I don’t know how he does it.
But he does.
The proof is in the finger prints.
The problem didn’t start until a few years into our marriage. Probably because when
we first got married we were dirt poor and didn’t have the money to spend on
extras. But as our financial situation strengthened, I started experimenting.
One day while grocery shopping I decided to try something bold. I bought my
husband a bottle of chocolate milk. Now, before you start saying, “Big deal? Who
hasn’t tried chocolate milk?”, I’ll tell you who hadn’t tried chocolate milk - my
husband.
You see, Barry, (my husband) didn’t grow up in the US. He is from South Africa and
thus arrived in America with a completely different set of taste buds and food wants.
It took quite a bit of convincing for him to try anything new - including chocolate
milk.
I now look back on those simple days and think, “What kind of a monster have I
created?”
Chocolate milk.
It’s an addiction that he must feed.
I’ve seen him go out in a torrential rain storm just to buy the stuff — and I’m not
just talking about little bottles, I’m talking gallons.
According to the Mayo Clinic, an addiction is, “An illness in which a person seeks
and consumes a substance, such as alcohol, tobacco, chocolate milk or a drug,
despite the fact that it causes harm.”
Ok, I added the chocolate milk part, but not the harm.
“What’s the harm in drinking chocolate milk?” I’ll tell you the harm. It’s stinking
everywhere. If smoke gets in your eyes, then chocolate milk gets on everything else.
I have never seen anything like it.
If we use his truck to go someplace, I have to stand back when I open the door. Like
Fibber McGee’s closet, when you open the truck door a torrent of little plastic
chocolate milk bottles comes flooding out towards you.
I can spend hours cleaning the kitchen, come back 5 minutes later, and there it is.
On every surface, handle and knob. He’s like a junkie who needs a fix so bad that he
leaves the needle in his arm after he shoots up.
I find huge chocolate milk hand prints on the refrigerator’s handle; pools of
chocolate milk puddles on the floor; rivers of chocolate milk running down the front
of cabinets.
We always have to have a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup in the house as an
emergency back-up source. (This way if we run out of chocolate milk, he can
improvise and make his own.)
One day after cleaning a big, sticky, chocolate mess off the counter, I rolled my neck
backwards in an effort to stretch it. In doing so my eyes focused on the kitchen
ceiling and my mouth dropped open in shock. Was that actually chocolate syrup on
the ceiling?
I walked over and stood under the dark brown streaks of chocolate. How was this
even possible?
I started walking, following the long brown lines all the way across the kitchen
ceiling and down the far dining room wall. This was not a short distance. We have a
very big kitchen. I was following 20 feet of chocolate stripes across my kitchen
ceiling and down my dining room wall!
When pressed for an explanation, my husband confessed that in his urgency to
make a glass of chocolate milk, he didn’t notice the cap was not secure on the
Hershey’s syrup and that the bottle had felt quite empty. In an effort to force the remaining chocolate sauce from the bottom of the bottle to the top, he had held the
container by the bottom and flung it as hard as he could in a big sweeping motion
from over his head down towards the floor.
“I cleaned it up off the floor,” he sheepishly offered. “I guess I didn’t think to look at
the ceiling.”
Indeed.
Where are the Oompa Loompas when you need them?
I handed him a sponge and walked away.
Maureen Valdes Marsh is an author and former newspaper reporter. She
currently writes a semi-punctual weekly column on her website called, “Musings
of Vintage Grace.” She is the author of the upcoming book for Collectors Press,
’70s Fashion Fiascos - a polyester romp through ’70s fashions”, set for release
Fall ‘06. You can read more of Maureen’s writing on her website, Vintage Grace
by visiting http://www.vintagegrace.com.
Marketing successfully requires not only insight into how a product or service can be successfully marketed but also flexibility into the marketing of a product or service.
This is one of the marketing principles that doesn’t seem to be taught successfully. Too many times, the “marketing gurus” will promote a type of marketing that has worked for them to the exclusion of all other types of marketing.
Now the type of marketing they promote may very well have worked well for them, but it is folly to believe that one marketing method and one marketing method only will work for every product or service everywhere. This just is not the reality as marketing methods can be as unique as the products and services that are marketed.
Innovation, creativity and flexibility are needed in any type of marketing efforts. Trying several types of marketing is usually the best method of eliminating marketing methods that fail, and determining which marketing methods are successful.
Online business or any type of business for that matter demands perseverance and determination. Perseverance and determination are also promoted heavily by the marketing gurus. However, perseverance and determination does NOT mean sticking with a marketing method that is incorrect for the product or service or NOT producing any results. It does not mean continuing self-defeating marketing methods over and over at a loss each and every month.
To prove a point about the misconceptions sometimes promoted by the marketing gurus and the misconceptions others may have about perseverance in general, I’ve used two actual case studies below:
A. Case Study #1 is a young male who started an online business many years ago promoting marketing resources and marketing strategies. He had many fine offerings that were of great value, as he spent much time and energy researching and developing resources. He read many manuals from marketing gurus, who stressed a lot on list building and e- mail marketing.
This young man, following the marketing guru’s advice, spent much time and energy for years, e-mailing others relentlessly, swapping ads for further exposure, writing articles in other newsletters and e-zines, and trying every “trick” of e-mail marketing to no avail. He also persisted in this strategy as he had taken to heart the principle of “never quitting” quite literally, which the gurus had promoted so heartily to him.
He lost quite a great deal of time and money until he noticed that his Web site had been ranking quite well in the Search Engines (after all, he had great content). Most of the few sales he had been making were coming directly from his Web site, despite the fact that he did not believe in (and dreaded) Search Engine marketing! He rethought the whole process and his approach, and began focussing on marketing his resources strictly from his Web site, applying his perseverance and determination to that, with incredible success ever since!
