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  • Direct Marketing – 5 Essential Components of Successful Direct Marketing

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    Direct Marketing produced $2.05 trillion in sales in 2012. That represents about 8.7% of US GDP in 2013. This implies several key points.

    First, competition in direct marketing is stiff. With all those advertisement dollars being spent on direct marketing, you need to ensure your message is getting through and being heard. Second, with stiff competition, you need to craft compelling messages, not once, but repeatedly. You need to do this effectively and efficiently, if you want to do more than just tread water.

    Thus, it’s important to develop a marketing strategy that optimizes your budget spend by employing direct marketing more effectively. Here are 5 essential components of successful direct marketing.

    1) Deliver a Compelling Sales Message

    Several elements go into creating a compelling sales message. Successful sales letters and other marketing content must be relevant, useful, and persuasive. Marketing content that works grabs your prospect’s attention, shows uniqueness, and builds trust with your prospect. Employ these three elements in all your direct marketing content.

    · WIIFM – Tell your prospect exactly what’s in it for him or her.

    · Unique Selling Proposition (USP) – Clearly describe why your solution is the superior one.

    · Testimonials – Let your satisfied customers “sell” for you.

    2) Follow-up Leads Promptly to Attract and Engage Your Prospect’s Attention

    You might have a lead-generating sales letter, but if you don’t follow-up, valuable leads will slip through the cracks. Follow-up a live event with a phone call, an email, or a letter that invites the prospect to take the next step.

    Offer a free demonstration of your product or service. Set up an appointment with a subject matter expert who can go into greater detail on how your company’s solution works, and why it’s better than the competition’s. Then, before the scheduled demonstration, send a white paper that explains your product in detail.

    Follow-up, engage and spark your prospect’s interest in your solution.

    3) Promote Your Brand

    Benefits from branding give companies and edge over competitors that don’t brand. Branding helps position your product or service favorably. It also gives you pricing and distribution power. The takeaway is: never miss an opportunity to brand.

    Direct marketing affords you many online and off-line media to build brand awareness. Online media: (1) Banner advertising; (2) Blogs; (3) Email; and (4) Website. Off-line media: (1) Print advertising – sales letters, postcards, brochures; (2) Press Releases; and (3) Public Relations.

    4) Nurture the New Customer Relationship

    Lead nurturing is just as important as lead acquisition. Most companies want to develop long-term relationships with customers. That’s because they become repeat customers. And, over time, repeat customers generate more sales and profits to your bottom line.

    Outbound marketing provides many ways to build and maintain a thriving lead nurturing program. You can employ email, direct mail, social media, mobile, podcasts, seminars, phone calls, and videos.

    5) Integrate and Synchronize Online and Off-line Direct Marketing

    To optimize your message and direct marketing budget, success lies in finding the right mix of online and off-line methods. One method isn’t necessarily better than another. Instead, the secret sauce to successful direct marketing depends on how you weave these various methods together.

    You can integrate and synchronize these methods along the sales cycle beginning with message delivery. Start with a sales letter, follow-up with a phone call or email. Refer your prospect to your website for deeper marketing content, and don’t forget to brand throughout this process.

    Achieving the right marketing mix produces a “multiplier effect” that helps you close sales faster and easier. Employing different media in a consistent and coherent manner working towards the same goal optimizes your marketing efforts.

    Don’t Overlook the Value of Direct Marketing

    With so much attention focused on inbound marketing lately, it’s easy to overlook direct marketing’s benefits. However, as you can see, it still commands the lion’s share of sales. Therefore, it’s prudent to examine your marketing strategy’s focus and align your budget accordingly.

    Before you undertake a direct marketing campaign, employ these five essential components to compete effectively and efficiently for that $2.05 trillion market.

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    Source by Alex M Milo

    Views: 1

  • A Healing Heart, Positive Attitude, And Open – Mind

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    There is no such thing, as an accurate, crystal – ball, when it comes, to foreseeing, one’s health, and happiness. However, most experts agree, one’s attitude, focus, self – confidence, and willingness to consider options, and alternatives, with an open – mind, enhances one’s possibilities, and potential! Are you someone, who considers, obstacles, as problems, or, simply, as challenges, to overcome? Do you believe in yourself, and that you’ll succeed, or focus on the negatives? Do you prefer to try to get along with others, and proceed through life, with genuine empathy, with a so – called, healing hearth, or are you confrontational, adversarial, and polarizing? With that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, how these things, coincide, with one’s overall health.

    1. Healing heart: Those who proceed, through life, with a true, healing heart, often, enjoy living, more, and enjoy more moments, than those, who lack this quality! Those who seek to bring people together, for the common good, generally, minimize undesirable, unnecessary stresses, and tensions. When you are happy, you are usually healthier! How will you proceed, to enjoy things more, and look for the good, in people, rather than being, judgmental, and confrontational, towards others?

