Using a golf training club is one of the most effective ways to
increase golf swing speed and power. You can’t get anymore golf
-specific than using a golf training club.

There are many golf training clubs on the market and new ones
coming out every year; but the one I’m talking about is a
weighted golf training club. When you can literally mimic your
athletic movement with resistance, you stand the make the
biggest improvement…and quickly.

The goal of most strength coaches and trainers is to come up
with exercises that closely resemble that particular athletic
movement, but with some for of resistance. It could be
handweights (dumbbells), medicine balls, tubing, or even a
stability ball.

The direct impact on a golfers swing using a golf training club
is an almost immediate increase in driving distance. This is
because you are training your golf muscles during the movement,
through the same (or even bigger) range of motion, with many
repetitions.

A secondary benefit of using a golf training club that’s
weighted is promoting an increase in backswing and follow
through range of motion. This equates in more power at impact.
Golfers are always trying to find ways to improve golf
flexibility and power; and this is one way to do it.

Using a golf training club won’t be the cure to all your
physical ailments and limitations, but will give you a head
start on swinging with higher clubhead speed.

Just think about it! Swinging a golf training club won’t improve
hamstring flexibility, nor will it strengthen your lower back.
There are many specific areas of the body that don’t get worked
when swinging a golf training club.

This is where you would do specific golf exercises, stretches
and drills to isolate those weak areas to greatly improve your
overall golf performance and prevent future injuries.

Another benefit of a golf training club that’s weighted is a
quick warm up before you hit balls at the range or even play.
Swinging it 20-30 times will quickly get your golf muscles
prepared to hit balls more effectively.

Just beware! When you swing it before practicing or playing,
you’ve got to swing your regular clubs, and hit balls with them,
to make sure your sequence of motion is correct, before you hit
the course.

As you can see, there are many benefits of using a golf training
club; so go out and get one. They are a great training aid as
part of your ‘off-season’ training program.

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Ever been three and a half thousand miles from home and felt an overwhelming urge to know what your local weather was like? Is your dog sitting in the rain? Have you even been desperate to know what your favorite regional new station has to say about your football or baseball team? Sad I know, but for all of you who absolutely have to know the answers to these questions a stroke of sheer genius recently arrived in the form of the Slingbox from Sling Media.

Over the last couple of years several ideas that allow remote TV viewing have hit the market. Most notable of these was the eternally clever LocationFree TV from Sony, which is arguably the granddaddy of all home-TV-to-internet-broadcast systems available. Unfortunately Sony’s idea was flawed as you were forced to carry a book size LCD screen with you wherever you went. This device contacted the base station back at your house via the Internet and BAM! TV anywhere you wanted it. As the entire solution was proprietary it was not possible to make use of your laptop or a friends PC to view your LocationFree TV base station.

This and several bandwidth related issues have been resolved with Sling Media’s solution. Simply connect the Slingbox to your home entertainment system, stereo system, satellite or cable receiver then using the onboard RJ45 connector connect it to your Internet connection. Note that the device requires a network connection that will provide it a DHCP assigned IP address, which most home networks have; if your home network gear is new enough the Slingbox will configure itself and the network up using UPnP. Software installation was brief and painless, and required me to answer a few basic questions before my system was on the air.

The Slingbox allows you to actually control independent devices that you connect to it; you can turn your VCR on or off, change channels on your cable receiver and even change radio stations on your stereo to suit your viewing/listening preferences. Unfortunately only one person can use the device at a time, which is a slight drawback in my opinion. It can also be connected to your TiVo for instant replay or watch your prerecorded programming at your hearts content from your hotel room.

In conclusion, this product is a must for anyone incapable of completely detaching themselves from their lives while away from home. It is very reasonably priced, coming in at around $200, simple to configure and use and very simple to locate from anywhere in the world. Picture quality is surprisingly good and the sound quality is great. You can even try it wirelessly from your couch!

Two thumbs up.

