Top 10 Ways To Get More People To Your Next Gig

By David Hooper

For an up-and-coming band every gig is a vital step toward your success. Your shows are where you get the chance to prove yourself. They are your opportunity to do what you do best. A good gig can also have a ripple effect, securing you a loyal fan base and ensuring good crowds at future shows. So when you land a gig, the key is to make it count. Hours of practice and rehearsal won't matter unless you have a decent crowd that can go back and tell their friends how great you are.

Your mission is not only to kick ass on stage-but to convince other people to come and see you.

Sure, it would be nice to be able to just focus on your music and let someone else handle the promotions, but few unsigned bands have those kinds of resources. It's up to you to get people in the door.

With that in mind, I've put together a list of ways you can make sure you have a full house at your next gig.

1. Start early.

Don't wait until a week before your gig to start advertising. As soon as you have a booking, sit down with the band and come up with a strategy for marketing the show to the public. Remember, you're competing with about a million other things someone can choose to do on a Saturday night-movies, other bands' shows, parties, sporting events. You want to get yourself on the calendar as soon as humanly possible, and give yourself plenty of time to remind people a few times before the show date.

2. Posters, flyers, and cards.

You have to have them. There's no excuse these days not to have cards, flyers, and posters. With the online digital printing websites you can upload your own art, or use their existing art to create marketing materials that are professional and eye-catching. Remember, you're competing with professional bands which have marketing departments and public relations people, so put some thought into it.

One way you can get some great art done for little money is checking out high school and junior college art departments. Some of these young artists would love the chance to do your design work and earn a little cash-and they'll charge you a mere fraction of the amount that a professional graphic designer would.

However, even if you can only go the old-fashioned route of hand-drawing a flyer and photocopying it on eye-catching colored paper, do it.

Make sure everyone in the band has stacks and that they're giving them out, hanging them up, and making them available. Leave them at the record store hang them on community bulletin boards at schools, coffee shops, bookstores and libraries.

3. Get your family and friends involved.

These people can be your best allies as you start your career. People that love you are your cheerleaders. They are going to promote the hell out of your band even if they aren't particularly interested in your style of music. Maybe grandma won't come to a show, but she knows a lot of people and can help spread the word. She's just the type of person who would relentlessly hand out your flyers to everyone and anyone, just because she loves you. Take a stack of flyers to each of your friends and family, tell them how important it is for you to get people to your show, and ask them to spread the word. Unless they still haven't forgiven you for breaking their favorite crystal vase when you were eight-years-old, chances are they'll be happy to be part of your success.

4. Use Myspace, Facebook, and other online social networking tools.

Technology is one of the most powerful tools you have. If you are one of the last five people on earth without a MySpace or Facebook account, get one NOW. Make sure you regularly update the pages with news and show dates, upload MP3's or videos of your songs, and respond when people leave you a message. Look for bands on MySpace with a similar style to yours and go through their "friends" lists-and invite those people to be your friends. You can generate so much interest in your band with regular "farming" of these sites, even people who live in other cities and states can become fans and your impact can quickly go from being local to you having a national presence.

5. Create a press release.

This sounds more complicated than it is. Not just big names can create and circulate a press release. Basically, it is a formal description of something current-like a show or a new CD release-that you can give to different media outlets. Sending a press release doesn't ensure that you will get publicity, but it will definitely get you noticed and the media folks in your town are going to pay attention to your professionalism. Send your press release to entertainment papers; corporate, public, and college radio stations; bloggers and online communities that feature local events.

Check out this site for a description of how to write a professional press release:
http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp

6. Tell everyone you know-and don't know.

This is not the time to be shy. If you can get up in front of a crowd and pour your blood, sweat, and tears into your performance, you can strike up a conversation when you're out getting coffee and tell people about your show. Think of yourself as a really cool Jehovah's Witness. Have flyers in your pocket and be ready to hand them out any time any place. A personal connection with someone, even for a couple minutes, is more compelling than a thousand flyers stuck to the side
of a building.

7. Go to other shows and network.

Get out there and see other shows. Hang out before and after and talk to people about your music. The people you meet at a show are people you know are interested in seeing live performances. Again, making a single personal connection is one of the most effective ways you can generate interest in your music. You can be cool and still be friendly. This is not the time to be stand-offish. In the beginning you can't just rely on your music to attract people, because in the beginning, no one has heard your music. They're going to come to see you.

8. Offer to play a couple songs unplugged at an event to warm up the crowd.

In every city there are about a thousand things going on any given weekend. There are plenty of opportunities to warm up the crowd at a charity, a school play, an art show, or any other number of events. You don't need to drag all the equipment out. Go and play a couple songs acoustic.
Give away a couple CDs in a raffle at the event. Ask if you can leave some flyers on the registration table so that when people come in they can grab one with their name tag or program. There are endless possibilities for getting yourself in front of people and giving them a little taste of your music-plus, you might just get to support a worthwhile organization or event.

9. Advertise a giveaway at the show.

People love free stuff. It's just a fact of life. It doesn't even have to be good free stuff, but if you advertise that you are giving something away, there is a much higher likelihood that more people will show up. Give away a couple discs, a couple t-shirts. If you have the cash, give away an iPod Shuffle ($49) or some gift certificates. It is a small investment that will pay off in spades. Make sure you let everyone know-on flyers, on MySpace, and by word of mouth-what you're giving away and when.