    2. Positive attitude: How strong one’s will, to live, is, often dictates, his enjoyment, satisfaction, and how, he handles, stresses and strains, and life’s challenges! Are you able to handle disappointments, by converting, lemons, to lemonade? Will you do, what benefits you, by believing in your ability, etc, and proceeding, in a more satisfied, happier, and, this, often, healthier way? If you think you can, you will, and if you believe you can’t, you won’t. However, generally, either way, you’ll be correct, so, which do you think, is the more effective, better way, to live?

    3. Open – mind: There is no such thing, as a, one – size – fits – all, way, of living, and/ or believing. However, those who are able to maintain an open – mind, and consider the possibilities, options, and alternatives, your little struggles, will not become expanded, and, you will consider, the best way, to proceed. When one follows a system, based on overall, wellness, rather than limiting himself, to only, conventional remedies and approaches, often, experiences, far more unnecessary challenges, and issues!

    If you maintain a healthy heart, a true, can – do, positive attitude, and have a real, consistent, open – mind, you will probably enjoy a healthier life! Are you prepared, to do, what is in, your own, best interests?

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    Source by Richard Brody

    Views: 1

  • Diagnosing Fibromyalgia: Tests Your Doctor Should Run in the Course of Your Treatment

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    Fibromyalgia is often missed or misdiagnosed for a number of reasons. There aren’t definitive blood tests or X-ray to diagnose Fibromyalgia and it shares symptoms with many other diseases and conditions.

    Diagnosing Fibromyalgia is a combination of taking the patient’s symptom history, a physical exam testing the Patient’s Trigger Points and exclusion.

    Today I’m going to focus on the exclusion portion of diagnosing Fibromyalgia. Sometimes people are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia because their doctor failed to run the necessary tests to uncover a different, and perhaps serious condition.

    If you feel terrible and are experiencing a variety of symptoms common to Fibromyalgia, you are going to go to your doctor.

    After taking your history, your doctor is going to want to run some tests to begin excluding diseases.

    What Diseases & Conditions Should Your Doctor Test for when Diagnosing Fibromyalgia?

    The following diseases & conditions share some of the symptoms of Fibromyalgia and they should be excluded. Sometimes doctors who aren’t as familiar with Fibromyalgia fail exclude some of these serious and life threatening diseases. You have every right as a patient to ask your doctor to test you for all of the following:

    Diabetes

    Easily tested for with a blood test

    Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

    There isn’t currently a blood test for this condition, however they recently discovered that CFS is caused by an autoimmune virus and I suspect there will be a blood test forthcoming. Talk to your doctor about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

    Hepititis B & C

    Easily tested for with a blood test

    Lyme Diseases

    Doctors often overlook Lyme Disease and do not test for it. This is an oversight on their part and you should ask to be tested.

    Lupus

    There isn’t a definitive test for Lupus however your doctor should run a ANTI NUCLEAR ANTIBODY Test. If you have high autoimmune activity in your blood (a trait of Lupus), this test will detect it.

    Multiple Sclerosis

    MS is also difficult to diagnose, however they do use MRI to test for MS. While you shouldn’t run off and get an MRI just yet, talk to your doctor about Multiple Sclerosis.

    Rhuematoid Arthritis

    Easily tested for with a blood test

    Sjogrens Autoimmune Disorder

    Easily tested for with a blood test

    Thyroid Disease

    Most doctors only test your thyroid with a THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE Test. However, you might have a thyroid issue even if your thyroid is functioning properly – I do! Fibromyalgia Patient’s often have thyroid issues in conjunction with Fibromyalgia so running in depth tests is a must. Ask your doctor to run the following tests:

    FREE THYROXINE LEVELS

    T3 and T4

    ANTI THRYOGLOBULIN ANTIBODY

    ANTI THRYOGLOBULIN ANTIBODY

    Other Blood Tests Your Doctor Should Run for a Fibromyalgia Diagnosis:

    CBC: Checks your Complete Blood Count. Looking for issues such as anemia and other diseases.

    COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL: Tests your kidney, liver and overall health.

    HEME PROFILE + ELECT DIFF: Checks for unusual activity in your white or red blood cells.

    FOLATE: If not included in your CBC, checks your folate levels.

    SEDIMENTATION RATE: Checks for inflammation in your body

    SERUM PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS:Tests for autoimmune diseases

    VITAMIN B12:Checks your B12 levels if not done in your CBC.

    VITAMIN D: Checks your D levels. Vitamin D is the Sunshine Vitamin. Ask your doctor to run the Vitamin D test that checks both your D3 and D2 levels. This is a hot topic because scientists are re-evaluating what they previous believes. Research is showing that while your combined D level is within normal range if your D3 and D2 levels might be individually low and this could be an issue. (My D2 is zero).

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    Source by Margo Watson

    Views: 0

  • What Can I Say To Make My Husband Understand The Pain That His Cheating Has Caused?