Tech notes:
The biggest issue that I encountered was getting the Slingbox through my firewall. The device requires NAT/port forwarding on TCP ports 5001 and 5678 and UDP 5001. If you run a firewall expect to have to do this.
You can choose to use different ports during the setup wizard if you so desire.
The Slingbox communicates with a location server on the Internet, sending its IP address in a 36 character encrypted string called a Finder ID. Write/copy this Finder ID down as you will need it to locate your Slingbox when you are on the road.
If you are lucky enough to have a static IP address at your house you can use it to find your Slingbox instead of the Finder ID.
The software must be installed on all devices that you plan to use to connect to the Slingbox at your house, but can be downloaded from Sling Media’s site if you forget the CD at home.

Product Specs taken from Sling Media’s website:
Inputs
RCA Audio L/R
Composite video
S-Video
RF/Coxial
Outputs
RCA audio L/R
Composite video

S-Video
Device Control
IR emitter
Network
RJ-45
TV tuner
NTSC (built in)
Dimensions
10.6 in. W x 1.6 in. H x 4 in. D
Weight
~1.5 lbs
Power
110v
Package contents
1 x Slingbox
1 x software CD
2 x Audio/video cables
1 x S-video cable
1 x power adapter
1 x network cable
1 x IR emitter
1 x Coaxial Cable
1 x quick setup guide

All copyrights and trademarks belong to their respective owners.

le Perdu is a contributing author on http://www.Quampha.com, a growing site dedicated to random reading, obscure articles and some rather out there opinions. We dare to be different, and we are always looking for articles and authors.

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Cushions play an important part in adding comfort to your outdoor teak furniture. The better the cushion, the better the comfort and feel of the furniture. With the coming of latest trends and styles, cushions do not only act as a soft padding but they add fashion, style and color to your regular furniture. According to the surroundings and ambiance of your lawn, comfy, colorful cushions can be a perfect addition to your furniture to help brighten up the place.

For all those who want to give their outdoor teak furniture a unique and fabulous look, they must opt for outdoor furniture cushion replacement. Replacing cushion would not only lend it a new and attractive look but also make your old furniture as good as new.

Cushions also play a vital role in providing solidarity and durability to the furniture and also enhance the comfort level by keeping the body relaxed and in better posture while using the furniture. Well cushioned furniture can help in overcoming any sort of stress or strain from the otherwise hard and heavy wooden furniture.

Outdoor teak furniture with cushions are famous among homeowners as well as those living in apartments, who prefer to remain outside most of the time during summer days. One can easily find a wide variety of colorful, durable and comfortable cushions with all shapes and sizes to go with your outdoor teak furniture, according to your choice of style, design and price.

Different climatic conditions play a critical role in choosing the form of cushion replacement. If you are living in a place where the climate is tropical one, wicker ware is more suitable for you. You can find a number of airy, light colored outdoor teak furniture cushions, which are available in various colors. You can purchase such cushions for other furnishings such as couches, chairs, daybeds, end tables, etc.

There is a wide variety of outdoor teak furniture cushions that are completely weatherproof and, therefore, can resist wind, rain and humidity quite easily. Outdoor furnishing is most suitable for those who are living in such an area where the climate generally remains rainy.

Outdoor teak furniture covers can be purchased as well, matching the color of a deck or pool side set. Covers can be found separately for those who decide they want to provide added protection to their already purchased set of furnishings. For whatever the need or reason, covers are always a smart investment because they can add years to the life of outdoor furniture.

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Public relations is a very important part of the marketing mix. A successful PR campaign provides third-party endorsement of products or services which is something no other marketing element can deliver. Many people think that once a company starts advertising, editors beat a path to your door. In some cases, that actually does happen, but it’s not the norm.

Public relations is very different from advertising. One main differrence is that you can’t buy media placement. The story is either newsworthy, or it’s not. Paid placement is called advertising.

Both marketing elements are important, but public relations can sometimes be a slow build. Results don’t happen in a few weeks or in a month, especially with the three month lead time needed for magazines print deadlines. When dealing with television, newspapers or radio, the three month lead time is not an issue, but competition is an issue.

There have been situations where we’ve had an instant success story. We created a museum event in Philadelphia at a small children’s museum that was an incredible media success story. Every newspaper, ethnic publication and television station showed up for this event. Over the years, we’ve also had a number of press conferences with tons of media coverage the next day. This is expecially true if the news is sensational or the product is very popular at retail.

