Uncategorized

Have you been spending money on countless job boards, only to find that they don’t offer the types of candidates you need? If the answer is yes, don’t fret any longer, you’re about to learn crafty techniques to help you find free resumes on the net. There are numerous free resources online that offer resumes. These include: Free Resume Databases; Free Member Resumes on Association websites; Free College and Alumni resumes on University websites; Free Resume Newsgroups; Free Resume Blaster sites and active and passive resumes hosted on individual candidate websites. All of these resources can be found by using simple search techniques.

You will soon have hundreds of free resumes at your fingertips. The first step is to utilize multiple search engines since they will each offer different sites. The top 10 search engines suggested are: http://www.google.com, http://www.yahoo.com, http://www.altavista.com, http://www.excite.com, http://www.hotbot.com, http://www.alltheweb.com, http://www.galaxy.com, http://www.search.aol.com, http://www.msn.com, http://www.lycos.com. The search engines offer their own search features and they vary slightly. Therefore, it’s important to always read the search tips and check out the advanced search tool for each search engine. The common search symbols used across most search engines are called Boolean phrases.

Using Boolean Phrases

The first step is to choose one of the search engines from the above list and type the address in your Internet browser. Then decide what key words would be effective for finding the type of resource you want. Once you have a list of key words, use the following Boolean techniques to run the most efficient search.

o If searching for a phrase on a webpage, place the statement between quotation marks. Example: “free resume database”

o If searching for multiple words use the word AND between each word. Make sure to capitalize all 3 letters. Example: free AND resumes AND java

o If interested in finding one or more words, use the term OR between your key words. Example: “free resumes” AND java OR oracle OR php

o If looking for resumes that have a specific word with multiple possible endings such as: manager, management, managed, use an asterisk at the end of the base word. Example: manage* This will pull websites with all of the words that start with that base word.

o If searching for specific titles, type the word title: and then fill in the title of choice. Example: title: free resumes. This will pull websites with the words Free Resumes in the html title.

o If looking for URLs that have the word resume in the URL address, type the command URL: resume.

o If looking for a website with specific text such as: free resume search, type the command text: free resume search.

Below you’ll find suggestions of Boolean phrases and keywords to use that will help you find the free resume resources listed above. At the end of this article you will also find a suggested website that can give you access to hundreds of free resume resources instantly.

Free Resume Databases (These sites allow you to search through a database of resumes)

o “free resume database”

o “search for free” AND resumes

o “free resume search”

o text: free resumes

o free AND resume*

Association Websites offering Member Resumes (Many associations or organizations offer sections on their websites where members, who are looking for jobs, can post their resumes)

o “member resumes” AND association OR organization

o url: memberresumes

o text: search member resumes

o member AND resumes

o title: association AND resumes

Free College and Alumni resumes at University websites (Some Universities offer a section on their website where students, looking for internships, can post their resumes. Some also have pages where alumni can also post their resumes, when searching for work)

o “alumni resumes”

o url: edu AND resumes

o alumni OR student AND resumes

o text: alumni resumes

o university AND resumes OR cv

Free Resume Newsgroups (Newsgroups are email lists where people can post various things. There are several free resume newsgroups.)

o “free resumes” AND newsgroups

o newgroup* AND resumes

o url: newsgroup

o text: newsgroup

Free Resume Blaster Sites (These sites send resumes to your inbox after you fill out a form describing the types of resumes you need.)

o “resume distribution”

o “blast your resume”

Active or Passive individual candidate resumes on individual web pages. (There are thousands of personal resumes posted on the web. Some are active and some passive. Using the 4 numbers of the current year in your search can help you find more active resumes)

o url: resume AND 2005

o url: resume AND java AND oracle AND php

o resume AND experience AND education AND java OR oracle

o title: resume AND manage*

Now you’re ready to begin your search for free resume resources. If you find that your busy schedule doesn’t allow enough time for you to run searches to find a substantial amount of free resume resources, you should visit http://www.freeresumesites.com. They have already compiled an extensive list of hundreds of free resume databases, association websites, college resume sites, free resume newsgroups, free resume blaster sites, free job posting sites and links to pages that offer individual resumes. They charge a very minimal fee to access this list. This site can save you time and will provide you with all-of-the free resume resources mentioned in this article.

Remember, the Internet is an amazing resource for recruiters and if you don’t want to spend large sums of money on useless job boards, you now have the skills it takes to find free resumes. Good luck with your recruiting efforts!

Kim Proulx is a professional Internet Researcher with 10 years of experience.

Corporate Blogging Alphabet – What Is It?

I built this alphabet to showcase what I think are the benefits and best practices of corporate blogging. Not all of these entries will apply to every individual blogging scenario, but they all apply to corporate blogging in general. So here you have them, corporate blogging benefits and best practices … from A to Z.

Accountable

Accountability applies to corporate blogging in two primary ways. With single-author blogs (such as CEO blogs), the author can inspire trust among readers by “owning” his or her commentary. But companies also assume a certain level of accountability for all blogs under their umbrella, regardless of disclosures to to the contrary. So blogging accountability must be carefully considered at both the individual and corporate level.

Believable

Used properly, a corporate blog or CEO blog can make a company more believable. And in the low-trust, post-Enron world of corporate skepticism, a little believability goes a long way. Use your blog to tell an honest story in a passionate way.

Candid

A common mistake in corporate blogging is when organizations use the blog as “website, part two,” shoveling press releases and other corporate literature onto the blog. To achieve the believability mentioned above, a corporate blog must take on the candid, heartfelt voice of the author. Sure, it takes courage to do this (and probably a set of corporate blogging guidelines), but your readers will reward you by becoming advocates.

Direct

Corporate blogs are direct. You write your message, click the “Publish” button, and your words are directly viewable across the Internet. This removes intermediaries from the corporate communication chain. There are no journalists or editors to put their own spin on things. The message goes from the author directly to the audience. Never again will your message be diluted or mis-aligned (unless you do that yourself).

Enthusiastic

In my opinion, only enthusiastic bloggers should be allowed to represent the company. Half-hearted commentary stands out like a purple elephant in the corporate blogosphere. This kind of commentary does more harm than good, whether it comes from the CEO, the communications chief, or Joe Employee. Enthusiasm comes across in blog posts — and it’s contagious.

Flexible

One of the great things about blogs is the versatility with which they can be used. A corporate blog, for example, can be used internally or externally. It can be a news channel, a customer-feedback forum, an educational tool, or a combination of these things.

Google-friendly

And Yahoo-friendly, and MSN-friendly, etc. A corporate blog can help you increase your search engine visibility in a number of ways. For one thing, a blog gives you an easy way to expand your website with new content. If you blog daily for a year, you’ve got 365 new pages of topical content (and 365 new items for people to find through search engines). Blogs are also more “social” than websites, so in time a well-written blog will acquire links from other blogs. This kind of link popularity does wonders for your search engine ranking.

Happening

Nine times out of ten, a corporate blog is more “happening” than its website counterpart. Blogs are easier to update than a regular website. And when you update a blog often with quality content, it becomes an active resource that people are more inclined to revisit.

Informative

When you keep your customers well informed on new products, services or “behind the scenes” company happenings, you increase the likelihood of future business from those customers. Corporate blogging is a simple but effective way to keep people informed.

Jargon-free

Generally, corporate blogs are not the place for corporate speak. At least, not a customer-facing corporate blog. Save that language for your annual report. Business blogs evolved from online diaries, single-author sources of information and insight. Much of this plain-speak expectation carries over to corporate blogs, so the potential power of blogging for business purposes lies within the blog’s frankness, not its jargon.

Knowledgeable

Use your corporate blog to show readers how knowledgeable you are on your subject. When your readers see how much information you have to share on a subject, they’ll recommend your blog to others who are interested in the subject. These are the kinds of readers you want. Just remember, some of your readers will know as much about the subject as you do. So check your facts before posting.

Limitless

Corporate blogs can be configured in endless ways to serve endless roles. They can stand alone, be part of a website, or be part of a larger network of blogs. Because the technical aspects of a corporate blog are limitless, so too are the uses for the blog.

Manageable

Blogs reduce the technical side of web publishing to such a degree that anyone can blog, regardless of their web experience. Blogs are so manageable, in fact, that even a large web presence built on blogging technology can be managed by a single individual. In this way, blogs are only an initial burden on the IT department. Once a blog is setup, it can be managed by the author alone.

Non-invasive

Corporate blogs “pull” readers to the message, rather than “push” the message to the reader. People can sign up for a blog in total privacy, simply by pulling the blog’s RSS feed into their feed reader. In this way, corporate blogs are non-invasive for readers. The readers come to the blog — the blog is not thrust upon them, like other forms of corporate communication. As long as blogs adhere to this non-invasive, respectful approach, they will be held in higher esteem than other communication channels like email.

Operational

Corporate blogs are more than simple communications tools. With their versatility and ease of use, a corporate blog can server operational roles. This might include internal collaboration (like an intranet) or outward instruction (like an interactive Q&A forum). Blogs can be an active part of your organization’s daily operations.

Purposeful

The key to a good blogging experience is to have a purpose. Sure, you can plunge right into corporate blogging and figure out your purpose as you go. That’s part of the appeal. But your blog will be more effective (and easier to produce) if you have a blogging plan and purpose. Maybe your blogging purpose is to educate readers on what goes on behind the scenes at your company. Maybe you want to increase your visibility on the Web. Or maybe the CEO wants to share his ideas on the business to foster interaction. Fill in the blanks as needed, just be sure you have a purpose behind your blogging efforts.

Qualitative and Quantitative

When corporate blogging is done well, it has both a quantitative and qualitative affect. Because blogs are easy to publish, they help you increase the quantity of content on your website. This increases your blog’s value to readers, as well as its visibility to search engines. If the content is also useful and informative to your key audience, the blog adds quality. A well-managed corporate blog can enhance your web presence by adding both quantity and quality.