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    It’s very common from me to hear from wives who are struggling to explain to their husbands just how much his cheating or affair hurt them and caused them pain. But often, their husband doesn’t react in the way that they were hoping for and they are looking for a way to explain their feelings so that he actually understands them.

    I recently heard from a wife who said, in part: “I have repeatedly tried to explain to my husband the depth of and reasons for my pain after his infidelity, but he either doesn’t want to hear it or he’s not understanding what I’m saying. Sometimes, I pour my heart out to him and try to explain how he has hurt me and all I get is blank stare back or empty assurances that he really is trying. This is so frustrating to me because I need him to understand the extent of my pain so that I can have some reassurance that he’ll never cheat again. I want him to understand why I sometimes act in the way that I do because of what a grave mistake he has made. But part of me thinks that he’s unwilling or just incapable of hearing me. How can I explain my pain in a way that he’ll actually understand and be willing to listen?” I’ll address these concerns in the following article.

    Pick The Right Time And Know That, Once You Start Repeating Yourself, Your Words Lose Their Effectiveness: I hear from both wives who are faithful and husbands who are not on my blog and I can tell you that if you are constantly talking about your hurt and pain, eventually, even the most sincere husband will begin to tune you out. One reason for this is that no one wants to constantly be reminded of the pain that they have caused. And husbands will often want to place their focus on moving on while the wife wants to place her focus on understanding and digging a little deeper.

    This doesn’t necessarily mean that the husband doesn’t care about your pain or just doesn’t want to hear it. But, at least sometimes, he hears your words as accusations. He might constantly hear that his selfishness and weakness has hurt you deeply and this just isn’t a message that he wants to hear on a continual basis, day after day. Men will often give comments like “she constantly wants to tell me how much the infidelity has hurt her. I do believe and understand that and I’m sorry for it. But, do I really need or have to listen to what an awful person I am every single day? How many times does she need to explain where I went wrong or how awful I am before she will feel satisfied that she’s said it enough? I tell her I’m deeply sorry. I listen. But it doesn’t seem to be enough and we repeat this process constantly.”

    I’m not telling you this to imply that you can’t regularly discuss and try to work through the infidelity. I’m telling you this because I want you to understand the obstacles that are in your way and the dynamics that are at play here. If you really want your husband to listen and to take your words to heart, then sometimes you have to pick the right time and limit the message so that it has the maximum impact.

    Consider What Your Husband Is Actually Going To Hear Before You Say The Words: I alluded to this in the previous paragraph, but sometimes the message that your husband hears has more to do with your tone and your delivery than the words that you say. So you might say something like “your infidelity has hurt me deeply. It’s made me doubt your integrity and your love and commitment to me. It’s affected my self esteem and my level of trust. And I’m not sure when things are going to get any better.”

    But what he hears is often something more in line with: “your poor decision to cheat on me has ruined my life and will probably ruin our marriage. You are an awful, selfish person with very little impulse control. And your actions have caused me so much pain that I might not ever fully recover. Because of this, I am going to feel pain and resentment every time I look at you or even think of you. And, this is going to be our lot in life from this day on because I don’t anticipate any changes.”

    These examples might seem a little extreme, but they aren’t that far off from the comments that I hear. An unfaithful husband can hear a message that you never intended. And because of this, he is often somewhat resistant to that message. Of course, the wife will often take this to mean he isn’t listening or he just doesn’t care and so she will continue to repeat herself with more feeling. And of course, this just keeps the cycle going. She doesn’t feel heard and he feels beaten down and neither person is getting what they want or need.

    If you think about it, what you probably really want is to feel heard. You want for him to know, understand, (and even feel) your pain because if he does, he’s less likely to cheat again and more likely to show the remorse that so many of us really want and need. So, think about what’s most likely to accomplish this.

    You don’t want to come across as too accusatory or too despondent because unfortunately, these things will contribute to him feeling defensive and to tuning you out. Instead, you want to use “I” phrases so that it sounds as if you’re talking responsibility for your own feelings and you’re not just trying to lay on the blame or make him feel continuously guilty for the rest of his life. And, you want to choose the time when your message is most likely to be heard. You don’t want to try to explain yourself in the middle of a fight or when you’re main goal is to hurt him. I’ve found that the message is often more likely to be heard if you say it when things are going a little more positively and both people are calm.

    An Example Of What To Say To Express The Pain His Cheating Has Caused: An example would be something like: “if this is a good time, I’d like to briefly explain how much your infidelity has hurt me. I’m not doing this to punish you or to paint you as a horrible person. I love you and don’t think you’re an awful person, but I need to feel as though you care enough to hear me. And I need to know that you truly understand so that you will hesitate to cheat again. Having someone who you love more than anything betray you in this way is something that is more devastating and hurtful than I could have ever imagined. It calls into doubt things about your marriage and yourself that are just devastating. Can you even begin to put yourself in my shoes and imagine that the rolls were reversed? Because I need to know that you understand how much pain I’m in so that we can begin to move forward once and for all. I don’t intend to keep bringing this up, but before I move on, I need to know that you truly understand.”

