection of headlines.

Whenever you see a headline that gets your attention and that compels you to read the ad, write it down on a 3 x 5 index card. Spend time studying these headlines and see if you can improve them.

An easy way to start a collection of effective headlines is to subscribe to the tabloid magazines. The people at National Inquirer, Star, and The Globe know how to write headlines. Because of their irresistible headlines, these magazines sell millions of copies each week! (Off the newsstands on impulse!)

I've got hundreds of index cards with headlines. When it's time for me to write a headline, I use these index cards for ideas.

Here's another trick for writing headlines:

Before you attempt to write a headline or any form of advertising, you should write down all the benefits of your product or service on 3 x 5 index cards. Write a single benefit on each card. When writing the benefits, remember to write them from your prospects point of view. (Also, convert the features of your product into customer benefits.)

Once you've taken the time to write down the benefits, you'll have a stack of cards (maybe hundreds) that you can use for headline ideas. Isolate the most important customer benefit and use it to create your headlines. Sometimes, one of the benefits may turn out to be the actual headline. (Also, use the index cards when writing your ad or sales letter.)

Here's a checklist to use when evaluating your headlines:

1. Does my headline communicate the strongest customer benefit?
2. Does my headline answer the question: "What's In It For Me?"
3. Does it offer a reward for reading the ad?
4. Is my headline clear and direct? Does it communicate a complete message?
5. Is my headline get attention with a powerful sales message?
6. Does it motivate my prospect to keep reading?
7. Is my headline speaking directly to my target prospect?
8. Is my headline interesting to my prospects, or does it bore them?
9. And finally, is my headline an ad for my ad?

Remember, the difference between a good headline and a bad headline is the difference between success and failure in advertising.

Your headline is the deciding factor on whether or not your prospect will read your ad. It is the most important element in advertising. Spend the time that's necessary to write winning headlines, and watch the response to your advertising sky rocket!

James A. Bower is the Co-Founder and President of Bower Income and Profit Systems a company dedicated to enhancing business performance in many areas through tapes books and seminars. His presentations include sales, marketing, telephone skills, motivation, goal setting and achievement, telephone equipment and voice mail design, and business organization for efficiency. He is an internationally recognized instructor and is the recipient of many awards in recognition of his successful efforts in assisting businesses create a more efficient environment resulting in maximum profits. He has had the opportunity to speak for groups as large as 5000 and can get his points across to any size audience.

James has been actively addressing business issues and solving business problems for over 30 years. He is available to make presentations to company staff or for individual consultation.

Contact James at 316-773-1994 or jbower1@cox.net

The Truth About Beauty

Why this fascination with beauty?

The demand for beauty services in spite of the economy?

Even when there is a recession, beauty parlours still flourish. Beauty products still fly off the shelves.

There is this saying that beauty is skin deep.

Then again, first impressions count.

Put it this way. Beauty is power. That was true centuries ago. That is true today.

When a beautiful woman walks into a bar, men flock to her and offer to buy her drinks. When an unattractive woman walks into the same bar, chances are, she would have to buy her own drinks.

A beautiful salesperson, man or woman is more likely to win the sale. Between a beautiful job seeker and an unattractive one, all other things being equal, the employer is likely to choose the good looker.

Like it or not, looks do count.

In the past, when women were dependent on men to support them, beauty was everything to a woman. A beautiful woman would have more suitors. She would be able to marry up. To marry a rich man who could take care of all her financial needs and that of her children. Long before commercial cosmetics existed, mothers would instruct their daughters on traditional beauty remedies. Simple beauty remedies like using mayonnaise as a moisturizer, or egg white as a firming mask were often used by women in the days before commercial cosmetics.

Then along came women entrepreneurs like Estee Lauder and other women from around the world. They converted traditional beauty recipes which worked for themselves into beauty creams that they sold to other women. Every woman has a right to look her most beautiful and these women were selling others their beauty secrets.

Make up was used to paint women's faces. In Egypt, the nobles, royalty and the well off would paint their eyes with khol, with crushed beetles and exotic ingredients. In Europe, women would paint their faces with make up containing toxic mercury for the sake of beauty. In Japan, the geishas would whiten their faces with creams that contain nightingale droppings.