Reusable

Blog content can be reused for a variety of purposes. For example, if you expand on a blog post (or compile several blog posts), you can create articles that you can syndicate online. This will help you grow your web presence and even more. This is one of the strategies I teach through my blogging guide mentioned at the end of this article. Another example of reusing blog content — Seth Godin’s book Small Is the New Big is simply a compilation of his blog posts over the last few years.

Straightforward

Okay, so this is somewhat repetitive of ‘C’ for candid. But it’s worth repeating. The most popular of the corporate and CEO blogs reached their level of popularity by being straightforward. And here, I’m referring to both the design and the content of the corporate blog. Blogs that are “overly designed” don’t really look like blogs at all. They look like corporate websites, which (I believe) takes away some of their candidness and authenticity. The same is true of blog content. Blog postings that are straightforward and candid will generate more trust, interaction and “buzz” among the blog’s readers than thinly-veiled corporate speak.

Thoughtful

The best corporate blogs are thoughtful. I don’t mean thoughtful in the sense of “kind,” although kindness goes a long way on the Web. I mean thoughtful as in “full of thought.” Blogs with a lot of “fluff” don’t fare well in the corporate blogosphere. So be sure you put some thought into your blog’s content.

Usable

Your corporate blog should be easy to navigate and read. In fact, any blog should be easy to use, or any website for that matter. Web readers and researches are skilled at hopping from site to site. They don’t need much of a reason to bail out on you, and they’ll do just that if your blog is hard to navigate. Review a list of the most widely read blogs on the Internet, and you’ll find they have something in common — they all have simple designs with high levels of usability.

Voluntary

You should blog because you want to, not because you think you have to. If you start a corporate blog just because people say you should, it will lack the heartfelt enthusiasm that’s a hallmark of great blogs. (See ‘E’ for enthusiasm above.)

Wise

Your corporate blog is the ideal place to share your wisdom about your industry. This will help you position yourself as an authority in your field, and will also help foster the trust that’s mentioned under the letter ‘T’ above. Show people what you know about your industry, but do it in a conversational way. A “tip of the day” series is a prime example of this. It’s a great way to share your wisdom, and it’s the kind of thing others will link to if it’s full of useful content or advice.

Xstensible

Okay, so I cheated with this letter. But blogs are certainly extensible (and you try to come up with a good adjective starting with ‘X’). Corporate blogs, business blogs, CEO blogs — any blog — can grow as the company grows. You can add additional authors, additional sections, whatever you need. And it doesn’t require and act of the I.T. gods to get it done. By design, blogging programs are meant to be extensible.

Yours

If you ask me, anonymous blogs are not blogs at all … just plain old websites. A corporate blog can have one author or several authors, but it should be somebody’s blog. It should be yours, or his and hers, or all of yours. Somebody needs to own it. Otherwise, nobody will trust what it has to say.

Zippy

The definition of zippy is “lively and full of energy.” These are great traits for a corporate blogs. Some people equate the word “corporate” with “dull.” Show them otherwise. Inject your personality. Show them the passion you have for your industry. That’s the only thing that will keep them coming back.

* You may republish this article online if you retain the author’s byline and the active hyperlinks below.

About the Author
Brandon Cornett is the publisher of CEO Blog Watch and the author of a new blogging guide. Download your copy of the blogging guide by visiting http://www.ceoblogwatch.com

Cheap car insurance protects the car and takes care of all the relevant expenses in the event of a car accident. Car owners must choose a suitable car insurance that offers them desirable coverage. There are various kinds of car insurance available to car owners, and it may be a daunting experience to select the right insurance. There are policies such as comprehensive car insurance policies and liability car insurance policies that differ in the extent of coverage offered. Insurance provides financial security to car owners in the event of a fatal accident. The rules and regulations regarding auto insurance may vary from state to state. In most states, it is mandatory for all car owners to have car insurance. In Los Angeles, the premium for the insurance of a car may vary greatly depending on the insurer. It is advisable to look out for quotes from different insurance companies to obtain cheap car insurance.

The minimum coverage requirements may vary from state to state. The minimum limit of insurance for California is 15/30/5. This means California requires a minimum coverage up to $30,000 for all persons injured in an accident, subject to a limit of $15,000 for one individual, and $5,000 coverage for property damage.

Generally, the insurer examines the driving record of a car owner. If the car owner has a good driving record, he is eligible for some discounts in the premiums. Many car insurance companies offer loyalty discounts to car owners renew their insurance policies with the company repeatedly.

Many insurance companies offer free quotes over the Internet. Car owners can utilize the services of discount car insurance brokers, to find cheap and reliable car insurance. There are several insurance companies that offer extremely cheap car insurances. The car owners must however verify the credibility of such companies. Car owners must compare and contrast all the quotes before choosing an insurance company.

In Los Angeles, the cost of car insurance depends on the make and model of the car. Generally, car insurance for a sports car is costlier than other cars.

Los Angeles Car Insurance provides detailed information on Los Angeles Car Insurances, Los Angeles New Car Insurances, Los Angeles Car Insurance Quotes, Los Angeles Used Car Insurance and more. Los Angeles Car Insurance is affiliated with Philadelphia Car Insurance Quotes.

Most pet owners consider their four-legged friends as members of the family. Owners tell funny stories to friends about their pets amusing antics. Some pet owners even celebrate the birthdays of their feline and canine companions. Like other family members, owners cuddle with pets, talk to them, nurse them when they are sick, and punish them when they do things that are against the rules. Yet, while most pets are well-behaved, many owners have come home to find things ripped to shreds by their dog or that their cat soiled a favorite comforter. As much as owners may react harshly by yelling at or otherwise punishing their furry friends, consider the likelihood that these pets are reacting out of boredom, loneliness, and separation anxiety.

The reality is that many pets are subject to boredom, loneliness and separation anxiety just as children are. Although it is difficult to rationalize the destruction of property, pet owners should be careful not to anthropomorphize (to ascribe human characteristics to things not human) pet behavior. It is essential to realize that animals need mental and physical stimulation to prevent boredom and loneliness. Pets enjoy the company of their fellow pack animals to alleviate loneliness, for example, and an owners patient and compassionate help in overcoming separation anxiety is critical.

Researchers and veterinarians are not really sure what causes separation anxiety in some pets and not in others. Lately, the theory is that some pets have experienced a traumatic separation experience and/or may be genetically predisposed to anxious behavior. Animals that are separated from their mothers too early, or have been in and out of animal shelters, appear to be prone to anxious behavior. It is easy to understand why these experiences may dispose pets to continuing anxiety about becoming separated from those to whom they have formed attachments. Pets are creatures of habit, just as humans are.

Many dogs know that it’s time for a walk when they see owners grab the leash. Cats salivate when tea is made. They react to the sound of the spoon hitting the side of the cup, expecting a dab of milk as a treat. And, most importantly to this discussion, pets know that they will soon be left alone when you begin to wrap up your morning routine and prepare to leave for the day.

You may have noticed that your happy go lucky dog or cool as a cucumber cat become agitated or tense as you brush your teeth or put your shoes on. This agitation becomes near panic as you reach for your keys and grab your coat. And the panic becomes aggravated when you leave the house. Perhaps the tension doesn’t begin until you open the closet door and reach for your coat. “How cute,” you think, “Rex wants to go outside.” Yet, candidly, dogs and cats know the difference between going for a walk and their owners abandoning them for the day. Your pet is asking to go with you; and, when you appear to be ignoring his needs, he becomes anxious at the thought that you are leaving and may never return.

Have you ever returned home to find that the kitchen cabinets have been opened and all of your dried, boxed food has been ripped open and strewn haphazardly on the floor? Even worse than the actual mess, you recall that you put your dog in the crate before you left for work. The door to the crate is still closed; but your pet is sitting in the middle of the living room floor, surrounded by what’s left of your shredded wedding photo album, innocently wagging his tail. The neighbors have started complaining that your pet has been barking and howling constantly and your door frames have been chewed to bits.

A pet that suffers from loneliness, separation anxiety or boredom may display only one undesirable behavior. It is just as likely, however, that your pet is reacting only when you are not home. And unfortunately, this behavior is wreaking havoc on your relationship with your beloved pet. Observe your pet for signs of impending trouble as you go about your morning routine. A dog that is exhibiting signs of separation anxiety will often whimper or whine when they sense you may be preparing to leave.

Pacing the floors, shaking or shivering, and even aggressively trying to prevent your departure are not uncommon behaviors when your pet knows your departure is imminent. In fact, some pets have even taken to gnawing at his paws in an effort to alleviate anxiety – much like humans chew their own fingernails. An pet in the throes of extreme anxiety will occasionally injure himself or herself as a result of their behavior. These are extreme cases and need to be taken very seriously and solved immediately. A chewing behavior often extends to objects, doorways, and your pet may even dig and scratch at windows in an effort to find you.

Some animals may become depressed when they feel their humans have abandoned them. Depression in animals often takes the form of anorexia (refusal to eat) or vomiting. If an owner is leaving for the day, and a pet refuses to eat for eight or nine hours, this is not a significant issue. However, if an owner leaves for an extended period of time, say for a vacation or a job that involves traveling for more than a day at a time, a pet may become malnourished and may require medical treatment. Extreme cases may end with the death of your beloved pet. Incessant barking and howling is also common behavior for a dog that feels abandoned.

Cats who suffer from separation anxiety display many of the same behaviors as dogs. Many pet owners are fooled into thinking that cats have no apparent reaction to their comings and goings. However, just because cats are not known to cause major property damage, there is no reason to ignore their suffering, or to believe they are not bothered by your absence. A cat that is suffering from separation anxiety will pace, and often becomes nervous and clingy when an owner is preparing to leave for the day.