    Phrasing like this is much more likely to get the response and the understanding that you are after. But you can only play this card so often before your husband begins to tune you out. So once you’ve laid your cards on the table, it’s best to begin to move forward so that your husband can see that you’re sincere about not using your words to continuously punish him.

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    Source by Katie Lersch

    Views: 0

  • Small Business Owner, What Happened To Your Initial Business Enthusiasm?

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    Starting a small business can be exhilarating, and it all starts with an idea. Oh yes, the idea grows and grows, and before you know it, that idea becomes so powerful that you can’t resist the thought of implementing it. So there you go, off to the races in full force!

    You started your business, but things didn’t go as well as you hoped, so your enthusiasm waned. How do you get that excitement back up and running?

    Following are five tips to help you get back on track and get excited again, but before you start, you’ll need a comfortable, quiet space, an alarm clock, a writing tablet, writing or coloring utensils, and most importantly, your original business plan (or ideas folder).

    (1) Pull out the original business plan you created some time back. Yes, the one you haven’t looked at for a while. This is the easy step, the next ones are harder to do.

    (2) Find a comfortable quiet space, set your alarm clock (on gentle sound) for forty-five minutes to an hour. Allow yourself to contemplate on your initial purpose of your business.

    (3) As you read each line of your original plan, focus on the words and ideas you wrote. Circle your main initial goal, the purpose of starting your business. What inspired you?

    (4) Allow yourself to feel that wonderful and strong emotion you felt when your idea first sprouted. Read and re-read your original plan. Can you feel it? Will you allow that enthusiastic smile to return? It just takes a few seconds!

    (5) Take a deep breath and on a piece of paper, jot down two action steps you will take within the next 24 hours, for example, reply to that email you’ve been putting off.

    The waning of enthusiasm is a common happenstance with many small business owners and may happen at any stage of their business operation. These waning of interest may last days, weeks, months, or even years. Best advice, take action once you’re aware of it.

    The steps above may look like simple steps, but sometimes that’s all a small business owner needs to get back on his or her feet. You’d be surprised at how far simple steps can take you once you get up and going again. That said, let’s get you up and running again, exhilarated, and growing with your original business purpose.

    So, there you go… It’s off to the races and back in full force!

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    Source by Krystalina Soash

    Views: 0

  • Social Entrepreneurship – Now is the Time

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    Social entrepreneurship is a major area of interest in many social and civic organizations and has a significant impact on many areas of society. During the past decade economic resources have become more difficult to acquire and society has continued to exhibit economic and cultural decline. Concurrently, communities are in need of initiatives that will enhance their financial viability and programs that will enhance the overall viability of the population.

    Social entrepreneurship initiatives are ventures that can serve as a method of increasing the social value of a community, organization or cause while enhancing the financial viability of a not-for-profit organization. With this being stated, social entrepreneurship has been defined in different ways by many different theorists. Gary McPherson, Executive Administrator of the Canada Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, states that social entrepreneurship involves various individuals working toward meeting social and economic goals simultaneously; while Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka, defines social entrepreneurship as a term coined to describe “individuals who combine the pragmatic and results oriented methods of a business entrepreneur with the goals of social reform.”

    A more basic definition of social entrepreneurship states that it is “the process of using entrepreneurial and business skills to create innovative approaches to social problems.” Therefore, it is a methodology that is presently being used to resolve community and societal concerns globally. Social entrepreneurship as an area of specialized entrepreneurship is not defined by the same titling in every culture. For example, in Latin America countries social entrepreneurship initiatives are referred to as “Micro Enterprise.” In India the same program would be identified as a “Social Mission.” Though termed differently in various regions, social entrepreneurship initiatives are being implemented to solve specific societal and community concerns by focusing on the needs and resource availability within specific geographic regions.

    Social Entrepreneurship in Education Throughout the United States, many top tertiary level academic institutions are enhancing their business programs by including a curriculum that caters to the study of social entrepreneurship. In 2003, the Center for Responsible Business was launched on the University of California Berkley Campus. This subsidiary of the Haas School of Business was implemented with the intent of training students to be more principled and socially responsible members of society through attending “the preeminent educational institution in area of Corporate Social Responsibility.” Stanford University also has established a Center for Social Innovation as a part of its graduate school of business. This center was founded with the mission to “build and strengthen the capacity of individuals and organizations to develop innovative solutions to social problems for a more just, sustainable and healthy world.”

    In 1993, Harvard Business School started its social enterprise program with its mission of “generating and sharing knowledge to help individuals and organizations to create social value in the not-for-profit, private and public sectors,” and the University of Miami has refocused its business school curriculum to include coursework in the areas of ethical-decision making, social entrepreneurship and community engagement with the primary focus being to expose students to various areas of civic engagement while concurrently teaching them leadership and team building skills.

