No kitchen is complete without a few accessories all developed for the sole purpose of extracting the delicious flavor of garlic. No matter if a person is of an Italian descent, an Italian food lover, a professional chef, or a regular person who likes the taste of garlic, the proper garlic tools are necessities. Garlic is a strong smelling and tasting, and specific garlic gadgets make the cloves easier to peel, crush, chop, press, roast, and grate.

Garlic is an ingredient present in many recipes. Since it can have a strong flavor, it is sometimes used in small amounts. However, there are many people who love the taste of garlic and can’t seem to get enough of it. For these people, garlic can be added to recipes in bulk. Since garlic must be removed from its skin before it is used, several tools can assist in making this sometimes difficult job much easier.

Most garlic tools can be purchased for a relatively small amount of money, some as little as a few dollars. However, there are quite a few tools which all do different things to a clove of garlic, and a person may or may not need all of them. The need for the tools depends on how much garlic a person tends to use in their daily or weekly cooking.

Garlic Peeler
No matter if a single garlic clove or a whole head of garlic is being used for a recipe, everyone can benefit from a garlic peeler. Anyone who has ever tried to peel individual garlic cloves using their fingernails knows how tedious it can be. A garlic peeler can greatly speed up the peeling process and it is very easy to use. By placing a clove or garlic in a garlic peeler, the skin of the garlic sticks to the peeler and the inside of the garlic clove is left for cooking. Using this tool will speed up the garlic peeling process and at the same time it will alleviate the everlasting garlic smell that can remain on fingers.

Garlic Roasters
True garlic lovers should not live without a garlic roaster. While a piece of aluminum foil can serve as a makeshift garlic roaster, an official roaster, made out of a terra cotta plate, a rounded lid, and ventilation holes, is the best way to roast a head of garlic. Placing an entire head of garlic (with the top cut off) in a roaster and drizzling it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and baking for about one hour will yield a delicious, soft head of garlic. Individual garlic cloves can be squeezed out of the head and spread directly on a cracker or a piece of bread for a delicious treat.

Garlic Slicers
It’s very difficult to cut garlic into very thin pieces using a knife, and it takes a lot of practice and experience to slice garlic in an efficient manner. So, if a large number of garlic slices is needed for a recipe, a garlic slicer can come in very handy. Garlic slicers ensure that pieces of garlic are uniform in shape and thickness, and they are as easy to use as cheese graters!

Garlic Keepers
Most people come home from the grocery store with a bag full of garlic heads and throw them in the refrigerator. This, however, is not a recommended place to store garlic. In fact, garlic should not be stored on a kitchen counter either since direct sunlight is not good for it. Garlic keepers can be cute accessories to add to any kitchen, as they come in many styles. Storing heads of garlic in a garlic keeper allows the garlic to remain in a cool, dry place away from sunlight.

Garlic Press
Simply chopping a clove of garlic into a million pieces with a knife and a chopping board does not produce the same effect as a piece of garlic that has been put through a garlic press. A garlic press is a tool that squeezes the garlic and presses it into tiny pieces. Some recipes call specifically for pressed garlic, and there is really no way to obtain pressed garlic without using this specific tool.

There are numerous other garlic tools and gadgets available, and most are very inexpensive. The best way to determine what is needed in a specific kitchen is to evaluate the daily, weekly and/or monthly garlic consumption in a household, and judge what tools would make preparing the garlic easier for the cook.

This article has been provided courtesy of Kitchen Junkie. Kitchen Junkie offers great kitchen articles available for reprint and other tools to help you get the best bargain on kitchen gadgets.

Search the web for help on organizing your special day, wedding etiquette, wedding gifts and registries, and you will be stunned at all the help and information at your fingertips. Planning YOUR perfect day has just begun.

So your big day is organized, everything from your custom invitations, a dress to die for, a perfect venue, the most beautiful flowers mother nature could offer, gourmet catering… everything you have dreamed of for so long.

