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A difficult business climate requires bold business decision-making. But wouldn’t it be great if you could improve business without having to make game-changing strategic decisions? Thanks to the internet revolution it is now cheaper and easier than ever to boost your bottom line by converting from conventional phone service to VOIP. VOIP, or voice over internet protocol (IP), is the transmission of voice over the already established internet infrastructure. Essentially, employing VOIP enables the user to make phone calls over the internet – basically free – instead of requiring a phone line. This enables the user to eliminate the need for a phone company who charges exorbitant fees for line maintenance, transmission, and the myriad call features that are the norm for phone service these days. Small businesses can therefore benefit immensely from a small business voip system because it will reduce one of the largest overhead expenses of a small business: the phone bill. In order to set up a voip system, all that is really required is an internet connection and a series of internet-compatible phones. A small fee is paid for each unique phone number, though extensions or branches from that number are generally free. The user then needs to buy internet phones made especially for VOIP, which usually hookup to the existing network by way of Ethernet. Then a business can either buy PBX hardware to host their own VOIP phone network, though most instead choose to outsource the hosting to a company that specializes in small business VOIP. In this way, businesses are often able to save 70% or more (long-term) on phone bills and renew their own companies’ telecommunications infrastructure in the process. While this tough economic climate surely requires creativity from business owners on the strategic side, it’s nice to know that cutting bills and laying the foundation for future business growth are not mutually exclusive. 

3 Reasons to Outsource Sales in a Tough Economy

Many businesses look to cut costs in a recession. However, successful businesses know that marketing must go on, no matter what the economy is doing. If you let up on your sales and marketing, even though times are tough, you lose market share. An outsource sales and marketing firm can help you maintain your competitive edge.

Following are three good reasons to outsource sales in a recession.

1. Cold Calling: Most salespeople hate cold calling and will do almost anything not to do it. But, it is one of the most effective ways to produce new leads.

As salespeople may have to make even more calls during a recession, they may find their sales being made dropping because they aren’t even used to making their sales calls before the hard times hit. Now, to expect them to redouble those efforts for possibly half the return may be unreasonable.

An outsource sales and marketing firm can be just the magic bullet you need to increase sales during a recession.

2. ROI Easy to Track: In a recession, it’s more important than ever to watch your bottom line. This means cutting sales and marketing methods that aren’t working. And, redoubling your efforts on those that are making money.

Because an outsource sales and marketing firm keep plenty records, it’s easy for you to track your ROI.

3. Replace a Shrinking Sales Force: In a recession, it’s not uncommon for many salespeople, especially those who derive the bulk of their income from commission, to look for more stable jobs. Hence, through no fault of your own, you may have a diminishing in-house sales team.

An outsource sales and marketing firm can pick up this slack, keeping your company’s profits on track – and even exceeding them.

In tough times, it’s smart to focus on your core competencies. If sales isn’t one of them, hire an outsource sales and marketing firm to take care of it for you.

Social anxiety is a fear that many people suffer from: the fear of social situations and being judged and evaluated by other people. This anxiety is something that most children suffer from in their developmental years - “shy” children, for example, are suffering from it more than others. This is completely normal, as most are able to handle it, face it, and overcome it. However, if they don’t and the fear continues to grow, the person may wind up facing a social anxiety disorder. 

Symptoms can include excessive sweating and blushing, trembling, nausea, and stammering. If intense enough, it can cause panic attacks in the individual. The biggest problem in social anxiety disorders is the self-medication that many use to get through it. Some use alcohol or other dangerous drugs to calm themselves during social events and reduce their fears. Especially if they are undiagnosed or untreated, social anxiety can lead to substance abuse, alcoholism, and depression.

Anxiety related to social situations can be genetic factors, or they can result from childhood experiences. Embarrassing moments and bullying from others increase a person’s timidness and reduce their self esteem to the point where they have no confidence in themselves. This is important for parents to address early in a child’s life so that they deal with their fears and overcome them.

