A Christmas Story (DVD) Review – by: Britt Gillette

Adapted from humorist Jean Shepherd’s hilarious memoir In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, A Christmas Story has climbed the ranks of the annual holiday classic films list to claim its spot among the hallowed elite of the genre. If you’ve ever tried to lick a frozen telephone pole, or found yourself in a ridiculous bunny outfit on Christmas morning, then A Christmas Story is one comedy you won’t want to miss.

A Christmas Story focuses on one central character, fifth grader Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) and his all-encompassing quest to receive a Daisy Brand Red-Ryder BB rifle for Christmas, although I don’t think he realizes he could put an eye out with one of those things… Thwarting Ralphie at every turn are his mother (Melinda Dillon) and father (Darren McGavin) who seem absolutely oblivious to their young son’s dream.

Unable to come right out and say what he wants, Ralphie drops subtle hints around the house such as placing clipped-out magazine ads for the gun in his parents’ nightstand reading material. When prodded for his true Christmas wish, Ralphie blurts out that he wants a Daisy Brand Red-Ryder BB gun, but his mother’s only reply is, “You don’t want one of those. You’ll shoot your eye out!”

A Christmas Story is filled with memorable scenes and highlights that have helped built a cult following around the life of a young boy obsessed with Christmas who is surrounded by a varied cast eccentric friends and family members. When Ralphie’s father beams with pride at his ability to win a newspaper contest, his proudly displays his prize in the front window of the family home, a three-foot lamp with a woman’s long, stocking-covered leg as its base. Embarrassed, Ralphie’s mother “accidentally” breaks it, sparking a war of words with her husband. Meanwhile, Ralphie dreams of saving the whole family with his Red-Ryder BB gun, thus earning the family’s undying gratitude.

One of the best sequences in the film involves a family trip to the local department store, where Ralphie and his little brother Randy meet with the store Santa Clause near closing time. Following a long, extended wait to reach the front of the line to see Santa, Ralphie is so brimming with anticipation to tell Santa what he wants that he can’t speak. So, Santa convinces Ralphie that he wants a football. But before Santa’s helper can push Ralphie down the North Pole slide, Ralphie blurts out his true wish, only to hear Santa’s reply, “You’ll shoot your eye out with that, kid!”

One of the best Christmas comedies ever made, although few come close to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story is a memorable holiday classic the entire family can enjoy. Much like It’s A Wonderful Life, the film has only grown in popularity in the years since its release. The timeless nature of its subject matter lends itself well to annual holiday viewing, and it remains one of a handful of “must see” films for the Christmas season.

About The Author Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find where you can find more reviews of movies and TV series. Source: http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/02/christmas-story-dvd.html

Why you need to and How to Follow up Your visitor or customer. – by: Radhika Venkata

The person who comes to your web site seeking products or information is a visitor. A person who bought a product or service of yours is a customer or client.

***Why should you follow up Your VISITORS?

Simple…

People tend to forget easily.

After he gone from your web site, he may not remember that he came to your web site. He/She could have some reasons not to buy a product right now. Or he still searching for a product similar to yours. This person is a potential prospect to you. So try to get their email adddress and permission from them to receive emails from you.

How to get their email:

• Offer free product with basic feature, later they can upgrade
• Offer fully functional demo product that expires after a time
• Offer coupons that give discounts on your products
• Offer a free ecourse
• Offer an ezine
• Offer a free ebook
• Offer free membership for a certain period

***Why should you follow up Your CUSTOMER?

You can ask me… Why should I follow up my customer? He already my customer, isn’t it?

Don’t forget the simple ‘psychology of comfort’. Once your customer is using your product means, he will have more confidence in you and your service. So he/she will be easily influenced to buy your other products.

***How to follow up Your visitors and customer?

The main aim of the following is to do opt-in email marketing.

1. Put email addresses in an follow up autoresponder: You can buy a mailing list software or an autoresponder to send follow up emails. Schedule them every 15 days or so. Or you can send broadcast promotional emails to your customers.
http://www.scripts4webmasters.com/arpproadv/index.shtml

2. Start forums for your products or service: People will join in the forums to ask you presale questions or someother product inquiries. During registration process tell them that they will receive promotional emails once in a while and they can unsubscribe anytime.

3. Offer a free product in exchange for an email address.

4. Offer discount to your present customers. Once they signed up for your membership area means you should have their contact emails. So you can send them coupons, discounts etc.

Radhika Venkata (c).

About The Author Radhika Venkata Subscribe to ‘iNet Marketing Ezine’ which is completely focused on Internet Marketing. Receive FREE Ebooks with Resale rights! http://www.webmasters-central.com/subscribe.shtml FREE Ecourse :: 30 days Solid work out to increase your online profits! http://www.ebooks-world.com/ecourse/index.shtml

Low Carb Dieting Tips: When You Reach Your Plateaus – by: Melissa White

We all get to that place in out weight loss plan where we seem to be getting less results if any. Many of us may feel like it is hopeless and that we have gone as far as we can. A plateau refers to an extended period of time during our weight loss efforts where there is no weight loss according to the scale AND no loss of inches according to the tape measure. This can happen even if you are sticking to your low-carb diet plan. If this seems to be your case chances are that you aren’t as stuck as you may think. There are a few things you can do to keep your body in check:

*First, take your measurements. There is a chance that if you aren’t seeing the pounds drop in numbers that you are still loosing inches. So don’t stop your low-carb eating plan.

*Second, check to see if your clothes that used to be a little tight now seem a little looser. Your body may still be loosing fat. Now your body is at the point where it is starting to add lean muscle. And since fat is more bulky then lean muscle your cloths will begin to change the way that they fit you.

These plateaus can last for about three to four week. This is normal, so keep up with your low-carb eating plan as well as your regular exercise, and you will soon see the results. The changes that low-carbing makes to your body will last a lifetime so don’t worry about a few weeks.

Now perhaps you have reached plateaus in your low-carb weigh loss plan that is lasting longer than the regular four weeks. There are a few things that could be causing this upsetting stall in your weight loss.

#1) Your Carbohydrate intake may be too high. Some people need to keep there introductory low-carb diet level there entire weight loss period.

#2) Hidden Carbohydrates. You may be eating foods that you think are low-carb and yet you can be fooled. By sneaking into your diet these unwanted carbohydrates can add up fast. Know what foods you are able to eat and stick to those in your low-carb diet.

#3) Overeating. Eat when you are hungry and don’t over do it. Just because you are eating the right foods doest mean that you can eat until you are overfull.

#4) Not Enough Exercise. You need to be exercising to boost your metabolism and help your body to burn unwanted fat. Especially weight training, which builds muscle that will essentially eat that same fat.

#5) Not drinking enough H20. A bare minimum recommendation is 64 fluid oz (that’s 8 – 8 oz glasses) of water a day. If you aren’t consuming enough water you can try to substitute with non-caffeine teas and diet sodas. Remember that these aren’t the same as water but will help a little and are low in carbs.

Remember these tips and don’t give up on your low-carb diet.

About The Author Melissa “Granny” White is a Low-Carb Diet fan and has been making delicious Low Carb recipes for years. You can get all 800 of her delicious recipes at: http://www.grannys-low-carb-recipes.com. granny@grannys-low-carb-recipes.com

Marital Bliss – by: Roopa Sushil

This might sound very bizarre to a few people but yes…..it is genuinely true that you can obtain bliss in Marriage!