10. Open for an established band a couple weeks before the gig.

Be a part of your indie community. Make friends and allies with other bands. If you can open for another band a couple weeks before your gig, you are going to give people a chance to see you in action. You'll have a ready-made audience you can pitch your upcoming show to. Hang out after your performance and work the room while you enjoy the main show and support your friends.
There are so many creative ways to promote your show, and these are just a few suggestions to get you going. Remember, if you don't promote yourself, no one else is going to. Be fearless and let the world know who you are and where your next show is going to be!

David Hooper is a music business expert based out of Nashville, TN. He is host of the syndicated radio show, Music Business Radio. For more on David, visit him at http://www.musicmarketing.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Hooper

The Biggest Mistake People Make When Learning Conversational Hypnosis, And How To Avoid It

By Nathan Thomas

No mater how many books you read, how many courses you buy, how many videos you watch you will not be able to succeed in conversational or covert hypnosis if you don't avoid or get over this mistake. You may find what you read here to ring surprisingly true for you, perhaps it just sounds right, or maybe it will just seem to makes sense for you in your situation with conversational hypnosis.

I will presume that you have an interest in conversational hypnosis, maybe you are just starting out, or maybe you have been learning it for a while.

I will guess that you are surprised how much there is too learn, and are impressed by the power of covert and conversational hypnosis, you may have even started thinking about how you can apply this in your life, but i bet that most of you reading this have not really started using conversational hypnosis yet.

Have you been going out and gaining rapport, using language patterns, putting people in trance and giving them suggestions, and i am not talking just once or twice, i am talking a lot. To get good at anything you need to use what you learn, would you be a great cricket player if you read every good book on cricket about, and watched dozens of instructional videos, but never played a game?

Would you be a good orator if you have never given a speech in your life?

Can you be a good conversational hypnotist if you don;t conversationally hypnotize people?

There is no need to fret now though, as soon as you start practicing conversational hypnosis, no matter how good or otherwise you are, as soon as you start using this out in real life you will be surprised by two things:

How effective these techniques really are.

And, how much fun you end up having, the pride that really using conversational hypnosis gives you is unbelievable, you just feel so good after and while using covert and conversational hypnosis, it's like everything just came together, and you feel a sense of power and pride, the feeling of being a good covert hypnotist.

Do you want access to one of the web's greatest resources on conversational hypnosis
Go to http://coverttrance.com and claim your free course in covert and conversational hypnosis, what you will learn there will make you an unstoppable communicator and persuader, and give you the tools you need to start using conversational hypnosis in your life.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nathan_Thomas

Same Product, Different People, Different Advertising Photography

By Jack Whites

Advertising photography is different for morning tea from that of a tea during the twilights. And the difference is expressed with the help of the different ways of advertising photography.
Lights, props, models, their expressions, the backdrop and various other things are used to create the difference. Here in this article, we will see how different ways of advertising photography can make a huge difference in advertising the same product to different kinds of customers and target audience. And the product we will use to clarify the point is tea leaves.
First of all, let us look at the two different kinds of target audience for advertising photography.
The first target audience is the average British ordinary married woman who may or may not be working. The other is a young dynamic office going unmarried young woman who is very busy throughout the day with not a moment to sit and relax. Both are woman, but they have different lifestyles.

Now let us take two situations where the same tea leaves are used by the two target audience.
In the first one, the married lady would like to have the tea early in the morning, before starting her day, or at the breakfast with her spouse. She would be more cool, quiet and composed and would like to enjoy the aroma, the flavor and the taste of the tea.

While in the second situation, a young lady is busy at the office and feels very tired and stressed after a whole day of assiduous work. She still has loads to take care of and she wants to relax a little bit with tea so that she can get charged up and ready to take them on.

The same advertisement would not work in both the situations. And for the difference in advertisements, first we have to take care of the advertising photography, which has to be different in both the cases.

About The Author: Jack White is a specialist in Advertising photography and other kinds of photography. He has worked in close coordination with many an expert commercial photographer of UK and other countries. In his works he is presenting some of his observation on the role of commercial photographer in advertising photography.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Whites

The People The Business And The Profits

By Emmanuel Sodipo

One management rule is this: do not send eagles to dog's school. Why? Because Good people are discovered they are not transformed. They can decide to transform themselves, but you can not make the decision for them. If you want good people; you have to search for them. If you want inspired people, you have to find them, not motivate them.

Imagine running an advert for your business with this headline: "We Do Not Teach Our People To Be Motivated - We Hire Motivated People"

Inspiration is a mystery. Why some people are motivated and others are not? Why would one person walk out and says, 'I'm going to change my life.' And the other walks out and says, "I've heard all this stuff before? Why does one marketer see his first prospect at six in the morning while the other sees his first prospect at ten in the morning? Why would one start the day at five in the morning and the other start at nine? Why wouldn't everyone strive to be wealthy and happy?

Call it mysteries of judgment. Very few people take the necessary actions needed to transform their lives, I said to a class of five hundred people "I read this book, and it started me on the journey to success. Two people got the book and only one read the book. Why wouldn't everyone go get the book?

Mysteries of the judgment...
Do not waste your time trying to transform eagles into dogs. Let the dogs be and let the eagles soar, hire people who already have the motivation.

Learn to Evolve then to Attract
Great marketing generates lots of interest and clients. If your people, your systems, and your customer service are mediocre, then those clients will turn into your worst nightmare. Word-of-mouth can be both positive and negative.

I offered consulting and marketing advice over a few years. I thought I understood how businesses worked. It seemed at the time it could not be that hard to run a business.

I was wrong. I had been doing personal development for many years before I started business. I exhausted everything I have ever learned and more.