In one case, we generated thousands of stories for a client, but we were trying to generate an article in a major business paper. Nothing worked. The editor was interested, but he didn’t understand the point we were using as the “hook” for the story. When we finally drove home the point of differrence between mass market retailers and specialty retailers, he wrote the story and it was fantastic. Our story ended up on the front page of the business section minus one column, but it took months and months of work.

Many clients don’t understand the PR process. For example, when I was handling the marketing for a major children’s line of licensed apparel, the client had signed the advertising contract, but not the public relations contract. He just didn’t understand the entire subject and finally asked for a meeting to discuss things. Shortly into the meeting, this charming, grandfatherly gentleman looked at me with a straight face and said, “Why do I have to pay for this, doesn’t it just happen?”

At first, I thought he was kidding, but then I could see that he simply didn’t understand the process, or the discipline. After a rather lengthy discussion, he signed the contract. The campaign was a big success and so was the clothing line.

Some clients don’t have the budget for the entire marketing mix of trade advertising, consumer advertising, sales promotion, web site development and PR. Many will start with PR and trade advertising and then increase their marketing budget over time.

How To Choose An Agency

When you are ready to consider an agency, what should you look for in a PR team? For starters, the chemistry has to be there. You also need experience and media connections. Don’t hesitate to ask for client references. Once you have them, pick up the phone and make some calls.

Don’t assume that the new business people will service your account. If there is one account person that you feel has the expertise you need, consider requesting that this individual be the point person on your account. The agency should be willing to agree to this request in your written contract. Beware of bait and switch, where you are courted by the new business people who will never be seen again after the contract is signed.

What You Can Expect

Some points to remember:

• Nothing kills a bad product faster than excellent PR and advertising. Customers may purchase the product once and then, that’s it.

• When products are photographed, the samples must be in perfect condition. The camera picks up and magnifies very tiny flaws. Retouching is expensive, so be careful when you select product samples for photography.

• PR is not a tool used to force retail distribution. If you try it, the move will come back to haunt you. When an editor asks for information about the retail distribution of a product and/or service, the PR agency had better have answers or the ability to obtain the answers quickly. Reporters and editors always manage to call for this information when they are on deadline so everything is a rush. A response such as we’re planning to open outlets soon in your area is not the correct answer.

Put yourself in the editor’s place. He/she is interested in writing about your product and the readers expect to be able to find the item in local stores, on respected web sites, or in catalogs. If they can’t do any of the above, the editor will not write about the product.

I have had consumers track me down because they wanted a specific product and could not find it at the retail store mentioned in the article because the item had sold out. One Christmas, I was practically running a mail order operation out of the agency because frantic consumers were calling for one specific product that did not have wide retail distribution.

• Trade books usually publish one month in advance. Consumer books publish three, yes three months in advance. If you’re hoping for a December magazine story, you’d better start planning in July or August.

• If your agency is creative, it will come up with innovative “hooks” for your products or services.

PR is a wonderful marketing tool, but you must understand the basics to understand how it can work for your company.

Diane T. Creston - Creston & Associates, Ltd.

About The Author

Diane T. Creston has over 25 years of marketing experience covering a wide range of products and services. She has handled campaigns for Fortune 500 companies as well as companies with new product/service introductions. If you are interested in learning more, please visit: http://www.crestonadvertising.com; Crestonassoc@aol.com

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http://www.gurangel.com/ (Main Website)

http://www.gurangel.com/index.php?pr=GurAngel_City_Live
(Articles Main Page)

Special for those who log on of this website login in to Today
Journal and type in login name and password public and read very
begining of the story, which is being sold as A Legend of
GurAngel Empire http://www.lulu.com/Journal

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“And an angel of God called to him from heaven and said,
‘Abraham! Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ And he said, ‘Do
not stretch forth your hand to the lad, nor do the slightest
thing to him, for now I know that you are a God fearing man, and
you did not withhold your son, your only one, from Me.’ ”
(Bereishit - Chapter 22:11-12)

The Ramban states: At the beginning Abraham’s fear of G-d was
latent; it had not become actualized through such a great deed.
But now it was known in actuality, and his merit was perfect,
and his reward would be complete from the Eternal, the G-d of
Israel.