B. Case Study #2 is a middle aged female who approached the marketing somewhat differently, as she had read a manual from a different marketing guru. She was promoting a customized service, rather than a product, and the guru, whose advice she followed, firmly believed in Search Engine marketing, and Search Engine marketing alone. She spent literally tons of money, and tons of time, getting her Web site to the top of the Search Engines.
Like Case Study #1, she felt that if she only gave it enough time, and persevered, sales would be made. As time went on, she discovered that most of her sales were being made through her e-mail marketing. Her articles, ad swapping, and other e-mail marketing efforts (she published routinely her own newsletters and e-zines), were leading to more clients than those which were attained off her Web site. In her case, e-mail marketing was the “key” to success, but she also was following the mandates of the wrong marketing guru.
The above two studies highlight the folly of blindly following the mandates of any marketing guru. While many do have good solid advice to give, the business owner must possess enough flexibility to test many methods. Creativity and an open mind help immensely when determining marketing methods.
Perseverance and dedication are important, of course. But they must be applied correctly, along with flexibility and innovation, for success to occur in a business. All avenues should be pursued with perseverance and dedication and then choices of marketing methods made based upon the results. After all, results are what make a marketing method successful! Without results, any marketing method is a dismal failure.
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of: http://www.work-at-home-forum.com/
An online community of people who work at home.
Here are some homemade remedies suggested by skin experts.
In order to maintain a healthy and a clear skin tone you need to use suitable medications along with a wholesome diet. In fact, the products that are manufactured are usually made up of harsh chemicals that can easily penetrate into the blood, causing damages to the other organs.
Coconut oil significantly acts as a moistening material when the skin is dry and rough. Therefore it is can be appropriately used to treat various aliments such as roughened lips, eyes, broken capillaries, cellulite or burns etc. Coconut butter can be mixed with lip balm gel, eye cream or may be preserved in sterilized jars. Besides, there are many alternative medications advised such as peppermint for lips, patchouli oil or lavender for acne, chamomile for eczema and grapefruit for cellulite.
The most commonly used ointments for sunburns are strawberries, cucumber slices, gels or the leaf of the aloe vera plant. They are often easily cured as they exhibit soothing, cooling and antifungal properties. If you keep cool tea bags or cucumber slices over the dark circles of your eyes, they will reduce the dark colors formed around the eyelids.
You can also prepare a mixture of cornstarch, baking soda or essential oil to smoothen the texture of your skin. If you are applying it to your feet add tea tree oil to the toner because it kills all the tiny microorganisms that are present.
The most important tip is to consume a healthy diet such as vegetables, fruits and plenty of water. Sleeping soundly is one of the most vital activities, as it nourishes the skin.
If you follow the above-mentioned tips you will surely develop a radiant skin texture.
Paul has been providing answers to lots of queries through his website on a wide variety of subjects ranging from satellite phones to acne. To learn more visit http://www.askaquery.com/Answers/qn1672.html http://www.askaquery.com/Answers/qn1672.html
You are welcome to republish the above article only if you add our hyperlinked URL.
If you would like to perk-up your tennis ability then an advanced quality of product should be for sure one of the items near the top of your list. Although, prior to purchasing a tennis racket there are a significant number of influences that need to be considered. These take account of: the tennis racquets heaviness, steadiness, head dimension and an extensive number of other factors. By means of understanding what benefits the differing brand of rackets will be able to offer will help support you to consider a better judged assessment in the procurement procedure.
Power Level:
The force provided by the most modern tennis racquet changes significantly & each level grants amazing positives depending on your unique tennis method. The 3 types of strength levels in a tennis racket include; ?Power Rackets?, ?Tweener Rackets’ and ?Control Rackets?,
Power racquets presents a generous amount of energy & is intended to be for individuals to take shorter and smoother swings. Tweener rackets are for tennis players that are wanting a compromise between strength and control and are consequently intended for individuals which use an average to long tennis racquet swing speeds, & as well take an average to long cuts at the tennis ball. These are great for young people who are going to adult length tennis rackets. Improve your game today and buy the best Tennis Rackets at discounted prices.
Last, nevertheless not least, control racquets are designed to be for tennis players that need extended & fast tennis swings when they play. The foremost justification for this is that control tennis racquets involve the individual to generate the power. This style of tennis racket should be avoided by kids unless they have the talent to manage the spare weight.
If you write copy you need a swipe file. A good swipe file can save you lot’s of work and enable you to crank out more articles more often
Every good copywriter has a swipe file. A Swipe file contains Headlines, Articles and Article paragraphs you have previously written. Your Typical article will consist of the Following 3 Parts
- Introduction
- Body
- Wrap up
By mixing and matching the above elements from your article swipe file (and writing some new text) you can often turn 10 Articles into 20 or 30 articles. As an example You have written an Article on 10 Steps to starting an Online Business. Can some of these steps be used to starting an MLM Online Business.
Let’s say only 7 of these Steps would apply to an Online MLM Business you now have the Body of an Article called 7 Steps to Starting and Running an Online MLM Business.
The First thing you do is cut and paste the 7 Steps you are going to use. Next rewrite these steps just a little so they more closely apply to an Online MLM Business.
Next Look over the Introduction for the source article. Can you rewrite this introduction to apply to your new Article? Would it be better to just write a new introduction?
Now look at the wrap-up. Can you rewrite the wrap-up to apply to your new Article? Would it be better to just write a new wrap-up?
In some cases you may only use the Title or part of the title from your swipe file. In other cases you may mix and match the Introduction, Body and Wrap-up from 2 or more articles to create a new article. In all cases make sure your new article does have some new material.
About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built
an Organization of over 100,000 Members
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