A cat suffering from separation anxiety can also display noisy protests to his owners departure. Cats may also urinate or defecate in inappropriate places and scratch doorways and furnishings. While it was thought that cats did not suffer from separation anxiety, the most recent research indicates that cats, like dogs, form strong bonds with humans, and may become anxious and overwhelmed when their masters leave. In fact, like dogs, cats may groom themselves to the point of baldness or sores.

While there is a tendency of a pet within a specific breed to suffer from boredom, loneliness or separation anxiety – often pure bred dogs and cats, mixed breeds suffer from the same emotional afflictions. Dogs and cats are social creatures. When deprived of the security of their natural mother and siblings, a new pet becomes attached to his new human family members. This is normal social animal behavior. Problems arise, however, when the attachment to the human family becomes excessively dependent. The pressing questions are how do we identify this behavior, and, subsequently, correct the resulting problems. Pets that form intense attachments to their masters are the likeliest candidates to suffer from boredom, loneliness or separation anxiety. Pets need to learn that we will be coming back soon and are not abandoning them forever, especially since animals have no real concept of time.

Soon after an owner departs, a pet begins to miss this attention, likely believing that the owner will be gone for a very long time. Those of us with children have learned that playing peek-a-boo teaches children that parents disappear, but return immediately. Animal experts do not suggest that you play peek-a-boo with your pets. They do, however, know that pets need to learn their owners will return. A dog that practically looses his mind with joy upon the return of his owner is likely suffering from separation anxiety. This is not to say that an emotionally healthy pet should ignore you when you walk in the door after a long day; but, he should definitely not act as if they have been deprived of all human contact for the last decade.

The lessons that reassure pets that their masters will return are best begun while they are young. Leaving animals with their biological mother until they are at least eight weeks old can go a long way toward eliminating feelings of separation. If you have a canine or feline companion that is no longer young, and he is not adjusting appropriately to your absences, you will need to put forth the effort to correct the situation yourself. However daunting the task seems, don’t lose hope! Regressive behavior that is a result of boredom, loneliness or separation anxiety can usually be remedied at any age. Old dogs can learn new tricks! Old cats, however, can be a different case altogether. Cats that have learned undesirable behavior are difficult to retrain. As a matter of fact, cat owners know full well that the word “train” often does not apply to cats. Cats are often immune to behavior modification. Yet, take heart, change is still possible.

Curiously enough, some pet owners and experts alike swear by the use of punishment to “break” an animal of an undesirable behavior. Although one must wonder why an owner would want a broken companion, the fact is that punishment is often counterproductive. A fostering of trust with any animal is imperative to building a sound relationship. For the purposes of this discussion, punishment is not a recommended course of action to rid your pet of undesirable behavior; and it is certainly not the way to teach your animal to trust that you have not abandoned him. It is important to remember that your pet is not attempting to punish you for abandoning them by gnawing on everything in sight or urinating on the floor. They are merely afraid that you will not return home. The resulting destructive behavior is the product of their fear of isolation.

Providing a pet with the services of a daycare center is an option, but not always feasible, and prohibitively expensive at that. In lieu of a pet sitter, owners should begin their campaign to reform their pet’s behavior by never making a big deal out of leaving their pet alone. Although many owners themselves experience separation anxiety, especially when a pet is new to a home, it is important that owners do not reveal guilt for leaving a new pet. The coming and going of pet owners is simply a fact of life, and a pet cannot always come along. The earlier pets come to accept this fact, the better they will fit into the family. Desensitizing your pet is the first step in helping him or her accept that an owner is not available.

Leave your pet for short periods of time and increase to longer periods. Actually leave the house when you do this exercise, as some pets are not easily fooled. When crate training a dog, use the same process. Leave the dog in the crate for short periods of time, gradually building up to longer stretches. Contrary to what some pet owners believe, crates are not cruel devices for dogs. Dogs are den animals. They often prefer the security of feeling like they are in a warm, safe den-like enclosure. Many dogs that have been crate trained are often found relaxing in their wired den with the door open, happily chewing on a bone or taking a nap. Remember, however, that you should never use the crate as a form of punishment. The crate is a safe haven for your dog, not a time-out room and should always retain positive associations. Additionally, upon returning to home or upon removing a pet from the crate, owners should actually ignore their pet for a short while. Remember, your comings and goings are not a big deal. The idea is that there is no cause for alarm or excitement when you depart or arrive.

In extreme cases of separation anxiety, the process of desensitizing a pet will need to be undertaken in very small steps. Using a variation of the process described above, owners of an anxious pet must approach the desensitizing procedure carefully. Approach your morning routine as you normally would, but in small steps that are easy understand.

1 Begin by putting your coat or jacket on, then sit down on the couch. After a minute or two, remove your coat and put it away. Repeat this action until your pet does not become anxious.

2 Next, put your coat on and grab your keys (purse, bag, lunchbox, or whatever else you may take with you when you leave for the day), then sit on the couch again. After a moment, put your keys and coat away. Repeat this action until your pet does not become anxious during this process.

3 When your pet becomes comfortable with what you are doing so far, you can take the process a step further. Put your coat on, grab your keys and then open the door. Close the door, replace your keys and put your coat away. Repeat until your pet becomes comfortable.

4 You will now repeat everything you have previously done, but now you will actually step out of the house (but don’t close the door). You will then re-enter the house and reverse your actions. Do this until your pet is comfortable.

5 Then further the process by actually closing the door for a few seconds or so. Re-enter the house, reverse your actions and repeat until your pet accepts these actions also.

6 The final steps in the process involve closing the door and leaving the house for longer periods of time. Once you are able to leave the house for an hour and a half or so, you should be able to leave your pet alone for a work day. (Make sure that you put your favorite shoes in a secure spot – now is not the time to tempt him.)

Take it slowly. Be consistent. The steps detailed above are a guideline. The actual formula that you use should include pieces of your personal getting-ready-to-leave routine. The idea is to teach your pet that there is no cause to worry. Your pet will soon learn that his human pack members have not disappeared off the face of the earth.

In very extreme cases, there are medications that may help; but, they should be only used as a last resort, and only in combination with desensitization training. To use them alone would doom your pet to a lifetime of medication while ignoring the actual root of the separation anxiety problem. Your vet can prescribe medications such as clomipramine (Clomicalm), fluoxetine (Prozac), or buspirone (Buspar) for a cat or dog who is clearly suffering from the effects of separation anxiety. These medications have been used successfully for separation anxiety in pets and are readily available for use.

Research has shown that pets will often display anxious behavior soon after the departure of owners. Experts believe that occupying a pet during the crucial twenty to thirty minute period after initially being left alone will alleviate any undesirable behavior resulting from boredom, loneliness or separation anxiety. Some dog owners have had success with a “kong”. A kong is a hollow rubber toy into which the owner slathers peanut butter, cheese or soft dog food. The theory is that the dog will be so occupied with the yummy kong or bone treat that he or she will not even notice that his master has disappeared. And by the time he or she does notice, the period during which separation anxiety often occurs will have passed. Kongs have been known to work great for some pet owners. Others have discovered that the kong is still full of peanut butter when they come home and pets have instead opted to devour other significant household items. Generally, this is the sign of a dog that is not anxious, but is instead bored and/or lonely.

Providing your cat and dog with appropriate playthings can ensure comfort and entertainment when you are not at home. Make sure that your pet has plenty of bones, a kong, or balls, and offer your cat a catnip mouse and balls with bells inside. Additionally, know that a sleeping pet is a well-behaved pet. It’s difficult to cause trouble when tired. Therefore, make sure that your pet gets sufficient exercise. Take walks regularly and allow your dog to interact with other canines. The purchase of a laser light can provide hours of exercise and fun for your cat. Cats love to chase a dot on the wall, and this amusing exercise will keep him fit and out of trouble.

Changing the environment of your pet may also make him feel more secure. Your dog knows that you turn off the television or radio when you leave; so change it up a bit. Dog owners have had some success with leaving the television or radio on while they are gone. For pets, environmental noise is something that occurs only when you are home, and. therefore, alleviates the anxiety that occurs when he thinks you are not in the vicinity. Providing visual or audio stimulation is very successful. Providing a window perch where a cat can observe birds that fly by the house is an example, or you can take advantage of videotapes or DVD’s that show birds.

Unlike dogs, when cats misbehave, you cannot march him off to obedience class. Correcting unacceptable feline behavior can be significantly different than correcting canine behavior patterns. A bored or lonely cat may display many of the same behaviors as a cat suffering from separation anxiety. Yelling at him usually generates little response. Inappropriate urination is a very common reaction for cats and can be eliminated using a combination of patience and ingenuity.

For a cat that insists that he must urinate on your clothing or bedroom floor, you must first make sure that there is a litter box nearby. Cats tend to make the decision as to where they want their box located. If your cat is using your laundry hamper as a litter box, try placing his box near the hamper. Gradually move the box to the location comfortable to you. Make sure that the box is filled with the litter that your cat prefers. Cats can be quite finicky about what they put their feet into. Generally, cats prefer clumping litter to clay. Additionally, make sure that the litter is kept clean. By clean, the litter must be clean according to your cat’s standards, not yours. Cats are fastidious animals and the difference between a box that has recently been urinated in and a box that is freshly scooped may well be the difference for success.

There certainly are options for pet owners to rid both their canine and feline companions of undesirable behavior. Changing behaviors in both cats and dogs takes patience, planning and lots of rewards. The trick is to make the offensive behavior unpleasant for your dog or cat. Doing so will make both the pets, and their owners, happier and far more comfortable.

In the final analysis, while most pets do not suffer from separation anxiety, all pets suffer from boredom and loneliness. It is a fact. The question becomes how to reverse this perpetual condition. It is an inescapable reality that pets, especially indoor pets, are alone with little stimulation for 10 to 12 hours at a time. There are alternative and creative ways to combat this syndrome. A pet that is hampered with boredom may become restless and destructive. A pet that is lonely has a greater chance of suffering from depression.