We are accustomed to think that when we completely understand
something but we haven’t yet acted upon it, the only thing we
are missing is the action. From this verse Rav Yerucham
Levovitz, the great pre-WWII Mirrer mashgiach learns that this
is a fundamental mistake. The truth is that if one’s
consciousness and understanding do not bring forth fruitful
actions then their ideas and perceptions are not actually real
and are in fact close to nothing.

If one starts to build a house and he builds the foundation but
never finishes the house, the construction which is left
uncompleted is never called a home and is almost considered
worthless. The same is true in the world of spirituality.
Abraham was not called a G-d fearing person until his internal
understanding of the Creator brought him to this holy and
righteous act.

All of us have many deep insights as to the nature of G-d and
clearly understand right from wrong. Yet in reality, if we do
live our lives according to our understanding it means that we
think we understand when in fact we do not. G-d put us into this
world to act and the bottom line is that essentially we are what
we do not what we know.

This should shake us until our very foundations.

Questions or Comments? Ask them here!

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One of the most important roles of our skin is to protect our ‘insides’ from the external environment, acting both as a barrier and a filter between ‘outside’ and ‘inside’. In addition, the skin is involved in regulating our body’s temperature, like when we have a fever or we’re physically working hard, we tend to sweat, which is the body’s way to attempt to lower the temperature.

Another important role of our skin is to protect us from harmful substances entering our body, and in eliminating toxins. This takes workload off our Liver and Kidneys to filter out by-products from our body’s metabolism. The skin also breathes!

Hormones, Sweat glands and pH

The pores of our skin are made up of a combination of oil and sweat glands (sebaceous and sudoriferous glands) helping to keep our skin healthy and elastic. An excessive sebum secretion is often associated with oily skin and acne. This is particularly common in adolescents as the increased levels of sex hormones stimulate sebum production and secretion. When in balance, the combined excretion of oil and sweat from the skin’s pores has a pH of about 5.5.

The Acid Mantle, Age and the importance of the skin’s pH

This slightly acidic layer, also referred to as the “Acid Mantle”, is our body’s first defence mechanism against bacteria invading it and is not a favourable environment bacterial growth to occur. This defence layer develops at puberty, which is why children are more susceptible to disease, viruses and fungal infections such are ringworm. The pH of children’s skin is closer to neutral (pH 7).

At puberty, however, we start to produce more hair on our bodies. Hair follicles have an associated sebaceous gland or glands which become active as hair growth increases, causing changes in the skin’s pH. The hormones that control sweat also become active and the whole surface of a teenager’s skin is totally different to that of a young child. This is our body’s way to increase our defence system.

The pH of normal, healthy human skin is somewhere between 4.5 and 6. However, this varies with age. Typically, newborns have a pH closer to neutral (pH 7) that quickly turns acidic in order to protect young children’s skin.

In the late teens to early 20’s, our Acid Mantle is well developed and provides good protection against potentially harmful, external environmental factors. Our skin usually looks healthy, heals quickly when injured and seems to take care of itself.

With increasing age however, the skin’s pH becomes more and more neutral, and thus more susceptible to bacterial growth. This reduced acidity kills fewer bacteria than before, leaving the skin susceptible to bacterial growth and infections. The skin weakens as a result and begins developing problems with increasing age. (Interestingly, the pH value rises beyond 6 when a person actually suffers from a skin problem or skin disease.)

The aging process of the skin causes biochemical changes in collagen and elastin, the connective tissues underlying the skin, which give the skin its firmness (collagen) and elasticity (elastin). The rates of loss of skin firmness and elasticity differs from individual to individual, depending on their genetic makeup, general health, over exposure to the sun, skin care regime, or lack there of, and other factors.

As the skin becomes less elastic, it also becomes drier; the underlying fatty tissue begins to disappear resulting in the skin beginning to sag. Our skin is less supple, and wrinkles begin to form. At this stage, our skin is more easily injured, heals more slowly and tends to dry out more quickly.