Your special day is all you have hoped for and family and friends share in your happiness, proud to be witness to another match made in heaven. They came from all around to honor you with their presence, warm wishes and hand-picked gifts. Gifts that probably took them hours to shop for, having your taste and preferences in mind.

Sadly, often times properly thanking those that contributed to making your wedding day a day you will always remember, is left behind. How often is appreciation shown by means of a special thank-you note from you, acknowledging their thoughtful gift? I can guarantee that this small effort on your part, will warm their harts, and like you, they will think back with kind thoughts on your special day they felt privileged to share.

Enjoy your special day, have a blissful honeymoon and when you get back and start your everyday lives together, spend a bit of creative energy on how to thank them properly!

Please visit http://www.Stick-It.co.za for creative help in thanking them properly.

Everyone needs friends, and, as parents, you and I both know we’re responsible for our children’s social lives as well as our own. As homeschoolers, we also know that kids don’t need public school pressure in order to find friends . . . so I’m not going to waste your time with hundreds of statistics to support homeschoolers and socialization. Instead let’s explore the top two ways to find life long friends for our children . . . and ourselves!

Support & Fun All Rolled into One!

The best way to find friends for your family is to research the homeschool groups in your area. Find the one that fits your lifestyle, religious beliefs, and educational views the best and join it! Here are some great sites online that will help you find groups in your area:

Homeschool Central

Learning 4 Life

Teach at Home

Support Groups in USA

After finding the group that’s right for you, don’t get overwhelmed with all of the activities: remember… homeschool group activities are opportunities, not obligations! A lot of groups are very organized and offer a lot of activities, but you shouldn’t feel like it’s an all or nothing kind of thing. Choose your activity and only do what you and your kids want to.

Too Much of a Good Thing? Try a Mini-Support Group!

On the other hand, a lot of the groups are very unorganized, and as soon as they find a smart and capable person who looks like they’re willing to take control, they’ll throw all the organization onto them. Don’t let this be you! If your new homeschool group is unorganized, just try to get a list of names of homeschoolers in your area as well as the ages of their children. I would start with one family at a time (whose kids are close in age to my own) and begin calling them; this way, you can put together your own mini-support group! Smaller groups are better for getting to know each other, anyway. Once you’ve found a family, give them a call:

“Hi! I’m homeschooling my children in the same neighborhood as you. The information I got from the area homeschool group tells me that your two children are the same age as mine. Honestly, my kids and I are just looking for some homeschool friends in the area. I was wondering if there is some time this week that we could meet at the park and have a picnic. You pick the day and I’ll bring my famous fruit salad!”

This approach works like a charm - and if the first family you call is uninterested, which is unlikely, call the next. Fear of rejection is not something you should worry about. Remember: you are now solely responsible for your younger children’s interaction with new people - so take charge and make the first move! If not for yourself, then do it for them.

When you get together with your new play group, here are some great educational field trip ideas:

Fire station, library, park, beach, zoo, airport, art/history museum, children’s museum, governor’s office, police station, farm, factory, sporting events, local industry (bottling factory, wood mill, steel mill, coffee farm), parent’s work place, seniors’ homes, and any kind of outdoor activity (hiking, skiing, etc). The best thing to do is find out what you have in your area and use the resources at hand. You’ll be surprised at what’s out there!

Soccer & Brownies anyone?

The next best place to find friends is through extra curricular activities. See what’s available in your city and talk with your kids. Friends come naturally when your kids are involved in activities with children their own age. Calling the YMCA for ideas is a great place to start. Here are some of our favorites:

Boy scouts, Girls scouts, Brownies, Soccer, Softball, Gymnastics, Martial Arts, Swimming, Summer Camps, Youth Groups, College Classes for homeschoolers, Writing Clubs, 4-H, Choir, Spelling and Geography Bees, Game Days, Volunteering, Drama Clubs, Church Groups, Craft Classes, Book Clubs, Bowling Clubs, Skating, Teen Clubs, and just about anywhere else you can think of!

