Expert Professional Advice

How this book even sold based on the flimsy promise of unlocking some powers within mankind is beyond me… There’s no way I was going to read the book – what I was looking for was where does the author attempt to deliver on the promise and then you find reference to a few passages attributed to ancient texts and a few paragraphs of general Eastern spiritual concepts, but as for the delivery of the prophecy itself, the whole thing can be summed up in a few pages near the end of the book. I admit that the part of the book near the end did keep some positive reading momentum based on the characters having to flee the situation they found themselves in and possibly come up with explanations to authorities, but the book never delivers cohesively on details of the Celestine Prophecy. The author seemed to try to keep a mystery about it but when you look closely at the pages near the end of the book which begin to discuss the Celestine Prophecy you find that there isn’t any substance… and that is presumably why it tries to be mysterious.

For a meaningful discussion of our place in existence and any meaning we may take from it read The Selected Lectures of His Holiness the Dali Lama. There is a question and answer session which shows some of the questions the Dali Lama was asked during his talks and his responses. I’ve read through some of the passages multiple times to make sure I could connect with the meaning behind the words.  You probably won’t find many good straight-talking books like this one about life and our place within it as we deal with distractions/wants, burdens, and attachments.

Advertising has improved over the years – here are few commercials with strong visuals and playfulness.

Party City: Thriller commercial

Tums: food fights back commerical

Verizon: vs cable guy – kung pao chicken delicacy commercial

I looked at the promotion for the Twitter book where the author selected the top ten funny postings from Twitter as a way to encourage people to buy the book – but boring was more like it – it convinced me that I’m not missing anything particularly interesting or funny. Here are the three posts out of the ten that I thought were most interesting and funny:

When people pick their “5 people living or dead to have dinner with,” don’t they worry they’ll be the most boring person at the meal?

michaelianblack

I attribute most of my good days to a couple of people with voodoo dolls canceling each other out.

TBMimsTheThird

That’s okay. I’ve been meaning to clean that table with a full glass of water for awhile.

fedge

And here’s some other interesting undiscovered posts:

@Prankandkill

@StockTraderDude (Stock Trader dude)

@Imnoexpert (yours truly)

*** Update 2010:

When PaperMag reported on their creative people issue and printed a few pages of tweets from the artists it was difficult to find anything fun and interesting in their coverage – again, feels like I’m not missing anything. But as one of the founders of Twitter has said in an interview with Fast Company magazine, “There are over ninety million tweets per day, and the vast majority you do not care about.” Agreed.

While advertising can be very costly, publicity is sometimes an overlooked but effective approach to reaching your audience in the marketplace.

It does cost time and effort – and there certainly is a learning curve if you’ve never worked with media companies before but you can get the help you need here – either having it handled for you or getting coached on what to do and what to say. The results may surprise you… when it’s done well it works effectively, as advertising can be, only that you are helping drive interest in your message, which can be heard long after your original publicity campaign, whereas advertising is generally not effectively recycled in the market.

TV • Radio • Newspapers • Magazines

Think about what you can do if you were to properly access media outlets…

Promote Your Products, Services or Business worldwide

Fill Your Seminars and Classes to capacity

Get new clients, perform coaching, and potentially get paid and famous with a book deal

Raise Money for Your Charity or Non-Profit

And now imagine you’re doing it without paying for a traditional ad campaign. Brands get built with advertising and publicity, but it’s the publicity value that advertising generally cannot buy that propels individuals, brands, and businesses to successful acceptance in the marketplace.

So how can you get started? The Expert Professional Publicity & Media Relations kit & workshop. This is what is included:

• Comprehensive research on the top radio shows
• Smaller venues are great to practice on, but being able to access 1,295 highly rated programs is what will boost your impact.
• 100,000 listeners or more per station covering descriptions of the shows, hosts, producers, time slots (so you know when to reach them), and contact information.
• You’ll know what they want and don’t want for each program. See the types of guests and topics so you can focus on the shows that are right for you and minimize frustration.
• Market listings – know the reach beyond the local area.
• Syndicated shows with major affiliates. Your largest audiences will be with syndicated shows.
• Each talk show is separated into twenty categories, so you can sort by the category you want: General Interest, News, Sports, Gardening, Money, Technology, Home Improvement, Travel, Food, Legal, Automotive, Health, Entertainment, Pet care, Outdoors, Real Estate, Psychology, and others.
• Time zone labeling so you can organize your campaign and contact efficiency.

Press kit (what you will send to producers)

• How to develop an effective press kit – story pitching within broadcast media.
• Don’t treat print media and broadcast the same way, they have different needs; you’ll see what radio and TV people are looking for and how to adapt the formatting to the outlet.
• Media collateral and sample preparation for show producers. Quick documents that will help guide your introduction.

Radio Publicity workbook:

• Handling interviews, best days for planning, and scheduling   
• Getting booked on other shows through your host
• Handling live versus pre-recorded interviews
• Earning and building credentials if you are not in academic or business circles and raising your profile
• How the radio station website can be used for advertising/promoting your message long after you’ve been on the air
• Increasing your response rate and getting invited back
• Managing expectations, your role, and the role of the host

As you become proficient you’re on your way to garnering millions of media impressions without a traditional ad budget. You can’t beat free advertising, but before you can access all the benefits of such, you’ll need proper training in getting your message through the chain of command and handling media inquiries. If you need professional media services handled on your behalf feel free to contact us. If you already have staff members, or want to handle your own media efforts the Publicity & Media Relations kit & workshop will prepare you to access the marketplace and get results now.

