Internet Marketing Tips - Keeping Your Pulse On Current Events

Lots of people who I talk to ask me how I get ideas for products. I really have to give a chuckle when I get asked these questions. When I hear them, it makes me think that most people are living in caves, which I know they're not. The truth is, if you would just open up your eyes and look around, there are tons of ideas for products and services just ripe for the taking if you do nothing else but check the daily news. That's right. Current events are so filled with great ideas that all you have to do is read the newspaper. This article is going to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Unless you really have been living in that cave, then you probably heard that just the other day (as of this writing) Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. Whether you think the man cheated, didn't cheat, deserves the record or doesn't, it is certainly news, and big news. Okay, you're probably thinking, "How can I make money off of this?" After all, you probably didn't catch the home run ball. Well, there are other ways.

How about starting a blog asking people what they think of the record. Put up a poll on the blog. Put up a guestbook for people to post comments. Get as much interest as you can. A topic like Barry Bonds is going to be hot for a long time. So take advantage of it. How? Well, how about joining an affiliate program like Amazon and promote sports books? Seek out online affiliate programs that specialize in sports cards. Maybe you even have Barry Bonds sports cards that you can sell at your site or on Ebay. Certainly there are a number of ways you can take advantage of this situation.

And yes, take advantage is exactly what it is. More explicitly, it's called exploiting. And there is nothing wrong with it. It's how the system works. You look for what people are interested in and then you sell it, plain and simple. And ironically, the things that people are interested in are in the news everyday. You can find them online or on TV or even on your car stereo. I personally listen to WFAN for all my sports news. If I think there is a good story coming up, I'll think of a way to make money on it.

That's what smart businessmen do. As long as you're not hurting anyone or doing anything illegal, there is nothing wrong with taking a current event and capitalizing on it. So the next time you're looking for a marketing idea, turn to current events.

There's more there than you realize.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Event Fund Raising - Three Key Skills to a Successful Fund Raising Event

Putting together and seeing through a successful fund raising event can be very rewarding or a real pain in the neck. If you have been chosen to volunteer or to be in charge of the local charity fundraiser and you're trying to put together an event fund raising campaign that is successful you first need to consider if you're truly the person that should be running the event. This article will go into a few guidelines that will show you whether or not you have what it takes to be a successful event fund raiser.

How Well Organized Are You

One of the first keys in pulling off a successful event fund raiser is to make sure that you have all your ducks in a row. You should have a system set up where you can keep good records of all donations and all donors. By doing this you will not only help yourself with the current event that you're raising funds for, but it will help in future events, should you decide to continue on doing this.

The Personality Check

Have you ever taken a personality test or temperament test to determine whether or not you have natural leadership skills or if you're more of a follower? Sometimes people think they don't want to lead an event. However, they do possess the skills that make for very good leaders. If you don't already know what your personality type is this a be a good time to do a small little test and find out what your skill sets are.

Along the same lines of knowing what your personality type is - a good leader will also know what the personality types and skill sets of all their volunteers of the volunteers you will be having to help with the event fund raising project. By knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each of your volunteers, you can place them in the proper positions and have a much more successful fundraising experience.

Local Community Influence

Last but not least, if you're going to lead any kind of the charitable event fund raising project - You need to have a good influence on several prominent business leaders in your area. You are going to rely on these people to help boost your donations in the early stages of the fund raising event.

Parents & Kids - Talk About Current Events

Talking with your Kids about Current Events? 

Why not?  There are so many news articles on line, in newspapers and on TV that are truly worthy of noting.  The trick if you're going to talk with your kids about them is to avoid our adult urge to "comment" and/or share our own opinions.  Talk about a turn off!  Most kids are pretty darned sure about OUR opinions--and they don't need a lecture from us. 

The purpose of talking to kids about current events is to get THEIR opinions and thoughts.  For example, just recently there was a news story about Levi Johnson (you know Bristol Palin's former boyfriend?).  He was being interviewed and was asked: "Do you have any regrets?".  He replied that he didn't regret "being a father".  No matter what your political beliefs, this is a great lead-in to a discussion. 

In this example, no matter what your opinions and ideas on the subject, this in-the-news broadcast issue can provide a glimpse into your child's notions and beliefs about many aspects of this story.   This could be a good opening to talk about "premarital sex", "teen relationships", "behavioral choices",  "risky behavior", "long-term plans", and a whole bunch more. 

If you wanted to start a conversation with your child about any of these issues, how would you begin?  Sit down and say, "I've been wanting to talk to you about ____"  or "Now's a good time for us to talk about ___" Or "What do you think about ____?"  Any of these openings delivered out-of-the-blue is likely to illicit an unspoken thought: "Oh, boy, here we go...here comes the lecture!" 

The mistake that many parents might make in bringing up a life-lesson subject into a discussion is that we adults often want to lead the discussion.  After all, we've got the maturity and life-long experience to impart.  When we tout our own opinions before finding out what our children think, we often shut the door to an open and genuine conversation.  Kids often perceive the spontaneous personal "conversation" as a one-way lecture and give us a glazed stare--have you noticed?