Stay-At-Home TIPS:

Try to get done with school work at the same time as the local schools. Then your children can play with the neighborhood kids just like everyone else.

If you have other kids in the family close in age, invite them over. My son is best friends with his cousin. We live close by and they are always calling or coming over. My son doesn’t have a lot of friends, but he does have his “best friend.” So life is good!

Don’t forget about yourself! We’re so engrossed with our kids that we forget about ourselves. Talk to your homeschool group or fellow soccer moms and plan a “girl’s night out” and go to dinner or just get together at someone’s house to talk, eat, and have a good time. No Kids Allowed! Schedule your “play time” just like you would for your kids and have fun doing it!

New friendships aren’t hard to find as long as you stay open to new people. We just need to get out of the house (past the mailbox) and have adventures. These fun outings will encourage all of our families to naturally meet friends that we all need! Thanks for listening, and I hope some of these ideas will help you and your kids make and keep life-long friends.

Happy Homeschooling!

Kristi Hagen is a homeschooling parent and author of “A Parent’s Guide to Homeschool”. She’s also one of the editors of HomeschoolViews.com, which publishes an informative monthly Homeschool Newsletter.

FACTA stands for Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act. The law went into effect Jan. 1, 2005. FACTA is the law which allows all Americans access to their credit report once per year. So what does that have to do with you?

On June 1, 2005, a new provision of FACTA went into effect. It says that any employer (even if you only employ one person) whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information, can be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court.
Bet you didn’t know that. But you need to know, and need to know what you can do to protect yourself.

Small Businesses will be affected the most.

‘”A small businessman who makes a mistake could bear the brunt of a regulation like this,” says James Plummer, policy analyst at Consumer Alert, a non-profit group that focuses on a free-market approach to consumer regulations.’

If you don’t shred and information gets out, there are penalties. But what if you do shred all potential employee information, and take all necessary precautions to protect your past, current, and future employees’ identities, and the information still gets out somehow? Under FACTA, you could still be held responsible.

You may not think information theft could happen to you, but neither did a lot of companies, universities, government institutions, and businesses that have had employee or customer information stolen from them that have been in the news lately:

Lexis Nexis

University of Northern Colorado

California State University (Chico)

University of California - Berkeley

University of Maryland

Las Vegas Department of Motor Vehicles

Bank of America

Choice Point

Weld County (CO) Employees (information stolen by an inmate while in jail)

How can you, as an employer, minimize your liability?

There are hundreds of things you can do to minimize liability, which are probably things you already do. Document shredding, careful screening of employees who will be coming into contact with personal information of customers and employees, physically locking file drawers with sensitive information, and setting up firewalls on computer equipment connected to the Internet, among hundreds of other solutions, are all good ideas.

As Ben Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, is definitely the case when it comes to securing personal information. However, no matter what prevention steps you take, there is no 100% effective way to be sure that employee’s information won’t be compromised. Even if the information doesn’t get out from your company, an employee can claim that it did.

That’s a scary thought! What if an employee claims that their information was stolen through the actions of your company, but there’s no real proof to back it up? You will end up hiring (or using) an attorney to represent and defend you and your company in court. At $200 - $400/hour for most attorneys across the United States, how long can you afford to defend your company?

So what can you do?

One solution that would at least provide an affirmative defense against the fines, fees, and lawsuits you could incur as an employer, is to offer some sort of Identity Theft protection as a benefit to your employees.

As an employer, you can choose whether or not to pay for this added benefit. However, the most important thing you can do is to make the protection available, and have an employee meeting, to help employees understand Identity Theft and the protection that you are making available to them. When you make the protection available, and when your employees have been educated on the dangers of Identity Theft, they can either elect to have identity theft coverage as a benefit, or they can decline the coverage as a benefit.

If the employee has Identity Theft coverage and becomes a victim, it is beneficial to your business, because an employee with Identity Theft coverage will be notified immediately of the theft, spend less time, less money, and will experience less frustration while trying to have their information restored. This will get them back on the job and focused on work more quickly.