We see a lot of ups and downs in our Married Life. Sometimes, we even think that is this the same person to whom we got married. Whether it is Arranged or Love Marriage, we tend to find some intricacies to get along with the person we marry.

When you are dating, you see the person from a different point of view and assume that this would continue even after you marry the person. And, hence do not expect any kind of change in the person’s behaviour at all.

Ironically, we notice a lot of change with the same person after the marriage. Then it becomes very difficult to cope up with the situation at home. You feel infuriated and bewildered. You tend to take up impulsive decisions for which you will be repentant at a later stage. You would certainly be very late in action at that point of time.

With this article, I am just making an effort to give you some inputs to adapt in your marriage to avoid hurting your loved ones!

I suggest, before I start emphasizing further on Marriage, we necessarily need to understand the meaning of Love. In short, Love is not any kind of fascination but an acquaintance which needs adherence. We do not love someone just for the sake of self-security. We predominantly do mean that we love that person very much and he/she is an important aspect of our life and we mean the world to the same person. I am sure, you all would agree with me. With this strong note in mind, I do not think there should be any hitch in understanding the person you love!

Simply put together, I am highlighting the important aspects of Married Life point-wise so that it does not take much of your time to comprehend:

1. LOVE: Love is the basic ingredient to the world of Marriage. Love your spouse a lot. Make him/her feel loved very often. By and large, we think that we need not express the words ‘I LOVE YOU’ to the person we love. But, it is extremely imperative to tell the person how much you love. It should not be said in the literal aspect of it. Mean the word LOVE to your best and look at the person’s eyes when you say. These three words ‘I LOVE YOU’ really makes the person feel very special and you can definitely expect a blush on!

2. UNDERSTANDING: Understanding is the foremost aspect with respect to Marriage. You must and should understand your spouse in depth. The basic intensity in the Marriage lies in Understanding. Try and understand your spouse’s Nature and Needs. Understand even the very craziest things which your spouse likes or dislikes.

3. TRUST: Have faith in your spouse. Never let the skepticism enter your mind. Trust him/her whole heartedly and I challenge, your spouse cannot go wrong. Make your belief on him/her so strong that he/she is infallible i.e. he/she cannot even think of committing any flaws.

4. RESPECT: Respect your spouse as a person he/she is and duly respect their feelings. Make him/her feel that your relationship with them is enormously cherished. Remember! Unless and until you respect your spouse, you cannot expect her/him to respect you and your feelings! Have a high regard to your spouse’s family too.

5. EGO: In one sentence, “Edging God Out”! Do not attempt to do this! I do understand that this is the basic reason why an argument ends in a tiff. Yes, I certainly agree that we all need to satisfy our self-esteems but at the same time, we forget that we are hurting our loved ones just for the sake of our egos. But, now a days, this is the basic reason why many Marriages come to an end. Please note, whenever there is an argument going on

About The Author Ms. Roopa Sushil is a Delhi based innovative writer about relationships. She analyses the tribulations in relationships and counsel them thoroughly. For any of your personal queries, you can write to her at roopa_sushil@hotmail.com. View their website at: http://www.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?contributor=Roopa Sushil

Publish Anything: The Saga of a PublishAmerica Author – by: Lisa Maliga

My story is that an author who’d done online writing for such dot gones as Themestream, Written By Me, and The Vines, someone trying hard to have fiction, poetry and nonfiction in print for real, recommended PublishAmerica. She claimed it was a traditional book publisher. I was struck with their slogan, “We treat writers the old fashioned way – we pay them.” Wasn’t that what publishers were supposed to do?

But since my novel was just sitting on the DiskUs Publishing site and doing nothing but supplying me with enough money to buy a pair of skate laces every three months, I thought maybe it would have a better chance over at PublishAmerica where it would be available as a trade size paperback both on and off-line.

So this author, Ellen Du Bois, had a big thing on her Geocities site about books being available in brick & mortar bookstores & they’d have ISBN numbers and be online and all that stuff. Also had her full size book cover up so I sat there for 5 minutes waiting for the damn thing to appear. Not impressive, but she liked it. Ellen was a cheerleader for her book and sent reviews from a weekly community rag and she bulk e-mailed several pieces of correspondence during those heady days when her book was in prerelease, then release stage in the summer of ’03. I broke down and bought a copy from Amazon – took almost 3 weeks to get. And I struggled to read all 176 pages. Tripe. Clichés abounded. Spelling/grammatical errors weren’t there at least. But the writing was thin. The story moved too quickly. The main character was the most realistic as it was most likely based on the author. The dialogue was okay. The descriptions were minimal. Had there been a real editor, the book could’ve been very good. I wrote to Ellen and told her the positive things about the story, avoiding the negativities. She’d been an online correspondent for almost two years, yet after I didn’t review her book on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble she didn’t contact me. Almost a year later she sent me another e-mail – to promote a book of her poetry. I was just someone to sell a book to and she was only interested in the sale and hopefully a glowing write up.

A Future PublishAmerica Author

Since I’d already signed the contract with PublishAmerica, I wanted to cancel it after reading that trash. Now my book would be affiliated with a company that put out just about any piece of writing that came its way. I wasn’t expecting much what with my dealings with the extinct eNovel and RJ’s eBooks, along with a tiny eBook publisher named Crafts Across America where I wasn’t paid monthly as promised. And my novel and short story collection languished at DiskUs, home of the alleged Number One Best selling eBook author of all time, Leta Nolan Childers.

PublishAmerica sent me an author’s questionnaire where they asked for basic biographical information; cover art suggestions, and a long list of people who might want to read my forthcoming novel.

“Please prepare a list (names, and addresses,) of people who know you well enough to be interested in your success as a writer: personal friends, colleagues, relatives, etc., to receive a book announcement…Please limit your list and your labels to a maximum of 100 contacts. Also, please do not include businesses or organizations of any kind, including bookstores, media contacts, or government organizations. Include friends and associates only.”

The editing process of my manuscript took two weeks over the Christmas holidays. I was able to ascertain that the first few pages had been read as some minor alterations had been made, but no changes followed for another 50 or so pages. One of the errors that occurred was clearly the result of a spellchecker on the part of PublishAmerica as a question mark appeared after the end of a statement. I’d read of real authors receiving instructions to change chapters, alter endings, delete numerous pages, in other words, really struggle to rewrite a book. Why so much effort? Names. Reputation. The publisher wanted to put their name on the best quality book that they had invested in. The author wanted a book that was saleable but also well written and something they were proud of. PublishAmerica’s editing comprised neither ideal as all they did was put the computer program’s spelling/grammar checker into action.

My two free author’s copies arrived in early March and it was nice to see my trade paperback book in print sans a cheesy cover and stapled spine. ‘North of Sunset’ actually had decent looking stock cover art of a few silhouetted palm trees, a noticeable font, and a spine where the book title, publisher and author’s name was apparent. It would look good on bookstore shelves, I imagined.

Reviews – What Reviews?

What was Publish America doing to make sure my book was reviewed? Nothing. I decided to contact local daily and weekly newspapers by e-mailing a press release. The only responses I got were two e-mail autoresponders announcing the editors were on vacation.