The more I discovered what it takes to become a successful business leader, the more I realized just how many of the great business leaders evolved as people. I honestly believe that the most important part of growing a business rapidly, predictably, and consistently over a long period of time is becoming the person who can lead that growth.

At first business leaders evolved in many ways that are not obvious to the average person. They then slowly transform into very mature, ethical, intelligent people. To become a person who attracts, who keeps, and who develops great people, you must first develop yourself in many ways, and then hire good people to develop your systems.

When you start hiring people, you will begin to realize that these are actual people with families, mortgages, pets, friends and their own ideas about life. You better be intelligent, mature and ethical enough to have a profitable plan for the business and a plan for the people. You must learn how to periodically evolve if you plan to grow a large and a successful business.

Emmanuel Sodipo is a consultant managing several successful online businesses you can download a Free book at http://www.emmanuelsodipo.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emmanuel_Sodipo

Cheap Flights - An Easy Trick For People Who Travel Often

By Dani Alonso

Today here it comes and easy trick for all the persons that use to travel frequently, either for personal reasons or for business but at your expenses.

There is one thing true about airlines. When you are supposed to be traveling for business reasons, you will be charged more. Why? Simply because normally the business traveler is payed by the company that he or she works for, and airlines know that companies can pay a lot more than single travelers.

The question then is: how do airlines know if your trip is for business reasons or you are a tourist? Well, they normally do not know, but they have a way to guess it. If your trip does not involve a weekend in between, you will be supposed to be traveling for business. In the case that any weekend is placed between the dates that you are traveling, in this case you will be considered a tourist.

Of course this is logical, as many persons going on holidays they spend the weekend at the destination, and come back on Sunday or another day. Normally we all try to use the weekends in the middle to make our holidays longer.

This is not something that can apply to everybody, but if you are a person that has to travel during the week at least two times, you can make out a strategy in order to pay less.

Let's difference trip A from trip B, where A happens during one week, and B happens one or more weeks later. The both trips do not include a weekend in the middle. You make your first booking with the departure date for your trip A, but placing in your return date the one for the return of your trip B. That way you make sure that this trip will have a weekend in the middle.

And with the second flight it is a bit more tricky but it works the same. You pretend that you are traveling from your destination and visiting your home country, so you will book your departure flight on the day that you must come back from your trip A and your returning flight on the day that you are supposed to start your trip B.

That way you also make sure that you are placing a weekend in the second trip. It is pretty ingenious but really easy. You can follow the instructions, but if you are one of those people that need to understand everything, the best way is to take a paper. It will be a lot more clear!

Thanks for reading! Want to find out how I can plan your trip for less than anybody else?
Travel to Europe

Maybe some free information on getting 80% discounts in hotels?
Free Hotels

For general information on traveling around the world:
Travel Addicts

Dani Alonso

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dani_Alonso

3 Big Mistakes Made By People When Applying For a Job in Nigeria

By Oluwatoyin Omotoso

Have you ever applied for a job with the hope that you have the necessary qualifications but you were not able to get the job? This might be due to one of the following mistakes:

"Read this and pass it across to others"

1. Not specifying the position you want in your Resume.- A lot of people apply for jobs using the same unedited Resume they used in getting their former job. Some also forget to specify the position they are actually applying for in their Resume. Watch out for this when next you are applying for a job.

2. Not distinguishing yourself from other applicants- A lot of people are applying for that Job you are applying for. How do you make yourself different from them? Always put expert touches to your documents (Cover letters and Resume) Also print it on High quality papers.

3. Not knowing anything about the position ( Company) It is disheartening that during interviews, most people show that they do not know much about the job they want to get? Who would employ someone like that? Before going to the interview, read everything you can find about the job you want to get.

4. Not dropping a thank you note- Do you know that a lot of Nigerians do not know anything about "thank you notes" This simple idea can hook you up with even unbelievable Nigeria Jobs.
Start right now to examine yourself and take note of all these mistakes the next time you are applying for a job. I wish you success.

Free Special Report Reveals "7 Proven Strategies guaranteed to help you get a good job in Nigeria in 21 days or less.
Get it at http://hotjobsecrets.com

Why People Find Their Alaskan Cruise So Enticing

By Michael Klerck

I am not at all amazed to see so many articles on cruising in Alaska. While it is disturbing to see no fewer than 4 gigantic liners in the small port of Ketchikan at one time, for instance, they do seem to time their arrival so that our shore excursion into a tropical forest (yes tropical) was as memorable as promised.

There is simply nothing like cruising. When the aeroplane in the seventies threatening the industry and I watched the ships slowly disappear I was sad. Witnessing a resurgence in cruising and a plethora of wonderful ship being launched - more in the last five years than in decades before - I have been delighted to join the eager fraternity that sets sail regularly.

We chose Alaska because we wanted to visit North America for the first time. But also because it sounded so exotic - it would be, coming from South Africa.

It was nothing short of breathtaking. But it was also the ship itself - Holland America's Volendam that made it especially so. Imagine sitting in a leather chair nine storeys up in an observation lounge with 270 degree views. Imagine this in almost utter silence, while the ship glides through a narrow passage, with less than 100 metres on either side - we could hear the waterfalls, see the wildlife, and watch in amazement as whales and seals swam passed us. When she approach a 'corner' my naval instincts and ocean experience that goes back 30 years said no.
How was she going to negotiate what was literally a corner up ahead? Keep in mind this was the largest ship I had ever embarked - over 70 000 tonnes. I ran downstairs to call my wife, and we both watched in amazement as her engine pods (much like movable outboard motors) and bow thrusters allowed her to sail through effortlessly. I simply shook my head.