    Tertiary level institutions, including Duke, which has established a Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship as part of its Fuqua School of Business, and Columbia University where the research initiative on social entrepreneurship is embedded in its school of business, have also made strides to enhance the study and education of those seeking to venture into areas of social entrepreneurship and social venture implementation. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-International (AACSB – International) has identified over twenty-four tertiary level institutions that have included social entrepreneurship as a part of their business college and or business curriculums.

    With social entrepreneurship being perceived by many as a new way of stimulating social change, Idee Winfield believes that the implementation of community-focused service learning projects is the first step in exposing youth to the various attributes associated with social entrepreneurship. Through community involvement, youth will begin to visualize and experience the various social issues within their community and envision ways to solve these problems. Winfield states that social entrepreneurship should be promoted in primary and secondary education, and coursework should be adjusted to allow students to “see how abstract socially focused concepts can have real world applicability.” Jeffrey Soderborg, a member of the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurship Education, is also an ardent proponent of social venture education who believes that social entrepreneurship would be more readily accepted if youth were exposed to information expounding the laurels of these initiatives during their primary and secondary academic years.

    As youth expand their horizons through the establishment of entrepreneurial efforts, knowledge and exposure to information about the process involved in the establishment of entrepreneurial business effectively plays a major role in the rate at which business entities are established. A study focusing on entrepreneurial interests among black youth ages 14 to 19 identified that 75% of the youth surveyed had interest in becoming entrepreneur. The study also found that these minority youth believed that more information about entrepreneurship should be presented through their schools. They also believed that entrepreneurs have a responsibility to reinvest in their community.

    Corporate Social Responsibility

    Personal values often serve as the justification for entrepreneurs to focus organizational efforts on socially focused ventures. The organizational decision to forgo pursuing financial gain with the intent of using the corporations’ profit resources to enhance a community is often referred to corporate social entrepreneurship. Corporate Social Entrepreneur (CSE) is a term used to describe corporate initiatives whose primary focus is to enhance a social concern and whose secondary focus is financial gain. The corporate social entrepreneur differs from the financial profit seeking entrepreneur in the area of decisions made that affect the community and environment in which their organization functions. Research identified that in corporate social entrepreneurship business acumen serves as a factor in the success or failure of social venture initiative implementation. Research identifies that success factors associated with the implementation of social responsibility initiatives were linked to whether the entrepreneur exhibits behavior that is moral, amoral or immoral.

    The amoral entrepreneur would pursue initiatives only if they were deemed acceptable by the organization as a whole. The immoral entrepreneur implements initiatives based on what can be potentially gained for self as well as for the stakeholders, while the moral entrepreneur would pursue social responsibility initiatives based on what was in the best interest of the organization. Individuals identified as corporate social entrepreneurs are individuals who are more active in community activities and are actively involved in social responsibility efforts. Corporate social entrepreneurs also are more likely to implement social responsibility initiatives based on an organization’s long term objectives.

    While many corporations are looking for ways to increase their social responsibility efforts, in some regions corporate responsibility efforts are not progressing. A policy paper, “Corporate Social Responsibility in Latin America and the Caribbean,” documented that corporate social responsibility activity in this region has “stalled.” The reason for stagnation in this region is “minimal government involvement” and the lack of “private sector involvement.” It was also identified that initiatives to implement programs focusing on social responsibility are often initiated outside of the market, and then subsequently not embraced by stakeholders who reside within this geographic region.

    Corporations are continually looking for ways to increase corporate advantage through their social responsibility efforts. While proponents of corporate social responsibility believe that corporations are obligated morally to engage in efforts to enhance social, community and environmental concerns, many stakeholders believe that social involvement should only be initiated if the efforts are going to strengthen the organization’s image, brand, moral or stock value. With this in mind, corporations have separated social issues into specific categories.

    These categories are social concerns that are general, social concerns that are value chain based and concerns that focus on social dimensions of competitive contrast. Generic social issues are identified as social concerns that do not directly affect the company’s operation and do not have an effect on a company’s competitive advantage. Corporations are least likely to get involved or invest in projects that focus in these areas because they will not receive a high value of return on their involvement. Value Chain Social Impact issues can significantly affect a company’s operation and can have an impact on the way a company conducts business. Corporations are more likely to be involved in value chain concerns, but only after conducting due diligence studies to ensure that a return on investment will be achieved over time.

    Social issues that affect a company’s financial profitability or serve to enhance or increase a company’s competitive edge are likely to be areas that a company will invest in because of the direct impact that these initiatives will have on the company’s overall viability and stability. An example of a social dimension projects is General Electric’s investment in under-performing high schools throughout the country. General Electric believes that through investing financial and professional resources in under-performing high schools in areas where they have substantial financial investment, they are investing in enhancing a community, as well as directly increasing their future employment prospects.