I spent $40 on copies of my book’s galley and mailed them to three national newspapers and the Library Journal magazine. Then I phoned a book reviewer at the ‘San Diego Union-Tribune’ and asked if he’d be interested in reviewing my book but before I could even describe what it was about, he asked who my publisher was. I told him. “We don’t review books by that publisher,” he stated.

I called all the local bookstores and spoke to the managers and/ or community relations people about my book, including a couple of stores who were physically located on the street I’d written about. An independent bookstore owner told me that since PA didn’t have a return policy she was unable to stock my novel. Another said that I could sell my book on consignment. The chain stores of Borders and Barnes & Noble said my book would be available through Ingram if anyone chose to order it.

Tried getting PublishAmerica to send review copies out and it took them weeks to do so. Had to call and make sure on two occasions that the books had been mailed. Maybe quoting one of their enthusiastic promoters on the message board, a guy with a natural genius for marketing and the budget to back it up, got three books sent to reviewers.

Then I sent my book to Piers Anthony, noted sci-fi and fantasy author of more than 100 books. I’d been in touch with him since 2000 when I alerted him to the fact that eNovel was a rip-off. Although the action in his books usually took place in alternate time periods/universes, he didn’t mind reading a mainstream Hollywood novel. He did so. “North of Sunset by Lisa Maliga. She’s the one listed in my Survey as I’m a Published Novelist Ha Ha! Ha!, a pertinent warning for starry-eyed aspiring writers. Her web site www.lisamaliga.com is worth checking similarly; she tells it as it is. If you took a few decades off my age and changed my gender, the result might resemble Lisa. North of Sunset is fun, about a Hollywood producer and his temporary secretary, showing a good deal of what I presume is reality. It is written with the omniscient viewpoint, which I dislike, but it held my interest regardless. ”

I’d discovered through an upset PA author on the messageboards, which I read on occasion, that someone was complaining about PublishAmerica. Discovering the Absolute Write Background Check area I spent several hours reading, at the time, more than 40 pages of complaints about PublishAmerica. Authors not receiving books in time for booksignings that they set up themselves. Bookstore owners/managers refusing to stock their shelves with unedited PublishAmerica titles. Writers unable to get their books reviewed.

Doing a search on LexisNexis, the reputable online legal research system, for all PublishAmerica books receiving newspaper reviews, I saw that from July 2002 to June 2004, only 24 books had been reviewed nationally. Papers in Syracuse NY, Tulsa, OK, Fort Pierce, FL, Wilmington, NC and Lakeland, FL were represented. Only Salt Lake City’s ‘Deseret Morning News’, the ‘Tulsa World’, ‘Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’ and the suburban paper, the ‘Chicago Daily Herald’ were actually major newspapers. Evidently, the ‘New York Times’ or the ‘Los Angeles Times’ were not reviewing anything by PublishAmerica’s authors. According to the PublishAmerica site in the Facts and Figures section, “Fact #3: Again, unparalleled among all traditional book publishing companies, each day an average 15 times a PublishAmerica author appears in the news media, in newspapers, magazines, radio or TV.” Yet even mathematically challenged folks can determine that by using the LexisNexis search statistics, we learn that the average is a paltry once a month that a PublishAmerica book gets mentioned in a newspaper somewhere in the United States.

Editing – What’s That?

Here’s a gem of a post on the PublishAmerica message board: “When it came out in book form a month ago, my friends mentioned the editing problems in it, so a friend of mine with a masters in education went through it for me. It had close to a thousand editing errors in a 182-page book. So, have some who actually knows what literary content should be in a book, go through your book for you before you send the final draft back to PublishAmerica. Because the final draft, IS!, how the book will be when it comes out.”

I discovered that through the misspellings, grammatical errors, and general bad writing that just about anyone was publishable through the ‘traditional’ publisher located in Frederick, Maryland. Such postings as: “I too am not the best editor LOL! I did get my finished books. And when I met with a lady that is huge in the marketing field, she told me that my book at it’s length of 132 pages needs to have chapters.” A couple of PublishAmerica authors discussed editing. “I felt like you did when I found errors, but then I realized, hey people read it for the story, not looking for mistakes in typo land! LOL Now I just keep on a keepin on!”

Sales Figures

Question: I’d really like to know how many copies I’ve sold.

Answer: Buy all of the books yourself and then count them.

No matter how naïve PublishAmerica authors appeared, they will eventually come to the realization that PublishAmerica isn’t really a traditional publisher, especially when those twice-yearly royalty checks arrived. Every few months or so PublishAmerica sent them an e-mail extolling their success, bragging about a big name author they’re negotiating with, or, more recently, doing a deal with the New York Times. On August 17th, an e-mail bearing the proud subject heading ‘Advertising Our Topsellers in the New York Times’ appeared in author’s online mailboxes.

PublishAmerica was well named in that they want to publish anyone in North America who has churned out a manuscript, regardless of quality. They claim to have anywhere from 9,000 to 12,000 “happy” authors and they want more and more of them as that obviously means more money for the greedy owners, namely Willem Meiner and Larry Clopper.

The PublishAmerica name and logo is seen as a joke to those in the media, bookstores and libraries. Books can’t be returned. All PublishAmerica titles lack the necessary CIP [Cataloging-in-Publication] data, which is necessary for libraries to order titles, and who wants to read unedited and overpriced tomes other than the author’s cronies? Oh yeah, and while PublishAmerica claims that they’re a ‘traditional publisher’ why on earth do they have in their main page keywords list the term ‘self publishing’ three times? And in their site’s description, they brag: “PublishAmerica, Inc., a traditional publisher, accepting and publishing manuscripts and books at NO CHARGE to the author. Royalties paid to writers, books sold in stores. Manuscript submissions by mail and online”

In the beginning of September I received a royalty check. To my surprise, I was not only able to afford to buy a pair of laces for my skates, I shelled out the $12 it cost to sharpen my blades. Who knew that this company would provide extra income enabling me to continue participating in my recreational skating hobby? But it cost me more than the $160 in author-bought books, the $40 for galleys, which were probably plunged into a recycling bin, the $87 color business cards, $20 press release — and the countless hours building and rebuilding my website so people would happen across it and buy a book that was only available online–like any other eBook.

PublishAmerica allows the myth of being a ‘traditional’ publisher, a term not used before the advent of the Internet, to fester. The lie is perpetrated in those HTML source codes that search engine spider robots deliver; the future authors led to the promised realm of publishing, an internet web of woven myths fanning across cyberspace. PublishAmerica resembles most other ePublishing companies promising tales of bestselling books and authors. PublishAmerica is just another scam, just another future dot gone.