When we reached the glacier it was an experience that was quite simply humbling. All the statistics about the melting ice and the glacier itself retreating many metres each year were disturbing, but then again it was as a result of this that we could approach and enter what was now a 'modern' bay - not accessible 20 years ago. In fact because of the sophisticated engines and designs, few ships, even with much less tonnage, have been able to negotiate the narrow passages and actually turn around when they get there.

I delighted in videoing how the captain, by using a pencil sized joystick, was able to program the ship so that she turned so silently and slowly over a period of an hour, without any movement forwards or backwards. I wondered if my small frigate, of just 2500 tonnes, from the South African Navy in 1973 might have done this - I think not. Passengers on the bow, and those sitting astern were then afforded a view of the entire bay and the cathedral-like walls of the glacier itself as the ship turned slowly in the streaming sunshine of the Alaskan summer. The glacier itself was somewhat daunting - with pieces of ice ready to calve - we desperately hoped a large one would break off and crash with thunderous applause into the mottled green bay, but alas only slivers did so on that particular day. We were acutely aware that our very presence added to the environmental changes, but were somehow willing to compromise in order to live the moment - so much like most of us on our endangered planet.

In fact the entire cruising programme must be for many people, not excluding the planners and ships owners, somewhat of a dilemma - hundreds of summer cruises a year do take their toll - the air pollution itself is a factor. But owners and cruise operators do everything they can to minimize the effect - cigarette butts are a serious no-no, for example; don't even think of throwing one overboard, and I have do doubt that with technology, our gargantuan liner was probably less guilty of environmental impact than my teeny frigate all those years ago.

Skagway gives one a chance to take a memorable train ride up over the start of the Rockies and into Canada - one follows the path up the mountain on which hundreds of pack animals fell to their death as a result of their owner's greed for gold. We were simply delighted at the Humpback Whale food festival out in the bay at Juneau - Alaska's capital (the only one in the world that is not accessible by road). This 'shore excursion' of about three hours was well worth it - our small boat captain guaranteed, with typical American marketing gusto, that we would see them feed. And we did. What a feast! The glaciers retreated with the last ice age and carved a vertical passage down into the bay, meaning that the shoreline has a vertical drop of hundreds of metres into the sea. It was here that a family of Humpbacks secured their lunch with their sophisticated methods of diving and bubble netting their small prey.

Believe it or not, we experienced some disappointment with regard to wildlife. One can see more whales, and really up close, in October to January in Cape Town and surrounds than we did in Alaska. We were constantly reminded that on the multitude of islands we passed on the inside passage (essential method of cruising) that for each square kilometre there was one bear. Sadly, or luckily we encountered and saw not one. I turned to my wife one day and knew what she was thinking. For all the wilderness angle pursued by brochures and guides, we realized how privileged we were to live in a country with the greatest concentration of life on the planet.

Alaska seem almost desert-like, but from this aspect only.

We did visit a salmon farm and see beautiful eagles. The whale feeding-frenzy (not something we get back home - they entertain us back there with circus tricks in the water) is now edited and copied to a much viewed DVD back home, and we realized that Alaska was not necessarily (for us, that was) a memorable wildlife experience.

But boy, it sure put on another display. One cannot visit without feeling one has been transported to a world of sublime and inexorably, stark, and primordial beauty. It is here, as with other 'last frontiers' that the world of yester era can be experienced. The beauty is both harsh and delicate, a place where ancient forces: enemies and allies met and struggled. I shall not easily forget the sun dispersing dark and ominous clouds, just in time for us to bask in its rays and then literally gasp at the spectacularly beautiful colours that the sunshine itself was able to entice from the seemingly cold and austere glacier.

She, the sun, seemed to thrust herself down onto the orchestra of icy protrusions and phallic structures, like an excited conductor might charge at his musicians with his baton, evoking their hidden talents.

We found our very spirits dancing with every ray that fell and in some weird neurological space my brain did somersaults. I remembered the testimony of a LSD-taking friend years back, and his description of how he 'heard' a sunset and could see colours in sounds. Here Nature was the intoxicating influence, and I swore blind that night that I had smelt the very colours that danced on the back of the retreating glacier, and heard every moan of the pristine and exquisitely beautiful blue that shimmered in every crevice and corner of the dazzling bay!

It is a wonder that many of these cruises are so inexpensive (I hate to use the word cheap). On the cusp of summer - April/August, September one can find them for as little as $499 - an entire week of sublime luxury and relaxation.

Amazingly, with at least four meals a day, and at least one gourmet tray of delights at 2am, my wife and I actually lost weight! The food was nothing short of spectacular and while my wife faithfully journeyed through the entire menu each night, my waiter soon appeased my strange penchant for dining by serving no fewer than three small main courses from around the world. I would certainly not have been able to afford such delights in Paris of Vienna, some not even back home.

Choose your cruise line carefully; while Holland America's passenger list averaged around 45 in age, a small family of kids had the children's program and a full-time child minder to themselves - a distinct advantage. But if it's love, sex and rock 'n roll you're after you might like to take a peek at Carnival or a cruise line that majors in another kind of wildness. Personally I would prefer this type of party cruise in the Med, Caribbean or Mexico. Somehow the breathtaking setting of Alaska itself demands a quiet and humble respect, more in tune with sipping whiskies, and silently walking on the upper deck in the clean, ancient air.

Whatever your choice, go you must. You will not be the same again.

Michael Klerck is a freelance writer and winner of the coveted Mondi Paper Magazine Writer's Award for work in Men's Health, South Africa. His website,
http://www.luxurylinerholidays.com gives advise, tips, tricks and information on cruising the world's oceans.