The role of pH in Acne

As outlined above, the skin’s pH is important and maintaining a slightly acidic pH of around 5.5 is critical.

The skin’s pH value is one of the major contributors to acne and other skin problems. Propionibacterium acnes is a bacteria that normally lives on the skin and is a normal bacteria found in all persons regardless of the presence or absence of acne.

However, in individuals prone to acne, the number of P. acnes is greatly increased. It has been found that the growth of this bacteria is very much dependent on the pH value of the skin and its growth is at its minimum at the normal skin pH of 5.5. A slight shift towards the alkaline pH would provide a better environment in which it can thrive.

Importance of the skin’s pH: Do’s & Don’ts

One of the major culprits that radically alter the pH of the skin, is soap. Ordinary, commercially available soaps are highly alkaline (pH range 9-11) and raise the skin’s pH to be much more alkaline. This can be adjusted by using products such as Wildcrafted Herbal Products’ Wild Herb Toner or Milk of Roses Toner, depending on your skin type. These toners restore normal pH of the skin and thus provide an environment not conducive to the growth of bacteria. In addition, soap dries out the skin, because of its high alkalinity.

Thus if you choose to use a commercially available soap, you must restore the pH of your skin to prevent loss of moisture and the excessive growth of bacteria. It is important to remember that this applies to the entire surface of your skin, not just the face.

Instead of using ordinary soap, you need to use products such as the Skin Renewal Gel from Wildcrafted Herbal Products, which cleanses your skin, removing dead skin cells and leaving your skin’s pH as it is meant to be. Following this with the use of a Toner will close the open pores, preventing blackheads and loss of moisture from the skin.

Other factors influencing your skin’s pH

Another factor that helps in regulating your skin’s pH is the presents of microflora on your skin. Staphylococcus epidermis is involved in the breakdown of fatty acids, and is therefore partly responsible for the acidic pH of skin. The use of ordinary soap, not only changes the pH of the skin to be more alkaline, effectively removing the protective acid mantle, but also kills the bacteria responsible for creating, at least in part, the acidic pH of your skin - a double whammy.

It is therefore of great importance to have a good skin care regime in which high quality, natural skin care products are employed. There are a couple of simple steps to take before buying a particular brand of natural skin care products.

• Identify the skin type(s) on the face. There are usually two or more. One skin type is usually isolated to the T-Zone (forehead and nose), the other applies to the rest of the facial skin.

• Carefully select your natural skin care products. It is not good enough to choose products, which add natural ingredients to an otherwise non-natural base crme or lotion, as is the case in many supermarket brands. READ the label carefully, ask questions and if you are buying the products on-line, make sure there is a guarantee that allows you some time to evaluate the products before they need to be returned for a refund.

• Look for manufacturers that have qualified herbalists or naturopaths on staff. These people generally do not support the use of artificial ingredients because it goes against everything they teach their patients, friends and family. - For the most part, it’s a pretty good indication that the products are pure, when natural therapists are in charge of the formulation of the products.

About The Author

Danny Siegenthaler is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and together with his wife Susan, a medical herbalist and Aromatherapist, they have created Natural Skin Care Products by Wildcrafted Herbal Products to share their 40 years of combined expertise with you.

Wildcrafted Herbal Products’ natural skin care range is suitable for men and women and contains only pure, natural ingredients, formulated according to Naturopathic and Aromatherapy principles.

Join our Natural Skin Care Newsletter - it’s fun, free and Informative and you receive a free eBook on natural skin care.

© Copyright: Wildcrafted Herbal Products 2005

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Today with the ever growing number of web hosting companies to choose from, everybody should be able to find the perfect package to fit their needs. But if you are new to the internet, the vast array of choices out there may be rather confusing.

What features do you really need and what can you do without? Why should you pick a particular web hosting company over another? These are just a couple of several web hosting issues that may be confusing if you are new to the web hosting scene. Hopefully this article will help you make an informed decision when you are ready to select your dream web host.

STORAGE: Your storage requirements are going to be determined by the type of website you have. For example, if your website is nothing more than a personal online jotting pad, then server space issues should not be a major concern. If however you have something a little more grandiose in mind–say a business or eCommerce website that will grow with time–then make sure that your web host has a package that not only covers your current space requirements, but is also adequate for future growth or can be easily upgraded.