If you are a PublishAmerica author, or know of one, who is unhappily published and will tell your story, please contact:

Federal Trade Commission
attn: CRC – 240
Washington, DC 20580
FTC Consumer Complaint Form

Frederick County Board of County Commissioners
Winchester Hall
12 E. Church Street, Frederick, MD 21701
Telephone: 301-694-1100
Fax: 301-694-1849
www.co.frederick.md.us/BOCC/

John L. Thompson, Jr., President
Winchester Hall
12 E. Church Street
Frederick, MD 21701
Telephone: 301-694-1028
Fax: 301-631-23

Mention the following points:
Your book is not available in brick and mortar bookstores and libraries
Your book is not returnable if a bookstore owner/manager should stock it
7-year-long contract is considered in improper amount of time
Your book is published by a vanity press
You had to pay for your own copyright
PublishAmerica will not apply for the CIP, which allows it to be bought by libraries
PublishAmerica overprices the books
PublishAmerica offers a nonstandard discount
PublishAmerica’s business model is to sell to their own authors
PublishAmerica’s books are NOT edited–certainly not line-by-line as they claim on their web site but have since admitted that they only edit for grammar and spelling
PublishAmerica accepts approximately 80% of submitted manuscripts [most publishers reject 99% of their submissions]
PublishAmerica will only accept credit card orders over the phone when booking for one of their seminars or to purchase your own titles

About The Author Read and learn at Lisa’s Library of Writing http://www.lisamaliga.com Discover the diverse writings ranging from free soap and bath & body recipes to fiction, figure skating, herbal hints, and helpful publishing advice. everythingshea@msn.com

The New Age Movement – by: G Kumar

P>New Age – A Paradigm Shift to Divine Consciousness & a Universal Philosophy

The New Age Movement (NAM) is a revival of spiritual and divine values and can be called as a Divine Regeneration Movement. New Age Philosophy has conquered the West intellectually and Western culture is currently experiencing a phenomenal shift – sociological, spiritual & ideological. It’s a secular, multi-cultural, multi-religious synthesis, of the Oriental mystical philosophies, mainly Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism & Western Occultism, emphasising Holism, the doctrine that Reality is organically One ( now taught in American Universities after Einstein’s Theory of Relativity ).

Behind the evolution of the species, there is an evolution of Consciousness. The aim of Life is Self-Actualisation, to evolve to the level of Unity Consciousness, defined as the 7th state of Consciousness in Transcendental Philosophy.

The social disturbance caused by the Vietnam War, the threat posed by AIDS, the disillusionment with materialistic ideas and the erosion of faith in Morality & Ethics brought a sense of futility & meaninglessness in the Western psyche.The limitations of the Western system of Chemotherapy & adverse side-effects of antibiotics, sedatives and certain other drugs and the disillusionment with the promises of science & technology made millions turn to Oriental philosophies, occult practices & systems of therapy.( Interest in Alternative Medicine developed to such an extent that there are now more than 180 systems of Alternative Medicine.

Exponents of New Age Philosophy in Europe and America include Transcendentalists like Thoreau, Emerson & Walt Whitman, Wordsworth, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), , & Theosophy introduced by Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831- 1891) & Col Olcott & the philosopher, Annie Besant. As the world witnessed a Consciousness Revolution, Transcendental Meditation, Yoga ,Zen, Carlos Castañada, the Beatles, Holistic Medicine ( both Western and Ayurveda ), Tantra, Astrology ( both Western & Vedic ) all became popular .

There are 6 million New Age sites on the Web and the NAM consists of a massive & well organised network consisting of thousands of groups, trusts, foundations, clubs, lodges, and spiritual groups whose goal and purpose is to prepare the world to enter the coming Aquarian Age. ( The Age of Aquarius ). In astrological symbolism, Aquarius represents Spirituality and Pisces Rationality. The Piscean Age, an age of Computer and Cybernetics revolution, will be followed by an Age of Consciousness Revolution or a Spiritual Revolution, the Aquarian Age.

Some New Age Organisations are : California New Age Caucus, New World Alliance, World Goodwill, The Church Universal and Triumphant, The Theosophical Society, Amnesty International, Zero Population Growth, the Forum, Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose, the Club of Rome, Church Universal & Triumphant, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christianity.

New Age believes in the essential goodness of Man and the Divine Spark in Man and the New Age movement is not a unified cult system of beliefs and practices, even though its roots derive from Vedic Philosophy. There is no central authority, no official leader, no headquarters, nor membership list, but instead is a network of groups working toward World Peace and Universal Love. There are millions of worldwide followers of various New Age practices and the world is moving from Chaos ( Disorder ) to Cosmos ( Order ) ! This is a Phase Transition from Entropy ( Disorder ) to Order !

Significant influence has been gained by NAM affecting almost every area of Occidental culture — Sociology, Psychology, Medicine, the Government, Ecology, Science, Arts, Education, the Business Community, the media, entertainment, sports, and even the Church. Organised spiritual forms such as Christian Science, Unity and even forms of Witchcraft ( from the German ‘ Wicca’ meaning the Wise; Witchcraft means the Craft of the Wise ) are all its expressions. Various Human Potential Seminars, Transcendental Meditation, Zen Meditation and some Alternative Holistic Medicine practices are also its manifold manifestations.

Some popular New Age publications and journals are New Age Journal, the Z Files, Clarity, Body Mind Spirit, Yoga Journal, Gnosis, East West, Noetic Sciences, the Millenium Being and Omega. The new tendency of people now is to view everything from a New Age perspective

The major goal of the New Age Movement is to prepare Man for entering the Aquarian Age and to bring world peace in an already bruised world. “All is wrong with the world” said Shaw & some of the other goals of the NAM are to establish an entirely New World Order in the fields of Economy & Government. The idea of a World Government was proposed by Bernard Shaw earlier and was implemented by Mahesh Yogi and occurs in the writings of the foundational apostle of the New Age Movement, Alice Bailey.

The word ‘Initiation” is derived from the Latin “In ire” to go within and Initiates were termed by the Great Master as the salt of the Earth. The mystic Ward defined Reality as “Within and within and within and within” . Another mystic described it as “It is hidden, it is hidden and it is hidden”. To the mystic, self evolution is the means and only by changing and correcting ourselves can we change others . The primary goals of the movement then, are to prepare the world to receive the Divine Consciousness and to enter the Age of Aquarius, thus establishing the New World Order.

New Age Philosophy believes that human evolution can be accelerated, if not in the entire mass of humanity, at least in suitable individuals. Human nature is perfectible, through an intensive process of purification and Initiation.

The New Age Movement is secular & universally diffused over the earth’s surface & its basic underlying philosophy emphasises Gnosticism and Occultism. (Gnosticism is an ancient philosophy stating that Divine essence is the highest reality, and that the Self of man is actually this Essence. Behind the phenomenal world is the Transcendent Reality which Intuition alone can see ). It bears a remarkable resemblance to the Universal Religion that H.G. Wells predicted would one day take over the world.

The six main characteristics of New Age thinking are: (1) All is Unity; (2) All is Divine (3) Humanity is divine (4) A change in Consciousness; (5) All religions are One; and (6) Cosmic Evolutionary optimism.

Basically Dialectical Integralism, New Age Philosophy unites both Matter and Spirit.

Spirit shall see through Matter’s gaze

Matter shall reveal the Spirit’s face !

The 13 main principles of New Age Philosophy are:

(1) One Global Order – One World Governement, One Currency, One Universal Being.

(2) Universal Energy, Universal Matter, Universal Life, Universal Soul As God

(3) An Eternal Universe – Uniform in Space and Unending in Time

(4) Divine practices ( Astrology Yoga & other esoteric arts)

(5) Syncretism ( Unity of all Religions ).

