Love Isn’t Free — But Can It Be Cheap?
I saw this clip in the Denver Post around the time my husband and I were planning our wedding. Our budget for the entire thing — wedding, reception, and honeymoon — to only about a third of the average given here ($32,120), so I was amazed to learn that people actually spend that much on their weddings.
Obviously, weddings are expensive in general, probably because there is so much emphasis put on the industry — but there are ways to cut wedding costs if you are willing to do the legwork to find them. For instance, this
Arizona bridal boutique is holding a contest for a free veil. You could probably save, what, a hundred or more if you didn’t have to spend money on your veil? And it’s any veil in stock, too, so you could easily get a nice crystal veil for free if you win the contest.
There are lots of other ways to save money. We got married in a small town with lots of character, so we were able to find a great venue and a five-star caterer for cheap, at least by city standards. We had the ceremony and reception at the same place, and stayed at a bed and breakfast around the corner, so no need for a limo. Our photographers were friends of my husband’s brother, so they gave us a good deal. And I made our invitations, so of course that saved us tons of money too.
It’s amazing how easy it is to find ways to save money on your wedding. You’d be surprised how much of the expense you can cut out if you really try!
Creating Hype
My nephew was telling me just the other day that he doesn’t like the Twilight Saga because of all the kids going around school with “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” shirts. Essentially, what he’s saying is that he doesn’t like the series because there is a lot of hype surrounding it.
That’s a pretty typical attitude for a teenager to take — they are either in, or they are out (rebellion). But there are more kids in than out in this case, which demonstrates how hype sells.
By doing a few searches for stuff on Twilight or even on vampires in general, you can get a pretty good idea of what I’m talking about. For example, there are tons of videos similar to this one, that show you how to do vampire makeup. Just add a black wig and some vampire-ish clothing, and your outfit is complete.
You can see a similar phenomenon with other fads, such as Harry Potter. And while kids like my nephew might get a little annoyed with the hype, in truth it creates more fans because it spreads like it’s contagious. Which, if you are the author, the publisher, or the movie producer, is a very, very good thing.
Choosing a Venue for Your Business Event
Planning a business event is a great way for your employees to both add to their knowledge and skills, and have fun. However, the event venue you choose can be pretty important, as it sets the mood for the entire event. Here are a few things to consider.
- How much of the focus do you want to be on work-related topics? A heavily work-related event needs a more business-like atmosphere than a more fun-focused event. For instance, Michigan gardens provide a nice bit of scenery and a place to relax and enjoy oneself, but if you also have speakers coming that you want your employees to hear, you’ll also need a conference room or another more business-like setting.
- Location, location, location. You will probably need to keep your event venue somewhere close to your place of business. An hour or two of a drive might be considered okay if it’s a really exciting event, but once you start getting further away than that, you get into issues of whether you are paying to put your employees up for the night.
- Ask about catering. You’ve probably heard that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. This is actually pretty much the case with everyone, and if you want to make sure your work event is attended by your employees, believe me, you’re going to have to feed them. Many event venues either provide food themselves or have caterers they can recommend.
A successful work event is not just attended by employees, it’s attended by happy employees. What else can you think of that you’ll need in order to make sure your event is successful?
Things to Buy Used when You’re Pregnant
You have a new baby on the way. That means that there are loads of new things that you need to buy. Luckily, you can save yourself some money by purchasing a lot of items used.
Some of the best items to buy used when you are pregnant include:
- Cribs and other baby furniture. These items are so expensive when you buy them new. There’s really no reason that they need to be purchased new. Get them used at yard sales and thrift stores.
- Decorations for the baby’s room. Things like mobiles last a long time and don’t need to be purchased new to be good for the baby’s room.
- Books about pregnancy and childbirth. It’s always better to get books used than new. Search for discounted books online through sites like Amazon.
- Clothes for Mom. Many women hesitate to get used baby clothes because they want the baby to have fresh, clean stuff. However, maternity clothes are an item that you can get gently used. You won’t even be wearing them for long!
These are just a handful of the things that you can get used when you’re shopping for a new baby. Of course, some items (like bottles) are better bought new but get what you can at a discount.
Good Mailing Lists Find the Right Customers
As a business person, you might want to use consumer mailing lists to help you get new customers. These are lists that you purchase to tell you who you should be advertising to that you’re not already reaching. What is important to know is that there are good services for obtaining these lists and there are ones that are not so good.
A good business is going to provide you with consumer mailing lists that are highly targeted specifically for your business. If you self golf clubs then the list is going to be comprised of people who golf and people who have been known to purchase golf stuff from other businesses. There’s no point in getting a list that doesn’t target your audience this way.