Why People Love Painting

By Rajneesh Dubey

People are in love with painting since they came to life millions of years ago. Having fulfilled their essential requirements they looked up to some recreational activities. Beautiful cave paintings of prehistoric times like those of Lascaux, Le Marche and Chauvet Cave and Bhimbetka bear the testimony of the fact. It might have started from drawing something on the soil with their fingers because a good diagram on the soil helps you to become an accomplished artist.

A colorful object attracts everyone. Colors give the fancy of the person a new world. When someone holds a paint brush, he thinks that whole cosmos can be again drawn through his fingers. Seas, skies, mountains, valleys, gorges, people, animals etc, can all be drawn with immaculate details just on a sheet of paper. Moreover, to color the figure concerned the pigments could be sourced from various things like minerals, vegetables, synthetic materials and other naturally occurring objects.

A cherished memory could well be preserved through a painting. Thus paintings can be made out of imagination as well as of the real thing or the real incident. Painting world is so diverse that a budding artist can choose his style and affiliation to a particular style and then decide to go ahead with. He can specialize in the painting on the basis of medium like water color, oil color, pastel color, fusion etc. Similarly an apprentice can choose to make specifically landscapes, seascapes, skyscapes, waterscapes or the fusion of them.

The most interesting part of painting is its commercial aspect. If an artist can carve out for himself a niche, then finance will never be a constraint for him or her. If he works hard in innovation, creativity, consistency and patience, his work can give him everything. Thus, a hobby can be a stabling factor in life. All painting greats had started their journey by just drawing a diagram on surface through their finger. Come and join the league if your fingers are itching to do something.

Rajneesh Dubey is Content Coordinator for http://ethnicpaintings.com This website gives you comprehensive informations on painting history, development, trends, popular painting styles, great painters, famous paintings, painting galleries and museums, painting tips, painting classes. In other words, this website is a treat to painting freaks.

To learn tips on how to learn painting please visit Ethnic Paintings

How You Can Learn From Ordinary People Doing Extra Ordinary Things

By Rauf Mohamed Yusope

It is just amazing to watch ordinary people doing and achieving extra ordinary things. Once, I really wondered and pondered. What really separates these people from us? A big factor I felt is their mindset. Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility - Oprah Winfrey.

Their belief to succeed through obstacles is one that many can admire. One has to realize that achieving extraordinary things could be one of the most challenging experience the individual can have in his/her lifetime. Not a smooth ride that is.

Everyday we all make decisions. We make good and bad decisions. Through life experiences and watching these people, I realized that a decision is better than not making a decision at all. Like any humans, these successful people do make error of judgements in their decisions too. But I felt that what separates them is they are more receptive towards learning from the experiences and accept mistakes are part of learning curve to grow better. One of my favourite quotes from Henry Ford - Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. Such powerful statement I felt.

One can also give big admiration about these people for their strong willingness to take charge of their life and being action oriented. Your Future Is Created By What You Do Today Not Tomorrow, Robert Kiyosaki exemplify it all.

Through achieving these amazing feats, we have seen most of these people did one of the most brilliant things in life. Being able to touch and inspire others. Through their success, they are able to help more people by creating business opportunity and providing jobs. One such great example is Muhammad Yunos whose brilliant idea of Microcredit and giving small amount of cash loans to the poor enable more opportunity for more families to have a better life.

Amazing it is when you watch and ponder about these ordinary people achieving amazing feat which enable them to touch life of others. Walking through the stages in life, these feats that I have witnessed inspires individuals like me to do my little part in achieving success and goals in life. Through different tools like internet business opportunities such as home business, we can leverage on such medium to reach out and do our part in impacting the lives of others positively.
Free Internet Home Business Tips Newsletter that can be delivered to your inbox.

Simply Download it for free here: Get Home Business Tips To Your Inbox

Md Abd Rauf Bin Md Yusope is an Internet Marketer in Home Business and Personal Development.

What Else Do People Use Tea For?

By Tuong Pham

Well, you have heard so much about tea drink and all of its wonders and interesting things. But now, let's switch gear a bit and talk about other uses of tea drink. Tea has many wonderful aspects, so what I'm about to tell you is probably the practical side of tea leaves.

One of the major use of tea leaves besides being brewed and drank is the fact that they can absorb the smell and fragrance very fast. This is disadvantage if you try to drink the tea. If you are a tea drinker and you are not storing tea the right way, the next time you open the lid, a weird smell would punch right to your nose that make you wondering what happend to the fresh tea leaves I just bought three weeks ago...?. That's a very bad thing. But you can use the tea leaves' nature to your advantage. That means you can use tea leaves to remove any smell or odor that you don't want around the house. Not fresh tea leaves, but used tea leaves. You would just probably throw them away, so why don't you use those for something else. Stretch your dollar a little further.

Two suggestions would be the refrigerator and the shoes. Almost everyone has a refrigerator and more than once when you open the refrigerator, you can smell the sandwiches or the half-rotten apple that your spouse of your children ( or roomates) left from last week. That's very uncomfortable. Sometimes, a little thing like an orange juice spill would make the refrigerator smell unpleasant. Well, you can reduce the unpleasant smell by placing a container or a open bag of used tea leaves in your refrigerator. But you should remember to remove the tea after 2-3 days. Don't leave one container of tea too long in the frige, replace the tea whenever you finish brewing the next cup of tea.