With the prevalence of technology today, it is economically possible to engage and befriend your pet during the day, while you are away. Take the time and effort to research those ways that will brighten and liven the days of your pet. Doing so will not only demonstrate that you care, but bolster the health and happiness of your pet. This in turn will only benefit you as a pet owner. You will get more satisfaction of having a healthier and happier pet. You will have peace of mind and reduce sense of guilt of not completely abandoning your pet.

In closing, may all pet owners recognize that we need to be best friends to our best friends.

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Are you looking for ways to get people talking about your brand? An increasing frustration with traditional media has driven businesses and marketing firms to start employing more creative means of getting customers attention beyond the traditional media outlets. You may hear this referred to as viral, word-of-mouth or buzz marketing and this method is attaining broad popularity as an inexpensive and highly effective marketing method.

What is Viral Marketing, Word-of-Mouth, or Buzz Marketing?

Viral Marketing is a way of capturing attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand becomes interesting conversation. Generating a buzz is based on either customers’ personal experience with brands or what other people have told them about these brands. When this experience becomes interesting, your brand and what your company is doing become a source of entertainment, and your brand becomes newsworthy. Basically it’s unconventional, it’s economical and it’s powerful. Buzz marketing is capturing the attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy. Buzz marketing is about starting conversations. In a nutshell, buzz marketing is about getting people talking and getting the media writing about your brand. With Buzz Marketing you stop talking at consumers, and start talking to them.

Why does buzz work?

Today’s noisy advertising environment has forced marketers to become more creative and some say even slightly devious with their methods. Consumers are subject to constant information overload and are wary and distrustful of companies due to scandals and scams they have heard about or been victims of in the past. All of that buyer’s remorse from past bad purchase decisions has built up and created a wall of sales resistance that they psychologically throw up whenever faced with something that appears to be a marketing message or sales pitch. Conversely, consumers like to rely on friends and peers for product and service recommendations and will do less shopping around and are more apt to act based on recommendations of people the know. This has long fueled efforts to increase customer referrals for companies. Another way to enter a customer’s mindshare is through buzz marketing, which is simply the process of sharing information through the natural social networks of your target market that helps them in the decision-making process. That way, instead of coming from a faceless and distrusted corporation, the marketing message instead seems to emanate from the most powerful endorser possible: your coolest friend.

How is it different than traditional advertising?

Most marketing, advertising, and PR employs a push strategy, where you push your message out into the marketplace at people, typically when they are not seeking it. Many people do not enjoy or appreciate this approach. Good marketers know that using a pull strategy to market their products and services can result in close rates at least twice as high as a traditional push strategy. Doubling your marketing effectiveness is certainly worth paying attention to. Buzz marketing is powerful because it gets customers to seek you out.

Why is this a good time for Buzz?

Marketing today is in a state of turmoil. Industry leaders say traditional marketing campaigns, based on mass media advertising, are not working anymore. And the facts back them up. A 2004 study into advertising effectiveness by Deutsche Bank in the US consumer packaged goods sector found that only 18 percent of television advertising campaigns generate a positive return on annual investment, while the Harvard Business Review reports that for every dollar invested into traditional advertising for consumer packaged goods, the short-term return on investment is just 54 cents. Marketing in the business-to-business sector fares no better. An astonishing 84 percent of B2B marketing campaigns actually result in a fall in market share and brand equity. Word of mouth connections are highly influential. A 2004 UK survey of 10,000 consumers by consultants CIA:MediaEdge found that 76 percent cite word of mouth as their main influence on their purchasing decisions, compared with traditional advertising’s mere 15 percent. In the US, NOP (now GfK) research shows that 92 percent of Americans cite word of mouth as their preferred source of product information. Studies show that when it comes to generating excitement about products, word of mouth is 10 times more effective than TV or print advertising. Younger consumers, who are still forming their brand preferences, are among the most coveted by marketers. These days they spend less time planted in front of the tube and are more skeptical about the messages they receive there. Therefore a recommendation for a product or service from a trusted friend is more memorable and convincing than the cleverest television ad and more likely to be turned into action.

What are the benefits?

Many are saying that buzz represents the future and will surpass traditional ads in regards to maintaining consumer brand-interest. If I can involve one person really deeply in my brand in 50 cities, vs. 50 people in one city, I’ll take the former every time, says Mark Hughes, author of Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff. Jon Berry of research company Nop World, and author of The Influentials, argues that word of mouth is worth more than twice what it was in the 1970s in affecting consumer purchases, and it’s 150 percent more influential than newspaper and magazine advertising or articles. Another benefit of buzz marketing is the ability to break through customers’ natural defense mechanisms that they typically have up when receiving marketing messages. Customers think of you more like a friend and less like a business trying to sell them something, and that is a great place to be.

You’re speaking face-to-face, which gives you attention and mindshare. Another reason word of mouth works so well is credibility. When your friend, neighbor, co-worker or a family member tells you about a great movie, product or service you believe them. They’re not being paid to pitch the item and so you give them full credibility. That’s why having a great product matters so much: If you can really wow people, they will tell their friends and neighbors. Such face-to-face attention creates superior memory retrieval. In a study of two groups presented with advertising information with the brand removed, only 49 percent of people recalled advertising based on a visual cue, while 70 percent recalled advertising from a thirty-second musical cue. Given the right context of attention, audio stimuli can be far superior to visual.

Buzz marketing is one of the hottest trends in marketing today. By applying these 18 techniques in your business you’ll see people buzzing about your brand.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Start with your initial or existing base of satisfied customers. While enrolling new consumers, a successful buzz marketing strategy bases itself on the impact these consumers could have on the next potential customer. Providing a positive customer experience establishes trust. This trust is rewarded with consumers acting as buzz marketing agents, literally working for brands free of charge. The consumers who are first to climb aboard and become evangelists of your brand.

2. Pick a target market you can find. Where does your target market hang out? If you’re selling hot pink lipstick you might find that your main customers are at the corner of Pine and Main Street wearing stilettos and pleather. Make them easily definable and be able to name the specific areas where they go so you can target your target market.

3. Find the thought leaders. Every social culture has its thought leaders. Building a successful buzz campaign hinges on finding the right carriers for the message: influencers who are obsessed with staying one step ahead of their peers. You must find, connect, and collaborate with the people who influence your brand, lead opinions, and spread word of mouth. Look for opinion-leading individuals who frequently offer or are elicited for category-related advice. Thought leaders are the 10percent of society that help influence the majority of all purchasing decisions. They are not necessarily the customers who spend the most money with you, but they are the most important people you can reach because your target market takes their advice. They hold a social power that will amplify the affect of your word of mouth campaign.

After finding influencers, make sure that you develop ongoing, two-way relationships with them from giving them a trial before the product is available to the mass market, to going back a step and getting them involved in your research and development. Try to give them experiences that exceed expectations. This will generate goodwill and advocacy that will go a long way toward kick-starting positive word of mouth and wider interest in your product, service, or campaign.

4. Again, find the influences and give out freebies. Think outside of the box. Rather than blitzing the airways with expensive TV commercials, give out freebies to select people who are trendsetters. Targeting the influential people you will get more visibility for your product or service by others who are their friends or assistants and who will buy based on the trendsetters. It is worth it to give out what you can for free that will allow customers to experience how great your brand is.

5. Use fake shoppers. One way to get closer to your customers is to show up right under their noses without them even seeing you. Often buzz marketers cover their tracks, at least initially. Slip into the conversational pathways of the target market and those who heavily influence their peers.

6. Work at a grassroots level. Get out there and hit the streets. Buzz requires manpower, whether its volunteers, paid representative, or evangelists that just can’t stop talking. Create a culture around your brand, something that people can stand for, support and be proud of. Get into their neighborhoods. The most successful buzz marketers start on the streets, in the places people live, eat, work, socialize, etc..

7. Piggyback off an existing trend or cause. Look for a trend that your target audience is currently interested in, such as environmentalism. If you can show them that you are interested in the same things that they are, you’ll make fast friends and get them talking.

8. Go to the point of sale. Stage an impromptu demonstration, create a display that will attract your customers or have actors put on a show around your product. If you are going to get people talking, get them talking as close to the point of purchase decision as possible.

9. The more unusual and shocking the better. Traditional ad campaigns have lost some of their punch while quirkier campaigns have generated huge grassroots followings for their brands with laughably low marketing expenditures. Use what people naturally like to talk about by creating a messages that contain one or more of these 6 elements.

The taboo (sex, lies, bathroom humor, etc.)

The unusual

The outrageous

The hilarious

The remarkable

Secrets (both kept and revealed)

10. Be completely believable. When you have your consumer do marketing for you, it is credible, less expensive and enormously believable.

11. Make it personal. Using the viral strategy on a humdrum product category, will not yield your best results. Buzz marketing still seems to work best for the relatively narrow range of products and services that consumers care deeply about because of their physical intimacy, technical complexity or status-enhancing potential.

12. Create a sense of scarcity. Lure those key consumers with coveted items–whether hot news, loaner cars, or cool gadgets–that are in short supply, and let the buzz begin.

13. Be bold and extreme. Companies that play on the extremes of being either totally authentic or blatantly unoriginal are memorable and different. Although a buzz campaign may have fictional elements, the premise should be true to the brand. Make sure your buzz campaign fits with your overall ad strategy. Similarly, being totally irreverent can get people talking as well; just make sure consumers don’t feel duped. Be sure to test your humor out on a sample of your target market first.

14. Leverage the internet and buzz with blogs. From large corporations such as GM and Microsoft to entrepreneurs, businesspeople of all kinds are using blogs as a tool to connect with customers and internal audiences in new ways. They’re generating unprecedented buzz, and exponentially amplifying word of mouth marketing. A single successful blog can attract tens or even hundreds of thousands of visitors. Done right, they can give back loyalty, goodwill, and valuable feedback. The best part is they often spread that message to others within their sphere of influence through blogs, instant messenger or e-mail.