Remember when animation was hand-drawn? Those were the days of classic films like Jungle Book, Peter Pan, and Aladdin – to name but a few. But gone are the days of hand-animation; of brilliantly conceived backgrounds and facial gestures. With the advent of advanced graphical rendering software, animation is becoming more and more lifelike – but at what cost? If art history has taught us anything, it is that the most beautiful art isn’t art that mimics reality, it’s art the suggests it or improves on it. Computer animation, for all its awesome realism, fails to capture any of the spirit of what makes art great. And then there’s the loss of the animator. When animations had to be hand-drawn, there was actually a culture of lifelong artists – craftsmen, almost – who devoted themselves to pictorial depiction of narrative Now, there’s just a lot of computer experts with some visual arts training clicking away at their 3D interfaces to produce the next tweenie blockbuster before movies go out of style altogether.

Emerging from the rubble of hand animation are just two major animation companies – Pixar and Dreamworks. While their accomplishments in producing entertaining narrative are commendable, who is to say that any of the films were enhanced by their use of high-tech animating software and celebrity voices? What’s obvious is that Hollywood figured out along the way that they could save a lot of money by drawing everything digitally and could sell more tickets by hiring celebrities to do cartoon voices; not that they were looking to improve cinematic status quo, as the public has been suckered into believing.

Yet there are still some smaller animation companies that blend the realities and capabilities of new technology with the sense of style that accompanied the now-romanticized pencil and paper. Smaller animation companies will produce animation for websites, advertisements, corporate videos, or just about any other purpose that could use a more ‘animated’ twist. These small companies have hired many of the former animators to make true animation accessible to those who appreciate its integrity; and they’re able to produce some stunning pictures for a lot less than you’d think.

So next time you’re considering employing media for your company, consider doing a good for the cause of real art while you do good for your company’s top line: employ an animation company to help you convey your message to customers in a manner they’re sure to appreciate.

I was looking to learn one of the most effective martial arts so that I could protect myself from the increasing number of violent attacks that seem to be taking place here in Dallas. Jui Jitsu training looked like the best option for me because jiu jitsu is viewed by many to be one of the deadliest martial arts, along with krav maga and muay tai. But as the saying goes, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ In terms of Jiu Jitsu training, that meant long hours of literally backbreaking training. The instructor repeatedly asked us to do things that could have seriously harmed ourselves – jumping shoulder-first from a 10 foot height in order to practice breaking falls, for instance. I was always acutely aware of having had to sign a waiver of liability, and yet also acutely comforted by the fact that our instructor had the confidence to push us to such limits of physical and psychological endurance.

Anyway, here are some of the pros and cons of jiu jitsu training in case any of you from the Dallas area are considering taking up jiu jisu.

Pros: Increased strength, increased flexibility, increased confidence, increased self-defense skills.

Jiu jitsu will make you stronger than you’ve ever been, regardless of whether or not you life weights or body build now. Because much of training employs plyometric exercises to build speed, small muscles that don’t get worked by traditional weight training get a serious workout and make you stronger and fitter than you’ve ever been. Your flexibility will also increase as a function of regular exercise and a regular stretching routine; moreover, flexibility is required for the execution of higher-level forms and moves. Increased confidence comes by way of a sense of accomplishment and increased fitness/better body, in addition to its correlation to the new knowledge that you can kick the big guy’s ass.

Cons: Bruises, sprains, commitment.

Learning jiu jitsu isn’t like learning other martial arts; it’s much more physically intense as you will often deal with grappling, throws, and fall-breaking. Stretch marks and bruising from sparring are a generally occurrence, and sprains can happen – part of the steep learning curve. Speaking of the learning curve, it is very steep, but learning jiu jitsu requires a serious commitment – one that will make you willing to endure all the cons I’ve listed in pursuit of the pros.

Whether or not the gas bubble has burst, Americans are now living in an economy where the prospect of a gallon of gas for less than $4 is cause for celebration.

That barrier could be broken as early as this coming weekend, as a two-week header in crude prices has begun to ripple out to all gas stations nationwide.