You would think by now, we modern women would have learnt our lesson. Now, we just inject poison into our faces to paralyze our facial muscles in order to prevent expression lines from deepening as we grow older. Think of those botox injections done every 3 months to erase those wrinkles. Think of the acids we smear on our faces to smoothen them. The dermabrasion procedures done at the dermatologist in order to smoothen our skin.

Women all over the world have always been willing to suffer for the sake of beauty. Long ago, in China, women in wealthy families would bind their feet. The Chinese back then view tiny feet as beautiful, so little girls have their feet bound, to prevent them from growing big and ugly. Now that long legs are considered beautiful, some women go through a very painful medical procedure that breaks their legs, and stretches their legs by a few millimeters a day through a painful device until they attain the height they want. With their newfound height, these girls can look forward to a wealthy, glamorous future as an international model.

In Europe, centuries ago, wasp waists and curvy bodies were considered beautiful, so corsets were worn to make the waist look much smaller. These were tied so tightly that women faint easily. All for the sake of beauty. Now, corsets are in again. These days, women and men subject themselves to surgery to attain the beauty they desire. Liposuction to remove the excess fat to contour the body. Breast augmentation for bigger breasts that are considered beautiful. Nose jobs, face lifts, the works.

Thankfully, there is also a return to natural beauty remedies. This time, commercial cosmetics use natural ingredients that women have used for centuries in the home beauty preparations. These are effective and great for the skin.

What we women really should do is to focus on inner beauty, and to keep ourselves healthy. Health is beauty.

8 to 10 hours of sleep every night, fresh food, fresh air, daily exercise, drinking plenty of water every day, soap and water, or cleanser and toner, moisturizer where necessary and sun protection all day long. All that keeps your body healthy and your skin and hair, beautiful. Oh, and learn to age gracefully. After all, aging is a natural process in life.

The writer is the webmaster of Cosmetics Online, where you can find cosmetics, skincare, makeup and all the beauty products from your favourite beauty brand.

Breach over a Troubled Contract

by: Kristine Llabres
Every one should be aware of this, since everyone is entering and engaging
into contracts. Maybe not that elaborate and specific but still it's a
contract.

A breach of contracts occurs when the injured party may have initiated a
lawsuit or claim to enforce the contract. Actually, a lawyer will look at
the contract and other pertinent information and send out a strong worded
letter, basically a threatening lawsuit.

In some cases that works when a settlement is agreed upon, but when it
does not, the injured party may need to follow through a lawsuit. A
process server will eventually found the person that another person is
suing. Well, believe it or not the guy would be furious.

For instance, a lawyer did an asset search and learned that the person
being sued had put all his money in an equity trust, which white collar
criminals often do, right?
Well, the sued person is bound to pay a considerable judgment, thanks to
the extra diligent work of the lawyer and all his staff who help him
through it all.

Take note that when a breach of contract occurs, someone is bound and
usually suffers. The injured party can simply roll over and take it or he
can just fight back, whatever he wanted, he may do so. After all, fighting
back usually requires much legal expertise and legwork. Oftentimes, people
who breach contracts will often result to any means just to avoid paying.
Dedicated lawyers and legal professionals can flush them out and force
them to pay as soon as they are sued.

Small claims collection, also bothers?

Well, if an individual has won a judgment but he cannot collect, he can
just enlist the services of skip traces and collectors. For example in a
nominal fee the creditor can run a background check on his debtor. The
information about the creditor will help to him in collecting after the
judgment. The creditor may seek to have liens placed on the debtor's
property and bank accounts.

Take note that if you have been damaged in some way for an amount of less
than $5,000 you can seek justice in a small claims court, but if over it
of course in a regular court of law.

The regulations and rules should not let you worried. There are legal
support companies that can help you. For a fee much less than what lawyer
would charge, they can file a complaint, serve the complaint and file all
other necessary paper work as a document to support your claim.

After all, you could be on your way to collecting a judgment before you
even know it.

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