If the employee declines the coverage, and later claims that the information was stolen as a result of you or your company’s actions, you have a piece of paper, with their signature, saying that they attended the presentation and declined the coverage.

Choosing to not make Identity Theft coverage available leaves you exposed to an unlimited dollar amount that you can be sued for under civil liability, federal fines of up to $2,500.00 per employee per incident, and state fines of up to $1,000.00 per employee per incident.

Recommended course of action? Have a benefits consultant who offers an Identity Theft protection plan present to your employees. Help them set up a 20 minute presentation with your employees, and make it mandatory that all employees attend. You want your employees to be protected from this awful crime. If they choose not to be, but you’ve given the option of being protected, then the liability becomes theirs, not yours, when they become a victim of identity theft.

About the author: Steve Mueller has over 25 years of human resource experience. He has worked in various fields of human resources; as a Trainer for Cooper Industries, Compensation and Management Development Manager for Zenith Electronics, Plant Personnel Manager for a motor manufacturing company and Benefits Manager for a multi-location distribution company. Steve holds a bachelors of science degree in education from Pittsburg State University. He has taught numerous adult education classes and seminars in the community. Steve has received community service awards for his participation in elementary school child safety programs. http://www.solutionsplan.com

There a few types of bettors as described below.Which do you fall under?

Bettor A: The Ego Bettor - This bettor is primarily motivated by the feeling of superiority that he gets from outsmarting and beating his bookie. Money is secondary.

Bettor B: The Gambler - This bettor is motivated by the rush he gets from risk. He is addicted to gambling and if he was not betting on sports then he would be gambling some other way.

Bettor C: The Strategist - This bettor truly enjoys the strategizing of the game. They typically play other games such as chess and bet more for the process then the outcome.

Bettor D: The Social Bettor - This bettor bets because it is very popular right now and everyone seems to be doing it. They are primarily motivated by wanting to fit in with their peers.

Bettor E: The Money Bettor aka The Bookie Spanker - This bettor is in it purely for the money. He has put his ego in check and bets only to make a profit and is willing to do whatever it takes to do so.

The truth is that the overwhelming majority of bettors fall into one of the first 4 categories.And while bettors in group A, B, C, or D may enjoy limited success in live games betting they will never be the ones to consistently dominate the online sports betting scene.

Internet aka online sports betting and casino gambling has become the fastest growing segment of web-based commerce today
with revenue growth increasing from $1.5 billion in 2000 to $4.6 billion in 2002. Projected growth estimates indicate revenues will climb to $10.7 billion by 2005. The amount has already swelled to 15 billion. You have to get a slice of this pie. There are strategies around and many claim themselves to be ‘100%’ guaranteed tried and tested. But I can really lay claim to a program called spankyoubookie due to the fact that tried it out myself and personally made over $2000 USD at the first month of using 3 of the taught methods.

Nothing spectacular but well, at least it worked!

Dy L
http://www.spankyourbookies.com

One big factor today if considering a change in employment is health insurance coverage. Many employers are being forced to reduce health coverage and increase employee contributions to the health insurance, it’s entirely possible that a job change will reduce if not eliminate your health insurance coverage. Other circumstances may also result in change in employment status. Many are being “downsized” and laid off without prior notice, and are unemployed for a period of time. How can one maintain essential medical insurance coverage in these situations? What happens if one is covered by a spouse or parent and is no longer eligilble, either by death of the insured, divorce, or a child graduating from school. How can one maintain health insurance that is so important?

In 1986, Congress passed the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). COBRA allows people with employer-sponsored health insurance (from an employer with more than 20 employees) the right to continue coverage for 18-36 months if they would otherwise lose coverage due to circumstances beyond their control. These circumstances include: (1) job loss; (2) hours are decreased; (3) their spouse who carried the coverage dies or divorces them; or (4) a student who graduates from school and is no longer eligible for coverage under their parents policy. Under COBRA, the employee, or individual who wants to continue the health insurance coverage, pays the full premium, including that portion previously paid by the employer. This amount is still likely to less than the individual would pay for a private policy without COBRA. To continue coverage under COBRA, the employer who carries the policy must be notified within 60 days of the change in circumstance (death, employment termination, graduation, etc.).