Now talk about shoes. You can apply the same thing. But this time, you should use dried tea leaves, not used one. This is common sense, the shoe gives unpleasant smell because of the moisture of the feet or outside ( like the rain). It wouldn't make sense if you then put wet tea leaves into shoe. But if you can leave a tiny bag of dried tea leaves into you shoe for a night, the tea can absorb the odor and leaving your shoes smelling fresh ( and a bit grassy like you just walk on a meadow, but it's still much more pleasant than the "fragrance" from your son's shoes after he had soccer practice...).

Other thing you can do is to use tea leaves to clean the dishes. If you want to try something more interesting, you can take a tea bath. You can just throw some tea leaves into your hot bath just to see if it's anything different. One thing for sure that you will acquire a somewhat grassier fragrance. Who knows, your family would just think you just bought a new perfume...

Mr. Pham is tea enthusiast. He has created Nature Healthy Tea to share his knowledge on this healthy drink. More information on black tea.

Credibility Is Everything

By Koh Kit Ngu

People buy from those they know, like, and trust. To succeed online, you need to create a comfortable environment where prospects can get a feel for who you are and what you're all about. It's important that you establish credibility at every opportunity and help foster good feelings about doing business with you.

Visitors arrive at your site presumably due to your lead generation efforts. They're interested, but unsure. Perhaps they've never heard of you. The fact that you live half way around the world is another cause for concern. Your job is to alleviate any uncertainty and make visitors feel comfortable about you, your product and business.

When you know your market and you communicate such an understanding, your prospects soon develop an affinity towards you.

Talk to your prospect as a friend. Be warm and personal. Tell them the way it is in a straightforward and truthful manner. Don't beat around the bush. Be direct and forthright - the same way you'd communicate with a friend. Show you care. Demonstrate a knowledge and respect for your audience and they'll be inclined to like you too.

Trust begins with a professional presence -- and that begins with your own domain name. It's shocking to me how many marketers attempt to sell products from a site that clearly exposes their amateur status. Get your own domain and find an affordable host that doesn't demand an advertising banner or pop-up window promoting their services on your site. That's all it takes to get started on the right foot.

Make full use of endorsements, testimonials, and associations. Give people something that's a little easier for them to accept and believe - like the comments of a recognized authority who has used your product.

Project an image of stability. Let people know you've been in business for x-number of years and show them your real world business address and facilities.

Give them something they can relate to -- something that makes you seem like a real, legitimate business with a physical location somewhere on planet earth. It's comforting and reassuring for prospects to know that yours is a real legitimate business.

Just released! A complete web copywriting course by Robert Boduch that will teach you step-by-step how to craft out YOUR OWN powerful and persuasive sales letters. Discover the "bag of tricks" and little known "tactics" top copywriters use that'll shoot YOUR web traffic THROUGH THE ROOF! 757 Explosive Web Copywriting Techniques GUARANTEED To Skyrocket Your Online Sales and Put More Money In Your Pocket - Even If You Have Never Written A Thing Since High School.

http://757copywritingsecrets.com

Families And Young People - The Touristic Future Of Lignano Sabbiadoro

By Deborah Cervesato

Last year, to better manage the summer season in Lignano Sabbiadoro, the municipal Administration ordered a research about the situation of the city. That study was included in a bigger project, denominated “Agenda 21 Locale”, to analyze present touristic and economic situation of peninsula and to think about guidelines for the next years. Italian Higher Study Center of Tourism and Touristic Promotion in Assisi carried out the research and analyzed environmental, human and economic sides in Lignano, effects of tourism in these aspects, how tourists see the seaside resort and how it would be seen, its presentation by tour operators and travel agencies and its perception by potential tourists. About this last point the researchers found some differences: in their opinion the town is more renowned and used by italian and foreigner families, but its tour operators take care of young people tourism.

A detailed analysis inside the bathing resort reports different points of view: Lignano hotel-keepers take care of family tourism offering special holiday conditions in their facilities, but retailers concentrate on the other kind of tourism, searching to follow or be ahead young people's fashions. To have a harmonic city development, it would be desirable a meeting of both parts to discuss about new actions to do to work with families and young people tourism. These two touristic fluxes could be live together, allowing a longer summer season and cutting the risks coming from a possible partial fall of one of these two touristic streams.

Some local hotel-keepers, in line with the research's results, decided to dedicate their efforts to present a complete service range for families and for young. For example, the Hotel Vienna Administration invested in a refurbishment to meet with the tastes of Lignano touristic market.

This hotel offers connecting rooms and children playground to the families, while for the young people there's a new panoramic swimming pool at the top of the building and also a solarium.

Although the near commercial street location could attract more young people, the hotel have a near private beach, where families can enjoy relaxing sunny days in a safe place for the children.
Hotel Vienna is an example of cohabitation of families and young people tourism, the major touristic streams coming in Lignano Sabbiadoro. If its tour operators could analyze and than use the potential of both fluxes, these two will grow up and get stronger each other, bringing advantages in a long period by an economic and environmental sustainable development.

Hotel Vienna
Via Carinzia, 1
33054 Lignano Sabbiadoro (UD)
ItalyTel. + 39.0431.71231 -
FAX + 39.043171127
http://www.hotelvienna.it/hotel_uk.htm

Top 5 Mistakes People Make In Email Marketing - Part 2

By Aurelius Tjin

In the last issue, we looked at one of the mistakes most people make in email marketing. In this edition, we’ll be looking at the last four mistakes most marketers, service providers and product creators make. In this article I must emphasize that you will get both the mistakes and the solutions. Do not just know them. Do them. I repeat; Do them. They could literally save your campaign and not only put more money in your pocket than you could have ever thought; it will create for you, a loyal following of customers and clients who trust you.