(6) The need for Meditation ( for generating altered states of Consciousness );

(7) Life is Cyclical- Everything is cyclical, subject to the cyclical upheavals of Time.

(8) Holistic Medicine & Vegetarianism (The patient is more important than the Doctor & Alkaline diet)

(9) Pacifism ( Anti-war activities);

(10) Reincarnation; ( The Law of Conservation of Soul )

(11) The Evolution of Man into Divinity; ( The latent Life Force evolving naturally to the Divine )

(12) The Union of Man with the Divine; ( Merger of man into the Infinite )

(13) Matter’s Illusoriness; – Esse est percipii – Perception is Essence; Mind is Substance.

The practices of the New Age are psychic practices like : Astrology, Reiki, Bioenergy, Chi energy, Chakras, Nirvana, Christ- Consciousness,Spiritualism, Native American Spirituality, Prajna, Out-of-body/near- death experiences, Reincarnation, Yoga, Meditation and the occult disciplines, as well as psychotherapeutic techniques and scientific applications of the healing powers of crystals and pyramids.

Some commonly used New Age terms are: Quantum Healing, Transmutation, Transfiguration, Guided Imagery, Reincarnation; Positive Thinking; Human Potential; Holistic; Holographic; Synergistic; Unity; Oneness; Transformation; Awakening; Zetworking; Communal Sharing; One-world/globalism/new world order (i.e., One language, One Government, One currency, One religion); Cosmic Consciousness; Zodiac, etc.

Some New Age practices are: Transcendental Meditation, Parapsychology, Inner healing; Biofeedback; Yoga; I Ching; Reflexology; Therapeutic Touch; Transpersonal Psychology; Witchcraft; ; Magick; Tai Chi; Shamanism; Hypnotherapy; Acupuncture/Acupressure; Martial arts; Zen; Relaxation; Silva Method (formerly Silva Mind Control); Visualization; etc.

Some prominent New Agers are: Jeremy Rifkin, Norman Cousins, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, John Denver, George Lucas, Norman Lear, Alice Bailey, Alvin Toffler, Dr. Barbara Ray, Benjamin Creme, Levi Dowling, George Trevelyan, Fritjof Capra, Abraham Maslow, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Ruth Montgomery, Shirley MacLaine, J.Z. Knight, Marilyn Ferguson and David Spangler.

Soothing audio environments are created by New Age musicians and they believe rightly that Music has psycho-therapeutic properties. ( This concept is derived from the Vedic Philosophy that All music is Samaveda, the 4th Veda of the Indians ). Born of an interest in spirituality and healing in the late 1970s, it is often used as an aid in meditation.

Essentially meditative, New Age Music is soothing to the Soul. Isnt Music defined as the food for the Soul ? Harmonic consonance, uplifting themes, contemplative melodies & nonlinear song forms are the characteristics of New Age music. Even natural sounds or sounds from Nature and traditional electronic instruments are used by New Age musicians. With roots in classical music or Eastern Music, New Age music is often meditative. Prominent New Age musicians include vocalist Liz Story; harpist Andreas Vollenweider, electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty , electronic-music pioneer Brian Eno, multi-instrumentalist Kitaro & solo-piano artist George Winston.

New Age practices have almost conquered the world. Athletes are using guided imagery. Graduate schools of business are invoking T M, Yoga, and Tarot cards in teaching courses on creativity in business (e.g., Stanford Graduate School of Business). Based upon Astrology, the Science of Time, stock market gurus employ Fibonacci numbers and “Wave Theory” in their forecasting.

We can summarise that the term New Age is an innovative term derived from the mother of all sciences, Astrology, indicating that this earth is undergoing an evolutionary transitional phase from the Piscean Age of Scientism to the Aquarian Age of Divine Wisdome, Cosmic Consciousness , Knowledge and Love.

Since the New Age is a conglomeration of spiritual practices, let us analyse the basic principles of N A M

1. The Divine Source of Authority. New Agers do not claim any source of authority — Only Inspiration by the Divine. By the Divine we mean a principle within, the Divine Spark or the Self and many are there who receive the revealations of the Self within or the intuitive insights of the Self.

2. The Lord. – Since Matter and Energy can neither be created or destroyed and the sum total energy in the Universe is an absolute constant ( Universal Being ), the Lord did not create the world, He became the world. Monism –( “All is Unity” ) averrs that there is only One Essence in the universe, everyone and everything being a part of that essence. The Self is an utter Being and all these are its Becomings. New Agers view God as an Impersonal Life force, Consciousness, or Energy (e.g., the “Star Wars Force”) mainly but they also believe in His personal aspect, as the Ocean ( which is Formless ) can take the form of an iceberg! They averr that every human has a divine spark within him because all created beings are reflections of the Divine Idea. The eternal state is called by various terms among different New Age groups, i.e., God-consciousness, Universal Love, Self-Realization, the I AM, Higher Self, Brahman, Nirvana, etc.

2. The Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Christ Consciousness or the Divine Consciousness is what the New Age advocates mean by Christ. . In other words, Christ is a Divine Principle rather than an individual, such as Jesus. This idea of Christ Consciousness asserts that Jesus was only one of the Christs, but that He equipped Himself to receive the Christ Consciousness (i.e., He was a great Master who attained Christ Consciousness), as did other prophets like Buddha, Krishna, and Mohammed. New Agers believe Dr Paul Brunton who stated the Jesus spent 18 years in India absorbing Indian Mysticism and that he was initiated into the highest esoteric doctrine.

3. Human Destiny. Man is the measure of all things and is more divine than the animals & hence the salvation of the world depends upon Man. Cleansing the negative elements from the collective subconscient should be the aim of humanity. Once Negativity is cleaned from the collective subconscient, the human positive energy will shine forth and the noble ideals of the New Age will be actualised in an era of Enlightenment. Since man is intrinsically divine and perfect, his only real problem is ignorance of that fact. Gnosis means experiential knowledge and Salvation in the New Age is for man to become enlightened through this Divine Gnosis. New Age groups offer various spiritual techniques to enable individuals, and ultimately the world, to evolve into this Unitive Consciousness . These techniques may include psychotechnologies for attaining altered states of consciousness – Transcendental Meditation, Yoga, Zen, Attunement , Channeling (Spirit guides), Psychics, Acupuncture, etc.

4. The Ethical Opposites, Good & Evil – Believing in the Oriental philosophies, New Agers make the distinction between good and evil. All wickedness is weakness and Evil is imperfection. By the method of Trial and Error, we come to know what is good and what is bad for the world and we have to transcend the dualities.

5. Reincarnation. New Agers believe in the ancient Vedic philosophic concept of Reincarnation — that through a long process of rebirths, man can eventually attain Divine perfection. They also teach the Universal Law of Karma –(( The Law of Cause and Effect ( Every effect has a cause ), the Law of Action and Reaction, the Law of Retribution ))- that what a person sows , he shall reap. This is also the doctrine of God’s non-responsibility, that the Self is not responsible and it is the Ego which experiences bitter & sweet mental experiences due to its own Karma.