    Whole Foods Market is an organization that has taken control of its social value position through purchasing products from local farmers. Also, Whole Foods maintains strict controls over all of the products produced and sold in all of its locations. They even have extended their social and ecological efforts through offsetting the use of in-store electricity with the installation of wind conversion generators, converting their trucks to operate on bio-fuel and trucking spoiled produce to regionally located compost sites. Though the investments in these technologies may be costly at the onset, the long term financial, civic and market exposure benefits far exceed any initial costs incurred.

    In the area of corporate philanthropy many corporations are at a loss. They continue to be involved in the conflict between philanthropic giving and investor requests for increased profits. For this reason many corporations engage in context-giving programs. Context-giving programs are programs that are defined as allotting resources to specific projects that will enhance the community while simultaneously enhancing the corporation.

    Examples of context-giving initiatives include the Cisco System Networking Academy, which trains computer network administrators and provides job opportunities to those who complete the program; the DreamWorks SKG film production program that trains low-income individuals in occupations that are needed in the film and entertainment industry; and American Express Travel and Tourism Academy which trains high school youth for careers in the hospitality and tourism industry. Corporations that invest in corporate-giving social venture programs are concurrently gaining positive return on their social investment, improving the economic climate of the communities where they are located and gaining positive exposure for their organizations.

    At times social ventures do not have the intended impact on the community. A study focusing on the impact of community focused business ventures found that businesses started with the intent of enhancing a community often lose focus by becoming focused on profitability and competition. Competition and self-focused motivators were identified to be factors that played an additional role in the impact and economic role that entrepreneurial ventures have in community settings.

    While many foundations, trusts and philanthropic organizations, accumulate and distribute resources with the intent of providing services to enhance specific community or social causes, many of these organizations are looking for ways to gain public exposure for their efforts. Organizations also attempt to leverage their gifting efforts through seeking not-for-profit organizations that are willing match the funding received. The success of funded programs is evaluated through performance outcomes and indicators, and through promoting the organization’s work through success stories provided by program clients. These methods are viable ways for funding agencies to acquire value and exposure through their philanthropic efforts and simultaneously continue their efforts to enhance the communities in which they invest.

    With the social philanthropic efforts of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates gaining a high degree of attention, and many leaders engaging in activities to promote social advocacy, corporations are seeking ways to also gain exposure with social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship from the corporate perspective can be defined as corporate social initiatives used by a corporate entity as vehicle to show support for social causes. In recent years, many Fortune 500 companies have implemented social ventures with the intent of enhancing their corporate image through providing funding for various social causes.

    McDonald’s is one such company that has funded social causes for many years. McDonald’s primary social venture is the Ronald McDonald House Charities. The Ronald McDonald House provides lodging for the families of adolescents, ranging in age from birth to 18, who are receiving critical care for illness in communities that are away from their community of residence. The Ronald McDonald House allows families to reside in these temporary living facilities throughout the child’s period of treatment at no charge.

    The Federal Express Corporation also funds programs focused on the implementation of socially responsible programs. FedEx is a supporter of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and has been acknowledged by Reader’s Digest as one of “Americas Best Charity Minded Corporation.” Federal Express has also been recognized for providing funding for numerous community and civic organizations, including March of Dimes, Heart to Heart organization, an organization that focuses on delivering food and health resources globally, the United Way and the National Civil Rights Museum. These are just a few of the charitable initiatives that allow Federal Express to present itself as a socially conscious organization.

    Virgin Mobile has partnered with Youth Noise, a not-for-profit organization that brings youth together for networking and brainstorming opportunities, and Stand Up for Kids, the largest all volunteer not-for-profit organizations in the United States, to implement an initiative to expand its corporate social responsibility activities. The project involves recording artists donating ring tones to Virgin Mobile and through partnership agreements, 5% of the proceeds received through ring tone sales are donated to various “Virgin Mobile Charity Partners.” This initiative, established in June 2006, is being positioned to raise over $250,000 annually.

    For social ventures to gain global acceptance, corporations need to become involved in ventures that allow employees and consumers to see the social, community and external benefit of these ventures. This process is identified in countries south of the United States, where the concept of social responsibility is one that has been embraced by many but implemented by few. Many government organizations expect non-government, or private organizations to take responsibility for ensuring the stability and longevity of the resources throughout this region while the private sector is looking toward government agencies for intervention.

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    Source by Paul Van Putten

    Views: 0

  • 6 Tips to Consider When Seeking Rehab for Drug Addiction

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    For most people, drug addiction is a big problem. You feel as if your life is getting out of your control, and you can’t get it back on track. But you can get help to deal with the problem. And with proper treatment, you can recover before long. There are many treatment methods but we suggest that you opt for a drug rehab program. Before you decide on a program, you may want to follow the tips given below.