1. Bombarding your subscribers with the Buy Immediately cliché. Marketers are always looking for ways to make more money. This is a good thing in itself. But when you are dealing with your clients, it is best to not go overboard. The reason most clients sign up with your newsletter, ezine or your opt-in list is because they think you could offer them pure value. So, if you deviate from this path –providing high quality information- you are bound to lose quite a number of them and it can be hard to gain their trust again. If you used the tell-a-friend method of promotion, you are bound to have a community of friends on your list and as word-of-mouth form of advertising is the fastest means to get the word out, so also is it the quickest way to lose your subscribers. So, offer high quality information. Give them valuable nuggets. This singular tactic is responsible for needless losses in millions of dollars online. Avoid this by all means by providing high quality write ups and content.

2. Sending emails too frequently. Your customers are not robots without emotions. Unnecessarily flooding their inbox with adverts of various products in the name of email marketing will get you off their list of information providers even when you offer good information. Recent research has shown that people who use their emails frequently are attached emotionally to them. So, cluttering their inbox with repeated ads, will seem like cluttering up their homes –and you know how that feels. If you must send an email twice a day, you must have a darn good reason handy as doing otherwise is sure to hurt your email marketing campaigns.

3. Not replying to emails. Many marketers are guilty of this. There may be a legit reason like being too busy or swamped with tasks for this. While that is acceptable, you should realise that genuine customers may really need more information or clarification from you as regards your products, recommendations, or just need plain advice. Always make time for your clients, as this is very important in your email marketing campaigns. It bridges the gap between you and them. It bolsters the business relationship you might have created with them. If you are too swamped, delegate the job. Get a secretary or someone to attend to your mails frequently. It would not cost much to do this. At least you are sure to keep your clients satisfied and loyal and ultimately, make more money through email marketing.

4. Not creating emails in HTML, text, or PDF formats. You newsletter or ezine is an important part of your email marketing campaign. According to Email Labs a company specializing in email marketing research, less than 20% read their emails in HTML format. According to this research, over 65% say they prefer their email messages in either text or PDF formats. Does that mean anything? Do not create just one format. It won’t cost you much to create them in the said three formats. With this alone, you’ll have covered the whole market and given your subscribers options to read your message.

Aurelius Tjin is The Publisher of The 'Unstoppable Internet Marketing' Newsletter With Over 20,000 Readers. Discover His Secret Strategies To Skyrocket Your Internet Marketing Business. To Get Your Free Subscription, Go To http://www.UnstoppableInternetMarketing.com

Top 5 Mistakes People Make In Email Marketing - Part 1

By Aurelius Tjin

The advent of the internet has made communication so much simpler than it would have been without it. It is easier to get the message out on your products, services or company. The speed of information that the internet provides is simply astonishing. Because of the ease of use of the internet, the average individual has an email address enabling him to contact anyone across the globe with just a few keyboard punches. The marketing sector has cashed in on this unique opportunity and is using email marketing to get the message out about their products, services and company.

Unfortunately though, people are not putting as much effort as they should into their email marketing efforts and campaigns. The attention given to direct mail or a press release in the news media is far higher than what is given to mail marketing.

If you are using the internet as a means of marketing, you should know that you are not dealing with robots. You are dealing with real people in a real world who have as much tendency to ignore your ads as they would in reality. Exploring the full potentials of email marketing is still far away. People make certain mistakes in the use of email marketing as a means of getting the word out on their products and services. To be very successful in your email marketing campaigns, it is advisable that you avoid making certain mistakes which seem to abound everywhere on the internet. If you are desirous of tremendous results, and want to get on the exclusive 2.1% of people who are making tons of money from their email marketing campaigns, there is need to focus on the seemingly little things.

I have always been a proponent of watching for the little things. It is those really small things that can either make or mar an individual. Companies make elaborate plans on email marketing campaigns. They get the best software, buy or build the list et.c but leave out the very important things such as email format and so on. To avoid unnecessary losses, try not to tow these steps:
Sending your clients poorly written offers. Unfortunately, even the big guys are guilty of this act.
I am a subscriber to various ezines and newsletters online and have found that even among the so-called gurus, there is always one who makes the same mistake. What happens when you send poorly-written emails containing your offers is a huge loss of sales. Imagine what it would be like if Wal-Mart’s adverts were poorly written. Imagine how much sales McDonald's could lose because of poorly written emails. Treat your customers like kings and queens. Prepare well-crafted offers for them. The subconscious mind picks up these things. For instance, you'll find you hardly notice things when they are perfect. But once something is amiss, or wrong about that thing, you automatically notice it. So it is with email marketing. Your offers have to be crafted so well that even your clients will be very impressed.

In the next issue, we’ll be examining the four remaining mistakes made by marketers in email marketing. Please stay tuned.

Aurelius Tjin is The Publisher of The 'Unstoppable Internet Marketing' Newsletter With Over 22,000 Readers. Discover His Secret Strategies To Skyrocket Your Internet Marketing Business. To Get Your Free Subscription, Go To http://www.UnstoppableInternetMarketing.com

People Pictures - Different Types, Different Problems

By Tedric Garrison

Basically there are only three types of "people pictures": Formal Portraits, Informal Portraits or Candid Portraits. Each of these areas could easily be considered a specialty in and of itself. There are literately thousands of books or articles already written about each of these. Keep in mind all the things you learned about the basic elements of photography. (Line, Texture, Light, Size, and Shape) Even though you may only have one subject, that subject may have facial features you may or may not want to emphasize. Light is a key factor, but not the only factor when it comes to taking a good portrait.