Before losing health coverage, contact the employer that carried the policy and inquire about COBRA health benefits. If denied continuation of benefits and you feel that you are entitled to COBRA coverage, contact the insurance company. If contacting the health insurance company doesn’t resolve the issue, contact the agency that regulates the insurance industry in your state.

One big factor today if considering a change in employment is health insurance coverage. Many employers are being forced to reduce health coverage and increase employee contributions to the health insurance, it’s entirely possible that a job change will reduce if not eliminate your health insurance coverage. Other circumstances may also result in change in employment status. Many are being “downsized” and laid off without prior notice, and are unemployed for a period of time. How can one maintain essential medical insurance coverage in these situations? What happens if one is covered by a spouse or parent and is no longer eligilble, either by death of the insured, divorce, or a child graduating from school. How can one maintain health insurance that is so important?

In 1986, Congress passed the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). COBRA allows people with employer-sponsored health insurance (from an employer with more than 20 employees) the right to continue coverage for 18-36 months if they would otherwise lose coverage due to circumstances beyond their control. These circumstances include: (1) job loss; (2) hours are decreased; (3) their spouse who carried the coverage dies or divorces them; or (4) a student who graduates from school and is no longer eligible for coverage under their parents policy. Under COBRA, the employee, or individual who wants to continue the health insurance coverage, pays the full premium, including that portion previously paid by the employer. This amount is still likely to less than the individual would pay for a private policy without COBRA. To continue coverage under COBRA, the employer who carries the policy must be notified within 60 days of the change in circumstance (death, employment termination, graduation, etc.).

Before losing health coverage, contact the employer that carried the policy and inquire about COBRA health benefits. If denied continuation of benefits and you feel that you are entitled to COBRA coverage, contact the insurance company. If contacting the health insurance company doesn’t resolve the issue, contact the agency that regulates the insurance industry in your state.

Ms. Lowe holds a Master’s degree in health care and has 30+ years in the health care field. She is also webmaster for Health-Infosource.com, a website dedicated to disseminating health information.

Positive publicity about your product, service or business can mean the difference between success and failure. It can also mean the difference between modest success and outrageous success. Publicity will increase your name recognition, give you credibility, serve as a platform for you to educate your target market, and help you leap ahead of your competition.

So, you know what’s the real shame about publicity?

That most of the people who achieve it don’t make the most of it.

Publicity is hard earned. So when it does come, you need - to put it bluntly - to milk it for all it’s worth.

If you score a feature article in the local paper or even an expert quote in a major national daily and you rely solely on who happens to read that article - no matter how impressive the circulation numbers - you’re missing out on a huge amount of your potential audience. After all, what about all the people who didn’t pick up the paper that day but who would be just as influenced? Reaching them is up to you.

So, how do you do that? Follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to maximizing your publicity potential:

Create a newsroom on your Web site.

Many people neglect one of the easiest ways to remarket their publicity - on their company’s Web site. Simply create an “in the news” tab visitors can link to from your “home” page and post PDF versions of all print news publicity and digitized versions of TV or radio publicity. At our agency, we are fortunate enough to have a very bright account exec who’s also technologically savvy. It takes him just a few minutes to scan originals of articles and convert them to PDF format for posting on our site. Likewise, he can create digitized formats of TV and radio spots for visitors to link to from our Web site. Chances are you have a company Web site already, so don’t miss this easy opportunity to promote yourself to prospects.

Use reprints as mailers.