The national average for a gallon of regular gas has pulled back to just above $4 a gallon and oil is tumbling to its lowest point in weeks just recently. The belief that high prices have yet to reflect just how badly the demand has dropped in the United States, one of the world’s thirstiest oil consumers.

Pump prices are poised to dip even further, and very well may cost as much as 25 cents less by Labor Day. People do say typically, prices will shoot up like a rocket, and fall like a feather. However, this time, it is looking like it is different. The retail sector especially is interested in bringing down these prices as fast as they can so the retail business can be stimulated in their convenience stores.

In the oil news markets, oil has continued on a two-week sell off. Light, sweet crude for September’s delivery has fallen to $2.23 to settle at $123.26 a barrel in the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier the contract dropped even more to $122.50, its lowest point since June of this year.

In the oil news, many analysts say the market’s momentum is pointing to further declines. Crude prices have dropped in seven of the last nine sessions, and are currently down more than 16 percent from its highest price above $147 a barrel just earlier this month.

There is nothing sufficiently bullish coming into the market at this time to sustain a rally. We are just seeing a new theme where as demand has become a very significant part of the equation. Oil news does tell us prices have remained about 65% her than they were at this time last year. 

Signs of Americans continued struggle with soaring energy prices are affecting the filling station operators that are hungry for business to ratchet down the average price for a gallon of regular gas by 2 cents to encourage purchases.

Such a large decline suggests demands are fading. Retail prices have fallen about a $.10 cents per gallon in just the past week. We are seeing a drastic and historic change in the Americans driving habits; however, we still have a long ways to go before we reach the comfort zone again.

The talk on the trading floors has all the sudden shifted to demand worries and analysts note that prices could rebound even if just on a temporary cut to supply. The abduction of five crew members recently from a Swedish boat in Nigeria’s oil producing Niger Delta

Region has been a reminder that much of the world’s oil is still being pulled from politically volatile regions. The African nation is a huge supplier to the U.S. It was reported earlier in the week, Nigerian militants have threatened to destroy pipelines in the region within a month.

Acupuncture refers to a technique of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body with the aim of relieving pain and for therapeutic purposes. According to acupuncture theory, these acupuncture points lay along meridians which qi, a kind of vital energy, is said to flow. There is no generally accepted anatomical or histological basis for these concepts, and modern acupuncturists will probably view them in functional terms rather than structural terms. Acupuncture is said to have originated in China and is very much associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Different kinds of acupuncture such as Classical Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Vietnamese and Korean acupuncture have been practiced and taught throughout the world for centuries.

While acupuncture has been and will probably continue to be a subject of active scientific research since the late 20th century, its effects are not very well understood, and does remains controversial among researchers and clinicians. The body of evidence remains inconclusive but continues to be active and growing.  In 2007 a review by a famous scientist finds that the emerging clinical evidence does seems to imply that acupuncture is effective for some but not for all conditions.

Article Source: Bourbonnais Acupuncture 

Let us start by explaining what a press release really is. By definition, a press release is simply, a statement created for distribution to the media. In addition, the purpose of a press release is to give a journalist information that will be useful, accurate and interesting. That makes since, right. Being useful, accurate, and interesting, that easy.

Press releases are actually cookie cutters. Once you have gotten the hang of writing one, all you have to do the next time, is fill in the blanks. Press releases will always conform to an established format, and journalists can receive so many press releases a day. They have a set standard and expectation that must be conformed to so that your press release will even be read, let alone published. If your press release is printed as is, without changing a word, then you have conformed to the journalistic standards of that particular medium. Write on, you are going to do a great job!

Press releases should always be printed on company letterhead. If this is not possible, adding the company logo would then be essential. The companies name, web address, location and phone number should be printed at the top of the page. At the top of the page in caps and bold center, you should spell out “PRESS RELEASE”. The press release contact name should be underneath the writing with all contact numbers printed clearly underneath. If this is for immediate response, say so, on the left margin directly above the title in caps.