BANDWIDTH: This is a measure of the amount of data permitted to flow between your site and the rest of the internet. Once again if your site is commercial in nature or generates a substantial stream of traffic then you need a web hosting company that provides ample bandwidth. Also be aware that a lot of web hosting services claim to provide “unlimited bandwidth” but in fact rarely do. And if you do exceed your allotted bandwidth most web hosting providers will slap you with a penalty fee.

SUPPORT: There’s a saying that a web hosting service is only as good as its support. If you conduct your search for a web host with this in mind you really can’t go far wrong. Consider for example, most web hosting companies claim 24/7 technical support. But how true is this? After all, as is so often the case these days, it’s hard to tell where the truth lies and where the lies, well…lie. However one way to get round this is to test run the support team of the web hosting service you have in mind. The value of this trial-test is to measure the response time of the web host’s support department, as well as their degree of competence. Bear in mind that a support team with an indifferent attitude to new business (you) is highly unlikely to become any better once they’ve got you onboard.

SERVER PARAMETERS: Any web hosting service worth its salt should have a server uptime of 97% and above; this simply means that your web host’s server is up and running at least 97% of the time. I mean can you imagine what would happen to your business if your hosting company’s server is down 20% of the time. Your clients–with the merest flick of the mouse button–will turn to your competition to satisfy their needs. Other important server issues to bear in mind are how many servers does the company actually have and what kind of sites are hosted on a particular server.

Why should you concern yourself about the kind of sites being hosted? Well you wouldn’t want to compete for bandwidth with adult websites. This isn’t a question of morality…it is just that adult sites are well-known bandwidth hogs. Sharing servers with them will significantly slow down your websites’ loading speed (another great way to lose customers).

Again, with respect to slowdowns, you should ask how many websites are hosted on a given server and when the web hosting company considers a server to be full (i.e., cannot host any more sites without impairing functionality). Over hosting actually happens quite often because many web hosting services commonly oversell their servers. Most of them get away with it until the day a sufficient number of websites actually make good on their full allotment of bandwidth/storage and then…Ouch! That’s how your website is going to feel if it’s hosted on one such server.

Another aspect to consider about your hosting company is…where are the servers physically located? Though it rarely ever happens, if the web hosting company lacks redundancy or backup, if any drastic event occurs at the site of the servers, there goes your online presence. (This scenario really happened: At the World Trade Center when 9/11 occurred).

WEBSTATS: Traffic is the lifeblood of any internet business. Being able to track and analyze where traffic is coming from is a great advantage. Having such a tool at your disposal would enable you to make accurate and informed changes to your website to better position it for even more traffic. Plenty of web hosting companies provide such tracking and analysis tools with their various packages…even those 4-dollar-a-month or less, hosting services. So there really is no reason for you to settle for a web host that lacks this feature.

SCRIPTS/LANGUAGES: What script types does the web hosting company support: PHP, ASP, CGI, MySQL? The web script you use will of course depend on the type of website you have in mind.

UPGRADING: Does the web hosting company give you the option of upgrading your current package to a more advanced one if the need ever arises? And can you upgrade seamlessly, with minimal fuss and interruption to your business? (After all, the whole point of the upgrade is because your business is expanding. No point upgrading if you are going to lose a substantial portion of your business because of it.

E-MAILS: A lot of web hosting services offer unlimited POP3 e-mail as a big selling point. Don’t be seduced by this, especially if the web host is using it as a factor for charging you increased monthly fees. Truth is, most web hosting services today offer (as standard) more e-mail addresses than you’ll probably ever need.

More web hosting tips

Ba Kiwanuka is the webmaster of http://www.internetbusinessmart.com

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In the last article, we looked at three emotions (besides fear and greed) that you can use to connect with your prospects and enrich your marketing campaigns. This time, we’re digging a little deeper into the sales psyche. See if you can “connect” with these feelings:

Nostalgia: Remember how wonderful things were back in the “good old days?” Whether those days were really “good” or not, we have a deep-rooted connection to our past. The smallest things — an aroma, a song — can bring back memories so powerful, it’s as if the moment just happened.