15. Don’t overlook quality and customer service. Make sure that your product, service or brand is of a quality level that stands out next to competitors. The last thing you want is to have all this talk you generated turn into complaints. Customer service should be given extra attention while you are working a buzz campaign. Good service and superior quality are so unique they create an inherent buzz of self-propelling word of mouth and customer recommendations.

16. Do something innovative. Buzz is great for anything new and innovative, but if your product is not innovative in itself, then put extra creativity in the execution to generate that buzz.

17. Measure as much as you can. Connected marketing is not about control; it’s about management. You cannot manage what you cannot measure. The initial contact may look spontaneous, but it’s anything but, and the back end of your campaign should be meticulously planned and the results carefully measured. Marketers are even attempting to quantify how often their message will be passed along and how many downstream consumers they need to influence before a fad is born. Obviously, using online capabilities will make this kind of measurement more easily and precisely monitored. At the very least it will show you whether or not your efforts paid for themselves, best case scenario you can determine the exact ROI. Figure out what types of data do you want to collect, the measurement of recommendation rates, what specific actions should be taken post-measurement, and what influences the recommended rate and how marketers improve recommendation rates.

18. Integrate the campaign with the overall marketing strategy. It is time to develop internal and external connected marketing strategies that integrate product development and marketing activities in innovative ways, enabling consumers and businesses to connect and collaborate with each other as respected partners in order to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Don’t fall into thinking that if you get buzz you don’t need any marketing. Buzz marketing should be one part of an overall integrated marketing communications plan. Good buzz is the best thing you could wish for. But, in most cases, distribution, advertising, promotion and other traditional concepts are essential to translate the goodwill surrounding your product into sales. The focus should be not on whether something is classified as traditional or guerrilla, mainstream or viral–but on whether it works. Focus on results, and don’t get caught up in any single marketing ideology. It is best to start little fires in lots of places and fan them afterwards.

Implement these techniques and watch the buzz get started. For more information about how you can create a marketing buzz, visit www.flourishingbusiness.com.

Elizabeth Gordon, founder and President of The Flourishing Business, LLC, is a visionary leader who has a passion for helping others achieve their entrepreneurial dreams and enjoy more of the best in life. With a vast and diverse background in many business arenas, Elizabeth regularly has the opportunity to share her business acumen with clients, large and small. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Atlanta and the Board of Directors of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Atlanta. She is an Accredited Executive Associate of the Institute for Independent Business (IIB) and a certified Life Coach.

Adults, when they think of fitness and exercise, invariably imagine a well-equipped gym with cheesy music blasting over the speakers and sweaty people running on a stationary treadmill. To kids on the other hand, exercise and fitness are all about just doing what comes naturally – running about, climbing, falling, just being active. As kids grow older, team sports can be really great as a safe way to try out life skills. Team sports can help a child learn to work with other kids, share stuff, boost self-esteem, and generally fall in love with life. This is one problem here – what do you do if your child is not a natural athlete, or just doesn’t like sports?

To begin with, to not be interested in organized sports can be quite normal – it could conceivably be put down to a matter of personal taste. But you could try to understand your child’s reasons first to make sure that all is well. Perhaps there are deeper concerns that your child has, that come out of social anxiety. Preschool kids often have team sports made available to them; even so, it is not until the age of seven or so that children actually have the attention span or the mental development to actually grasp everything that goes on in a game. Kicking a ball while running or catching a ball, takes a good deal of limb-eye coordination; a child who hasn’t had the time to practice these skills properly might just not see the point. What you can do then is, you can practice at home with the child, the kind of skills that you believe she will need, playing a team sport at school. In the reassuring surroundings of home with no one else around to catch their failures, they might open up.

Your children’s fitness and health may be a great reason why you wish to have them take a team sport. But there are real reasons why they may not yet be ready for prime time. To begin with, the school sporting league can be all about the competition and the winning, and this can be off-putting to your child. Most children aren’t really appreciative of the pressure of competition until they hit the age of 12 or so You could try some places like the YMCA where they don’t keep score, to help a child to find her groove without the pressure.

Kids grow up at different rates. While one child may take up to the age of ten to gain excellent hand-eye coordination, another kid might do it at the age of six. Kids can also take time to come to terms with how hard it can be to keep up with everyone else. If your child really does need time to grow into her shoes, you can find children’s fitness activities outside of team sports. Swimming, horseback riding, golf, skate boarding, yoga, there are any number of choices for what a child can do to stay fit. Raising a child is all about finding a balance between what you decide is right for your child what the child wants for herself. With a little thought, finding the balance should not be all that hard.

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No matter where you live, politics probably plays a part in your day to day life. You might not immediately deal with political issues, but you can be sure that politics plays a part in what you do! Whether it is office politics deciding who gets that raise you’ve been hoping for; city politics determining where you are allowed to park downtown; county politics dictating your quarterly property tax or even nationwide politics deciding how your schools are funded, politics plays a part in your daily life.

It is important then that you understand what politics really is. Politics, at its core, is defined by Wikipedia as the process by which groups of people make decisions. At its core, politics sounds quite simple. What makes it complicated are the individuals involved in making the decisions. Because human beings are not perfect, the political system is never going to be perfect. This is something that most people don’t understand about politics. You can put all of the pomp and circumstance into politics that you want, in the end; it is more about human beings getting their way than about the process itself.

It has been said quite often that politics is a dirty business. In the United States Congress, for example, politics has taken on an air of hatred and manipulation. Many citizens of the United States feel that they are left out of the process of politics and that their elected representatives are more interested in scoring personal points than in working toward the betterment of their states and districts. In the last few decades special interest groups have taken on an entirely new role and lobbyists have become particularly vilified.

This disillusion toward politics is nothing new. Plato-the famous Greek philosopher-believed that all political systems were corrupt at their cores and that societies leaders should be chosen from an elite group of individuals who were began leadership training at birth. Aristotle argued that man is inherently political and that personal and political ethics are often the same thing.

One of the most famous political philosophers, Machiavelli advised that leaders of politics be brutal and manipulative and do whatever they could to retain their power. Machiavelli is studied today and his work is considered to be one of the leading authorities on how to behave in politics. Is it any wonder then, that the political systems of so many nations look corrupt?

The heart of politics is good: it is how laws are made and how individuals are judged by the societies that surround them. Without politics, nobody would know what was allowed and what was not allowed when they left the house. Unfortunately, many people view politics as a way to get ahead or to gain some sort of power over the people they live and work with. It is because of these “bad eggs” that politics has become regarded as an evil and ugly business.

For more information on politics, visit [http://www.relatedarticles.net/bl-england_blog.cfm]

Democracy used to take time-time that citizens are no longer willing to spend. Now, influencing public policy takes money-money that corporations are more than willing to spend to buy political influence. The little people used to have a big say and needed no money to say it. Now the Supreme Court has given big corporations the same rights as individual citizens. With unlimited money to make sure everyone hears the corporate perspective–over and over again–the “big say” has gone corporate.

In 2010, the Supreme Court overturned long-standing federal laws that had limited the financial influence of corporations in political discourse. The 5 to 4 opinion gave corporations the same “free speech” rights that citizens enjoy under the First Amendment. Ironically, the case was brought by a front group that called themselves “Citizens United”–the label now attached to the Supreme Court ruling. As a result, massive amounts of corporate money poured into the 2010 elections. Most of the contributions were used to support conservative candidates although not channeled through a political party. In that way, nasty attack ads could be run without the Party having to own up to them or have the sponsors identified.

In the first two centuries of American participatory democracy, men gathered in various venues to discuss the future of the young nation. There were strong differences of opinion-in the vast hinterlands and in the highest councils of government. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton articulated very different visions for the beloved country in grand Capital speeches and formal written position documents.

In the vast hinterland, farmers gathered at the feed mill and talked while they waited for their grain to be slowly ground by waterpower from the local millpond. The first settlers got the best land, were likely of New England (Yankee) or German ethnicity, tended to be Republicans, and typically joined the Farm Bureau. They ascribed to the communal culture of the era, but also epitomized nascent capitalism–hard work and re-investment in their private enterprises. Later immigrants from Scandinavia, Ireland and Poland worked smaller farms with poorer soils, tended to be Democrats, usually joined the Farmer’s Union and worried about the general future of agriculture. Some farmers joined The Grange because it provided a broad social context for its members in the rural community. To collectively buy their fertilizers and fuel at lower prices and sell their milk and grain at higher prices, many farmers, including some conservative Germans, joined agricultural cooperatives.

Farmers often continued their feed mill debate at the corner tavern. A cold beer was a big treat. Except for Sunday morning worship, farmers only got to town once or twice a month. Some farmers would hone an idea for days, or even weeks, in preparation for a political debate at the next visit to the feed mill. They had diverse political perspectives but they understood that they had a common destiny. In the best traditions of political discourse, they debated vigorously across decades about the best way forward toward that common destiny. It was Jefferson’s vision of participatory democracy by yeomen farmers.

The farmers didn’t patronize the barbershop. The Farm Bureau types could afford a fancy town hair cut but they felt the money would be better used to buy more land, more livestock or more modern farm equipment. The Farmers Union types couldn’t afford a barber’s fee. Most all farmers had their hair cut by their wives or another relative.

The barbershop was the venue for political discourse by town folk. Main Street businessmen gathered and debated while they waited their turn for a haircut. Often they would stay on after they had been trimmed just to continue the political discourse. The barber strung the conversation along from one set of customers to the next. By the time I was in high school, I was making enough money raising pigs to go to a barber for a haircut. My barber, Jack Ware, would “incite” his Republican customers into a political discussion by telling them that he planned to wait until the Chicago Tribune (which usually endorsed the Republican candidate) endorsed a candidate. On that basis he would then vote for the other guy, who Jack figured would be more likely to care about ordinary people.