The next important component of the press release would be the “Headline” or “Title”. It should also be centered and in bold, and it should capture the journalist’s attention. The press release title should be short but eye catching, grabbing the attention of the journalist, impressing them enough to read it.

Now you are ready for the useful, accurate, and interesting “body” of the press release. The body of the press release will need to begin with the date and city for which the press release is originated. The body itself of the press release should be very basic such as who, what, where, when and why. The first paragraph should be a brief description of what the press release is actually about. The second paragraph explains in more detail; who cares; why should you care; where you can find it; and when it will happen. Also included in the second informative paragraph is usually a quote that can give the release a personal touch. Press releases and news stories will be boring to journalists without a human interest to go along with it. The third paragraph would need to be a summation of the release and further information on the company with the company contact information clearly written out.

The content of a press release, and should be typed in a clear and basic font such as “Times New Roman” for example, and double-spaced. If the press release is longer than one page, the second page should indicate “Page 2” in the upper right hand corner. The journalistic standards have set clear and basic parameters to define the end of the press release: ###. Three # symbols, centered directly underneath the last line of the release will clearly indicate the end of an article.

So, the next time you are tasked with writing a press release for your company, you will know the basic rules as well as useful, accurate and interesting information portrayed within the set journalistic guidelines. You now know how to write a press release, so go for it and have fun.

Kids’ parties can be memorable experiences for everyone involved. Nothing puts a smile on a parent’s face more than watching their son or daughter have the time of their life with their friends. Imagine how much more fun your child would have if there was a magician or clown there to keep the kids’ attention for an hour or two? Hiring a children’s party entertainer can add something extra to a child’s party, but how do you go about arranging one?

First, ask around. If your friends or family have ever hired a children’s party entertainer, you should talk to them about their experience. Like any business, referrals are the strongest method of marketing, and you should take full advantage of that. Talk to them about who they hired: how much did it cost, what did the entertainer do, how did the kids enjoy it, etc. Getting that kind of information ahead of time can really benefit you in making your decision.

If you don’t know anyone who has hired a children’s party entertainer, then you may want to talk to an agency. Having an agency provide your entertainer can mean that you might pay a little more, but you will get a professional entertainer who knows the ins and outs of the craft – and generally will be more reliable. On top of that, if your children’s party entertainer falls ill, and agency can make sure a suitable replacement is provided.

When choosing entertainment, make sure you factor in just how many kids will be there, and their ages. Kids that are older than 10 will most likely not want a clown. If there are a lot of kids, you may want to hire two or more entertainers to work the crowd. Talk with the entertainer ahead of time and arrange some sort of goodie bag or souvenir for the kids to take home as a great reminder of the fun they had.

Make sure you get a contract or letter detailing the scope of the job and description, along with payment details and a cancellation policy. Covering those details may help you avoid some headaches later if there is confusion.

By providing a children’s party entertainer, you add a little more magic to a party that a child will remember for many years to come.

When organizing any type of large activity for kids, many times the idea of hiring a facepainter gets kicked around. Do you need one, or would one be a solid idea for your party? Here are some things to consider:

1. How many children will be at the party? If your party is only six kids, then a facepainter probably isn’t necessary. You will have to pay this person, and to do that for such a small group could be a waste – the painting would be done after fifteen minutes. Now, if you have twenty or more kids, then a facepainter would be a great idea. Having a station set up for facepainting is one activity that can keep kids occupied in a rotation.

2. How “good” does the facepainting need to be? Are you looking for professional, full-face detail? Will the kids really appreciate it all that much? If not, then consider just getting some face paints and doing it yourself. Why hire a facepainter when you can draw a simple spider on a boy’s cheek, or a flower on a girl?

3. What kind of party is this? If you are having a pirate party, then there’s no need to have a facepainter. If your theme is sports, then facepainting isn’t really appropriate. Make sure that the facepainting will fit in with the rest of the theme.

Budget is another thing to consider, but these three are the main ones. Think about them thoroughly before you make any decisions!