6.Salvation is Self-Actualisation and Sin is Ignorance – SSome theoreticians taught the concept of Man’s Original Sin. New Age exponents teach the concept of man’s essential goodness. Instead of systems which emphasised the human negative aspect and sin, New Age highlights that every man is essentially divine and it is a sin to call man a sinner ! However, New Agers speak of troublesome desires which are natural impulses which retard human evolution and make the Ego move away from the Self. Sin is merely ignorance of man’s essential divinity. The atrophied spiritual consciousness of the normal man who lives in ignorance of his Divine Self is Sin. Like the Law of Conservation of Energy which states that Energy cannot be created or destroyed, the Law of Conservation of Soul states that the Soul can neither be created nor destroyed. Matter exists in 3 states, liquid, gaseous and solid and matter cannot be created or destroyed. Nothing ever begins to be. Similarly Life does not at physical birth begin to be. It merely enters physical conditions and assumes physical guise. It merely undergoes a parallel transformation into conditions which preexisted in other conditions. The Soul is reincarnated in different bodies in a continous succession of lives. The good or bad Karma earned in the present lifetime determines one’s subsequent incarnation. Attaining higher states of Consciousness should be our aim.There are many different paths to the goal of Divine perfection and we should be tolerant of other paths.

The divine Aurobindo predicted that spiritual influences from India will trigger off a global spiritual movement.There will be Mass Incarnations ( many people divinely inspired ) who will work for World Peace and Universal Love !

I saw them cross the twilight of the Age

The massive barrier breakers of this world

The sun-eyed children of a marvellous dawn

The architects of immortality

Carrying the magic Word, the mystic Fire

Carrying the Dionysian Cup of Joy !

The four systems of Philosophy which triggered the N A M are Hinduism, a product of 5,000 years of development, Buddhism, circa 560 B.C., Taoism, circa 500 B.C & Druidism, circa 300 B.C, the religion of the Celts, which extended upto the Middle Ages.

About The Author Article by G Kumar, Astrologer & Epistemologist of www.astrologiavedica.com, www.eastrovedica.com & www.astrognosis.com. Recently he was awarded a Certificate by the Planetary Gemologists Association ( www.p-g-a.org ) as a Planetary Gem Advisor. He has 25 years psychic research experience in the esoteric arts. To subscribe to his Free ezine, the Z Files, click here. mailto:zodiac20@vsnl.com?subject=subscribe. He is contactable at zodiac20@vsnl.com. Address of his physical shop is Zodiac Computers, 3/528 Tkss Bldgs, East Nada, Guruvayur Kerala, India 680101. Office Phone +91 0487-552851. Home Phone +91 0487-422060. He has compiled Free Ebooks on AstroNumerology, Vedic Astrology & Pranic Therapy zodiac20@vsnl.com

Flu Prevention and the Gym Member – by: Jon Gestl

Health officials’ warning this month of a potentially harsh flu season should be a red flag to avid aerobic-bunnies and gym-jocks alike. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warn that the flu is transmitted when flu virus in the air is inhaled after an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks. Transmission also occurs when a person touches a surface that has flu virus on it and then touches his or her nose or mouth. Those familiar with the typical health club milieu, then, can easily liken a workout in the gym to sitting in a veritable Petry dish…

Heavy-breathing members on closely-placed cardiovascular machines and in crowded group fitness classes, hundreds of kinds of shared equipment from dumbbells and weight plates to public restrooms and the corner water fountain provide countless opportunities for contact with the flu virus. So, short of ditching our fitness goals until mid-Spring, it would do us well to learn more about the flu, it’s prevention, and what we can do about it.

What is the flu?

The flu, or influenza, is a contagious disease caused by the influenza virus. It attacks the respiratory tract in humans (nose, throat, and lungs). The flu is different from a cold; it usually comes on suddenly and may include these symptoms:

• Fever
• Headache
• Tiredness (can be extreme)
• Dry cough
• Sore Throat
• Nasal congestion
• Body aches

About 10% to 20% of U.S. residents will get the flu each year. Among these persons infected, an average of 36,000 will die, and 114,000 will be hospitalized. Although the CDC claims it is not possible to accurately predict the severity of the flu season, this year’s early incidence of Type A flu strain is historically associated with a more severe flu season, including higher numbers of related hospitalizations and deaths. To make the outlook more grim, an epidemiological assessment by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) already reports “widespread” influenza activity in over 10 U.S. states.

Who is at risk?

Although anyone can get the flu, including individuals who are healthy, there are various groups who are at higher risk for complications. These high risk groups include:

• persons aged > 50 years;
• residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that house persons of any age who have long-term illnesses;
• adults and children > 6 months of age who have chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma;
• adults and children > 6 months of age who need regular medical care or had to be in a hospital because of metabolic diseases (like diabetes), chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicine or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS]);
• children and teenagers (aged 6 months to 18 years) who are on long-term aspirin therapy and therefore could develop Reye Syndrome after the flu; and
• women who will be more than 3 months pregnant during the flu season.

How to Prevent Getting the Flu

Health officials are encouraging people, particularly those in high-risk groups to obtain a flu shot. The CDC states that an annual flu shot is the best way to reduce the chances that you will get the flu.

The best time to get a flu shot is from October through November, although you can still benefit from getting the vaccine after November, even if the flu is present in your community. Be aware that it takes about two weeks after the vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body to provide protection.

Obtaining the vaccine does not guarantee a flu-free season, however. Influenza viruses are constantly changing, and vaccine effectiveness depends on the match between vaccine strains and circulating viruses and the age and health status of the person getting the shot. Although the strain in this year’s flu vaccine is different from the circulating strain, the CDC states that studies indicate that the vaccine should provide some cross-protection against the circulating A strain.

Some people resist getting the flu shot because of the belief that they will get severe side effects, or even the flu itself, from the vaccine. The viruses in the vaccine are inactivated, so you cannot get the flu from a flu shot. Certain side effects are possible, such as soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given, fever (low grade), and aches.

Chances that the shot will cause serious harm, or death, is very small and allergic reactions to the vaccine, though possible, are rare, states the CDC. Most people who get the vaccine have no serious problems with it. However, the following groups should not get a flu shot before talking with their doctor:

• People with an allergy to hens’ eggs.
• People who have had a severe reaction to a flu shot in the past.
• People who have developed Guillian-Barre Syndrome in the 6 weeks following a flu shot.

Since obtaining vaccination doesn’t necessarily guarantee immunity against the flu, it is wise to add common sense to our prevention efforts while we are busy pumping iron at the health club. Old fashioned hand-hygiene can go a long way in helping to prevent flu transmission. Although you don’t want to spend your entire workout running to the restroom to wash your hands after every set, it’s certainly advisable to make sure your hands are clean before and after the workout. Refrain from touching your nose and mouth during the workout to avoid obtaining the virus. Use of hand-antiseptics which include alcohol can also help to prevent transmission of the flu virus.

What to do if you get the flu

So what if you obtain a flu shot, practice stellar hand-hygiene and manage to contract the flu anyway? Since it is impossible to tell if you have the flu based on symptoms alone, visit your doctor. Tests can be performed in the first few days of the illness to determine the diagnosis. Since influenza is caused by a virus, antibiotics won’t work to cure it. You need to rest, drink plenty of fluids, avoid using alcohol and tobacco, and possibly take medication to relieve symptoms.

The CDC warns never to give aspirin to children or teenagers who have flu-like symptoms, particularly fever, without speaking to your doctor. Doing so can cause a rare but serious illness called Reye syndrome.