While businessmen leaned Republican, clerks and other laborers in town leaned Democratic. Their kids went to the same public schools and inevitably mixed marriages resulted. Both had a sense of a common destiny and took the time to think, and then to talk, and then to think again, about the alternative ways to mold the future they would share.

While men dominated political discourse in the 18th and 19th centuries, women had their own places and organizations to affect political and social change. They pursued causes such as ending slavery, extending suffrage (right to vote) to women, prohibiting consumption of alcohol and opposing war. Increasingly in the 20th century men and women debated issues in the same time and place-especially on college campuses where women were rapidly catching up to men in enrollment numbers.

Except for Senator McCarthy’s Red-Baiting (falsely accusing liberals of being domestic Communists and probably spies for the Soviet Union), the country took a break from social problem solving after the exhausting Great Depression and WWII. The big issues that had been ignored in the 1950s ruptured in the 1960s: civil rights for Blacks and women, poverty in the Appalachians and the inner cities, the Vietnam War, and environmental degradation. Sit-ins, teach-ins, class boycotts, demonstrations, protest marches and other forms of political activism became a central part of a college education in the 1960s. A college student without a cause was a social outcast!

Too frequently the protests became violent and vulgar. Several anti-war students were killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State University in Ohio. The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago turned ugly. Draftees returning from Vietnam were treated shamefully. Some joined the protesters as Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Others became bitter. Others suffered from exposure to Agent Orange-a defoliant that American forces used to clear the Vietnamese jungle. Others (55,000) came home in flag-draped coffins. In contrast, President Kennedy’s Peace Corps remained an honorable way to serve humanity.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, a tide of affluence washed over America. “Better” came to mean “bigger”–more stuff. Materialism replaced democracy as the core of the American Dream. Discussions of investing in the commonwealth, sharing a common destiny and nurturing a community spirit, if they occurred at all, evolved around community adaptation to the new economic order-a social system that fostered accumulation of wealth, a liberated life style and new levels of individual freedom. The big issues in the lives of citizens became personal issues of success and status. For young people, delayed gratification was being shortened to an almost meaningless concept. Even middle class kids expected a car for their sixteen birthday-kids from higher status families got fancy new cars. Newlyweds expected to move into a nice home right after returning from their honeymoon if not before they got married. Even among older citizens, a sense of entitlement was growing. The automatic response to whatever social benefit society could provide was: “I deserve it.”

Meanwhile, back in the countryside, status and success was achieved through cannibalism. As big farmers bought out retiring farmers, most feed mills closed because the big farmers bought their supplies directly from wholesalers and sold their products on the futures market rather than wasting their time and money at the local feed mill. When I started farming in 1980, I had the choice of four feed mills within ten miles. By 2005 my closest feed mill was over thirty miles away. Small towns, whose economy was based on agriculture, withered. Rural school systems consolidated for lack of students.

Instead of “chewing the fat” at the barbershop, both men and women began making appointments to have their hair “done” and thus increase everyone’s time efficiency. Attendants were instructed not to talk politics with clients and discussion between customers simply did not occur. It was unusual to strike up a conversation and outright weird to stay after an appointment to continue a political discourse. The connection between the barbershop and participatory democracy had been severed.

Instead of spending time in the feed mill and barbershop, both men and women turned increasingly to individual pursuits. Year after year for three generations, more electronic gadgets lounged under the Christmas tree, and year after year, Americans of all ages spent more and more time under AC (electricity) and DC (battery) life assist. Watching TV became an almost universal default activity. Fifty years later, interactive electronic gadgets swallowed huge bites of the 168-hour week. Each year young people spent more time on video games, cell phones with amazing apps (applications), email, Web surfing, and social networking (Facebook/My Space/Twitter for Me and My friends).

Social networks on the Internet provided a new forum for political discourse especially during dangerous and chaotic events such as the protests that toppled dictators during Arab Spring 2011. To some extent the Internet democratized the media. However, the Internet also had severe limitations as the new “feed mill and barbershop” sanctuary for political discourse and participatory democracy. There was no accountability on the Internet. Facts were simply fabricated. People were quoted out of context or out of thin air. With computer graphics, damming photographs were created by cutting and reassembling, and then instantaneously distributing on the World Wide Web.

Of course, lies were told at the feed mill and barbershops too. However, it was difficult to lie face-to-face to someone you are likely to see again in a few days at church or perhaps even later the same day at the tavern. It was much easier to lie to an anonymous blog reader, a distant email correspondent, or a cold digital image on Facebook.

With the demise of daily newspapers and their opposing editorials, and without face-to-face venues, serious political discourse diminished. From campaign appearances to news hour commentary to prime time presidential debates, political discourse degenerated into trivial slogans, mud slinging and shouting matches. Each candidate, or their surrogate, tried to talk all the time-playing a blistering offense rather than responding to the arguments of the opposition or defending their own position. The “responsibility to listen” was one of the many responsibilities that was jettisoned by the juggernaut of individual freedom.

Political ads, always of dubious education value, became engines of misinformation–contributing less than nothing to democratic dialogue. Like cock fights or pit bull face-offs, everybody came out of the experience exhausted and in bloody shreds.

Why? Why in a world of double digit unemployment and more underemployment? Why in a world where meals came in paper bags from McDonald’s and Styrofoam “doggie bags” from the restaurant the previous night? Why in a world full of machines to wash dishes, wash clothes, clip the lawn, compact the trash, brush the teeth, trim the hedges and slice the potatoes? Why in that world full of labor saving devices, could we not have found the time to discuss the kind of world we wanted to live in and the kind of world we wanted to leave to you–our collective grandchildren?

In a cruel twist of consumerism, our labor saving machines actually cost us more time rather than it saved–both spouses have to work to pay for them. Then after working so hard, we tried to reward ourselves by living in starter castles, dining out regularly and playing hard (expensively). We forced ourselves to work even harder and worry even more about our finances because we bought even more stuff. So much stuff that we had to rent off-premise spaces for storage. The life style was dubbed a “Rat Race.” Imagine rats in a cage turning on a wheel that they can climb half way up. At that point they have to run with all their might to stay on the wheel but they can never quite get to the top of it and get off to a place of rest and serenity.

By the dawn of the 21st century, we were shopping for stuff every day of the week (really easy with the Internet), every week of the year, every year of our lives from age 6-90. We used quantity rather than quality to measure our lives. We diminished civil society by simply not taking time to nurture the culture of participatory democracy we inherited. Instead, some of us worked 50-60 hour weeks until we almost dropped and then we literally shopped until we dropped to reward ourselves. Others could find no work and the sight of frantic shoppers (especially during the Holiday shopping spree) added to their pain.

For thousands of years women went to the market every day to buy fresh bread, vegetables and meat. Without refrigeration, meat/fish had to butchered/caught and eaten the same day. In the 20th century the number of food shopping trips declined. Food shopping was concentrated to once a week because freezers and refrigerators kept meat, milk, bread, vegetables, salads, and fruit fresh for at least a week. By the turn of the 21st century, the old pattern re-emerged. Shopping once again became part of everyday life. A typical week for a typical family included several trips super market for groceries, several trips to the mall or big box stores for other things, several trips to the computer to make on-line purchases, several trips for fast food meals (usually drive through) and a Friday and/or Saturday dinner out.

We viewed our work as the means to an end. The “end” was consumption. To achieve that goal, we absolutely had to go shopping. Everyday–but especially on Sunday. Sunday had been the Day of Rest since Biblical Creation. Sunday had been the Day of Worship since the first Easter. Sunday had been the Day when stores were closed by custom or law in Christian countries for nearly two millennia. At the turn of the millennium, The Netherlands, arguably the most socially liberal country in the world, still prohibited shopping on Sunday. In my lifetime in America, Sunday became the prime Shopping Day-the day to seek out sales rather than sit in a pew or spend time with loved ones in a “bonding setting”.

We could have sustained participatory democracy if we had spent one hour a week shopping for ideas to sustain our society and its democratic ideals and one hour less shopping for things. One hour a week-a small fraction of the time spent buying (or looking to buy) stuff at the store or on the Internet. One hour a week-a small fraction of the time spent watching TV. One hour a week-a small fraction of the time spent surfing the Internet. One hour a week-a small fraction of the time spent texting to Facebook “friends”. One hour a week-a small fraction of the time spent tethered by our cell phones umbilical cord to cyberspace. (The word “cell” used to refer to the basic building block of biological life. By the turn of the millennium, the word “cell” referred to the basic building block of social life.)

However, shopping, watching TV, computer games and interactive electronic communications were not the central causes of the demise of serious political discourse about the future. They were symptoms rather than causes. Truth is: we became lazy. We didn’t want to think. We didn’t want to be bothered with seriousness. We wanted to eat, drink, and be merry. Praise God, we were able to watch NFL (National Football League) games several times on Sunday, on Monday night, on Thursday night, and several college football games on Saturday. There were so many wonderful opportunities to be a couch potato with a bottle of beer in one hand and a high-fat salty snack in the other. Add a cheesehead hat for Green Bay Packer fans.

We have a myriad of expensive toys; little ones that fit in our pockets, medium sized ones that fit on our shelves, big ones (boats, snowmobiles, motor homes) that fit in our rented storage units and second homes that fit in another community.

Many of us spent part or all of the winter in a sunny paradise far from our cold home community. The sum of our divided loyalties added up to less than our previous commitment to our sole community. We no longer wanted to do the hard work required to organize a modern equivalent venue to the feed mill or the barbershop. And, if we were absent for months at a time, we would not be likely have been very successful. We couldn’t share ideas we had not spent the time to develop. We didn’t do much serious thinking while flying in an airplane or lying on a beach.

On top of laziness, political correctness suppressed political discourse. In many places discussing politics is considered out of place-a taboo in polite company. Politics joined religion as an inappropriate topic to discuss with someone of a different persuasion. Such discussions might have exposed fault lines that somehow were considered less dangerous if left unexposed. Thus, there were fewer and fewer opportunities for those fault lines to be crossed or closed.