The Formal portrait (also called a flattering portrait) is usually (but not always) done in a traditional portrait studio. This is where lighting is highly controlled. Most shots are head and shoulder, with the body turned at a 45% angle. The point here is to flatter the subject. So in most cases you must accentuate the subject's positive features and minimize the negative ones.
It takes a well trained eye to spot the best features and emphasize that in a portrait; but it takes even more skill to know how to minimize a negative feature. The list below is only a partial listing of common problems to look out for:

Wrinkled Face
Use diffused lighting. Lower the main light. Use a 3/4's pose instead of close-up.

Double Chin
Raise main light. Tilt chin upward. Use higher camera angle.

Long Nose
Use low camera angle. Use side lighting. Add makeup to tip of nose to eliminate shine.

Baldness
Use low camera angle. Little or no hair light. Blend head with background on purpose.

Large ears
Turn head so camera only sees one ear. Place exposed ear in the shadows, if at all possible.

Glasses
Tilt head downward slightly. Raise ear piece slightly to angle the lens down. The camera will flatten the overall image making it look more natural than it feels.

Over Weight
In group shots, place the largest subject in the middle or behind others to hide their size. By themselves; shoot head and shoulders (from an angle) or use props to distract viewer from subject's size.

The old cliché that says: "smile and look at the camera" is not always the best way to do a portrait. Many informal or candid portraits don't have the subject looking at the camera at all. The biggest difference between an informal portrait and a formal portrait is usually lighting and location. Informal portraits are usually shot outdoors with available lighting. Personally, I do like to use a fill flash outdoors, but that's not quite the same as having: a background light, a main light, A fill light, a hair light, and a key light like many studios use.

Informal as the name implies usually means more relaxed. Clothes are more comfortable and often there are props or objects that have to do with the persons personality included in the shot. Although they can be planned, informal portraits usually give the feeling of being spontaneous. The biggest difference between an informal portrait and a candid shot is awareness of the subject. Whether or not the subject looks directly at the camera, they are aware of it when taking an informal portrait.

Candid Portraits (sometimes called Character Studies) are taken without the subject being aware of the photographer. The candid shot is a favorite of mine at weddings, because it tends to reveal more of the true personality of the subject. Candid shots document the moment. They can become a specialty in and of themselves. Think of candid shots like taking pictures at a sporting event. You follow the subject (the one holding the ball) with your camera and wait for that peak moment. The instant before the true love’s first kiss, the moment before baby's first step (or first fall), that second when a senior throws his cap in the air at graduation; these are all good examples of a great candid shot. A good candid usually includes a good peak moment.
This Article Written By: Tedric A. Garrison Cedar City, Utah

Tedric Garrison has done photography for over 30 years. In college; Tedric was an Art Major, and firmly believes that “Creativity can be taught.” Today; as a writer and photographer he shares his wealth of knowledge with the world, at: http://www.betterphototips.com

How to Talk to People - 9 Super Success Tips

By Peter Murphy

We admire those who know how to talk to people, or have the innate ability to easily engage in a conversation even in an unfamiliar gathering. Others believe that some are born with the natural ability to talk to people or they have what they call the gift of the gab. However, the ability to talk or convey ideas whether in a small group or up on stage before a large audience is not an innate ability but an acquired skill. It can be learned, enhanced, and perfected. All you need are the right information and the determination to do it.

Were you disappointed before because you were not born with the gift? Then worry no more and start to learn the skill. To begin with, here are some helpful tips on how to talk to people.

1. Be presentable. You do not need to get the best couturier in town to have you packaged. All you have to do is to be dressed appropriately. It is one way of building your self-confidence and it will help you to act confidently.

2. Keep a pocket full of information. Be up to date with the current events, and keep a mental list of good topics of discussion. These are handy tools to keep you ready to talk to almost anybody.

3. Get yourself centered and focused. This is a basic if we want to establish connection with the person or people we are talking to. Develop the ability to shake off recent events that somehow ruined your day. Take a few minutes if you need to before engaging in any conversation.

4. Be respectful. Respect the feelings, emotions and opinions of others. Everyone has the right to their opinion and it is healthy to agree that we disagree. Let every one have their moment to be heard and sincerely listen to them. That way it would give them a sense of importance.

5. Maintain eye contact. It is one way of showing interest in the person we are talking to.
Women, they say, maintain eye contact more than men but men could acquire the skill through practice. Movements or stray thoughts tend to sidetract a person. Be aware of them and learn to ignore them.

6. Listen. Listening is a serious business. It is easy to talk and talk but we defeat the purpose and lose the chance of establishing rapport. There are situations that are more important where active listening is imperative. You will not miss the cue for your turn if you listen attentively.

7. Establish rapport. It is not an easy thing but sincerity is the key that unlocks the door in establishing rapport. Synchronizing behavior or mimicking the pose, facial expression, gestures, body language, and tone of voice of the other person are ways of building rapport.

8. Adopt a positive attitude. Make sure your words, tone and gestures are all saying the same thing. Find out what you have in common, or if you seem to have nothing in common, adjust.
Try to become the other person for a short time.

9. Always ask an open ended question. This will help the continuous flow of conversation and will help you and the group to keep the encounter alive and flowing with information.

Discovering how to connect with others and employing these strategies will make one successful in talking to people. Talk means to express, exchange ideas by means of spoken words or to convey information or communicate in any way. Take these simple steps and you are sure to make the act of talking to people fascinating and memorable for all. One day someone may come up to you and ask where you learned how to talk to people.

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report:
10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available only at: conversation starters