By all accounts, we may be in store for a particularly harsh flu season this year. Take precaution to reduce the likelihood of getting the flu, particularly if you are an avid gym-goer. Preventative measures may not only help to avoid the flu, but also interrupting hard earned progress on your fitness goals.

For more information about the flu, it’s transmission, prevention and treatment, check out the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/.

About The Author Jon Gestl, CSCS, is a personal fitness trainer and instructor in Chicago specializing in in-home and in-office fitness training. He is a United States National Aerobic Champion silver and bronze medalist and world-ranked sportaerobic competitor. He can be contacted at jongestl@jongestl.com.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (DVD) Review – by: Britt Gillette

Hands down, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is the best Christmas-themed comedy ever filmed. Personally, I make it habit to watch this movie about ten million times between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Even after seeing the film so many times that I can recite it word-for-word, Christmas Vacation remains as hilarious and entertaining as the previous holiday season. More than just a seasonal film, it’s one of those rare comedies that it near perfect from beginning to end.

Christmas Vacation follows the ongoing exploits of Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and the Griswold family, but this particular rendition of the classic Vacation movies is arguably the best. As in the previous films, Clark’s goal is to create the perfect vacation for his family. Only this time, instead of hitting the road for Wally World or flying to Europe, the Griswolds stay at home in suburban Chicago.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (mere months away from signing on for the role of Elaine on Seinfeld) makes several appearances as Clark’s annoying, yuppie neighbor Margot, a character accompanied by her equally elitist yuppie partner, Todd (Nicholas Guest). Randy Quaid makes a return appearance as Cousin Eddie, playing the same role from the original Vacation film. As Clark’s unsophisticated and backward relative, Eddie is a man whose “heart is bigger than his brain”. Beverly D’Angelo also returns in her previous role as Clark’s wife, Ellen.

When Clark vows to create “the most fun-filled old-fashioned family Christmas ever,” things naturally go awry. With the Griswold family and their in-laws living under one roof, the relatives constantly get on each others’ nerves. Clark sets out to decorate the house for Christmas, and his quest culminates in a 25,000 light extravaganza that covers every square inch of the house. In the process, he nearly breaks his neck several times and knocks out Todd and Margot’s window with a flying lance of roof gutter ice.

The laughs multiply several times over when Cousin Eddie arrives uninvited and parks his RV in the Griswold driveway. In tow are his wife Catherine, their two kids Ruby Sue and Rocky, and their lovely dog “Snots”. The crescendo of disaster steadily increases as Christmas Day approaches with Clark’s agony compounded the absence of his annual Christmas bonus. Clark’s big Christmas surprise for the family is that he’s putting in a pool, but in order to start work as soon as the ground thawed out, he had to put down a hefty deposit which his check won’t cover without the Christmas bonus.

After a Christmas Eve in which the turkey explodes, Aunt Bethany’s cat electrocutes itself, Uncle Lewis burns down the tree, and a squirrel gets loose in the house, a late night knock on the door provides Clark with hope. A deliveryman hands him an envelope which fell between the seats, the fabled Christmas bonus. But when the bonus isn’t quite what Clark expected, Cousin Eddie surprises Clark with an unexpected last minute gift.

Originally released in 1989, Christmas Vacation has surprisingly little content that makes it seem “dated”. As such, it’s certain to be a holiday viewing tradition for generations to come. With some of the best one-liners in all of comedy, you’ll find yourself reciting its dialogue for many Christmases to come. But what makes Christmas Vacation such an enduring film is that everyone who watches it can relate to the events within. Almost everyone has a strange relative like Eddie or a pair of snotty elitist neighbors, and of course, who hasn’t had a squirrel ransack their house on Christmas Eve? Overall, this movie is a barrel of laughs. If you don’t like it, you probably aren’t breathing.

About The Author Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find where you can find more reviews of movies and TV series. Source: http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/02/national-lampoons-christmas-vacation.html

Paid Search Advertising that Delivers Maximum ROI – by: Ivana Giardi

Paid Search Advertising (also Pay-Per-Click, PPC) has gained a significant influence in the search engine industry over past couple of years. Whilst a traditional search engine optimisation still remains the online marketing strategy number one, more and more e-marketers discovering the potential of online advertising campaigns. Properly designed and managed, PPC campaign can deliver highly qualified visitors to your online shop.

1. Quick Overview

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Engines are built on the similar principle as auctions. The difference is that you bid on keywords — terms people use when they search for stuff on the internet.

The concept of PPC bidding is rather simple: you buy (= bid on) keywords that relate to your product. The highest bidder gets placed at the top of the search results, the second highest bidder gets the next listing and so on. Every time someone clicks through to your website, you pay the amount you bid on that particular search term.

Advertising with PPC search engines basically gives you three key advantages:

• Cheap and Highly Targeted Traffic

With bidding on keywords that relates to your product or service, you actually pre-qualify the type of visitors you wish to attract. You determine how much you are willing to pay (bid) for the click and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This implies that PPC search engines can cheaply direct qualified visitors to your website.

• Fast Exposure, Immediate Profits

Traditional search engines usually take few weeks (sometimes even months) to list your website. If you are having problems to get your website indexed by search engines or if you would like to get a quick results from the search engines then PPC is the best alternative. Most of PPC search engines will set your website live within a couple of hours (maximum few days) and the impact on your site traffic and sales is practically immediate.

• Guaranteed Top Position

Search engine optimisation is the classic method of getting your website on the top of search results for free. Simply said, the process of optimisation involves choosing keywords that are directly related to your website and placing them meaningfully within your pages. However, as easy as this sounds, for an average webmaster this is usually a quite daunting task without any guarantee on the success. This again brings me to PPC as the best solution to gain high rankings on the search result list. Often, by spending just few cents per click, your website can get to the top three positions within 24 hours!

The best-known and most popular PPC Search Engines are Google AdWords (www.google.com/ads) and Overture (www.overture.com). Advertising with those two industry leaders will get your website lots of exposure and traffic. Furthermore, top 3 listings in Google AdWords and Overture appear on an extensive network of sites (including Yahoo!, MSN, AltaVista, Excite, and many others) so you can reach up to 80% of all active Internet users. However, at the same time be prepared that their top listings tend to be rather expensive and you need to pay quite a bit.

Generally, the more popular keyword you choose for bidding the higher is the price. You can start your bid from 1 cent per click and finish paying $5.00 (or more) for very competitive keywords.

2. Designing Successful PPC Campaigns

The golden rule of PPC bidding is: “Attract highly qualified buyers and keep your bids as low as possible”. Since you are paying for each single visitor landing on your website obviously you wish to maximize the effectiveness of your PPC campaign. Let’s take a look at some basic guidelines to help you optimise your campaign and ensure your ROI:

• Determine your bid cost

The calculation of the bid cost (also cost per click) requires a rather complicated formula. For the purpose of this article I mention just a baseline that helps determine how much you can afford to bid:

• Firstly, you need to know the conversion rate of your web site. That means how many unique visitors you need to close one sale. For example, if you need 50 visitors (= clicks) to close 1 sale then your conversion rate is 2%. If your bid is 10 cents per click than one sale has $5 of bidding cost.
• Secondly, you need to know your profit margin. If your profit margin is high enough to justify the cost you can consider increasing the bid and getting a higher position for your ad. This way you may increase the number of clicks through your website and acquire more sales.
• Finally, calculate if the extra sales justify the extra cost and adjust the bid accordingly.