The farmers in the feed mill and their town counterparts in the barbershop and the ladies in the Ladies Aid and the Garden Club enjoyed talking about politics and religion and took time for both. They carried those conversations to other venues, especially town halls and city council chambers. Discussion of such topics was not just permitted-it was expected. First such discourse lost expectation. Then it lost permission.

As it became impolite to expose political differences, the art of political discourse withered. There was no motivation to prepare for a debate that was not likely to happen. In the days of feed mills and barbershops, men looked forward to the verbal challenge that would likely await them there. Often they thought about their talking points all week or all month. It was part of the preparation for going to town or to the barber.

Eventually, there was no point to hone political arguments any more! Really, was there any point to even think about politics if there was no opportunity to sway another stubborn sod buster your way or, per chance, learn something from him?

Our fore fathers spent 200 years, and our fore mothers worked even harder in later years through the Sufferance Movement and the League of Women Voters, to perfect a young democracy. Great strides were made in the middle of the 19th century and again in the later part of the 20th century. We improved participatory democracy by expanding who could participate. At first, it was only White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASPS) male freeholders who could vote. Over time voting booths and elected offices of our young democracy were opened to Jews and Catholics, Blacks and Women. We made it easier to vote by removing property owning prerequisites and poll taxes. Progress was uneven and occasionally we backslid, e.g. when Japanese Americans were put in camps during WWII. Martin Luther King Jr. and some of his followers died for their dreams in the 1960s. (I got shot at in Mississippi and violated a curfew in Nashville, Tennessee to board a bus to attend King’s funeral in Atlanta, Georgia in 1968.) Still the momentum was positive; a more perfect union-a more perfect democracy was still the goal.

Then, in the space of a few decades, we lost more than momentum. We lost almost all civility in our political discourse. Compromise became a dirty word. Tea Party extremists, (self-named after the rebels in Boston Harbor at the beginning of the Revolutionary War) grid-locked Congress with their absolute adherence to their pledge not to raise taxes. Even ending a subsidy was considered a tax increase because the government would have more money. Unlike the conservative absolutists that hijacked the country in 2010, the partisans in the feed mills and barbershops understood that compromise was essential to democracy. They understood that the winner of an election would set the agenda, but out of good will and the recognition that the electoral tables would inevitably turn, they respected the members of the minority party and were proud of bipartisan legislation.

Jefferson believed that yeoman farmers would be the pillars of a democratic society because farmers made a lifelong commitment to their farm–and by extension to the community. During the first century of its existence the United States was an overwhelming rural nation. It was still a predominantly rural at the beginning of the 20th Century. In just a couple of generations the population moved from mostly agrarian to overwhelmingly urban and urban focused (suburbanites and exurbanites with city careers and urban culture). Urban folks were, not only more numerous, they were more mobile-moving to wherever the next job or promotion dictated. Thus ties to the community diminished with urbanization and a national job market after WWII. Did those demographic changes, that Hamilton foresaw, damage political discourse and participatory democracy? Perhaps.

Women entered the labor force during WWII, dropped out of the labor force to make way for GIs returning from WWII and raised their children–the Baby Boomers. After 1970, women entered the labor force in large numbers and many became professionals often working 50-60 hour weeks at the office while still carrying the roles of mother and wife. Before women entered the labor force, the meetings of women’s organizations, especially the League of Women Voters, had partially replaced the feed mill and barbershop as venues for political discourse. Did the entry of women into the work force damage political discourse and participatory democracy? Probably.

Radio brought news, including political news, to more people faster. Television allowed millions to watch presidential candidates debate. So far so good. Then most of the air time regarding politics became ads which promoted the candidate with the most money. Then the ads became part of smear and fear strategies to discredit the opponents. Good people decided not to run for office because they didn’t want to put themselves and their families though the mud slinging. Did the entry of big money and negative ads damage political discourse and participatory democracy? Definitely!

Voter turnout in America is low in comparison to other democracies, while consumerism is the highest in the world. Those statistics lead Governor Lamm of Colorado to articulate a generic life cycle of societies about 1980. The cycle began in the “bondage stage.” Military and economic bondage to England was followed by freedom–achieved against all odds by the Revolutionary War. The freedom of Independence released a burst of energy and enthusiasm which lead to high productivity which lead to abundance which lead to apathy which lead the US back to bondage.

The “freedom stage” that began after the Revolutionary War lasted about a century. The country from 13 fragile Atlantic colonies to the Pacific Ocean, laid wide-gauge transcontinental rails and narrow- gauge (logging and mining) rails, set the stage for world class cities and flooded the patent office.

The “productivity stage” began with development of agriculture. Farming was the biggest occupation for most of the history of the country. The ability of millions of small farmers to dramatically increase their productivity had the broadest impact on U.S. society-bar none. Mechanization of agriculture allowed a farm family to feed 5 other families, then 10, then 20, then 50. American farmers grew more grain than the rest of the world could even conceive of. With productive farmers able to feed many families, workers were available for smelter ore into steel, make more modern farm equipment, start an automobile industry and pursue a host of other manufacturing and service sector endeavors. Fortunately the U.S. was in high (although latent during the Great Depression) productivity mode when it had to fight the Great War. WWII brought productivity, especially in manufacturing, to a zenith. In the wake of the Great Depression and the Great War, the Great Generation maintained high standards of frugality and work ethic through the 1950s and 1960s.

After a transition period during the 1970s, the “abundance stage” held sway in the 1980s and 1990s-the Golden Era of peace and prosperity. We had incredible amounts of everything: children and adult toys of every conceivable function, McMansions for homes, money enough to eat out at our pleasure, energy enough to guzzle through tens of thousands of miles per year with multiple automobiles per family and travel fever enough to fly to distant continents for a long list of excuses. We consumed many times our share of international resources and wasted without regret.

In less than a few decades the “abundance stage” in the US evolved to the “apathy stage”. Citizens claimed they had no time to get involved in politics. No time to attend a political event featuring a speech by a candidate in the flesh. Many citizens even excused themselves for missing elections because they had no time to vote. College students, who had the lowest voter turnout statistics, spent only a fraction as much time studying as students did in 1960. Most of their time was spent socializing and recreating-most of it at the end of a digital tether. As digital opportunities perfected individualism, the civic organizations that did the hard work of nurturing democratic institutions ran out of volunteers. Did abundance and apathy damage political discourse and participatory democracy? Absolutely!

The life cycle of American society began edging back around to the “bondage stage” when it tried to support a military presence in 130 counties and fight two long-term distant wars against evasive insurgents. Americans were not saving enough to support either internal investment or military adventures. In some years, savings rates were actually negative. Thus, the bondage that emerged in the early years of the 21st century was economic bondage to China. The U.S. borrowed the ~$1,000,000,000,000 to pay for 2001-2014 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from China. Instead of asking Americans to pay for his wars, President Bush cut taxes–twice. To pay for previous wars, Americans were asked to sacrifice by paying higher taxes. By 2011, such a self-sufficiency policy was no longer a political option in Congress where many Congressmen had signed a “No New Taxes” pledge; reversing the Bush tax cuts was deemed a tax increase.

Thus, the first life cycle of the young United States of America was completed. American society will continue to revolve as others have. Over thousands of years, China has gone through the cycle several times. In the latest life cycle of Chinese society, the bondage of imperialism and colonialism was broken in 1949 and the bondage of domestic central planning was broken three decades later. New found economic freedom unleashed a bonanza of entrepreneurship, national energy and societal enthusiasm. Then in a whisper of time, Chinese productivity blossomed into the second largest economy in the world.

The life cycle of societies is not new. Shakespeare understood that attitudes toward work, commitment and sacrifice would soften as material well being increased, when he said. “The hungry lion hunts best!”

As a farmer, Lowell Klessig has been activate in local government and local civic organizations. He served 19 years on the Town of New Hope Planning Commission and currently serves on the Portage County Board of Adjustment. He organized the Town of New Hope Family Forest Alliance and served as its president for 10 years.

At the state level, he helped write the Wisconsin Lake Management Law, served as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Rural Leadership program, is active in numerous environmental groups and has been involved in numerous political campaigns. He continues to serve on the Scenic Wisconsin Board of Directors.

At the federal level, he was active in the Civil Rights Movement, the Environmental Movement, and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement. He worked in Senator Eugene McCarthy’s successful campaign to convince Lyndon Johnson not to seek a second term as President in 1968. He ran for a Rep. Morris Udall delegate seat to the 1976 Democratic National Convention. He was active in Senator Kerry 2004 Presidential campaign and wrote editorials for Senator Obama’s 2008 campaign.

At the international level, Dr. Klessig has taught briefly in 8 countries, lead educational trips to 5 countries and taken personal adventure/educational trip to an additional 45 countries.

He is an Emeritus Professor of Human Dimensions of Natural Resource Management at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He served 27 years as a Natural Resource Specialist, Extension Service, USDA. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Management and Resource Planning.

Offering hand crafted children’s furniture online for sale is a terrific niche market. If you drill down a bit more you will find that you can offer items like tables and chairs sets, small bookcases and wall decorations. People love anything that is handcrafted and do not seem to mind spending money to make their kids rooms look great. Add the fact the children’s demographic is continuous, and you have a terrific market opportunity. Demand is strong for this market if you approach it with a good plan and a sensible mind.

Pros and Cons

Cons

First of all, anything that is hand crafted involves significant time. If you plan on making the items yourself, it can involve an amazing amount of time. I started out in this business out of the passion of creating something special. I quickly learned that the time to make each unit actually ate away at my bottom line because of the time it took to make the units. If your items are painted you have to contend with sanding, priming, painting at least two coats, artwork and sealing the project. Any shortcuts you can make will help cut down on your assembly time. If I were to coach someone through this process today, I would recommend having someone cut your parts or even supply everything you need. Anything you can do in this capacity will save you time which means you save money.