Using article reprints as mailers is a great way to stay in touch with former clients as well as prospects that you haven’t yet been able to “close.” Simply sticking a high quality, glossy article reprint in an envelope with a handwritten, personalized note that says something like, “Jack - just thought you might be interested in our company’s recent profile in the Sun-Times. As you can see, the reporter was especially interested in how we are ahead of the curve in our production methods, which enables us to keep our costs down to our customers. Hope all is well and I look forward to speaking with you soon.” Bingo. Not only does this put you top of mind with Jack - who might not have thought of you in months - but it also skyrockets your credibility. Whatever the reason for your publicity, mention it as in the above example and just wait to see if Jack - or Jill, for that matter - doesn’t call.

Take advantage of your “captive audience.”

This is especially valuable for professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, who have “captive audiences” waiting in reception areas. We represent several cosmetic physicians who are very savvy marketers. These doctors take advantage of their office waiting rooms in two ways. First, they frame reprints of their print publicity and hang them around the reception area for patients to peruse while waiting (hey, it’s better than the three-year-old copies of Good Housekeeping). Second, they hire a professional video company to string their TV appearances onto a continuously running “loop,” which then plays in the waiting room. The result? Patients, prospects and everyone else who enters their offices leaves with a reinforced sense that these people are leaders in their fields.

Following the suggestions above will take you well on your way to maximizing the exposure of your hard-earned media coverage, enabling you to reach even more of your target audience and, ultimately, positively impact your bottom line.

© 2006, Diana Laverdure
All rights reserved. You are free to use this material in your print or e-mail newsletter, as long as you do not alter its content in any way and you include a complete attribution, including a live Web site link.

Diana Laverdure is vice president of Reeves Laverdure Public Relations, Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida. Reeves Laverdure Public Relations is a five-person PR agency staffed with former journalists who know how to develop strategic, targeted publicity campaigns in a wide range of industries. Reeves Laverdure’s clients are regularly profiled in local, regional and national print, radio, TV and online media. The firm’s clients have been spotlighted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fortune, Associated Press, Bloomberg TV, Good Morning America, CNN and many more. For more information visit http://www.reevespr.com

It is essential to be able to find the lowest consolidation loan rate. For most college students even a small savings may make significant difference.
When I was a college student, I was always trying to reduce the interest rate that I had set on my loans and I was able to get approved for a consolidation loan with the lowest interest rate. I would like to share with you the knowledge and experience that helped me achieve this goal.

So how do you acquire a consolidation loan with the best rate? There are several types of loans that you should consider.

For example you can apply for a loan with the consolidation fixed loan rate student rate. Fixed rate means that you will be paying the same interest rate until you pay off the loan.

If the economic indicators change, you still have the same consolidation interest loan rate. Your rate will not depend on inflation. There will, however, be conditions when the bank will be allowed to change your fixed rate.

Lets say, if you default on one or more of your payments, this can cause the student loan consolidation rate to increase.

You can also apply for a loan with the variable (or adjustable) student loan consolidation rate. This means that your consolidation loan low rate student rate will change depending on the current economic conditions.

If average interest rates in the economy increase, so will your rate. On the other hand, if the average rates are going down, your rates will decrease too.

It is up to you to decide which rate - variable or fixed - will provide you with the consolidation loan lowest rate student interest rate. Different economic conditions will call for different selections.

It is important to understand that whether you are applying for the consolidation student loan, quick settlement loan online or other type of loan, you should always focus on reducing the student loan consolidation rate or some other type of interest rate.

I spent a large part of my life battling my way out of a mountainous debt load. Some good came out of these difficulties. I was able to teach my son Tim how to avoid the financial pitfalls I had run into. That is when Tim and I decided to start our site, “American Easy Loans”. We provide articles about all kinds of financial situations, such as bankruptcy, car loans, credit debt consolidation, and student loans.

Conflict at work is inevitable. And, it can even be
helpful, supporting a healthy organization.

But, step over the edge and you’ll quickly find yourself
getting caught up in who’s right rather than what’s right.
Having the argument without end, replaying the same issue
over and over, without resolving your differences. Or, angry
blow ups or sullen silences. You can get stuck on “She’s
doing that just to make me angry,” or “He needs an attitude
adjustment.”