What kind of person am I becoming and who do I want to become? Dr. Phil and other self-help providers will assure us we need to get straight on our priorities and indulge in positive self-talk. To commit to making decisions that move us toward where we want to go and away from unhealthy places. Reality is usually more complicated and less dramatic than that. As some viewers have expressed, if you take the TV show away from him he’s just a lawyer talking about personal life issues. And some folks would find him even more annoying. If you read his first book, it wasn’t filled with great wisdom… it just filled your schedule with wasted time.

Plant an act; reap a habit.

Plant a habit; reap a virtue or vice.

Plant a virtue or a vice; reap a character.

Plant a character; reap a destiny.

A few definitions:

A habit is a regular pattern of acts.

A virtue is a good habit.

A vice is a bad habit.

Character is the combination of our virtues and vices.

Destiny is what finally becomes of us.

A lady showed me her awesome auger gardening tool that she ordered as a gift. It arrived in a plain box as two cheaply made metal sticks with a paper that lists other accessories to be purchased separately. The gal said it looks so cheap that she is embarrassed to give it as a gift and is now working on a new gift and will wrap up the pieces of junk in some tissue paper to make it look more presentable. Avoid the auger gardening tool – there are many bad reviews, which claim it is a scam or fraud.

Awesome Auger complaints and reviews:

Popular Mechanics – “Need to bury the bulbs you’re planting in those holes? Shovel. Time to clean up the dirt you just flung around the entire garden? You guessed it—shovel… we tested the tool in Brooklyn with great disappointment…”http://awesome-auger.pissedconsumer.com/

Admitted affair sullies coach Pitino’s reputation (it’s not the affair that bothers me, it’s his crummy book/audiotape):

article: In a state where basketball is king, Rick Pitino cuts quite the fine figure. Designer suits, Italian dress shoes, best-selling books on how to succeed on the court and in life, a hit TV commercial with fellow college coaching titans, a devout Roman Catholic whose priest friend often leads the Louisville team in pregame prayer.

me: Prayer, really? The “fine figure” prays to win games played by millionaires… what about prayers for real societal problems of hunger, homelessness, pain, despair, and troubled teens? Additionally, what does dressing well when you’re rich, being in a commercial, or pregame prayer prove? It doesn’t support the PR effort of being a good genuine character.

article: On top of that, he’s a winner.

me: His book isn’t. His book/audiotape is annoying trash. Life isn’t a basketball game and shouting slogans for success doesn’t work. There’s only two teams playing in a basketball game, your odds are pretty good you’re going to win more than a few games. Any introductory statistics textbook can attest to that.

article: His greatest challenge, however, may be saving his career and reputation in the midst of a salacious scandal.

me: Somebody prayed for the truth.

article: The woman accused of trying to extort $10 million from Pitino approached him in a restaurant six years ago, and the two had intercourse on a table after closing time, the coach told police.

me: Ahh, teamwork.

article: Two weeks later, the married father of five gave Karen Sypher $3,000 after she said she was going to have an abortion and didn’t have health insurance, according to a summary of Pitino’s July 12 statement to police. His attorney, Steve Pence, said that the money was to help her get medical coverage, not specifically to pay for an abortion.

me: Now he understands the value of good health insurance.

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Source: http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx/sports/0/APNews/General-Sports/20090813/U_BKC-Pitino-Extortion?pageid=1

Pride prejudice and idiot zombies: Lies in print – fake article/PR article

article: “Zombies” — billed as 85 percent Austen’s original text and 15 percent brand-new blood and guts — has become a best-seller since it was published earlier this year, with 750,000 copies in print. There’s a movie in the works.

me: I’m sorry to hear that.

article: Even Austen purists admit a grudging admiration for the “Zombies” concept.

me: Actually, readers don’t like the book. Amazon book reviews show an obvious let down and claim lazy writing, poor writing, and bad execution of the concept. Check around on the Austen fan forums – it’s not good enough for them.

article: “As soon as I drew a line between ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and zombies, I knew I had a great title.”

me: It’s more important to have a great book if you plan on reading it.

article: The coming months promise more in the same bloody vein from a variety of publishers, including “Queen Victoria: Demon-Hunter” and “I am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas.”

me: I’m sorry to hear that.

—

Source: http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx/entertainment/0/APNews/General-Entertainment/20090812/U_EU-Britain-Jane-Austen-Zombies?pageid=1

Soothe sunburn with marigolds (calendula).

Relieve poison ivy with jewelweed (also a general rash remedy)

Scare away mosquitoes with geraniums (geranium oil works too)

Prevent sun damage with iced tea (steep the tea bag for as long as you can, five minutes or more for best results)

Protect your plants and yourself from insects with neem oil

Even a regular candle can deter flying insects

Cool off instantly with watermelon (it’s 98% water which hydrates cells immediately and contains natural silicon which makes you feel cooler compared to water)

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8/3/09 Woman’s World, pg 34-35.