    1. Find a The Right Program

    The majority of rehab programs are focused on a certain drug category like sedatives or opioids. For effective treatment, you may want to ensure that you join a customized program.

    2. Consider Detoxification Therapy

    Based on the drug you are addicted to, you may have withdrawal symptoms as soon as you stop taking the drug. It happens when your body balances out the negative effects of the drug. You may experience these symptoms for a few hours or weeks. Once you show withdrawal symptoms, you may want to opt for detoxification. This process involves reducing the amount of drug you take or substituting it with another safer drug for a while.

    3. The Costs of Treatment

    Most insurance providers offer a minimum of partial coverage for the rehabilitation treatment. In addition, some employers also offer treatments methods for psychological conditions including drug addictions. So, you may want to find out more about your options so you can cover the cost without spending an arm and a leg.

    4. Treatment Options

    The majority of drug rehab centers offer a combo of different treatment methods rather than focus on just one type of treatment. They come up with a treatment plan that may best fit your needs. Often, the treatment plan involves two treatments: behavioral therapy and medication therapy.

    5. The Treatment Period

    According to some people, the treatment won’t take more than a month for complete recovery. However, the treatment may take a long longer before you get fully recovered. According to NIDA, the complete recovery may take up to 90 days. Therefore, the treatment plan should be given some time. You may have to bear patience.

    6. The first stage

    Lastly, you may want to keep in mind that addiction recovery is a kind of lifelong process. And the first stage of this process is rehabilitation. So, you may not want to expect your addiction to be fully cured at the end of the treatment program.

    Instead, you should go to the treatment center with a mindset that the addiction will go away gradually. And during this time, you will be able to find out how you can live a life that is free of addition and much more productive. Once the treatment is completed, you can go back to your normal life with the help of the skills and knowledge you gained during the treatment at the rehab center.

    So, if you have been thinking of considering an addiction treatment center for your drug addiction, we suggest that you follow the tips given in this article.

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    Source by Shalini Madhav

    Views: 0

  • Breaking Bad Habits – 5 Simple Steps for Changing a Habit

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    “Good habits are hard to develop but easy to live with” and “Bad habits are easy to develop but hard to live with”, according to Brian Tracey, a well-known motivational teacher. You may recognize that to successfully manage habit changes, breaking bad habits may be required in order to develop new ones.

    Breaking bad habits takes at least 21 days. Of course, in difficult cases, it can take as long as a year. Here’s an example of the process of how to change an unhealthy habit to a healthy habit. Suppose you’ve decided that coffee is not good for you and right now, you drink coffee with sugar daily. The new habit you would like to institute is to drink herbal tea without sugar.

    At first, it may be challenging to break the bad habit of drinking coffee. You will have to use self-discipline for the first few weeks but gradually it will get easier. Once you are able to change the old habit to a new healthier one, it will serve you very well. Habits are remarkable because they don’t require thinking. You just “do it” for years until you find yourself changing the habit again.

    Here are 5 easy steps for changing habits:

    1. Awareness: You must become aware of your habits. What is this habit exactly? How is this bad habit or group of bad habits affecting you? How is this habit affecting others? For example, smoking often has negative effects on others as well as on you.

    2. Wanting to Change: As someone with a health problem, you must decide that breaking bad habits through a conscious effort is a worthy goal. You must convince yourself that the change in the habit is worth the effort involved.

    3. Commitment: You must be determined to do whatever it takes for breaking bad habits so that you can better control your life. You make a decision that “no matter what” you will change the habit. You do the work required to stop. Here are some examples of habits you might want to change: Smoking, eating too much, eating processed foods, not exercising, drinking coffee or other beverages with caffeine in them, eating too much sugar or fat, drinking alcohol, procrastinating, etc.

    4. Consistent Action: It is important to focus on changing just one habit at a time. Then, take consistent daily actions for breaking the bad habit that has been causing problems and take the actions to develop a new one. We suggest doing this process one step at a time rather than trying to do it all at once. Sometimes changing a habit can be done “cold turkey” like smoking and sometimes it works better to make a gradual change.

    Be sure to give yourself positive rewards often for taking small actions toward changing a bad habit. Continual day-by-day actions are what are critical. This is NOT about an occasional action or step. It is about being consistent every day.

    5. Perseverance: There will be times when you question whether it is all worth it. You’ll say to yourself that breaking these bad habits is too difficult; that you are too “weak” to change. Your old self, often so comfortable living with the bad habits, is trying to hold on. Breaking your old patterns may require meditation and prayer.

    Visualize regularly the rewards for following through and the costs of not following through on breaking the bad habits and especially the value to your future of building new better habits.

    Get support from others, especially other people who want to make changes in their lives and read about people who have been successful in breaking bad habits. Affirm that, no matter what, you will not backslide into your old bad habit patterns.