• Focus on highly targeted keywords

As mentioned earlier, PPC Advertising can deliver cheap and highly targeted traffic to your website. To use this advantage to your benefit it is important to choose wisely the keywords you wish to bid on. The key is to be specific. For example, instead of bidding on “skin care” you can consider bid on “anti ageing herbal treatments”. More targeted keywords attract more qualified buyers. It is easier to convert them into paying customers because they found exactly what they were looking for. This strategy is also a big money saver — more specific keywords tend to be less expensive than the general ones everybody is biding on.

• Customize your advertisements

You will attract more attention from qualified buyers by writing ads specifically for each of keywords you bid on. Speak directly to the type of visitor you want to serve. For example, instead of writing an ad for “pies” you can write “home made meat pies”.

When tailoring your ads to a specific audience, be also sure that you direct your visitors to a page on your website where it’s easy for them to buy these items.

• Use less popular PPC search engines

Overture and Google AdWords are clearly the PPC market leaders. However you can still benefit from the less popular ones such as:

• FindWhat http://www.findwhat.com
• Espotting http://www.espotting.com, (biggest PPC engine in UK and European market)
• 7search.com http://www.7search.com
• Kanoodle.com http://www.kanoodle.com
• Enhance Interactive http://www.enhance.com
• Sprinks http://www.sprinks.com

Bids on these less popular PPC search engines are much cheaper and you can purchase your listings for as little as one cent per visitor. Even though you may not get the same exposure as you would get with Overture and Google, you still generate a decent amount of traffic. And while you only pay for actual clicks to your website, you never waste your money.

• Choose the best position for your advertisement

To be listed first on the search results is not always a smart move. It certainly helps to attract lots of visitors, but may cost you lots of money at the same time. People usually visit first 5 top listings before making a final decision about their purchase. Therefore, it is more profitable to have lower ranking for highly competitive keywords.

3. Managing PPC Advertising Campaign

You have designed a killer selling ad copy, chosen highly targeted keywords, calculated the maximum you can afford to bid on each of search terms and determined which spot on the search results you wish to secure. Yet, there is no guarantee that your ad always remains on your desired position.

The key to managing the desired position is to adjust your bids correctly in accordance to the PPC market conditions. It’s like monitoring shares on the share market — to get the best deal you need to constantly watch prices and react immediately to any change.

The main factor influencing the price of the bids and your position are your competitors. Let’s make few examples of bidding strategies you can consider using in your PPC campaign: assuming, your maximum cost per click is $1.00 and your goal is to secure position #3 at the most effective cost.

(a) Maintain Target Position

Your aim is to target the position #3 however your ad appears on the position #10. Knowing that the current holder of the position #3 pays $0.51 per click you can improve your position and take over his place by bidding $0.52. This strategy sometimes tends to drive up the keyword prices so be aware you don’t cross the limit of spending $1.00 per click.

(b) Remove Bid Gaps

Overture defines the bid gap as “the difference between the amount you are currently paying for a click and the minimum you could be paying to still remain above your next highest competitor in the search results.”

For example: You pay $0.70 per click and your next highest competitor pays $0.60 per click. You can pay just $0.61 per click and still be placed above your competitor. By closing this bid gap you save $0.09 per click which in 1,000 clicks is saving of $90!

(c) Control your Maximum Cost per Click

As mentioned earlier in this article, the calculation of your maximum bid cost (cost per click) requires you to collect a list of statistics about your website. Based on our assumption, you are willing to pay maximum of $1.00 per click. Therefore you should not pursue any positions where the bids are over your $1.00 limit. Wait till the price falls under $1.00 to prevent any possible losses.

To get the most accurate bidding results without having to baby-sit your advertising campaign, I would recommend relying on one of the automated bid management software available on the market today. In general, those tools constantly check your bids and adjust them accordingly to maintain your desired position so that you don’t have to be alert 24/7.

The more sophisticated tools allow you to set your daily budget to prevent spending more than it is efficient for your business. Below I have listed the main features you should be looking for when choosing the bid management software for your campaign:

• The ability to create and identify targeted keywords and phrases that convert leads in sales.
• The ability to set the maximum amount your want to bid.
• The ability to fix bid gaps so you don’t pay more money than is necessary
• The ability to set your desired position.
• the ability to compile comprehensive reports on your keywords, bidding cost, bid position and current bid for each keywords.
• The ability to monitor competitor’s activity by checking competitors ranking and current bids.

If you would like to download a demo version of bid management software, there is one available for free at website http://www.keywordbidmaximizer.com/bidmaximizer. It will help you to better understand the whole process of designing and maintaining PPC campaigns so you always manage to cost-effectively allocate your budgets and increase your revenue.

Paid Search Advertising presents an excellent opportunity to immediately address your offers to the proper online audience. Focus on identifying highly targeted keywords that convert for your website. Calculate your bids so your sales justify the cost. This way you will maximize your return on investment and ensure your website’s success with PPC advertising.

About The Author Ivana Giardi is Marketing Director at Apex Pacific, developer of smart internet marketing solutions to help companies increase sales and profitability online. If you would like to learn more about Paid Search Advertising, visit Apex Pacific at www.apexpacific.com or email Ivana at marketing@apexpacific.com.

Low-Carb Dieting During Pregnancy May Benefit Your Baby! – by: Melissa White

As low-carb dieters change there eating habits, it is likely that these habits will stay with them. There is no surprise then that more and more pregnant woman are trying to maintain there low-carb routine during the months of pregnancy. There are new studies being done on low-carb dieting that point to the fat that there may be benefits in the long run for children of low-carb dieting.

Scientists from the Southampton School of Medicine have used mice to study the benefits of low-carb diets during gestation. It was found that pups born to mice fed a high-unsaturated protein and fat diet and low In carbohydrates were more likely to have low liver triglyceride levels that the pups born to mice fed a standard diet which was high-carb and low-fat. Low-carb pups also had higher amount of protein that help in burning fat than the pups that were on the standard diet.

The mother mice were put on either the low-carb diet or the high-carb/low fat diets six weeks prior to being impregnated and stayed on the diets throughout there entire pregnancy as well as the duration of nursing. Post weaning all pups were fed the same high-carb diet, despite this fact, the pups born to the low-carb mothers were found to have significantly greater levels of the hepatic proteins CD36, CPT-1 and PPARá, which help with fatty acid oxidation.

The mice on the low-carb diet ate about 21 percent less than the high-carb/low fat diet. These low-carb mothers also consumed about 57 percent fewer carbs, 23 percent more protein, and 153 percent more fat than the high-carb mothers.

Humans too need to maintain low levels of liver triglyceride and a good lipid (fat) metabolism. This will help reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. This disease alone kills thousands of Americans each year.

About The Author Melissa “Granny” White is a Low-Carb Diet fan and has been making delicious Low Carb recipes for years. You can get all 800 of her delicious recipes at: http://www.grannys-low-carb-recipes.com. granny@grannys-low-carb-recipes.com