Pros

Just about everything today is made overseas. Finding good quality craftsmanship with a personal flair is getting harder and harder. You can build up a great following if you can offer special made items. Younger children’s items like tables and chairs do especially well. Targeting the right crowd of buyers also helps you sell for a better price. The “walmart” price conscious buyer is not who you are really after. Goods on the very high end also do well offering a higher margin but less frequency of sales. Of course this all is a matter of research. We made the habit of using commercial artists that were just starting out and willing to work for reasonable items. We would offer to name a line of products using their name and that had some good selling appeal. Who would not like having their own furniture line? (it reminds me of giving a person a title instead of a raise, but it does work)

Another technique that works well is outsourcing your parts after you develop a good feel for what is selling. There is nothing wrong with importing chairs or blank parts to help cut down your production time. Submit your own designs and many importers will build to your exact specifications. Finishing the product yourself using this technique can still be labeled with the handmade label. This is a powerful technique but you have to order parts in larger quantities to make it work best.

If you are thinking about setting out to specialize in this field, it can be very rewarding. Knowing the obstacles before you get into is, can make the difference between staying in the market or moving on to something else.

Ken Schulte is a contributing editor to http://www.routertabledepot.com as well as a coach for small business specializing in manufacturing.

What’s the most important word in marketing?

Free?

Why?

Truth?

Honesty?

Integrity?

At first glance, it seems like a simple question. But the more you think about it, the more complex it gets. One could probably argue any number of answers based on his beliefs, values or type of business.

But is there really one word that’s more important than all the others?
One word without which your marketing efforts will be successful?

I recently surveyed dozens of marketing professionals, authors, consultants and small business owners on my blog. The results included a wide range of words; from the emotionally charged to the pragmatic; from the right brain to the left brain and from the customer focused to the company focus. But all of the suggested “most important words in marketing” fell into one of two categories: Traditional Marketing or Modern Marketing.

Traditional Marketing: The Old School

Traditional Marketing used to be all about advertising. It was expensive, short lived, and had little to do with the Internet or word of mouth. Also, it aimed its messages at passive audiences. Leading expert and best selling author Seth Godin calls this “Interruption Marketing,” in which the marketer talks directly to as many consumers as possible.

Now, although this traditional style of marketing has lost some of its prowess to the fierce competition of the web, it’s still a powerful medium through which companies can reach their customers. Let’s see which words the experts chose from this category.

NOTE: before you read the survey results below, take a minute to answer the question for yourself: What do you think is the most important word in marketing? Once you’ve made your decision, read on and see how your answer compares.

NEW

“NEW is probably the strongest word in marketing,” explains Ronnie Horowitz from The TRIZ Journal. “People are attracted to new products like a magnet. Introducing new products on a constant basis is the best way to get attention and invaluable free publicity for your business.”

WHY

Michael “The Success Doctor” Fortin believes the most important word in marketing is WHY. “It is much better to communicate why you are original, special or unique; why you are better, different or superior than competitors – not just the fact that you are. Imply your superiority by specifying as much as possible.”

CUSTOMER

Sivaraman Swaminathan from Customer World says we shouldn’t overlook the obvious word, CUSTOMER. “I think marketing has evolved because the focus is on the customer. The soul of marketing is the customer. Period. In marketing, you will fail even if you have greatest passion for the wrong target audience; you will fail if you don’t know whom you should respect, and you will fail if you don’t know which customer to trust.”

YOU

Similarly, Robert Middleton from Action Plan Marketing said, “The most important word in marketing is YOU. That is, marketing needs to convey very clearly what’s in it for the client or customer.”

FREE

FREE was also touted by several experts as the most important word. Edward “Skip” Masland, owner of Web Solvers says “FREE was, is and will always be the most powerful word in marketing. It attracts eyeballs. It gets results and responses quickly. And marketers may not profit today – or tomorrow – but if they can generate a groundswell of interest from something free, they know they will profit sooner or later.”

On the other hand, Bob Serling from Idea Quotient wrote an article claiming that FREE was the most dangerous word in marketing. “I’ve been advising businesses for nearly 20 years that a business model driven by attracting prospects through giving something away for free is almost always a model for failure. And it doesn’t matter whether you use this model online or offline – it will nearly always fail.”

LISTENING

Next, Karen from Dezign Matters explained that the most important word in marketing was something you DON’T say. “I think the word is LISTENING. A little time leaning back and listening quietly can save time, money and leave the client and customer feeling that someone truly heard what they were trying to say.”

BECAUSE

Michael Daehn, author of Marketing Ingenious explained, “I read a case study about cutting in lines at a copy machines. The hypothesis was that the word ‘please’ would get the best response. But the results proved that the word ‘because’ received a much better response given that the word offered a reason to let someone cut in line. Therefore, we as marketers need to give customers a reason to buy.”

RESULTS

Lastly, Michael Cage from Small Business Marketing Systems said the most important word in marketing was RESULTS. “Small businesses are often suckered into fluffy, fancy marketing concepts that sound great but produce absolutely nothing in the real world. If the business owner or marketing department can’t tie what they do to results, likewise, they need to step back and get it right before passing go.”

Modern Marketing: The New School

20 years ago, nobody knew what the words “blog,” “RSS feed,” “personal branding,” “viral marketing” or “google” meant. But now – at the risk of sounding cliché – the rules have changed. Business is different. Customers are smarter. And marketing isn’t the same old run-a-bunch-of-ads-and-hope-people-buy-your-stuff system.

Now, it’s all about creating an emotional connection. It’s about being unforgettable, unbelievable and unique. It’s about providing an experience that’s so fantastic, customers not only remain loyal to you – but they tell all their friends to do the same.

Here’s what the experts said about the most important words in Modern Marketing.

RESPECT

It’s not surprising that Seth Godin – author of seven best selling books about how to make your business remarkable – always emails me back within 30 minutes. I drop him a line every once in a while to pass along an interesting website or, in this case, ask a question. He replied with a brilliant one-word answer: RESPECT. Period.

AUTHENTICITY

John More, owner of Brand Autopsy, maintained the most important word in marketing was AUTHENTICITY. “With the world becoming one gigantic ad, consumers today can sniff out anything that smells the least bit fake and inauthentic. Success will come truer and faster if companies can design products, programs, and services that are authentic in meaning, purpose, and delivery.”

Moore dug deeper on the topic of authenticity and explained that “Authenticity is usually a by-product of a purpose-driven business. And unfortunately, there ain’t enough businesses out there with the purpose of making a positive difference in the world.”

PASSION

Similarly, Tom Asacker from A Clear Eye says it’s all about PASSION. “Passion for one’s business and for one’s calling inspires and attracts people. They want to be to believe, to belong; to become. And that’s the essence of marketing today.”

Tom and John’s posts on the blog discussion generated high amounts of support from other experts. Laura from the Smart Musings blog agreed by saying, “John and Tom are right. Consumers can distinguish between authentic and inauthentic marketing. Authentic messages will strike a chord with them. That may encourage them to buy. And once they become a customer, then they may too become passionate about the product. And that is the ultimate goal of marketing: not just to have passionate employees, but passionate customers.”

TRUST

Another popular word was TRUST. Kevin Berringer from Reflections on Business Blog simply said, “No trust = no belief = nobody listens.”

EXPERIENCE

Then, Chris Ray from Interactively Speaking voted for the word EXPERIENCE, as in The Customer Experience. “I believe this word summarizes respect, authenticity, passion, results, etc.” said Ray. “It ultimately decides whether or not a company succeeds.”

AROMA

Next, Jim Seybert from the Jim Seybert Company offered a most unusual suggestion: AROMA. “Brain scientists tell me that smell is the only sense that goes directly to the limbic lobe in our brains – and triggers nothing short of primal emotions. Marketers should pay attention to the ‘aroma’ of their brand. They need to identify the unavoidable, immediate and emotional reaction customers experience upon coming into contact with their brand.”

OPEN

Another intriguing response came from Nellie Lide of The New Persuasion Blog. Her word was OPEN. “You’ve got to be open. Open to others. Open to customers. Open to employees. Open to new. Open to old. Open to scrutiny. Open to derision. Open to joy. Open to different.”

TRUTH

George Silverman, author of The Secrets to Word of Mouth Marketing says it’s all about TRUTH. “Marketing has become synonymous with hype. The truth, compellingly told, is all you need. Just tell it in an interesting way, usually with a story. This allows you to tell the truth about your product and the truth about yourself.”

No Word

The last respondent of the survey was Sean D’Souza from Psycho Tactics. He decided to take the contrarian’s point of view. “There is no one single word that’s the most important in marketing. Making such a claim would be like saying your heart is the most important part of your body. I think we try to make things too simplistic. In reality, marketing is a series of things that coordinate together to create magic.”

It’s All In The Hunt

In case you haven’t already figured it out, the answer to the question “What’s the most important word in marketing?” is: it all depends.

Typical marketing answer, huh?

But ultimately, it’s not about the answer – it’s about the question. It’s about the creative thought process each businessperson goes through when he considers what the most important word in marketing is…to him.

Personally, I chose the word CONFIDENCE.

In other words, I want to instill confidence in the minds of potential customers that if they step onto my company’s front porch, they will be working with a credible, valuable, trustworthy individual whose unique school of thought will help them produce results.

But that’s just me. That’s how I roll.

Now, it’s up to YOU to reexamine what “marketing” truly means to you and your company. In so doing, you will gain a better understanding about who you are, what you do and whom you do it for.

So, what’s the most important word in marketing…to YOU?

© 2005 All Rights Reserved.

Scott Ginsberg is a professional speaker, “The World’s Foremost Expert on Nametags” and the author of HELLO my name is Scott and The Power of Approachability. He helps people MAXIMIZE their approachability and become UNFORGETTABLE communicators – one conversation at a time. For more information contact Front Porch Productions at http://www.hellomynameisscott.com.