    Now, you are armed with a 5-step process for breaking any bad habit or other condition that requires changing. If you have an addiction to something such as alcohol, these steps alone may not be enough. You may require additional professional help or a support group, but for most cases this 5-step process will do the trick!

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    Source by T Mcdonald

    Views: 0

  • Internal Medicine: Characteristics You Want in This Type of Doctor

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    Having a chronic issue that just won’t resolve itself on its own is extremely frustrating. And while you may have gone to doctor after doctor, it may be time to see someone in internal medicine.

    A physician in internal medicine has more specialized education as opposed to a general practitioner. In addition, this doctor does not focus on things like pediatrics or obstetrics. The main role of this doctor is to diagnose, treat and prevent issues associated with all areas of the adult human body. So when trying to find one to fit your needs, be sure to keep a few things in mind.

    Expertise

    The whole reason for seeing a doctor in internal medicine is to get an answer to some of your most troubling health conditions. When you’ve exhausted all other options, such as family doctors or general practitioners, an internist is the next logical step. These doctors have made careers out of solving complex medical problems in adults. So be sure to explain the issues you’re having as well as make sure your internist has all your past medical history. This way, he or she can have a leg up in trying to figure out the root of your problem. In addition, a doctor in internal medicine has gone to school for at least seven or eight years, has passed a board exam as well as focused on a particular area of study, so he or she is well prepared to handle your problem, depending on what it is. For instance, if your issue deals with the heart, then you’d want to see a cardiologist. On the other hand, if you have reproductive issues, a reproductive specialist is best.

    Good Communication

    In addition to expertise, it’s essential that you have great communication with your doctor, especially when it comes to internal medicine. That’s because this doctor has the knowledge and experience to help you figure out what’s causing your issue. Yet, you want him or her to be patient and really listen to your issues. These doctors see numerous patients each day, but that doesn’t mean you should feel rushed through your visit. So when deciding on a good internist, pay attention to how he or she talks with you as well as listens. If you feel like your doctor has not given you the time you need, then you need to keep looking, because communication is key when trying to find a doctor in internal medicine.

    Timeliness

    When you’ve been referred to an internist, this means your general practitioner hasn’t had any luck figuring out what’s causing your problem. Or if he or she knows the problem, maybe they don’t know how to treat it; yet an internist will. Unfortunately, if your internist cannot see you until two months from now, then that’s a problem. Depending on your issue, you could possibly wait, but for most people, this is not acceptable. Instead, you should keep searching until you can find a specialist that can see you in a decent amount of time. Also, whenever you do find a good doctor in internal medicine and schedule an appointment, you want him or her to honor your appointment time. If you’re always waiting over an hour to see your physician, you may need to start a search for a new doctor.

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    Source by Anna Woodward

    Views: 0

  • Boho Beach Style

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    Summer is defined by sun, sand and the water. People typically focus on their swimsuits and throw on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts on top and their outfit is brought down a level. It’s time to pay more attention to our bohemian-chic tunics as cover-ups for our bathing suits, making you look more stylish and draw attention as soon as you step out of your house.

    We can start with the basics: a tunic/kimono dress. An oversized poncho in a light shade or a shift/flowy dress lets the breeze right in, keeping you cool. The light shades are good to look for when shopping for oversized clothes, especially with the beach, in order not to drown you in the fabric and to avoid the ruthless sun. Light shades let the light shine through while complementing a nice tan. A yellow brings a happy aura around you while a light pink compliments your skin tone. For those who like to have less fabric, shift dresses are ideal; the shift style still allows for a chill vibe but is a bit more fitted to the body. Any shade of color goes well with boho shift dresses, but the ideal summer colors would be a bright blue or blazing orange, summer is all about bringing more color into your day, in contrast to the winter months. Flowy dresses are my preference, letting my skin breathe but not too baggy, simple and chic. Simply printed bohemian dresses add the extra touch to my outfit: hand painted flowers bordering the neckline and the hem of the dress are enough to finish off the outfit.

    Want to show off some of your new bathing suits while still covering up? Flowy sari pants are the way to go. Flowy pants never go out of style as they make your legs look like they go on for miles. Accent your bathing suit by bringing out the undertones or detailed colors with a complementary colored pant. A rich red pant coordinated with the small red detailing of your top brings out your tan and looks stunning along the water. Want to show your inner yogi? Wear the perfect bottoms that work for the lovers of yoga and the beach. Pants of lightweight recycled silk fabric with a cinched bottom and a bright pattern do amazing things for the transition from morning yoga to a beach day.

    No shirt, no shoes, no service? An embroidered tunic kurti is the perfect throw on dress for lounging around. Kurtis come in a variety of styles depending on your mood. Short white kurtis with colored embroidery continues the summer beach theme from the flowy pants. Vibrant colors give a new look and the white hand embroidered tunics are so comfortable and chill.

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    Source by Era Chandok

    Views: 0