The big question to ask your mailing list service provider is what type of information they collect about customer demographics. A good provider is going to collect a lot of different demographic information. This is the information that helps them target customers who will be right for your business. Simply by asking about this, you can narrow down your service providers to the choice that will help you make the most out of your marketing dollars.
How to Recycle Marine Parts and other Odd Items
We all know how to recycle the basic items that we use in our daily lives. In fact, most of us are able to just stick the recyclables out on the curb for the city to pick up each week. But what do we do with those items that don’t get recycled in the normal fashion?
I recently had a bunch of old marine parts and boating accessories to get rid of so I was forced to learn the answer to this question. It turned out to be fairly easy to recycle these items.
Many items like this can be recycled simply by giving them to someone else to re-use. Many of the marine parts that I had were still in decent condition so I was actually able to sell them as used marine parts online. Had they been in worse condition, I might have tried to give them away for free online.
Another option is to repurpose items like these into recycled art. A lot of different junk art is being created by both amateur and professional artists. You could make something yourself or give the parts to an artist who will. If I hadn’t been successful in this, I probably would’ve called the local dump to ask for additional suggestions on recycling the marine parts but these efforts actually worked out just fine for me.
Cat trees, scratching posts and hilarity!
Have you ever seen a cat outside climbing trees? It has to be the most pathetic activity these otherwise regal little creatures could ever participate in. When indoors they are all over their carpet covered cat trees with ferocity and agility. But get them out doors and up a real tree and they become that animal that needs to be rescued by the fire department.
Why is that? I know my own cat attacks his scratching post with such fervor that I would think he was a master climber. And I suppose they are else how would they get themselves stuck up in so many trees.
While I’m no cat expert, I’d guess they were going up after birds. Inside they are always finding their way to the tops of my bookshelves and other tall structures, but they clearly want to be in that superior position. I definitely have no canaries flying around my house. My mother is the one with cats and birds living in the same household. The key there is to have the kittens poke their noses in on the caged birds and watch them get pecked through the cage bars. That is usually enough to teach them for a life time that they won’t be messing with the house birds.
Outside is a totally different story!
Talk to Your Target Market on Their Level
Technical writers and marketing copywriters are so valuable primarily because they know the lingo — they know how to speak to their audience. If your target market doesn’t understand you, or if they feel you are babying them, it will turn them off and they will lose interest in your product.
This is meant to be a funny video, but it’s clear that it’s making fun of golf instruction that is far too technical for the intended audience:
Like I said, it’s completely over the top, and it’s obvious that the guy is poking fun, because his “tip” is such a jumbled string of technical term after technical term. But he’s also demonstrating how important it is to tailor your message for your intended audience.
In technical writing it’s referred to layman’s terms, and it’s essentially a technical writer’s job to take a technical topic and write it so anyone can understand, just as it is a marketing copywriter’s job to write in language that has been proven to convince people to buy.
So with the video above, you might expect some technical jargon like that if you were, say, pursuing a golf associate degree, perhaps with the intention of looking into golf careers, but not for a golf tip aimed at the casual viewer.
The incentive to write to keep your target market in mind should be obvious — if you don’t, you could turn off customers and lose sales.
Larger Than Life
When our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel died last year, I was devastated. Bruno was 20 years old when he passed away and it was like losing a family member. My husband wanted to get another dog right away, but I wasn’t ready. I knew I needed some time to deal with the loss.About six months later my husband came home from work and begged me not to get mad at him. Sitting in the back of his truck was this enormous dog. To me, it looked like a horse.
My husband explained that a co-worker, whose girlfriend worked at the local animal shelter, told him that there was a dog that was going to be euthanized because no one wanted to adopt him. For some reason this upset my husband and he rushed down and adopted the dog.After three hours I could see why the dog had been deemed unadoptable! He chewed everything. Bernie, named because he was a Bernese Mountain Dog, ate four pairs of shows, the couch and a remote control.Thankfully there was an opening at a local obedience school. After four months of classes Bernie now only chews slippers, which is a huge improvement.
Tiny Places
I had heard it expressed as a joke among friends, on television, and even at the movies, but I had no idea the truth and the reality until I arrived in the city. I just moved to the big apple. Yes, I moved to New York City.
My family about had a cow when their little Oklahoma girl made the decision to seek out an exciting life, but I couldn’t take Tulsa any longer. After spending an entire day apartment hunting and discovering how little space I would receive for a wheel barrel full of money, I almost thought I’d failed on my quest. My real estate agent and I about fell off our bar stools when we received a call saying one of our offers on an apartment had been accepted.
I am now the proud renter of six hundred square feet of space in Manhattan. For the price I am paying in rent, I won’t have enough money to eat. And what little money I do have will have to go toward the purchase of a daybed that can double as a couch. Any New York rentals I can afford has no room for my giant California king size bed. I should have held a yard sale before leaving Oklahoma.
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