Step back, stop avoiding, solve the problem, and prevent
future conflicts. Try these solution steps.

1. Wait until the uproar has settled down then
approach the other person with “We’ve got a problem. I need
your help.” Be sure your tone of voice conveys solution not
attack.

2. Describe what has been happening. Use “we”
rather than “you” or “I.” Emphasize how this conflict belongs
to both of you, and you both need to work together to get to a
resolution.

3. Then seek resolution. “This isn’t working. We
need to figure out how to do something different so this
doesn’t happen again.” Ask “What can we do instead?”

4. Then quit talking and listen. This is the crucial
moment. If there’s been an atmosphere of blame and
shame the other person might offer up excuses or good
reasons for the conflict. Redirect the focus of the
conversation with a reminder of “How can we make sure
this doesn’t happen again?” Or, if the other person makes a
suggestion that you’re the one who needs to change, listen
very carefully. No conflict is just one sided. Find the kernel of
truth in their comment.

5. Negotiate the differences. What are you willing
to give to get? What is he willing to do? Are you holding on to
need to be right rather than get the problems resolved?
Resolution is built on compromise. This is the time and
place to get ego out of the way so you can move beyond
who’s right to what’s right. Find the common ground you
both can agree on.

Seldom will you find the perfect solution. The
objective is to find a way to work together so you can get on
with the work at hand. Taking differences personally
prevents resolution. Working from a problem solving
perspective moves you forward.

Copyright © 2005 Patricia Wiklund, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Pat Wiklund is known as the One-Person Business
Turnaround Specialist. She works with professional
services
business owners so they can make more money and get
more personal satisfaction from their work. Start taking
charge of your business and your life with her TakingCharge
mini ecourse from her latest book, Taking Charge When
You’re Not in Control by sending a blank email to tcnic@1PersonBusiness.com

Contact Pat at
Pat@1PersonBusiness.com

Publicity will take your financial planning practice, your business, and your life to the next level. It’s going to bring you:

• more recognition
• more credibility
• more value to the marketplace
• more business

It’s obvious that getting more publicity - exposure in the media - will yield you more marketplace recognition. But how do the other three “mores” work?

By magic mostly, I have concluded. You see, there’s something powerful, magical, and perhaps even a little irrational about this - but I have found it consistently to be true:

Something special happens when you are featured or quoted in the media. Not only do more people get to see more about you, but they somehow think more of you.

The response is almost universal–and it’s a marketing dream. It goes something like this: “Oh, Jennifer must be good at what she does. I see her quoted all the time.”

Or - raise your hand if the description fits - you’ll tear an article from the paper because it talks about exactly the problem or need you’re facing right now.

Maybe it’s a health concern. Or a personal finance question. Or maybe it’s just some useful information on what type of cell phone to buy.

The article quotes someone. An expert. Someone who seems to really know the topic. “He must be good, he’s in the paper.” And you call them. Or, at a minimum, you make a mental note of the expert’s name and you save the clipping for the day you’re ready to act. Ideal marketing.

That’s what we mean by more credibility. And when you think about it, it’s not really so irrational.

Getting quoted in the media - which is way different than touting your own self in an ad - means that professional journalists have evaluated you, held you up to the light, and judged you worthy of being interviewed and quoted.

To use big words, it’s called third-party validation. Instead of you saying you are worthy, they are saying it for you. Powerful stuff, no?

And when you achieve that higher level of credibility, your value in the marketplace automatically goes up. You’re that expert who was on the TV news last week.

I know of one practitioner who was flabbergasted to experience this effect after he was quoted in his hometown newspaper.

“I was riding to work on the train the morning I was in the paper,” he recalls, “and I couldn’t believe what happened. One of my neighbors saw the story - someone who knew me - and he asked me to autograph it.”

His value went up. And, before long, so did his business. The fourth “more.”

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.