People will spend all kinds of money to stay connected to good memories. Is there some way your product or service can make that connection? Or is there just some way to make that connection, then apply it to your product? Car companies do it by playing classic rock music in their commercials — even though a new Buick has nothing to do with your teenage years.

Passion: I’m not talking about the lustful kind. What is your prospect passionate about? You can create an instant bond by being passionate about it, too. Fly Fisherman magazine did just that with the classic “Trout Spoken Here” subscription letter. They talked a bit about the “amiable madness” of fly fishing, and only when the connection was made did they begin to overtly sell the subscription. And they sold a ton of them!

Anger: It’s you and me against those dirty, evil, low-lifes that have been ripping us off! They lie to you. They take candy from babies. Want to get back at them? Buy from me instead.

There are all kinds of ways to connect with your prospect. Which one will work best depends on who you’re selling to. Find out who he is, then choose the best way to get close to his heart. His wallet won’t be far behind.

Lisa Packer, author of “How To Dramatically Increase Your Business… Without A Blockbuster Budget” and “7 Ways To Get A Pay Raise From Your Web Site” is an independant Copywriter and Marketing Consultant. Find out how to get these two reports, plus more helpful articles like the one you just read at http://www.dramatic-copy.com/

Dramatic Copy: The Right Words Make A Dramatic Difference.

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Stan Lee, in my mind, has to be one of the all time most
recognizable individuals in the “Comic Book Industry”. Most
lovers of comic books have known his name all their collecting
lives. For those of you who don’t know Stan Lee, I am sure you
have heard of his creations. The X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the
Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, and the very well known Spider-Man
are all from the mind of Stan Lee. For the last forty years or
more and as an employee of Marvel Comics, he has entertained us
through the art of comic book imagination.

Well, by now you would think that an individual of this caliber
would be taken seriously and treated with respect from his
employers. Apparently not! In 2002 Stan Lee decided he had to
file a lawsuit against the comic giant, Marvel. It appears the
agreement between Lee and Marvel was that 10% of the income
generated from TV and movies using Stan Lee characters, was to
be his. Seems Marvel didn’t see it that way. Typical of
conglomerates, isn’t it? The boys in the suits seem to want to
make all the rules. Stan Lee, at one time, had even been a suit
himself. Among other positions held at Marvel, Lee had even been
president of the company for a while.

Years ago when Stan Lee had created most of his characters, he
had done it through a write-for-hire agreement, so he doesn’t
own the characters. Stan was then, just a “meat and potatoes”
kind of guy, trying to put meat and potatoes on the table. But
over the years, he was very instrumental in putting Marvel
Comics on the map.

When the 10% deal was formally put together, apparently most
individuals involved didn’t realize the windfall that comic book
character movies would become. Now is that any reason to hold
back Stan’s piece of the pie? I think not. Just corporate
bigwigs trying to increase their lot in life. Now this is just
my opinion so don’t rant back at me as being unfair.

As luck would have it, a federal judge agreed and ruled in favor
of Stan Lee. How much monetary compensation does this mean? Well
to put it in perspective, the two Spider- Man movies thus far,
have reaped on the order of 800 million dollars apiece, in world
wide ticket sales. This settlement could mean tens of millions
of dollars for Lee, but the battle is not over. Marvel, will
quite probably appeal the verdict and the case may be tied up in
the courts for years.

Now don’t go feeling too badly for Stan Lee. He is still pulling
down a salary from Marvel on the order of a million dollars.
Still not to shabby in my mind. And Lee has mixed feels because
he has been loyal to Marvel for 60 years. To have his lifelong
employer trying to, shall we say, stiff him, for being so loyal,
I’m sure, does hurt. Had it not been for Stan Lee, Marvel may
not have been in the financial position they are today.

At 82, Stan Lee does have a comfortable and successful life. And
if even his settlement is held up in the courts for years, Stan
won the first round. He didn’t bow down to the corporate hammer.
Just another “Joe working class hero” yelling out, hey guys,
let’s play by the rules.

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