Instead, using another outside-the-family specific person or event (like one "in the news"), provides a sense of being an observer to the issue.  By seeing the issue from a slight distance parents and kids can talk about them and their issues--them or what they or how that worked for them--it's not quite so personal or open to personal criticism or embarrassment.

Here are some tips to connecting with your child and finding out what he/she thinks:

1.  Be vigilant!  Be on the look-out in the newspaper, on-line and in televised news for stories that can open a discussion.  It might be about sex, drugs or music--it might be about personal safety--it might be about school behaviors or education.  The news is full of ideas--EVERYDAY!
2. Ask if your child heard the story (on the news, in the paper or on-line) about _____.  If not, explain what happens in the story.  If so, ask, "What do you think about it?"
3. Be prepared to ask open-ended questions so that you won't get a "uh" or a "yes" or a "no".  Try questions like "What do you think he was thinking?" or "What do you imagine he thought was going to happen?" or "How do you suppose he got in that predicament?". 
4. Avoid asking leading or personal questions like: "You wouldn't do that, would you?" or (even worse) "You wouldn't be so foolish as to think that, would you?" or "How can I be sure you aren't going to get into that type of trouble?". 
5. Ask your questions and give your child plenty of time to respond. 
6. Avoid judging his/her response, notions or beliefs.  Notice your own tendency or desire to preach or teach and DON'T.  Keep asking open-ended questions so your child can keep sharing and talking.  This is your opportunity to find out what your child needs to know or understand--not your time to act on it.  
7. If the "discussion" goes awry, apologize for YOUR part in the conversation.  Explain that you just wanted to talk TOGETHER about what YOU had seen "in the news".  But, don't defend your position about the subject--it'll lead to an argument if your child disagrees.  Or it might even shut your child down and close a future window of opportunity for discussion.
8. Be gentle on yourself.  Talking WITH kids is tough!  It takes practice and intention to automatically use "open-ended" questions.  It takes a true desire to find out what your kids think and belief and resist the immediate desire to correct their thinking. 

Parenting requires patience, skill, knowledge--and experience.  Your children are out-there exposed to all sorts of ideas and behaviors.  Our job is to assist them to do what we did--learn from what we observe and experience.  Talking with your kids about issues "out-there" makes it easier to open a conversation about a subject, learn from it and change or confirm beliefs and ideas.  Luckily there is a lot of hot-topics in the news everyday we can use to start the dialogue. 

Overview of Hollywood - Bollywood Current Events

The world's movie wealth is not Hollywood but Bollywood. Bollywood is the nickname for the Indian film production situated in Mumbai.

Indians are in love with movies, even though most films follow a similar format called collection of spices. Movies are three to four hours long (and include an interval), include dozens of songs and dances, top stars, the story between the songs of boy meets girl, lots of action, and always - a happy ending.

Fourteen million Indians go to the movies on a daily basis (about 1.4% of the population of 1 billion) and pay the comparable to the average Indian's day's wages (US $1-3) to see any of the over 800 films churned out by Bollywood each year. That's more than double the number of feature films produced in the Hollywood.

The public's curiosity in Hollywood actresses and other celebrities is not a recent trend. Magazines have provided reporting of Hollywood actresses for decades, chronicling their performances and contribution a glance into their lives. Actresses who starred in movies back when they were called "talkies" have all awestruck the public. Film buffs attracted in learning more about these Hollywood actresses can do more than just watch the films in which they starred: They can also learn about who they were outside of their characters by reading articles in magazine archives.

When these Hollywood actresses shot to fame, magazine articles often focused on their early lives, before they entered the public eye. In addition to offering biographies of Hollywood actresses and stars, these articles also discussed their performances and critiqued their films. Though many magazines offer admittance to their archives online, these archives may not go back far enough to cover the time of early Hollywood actresses.

Infrequently, some fans may come across old issues of periodicals like Film Spectator and Photoplay Magazine at garage or estate sales, but often they are at a loss for primary sources.

List Relationship Marketing - Build Rapport With Your List by Relating Current Events to Your Niche

You want your information to stand out among the sea of blog posts, articles, emails, and other communications your prospects will be exposed to on a regular basis. An excellent way is to relate a current event to your niche. There are many ways to do this, but you will want to choose events that are timely, that you can use to make a point regarding your topic, and that hold the interest of the person you are trying to connect with. This can all be done without compromising the integrity of your business.

You can find timely current events simply by keeping your eyes and ears open to what's happening around you. Whether you receive your information from the network news, magazines, newspapers, or any other source, there is always something happening that can turn into a media connection for your niche. For example, during the recent Olympic Games I wrote about the leadership skills and the similarities of being an athlete to those of an entrepreneur. It made for interesting reading and many of my readers commented on my post. This was a way to connect with people I had never heard from before.

Make a relevant point about the current event you are writing about. Even if it is a stretch, you can connect most events to your niche. Think about awards that are given for the arts and for science, a discovery that makes people think differently about the world around them, or a small achievement by someone not usually in the news. Once I wrote about a man who had jumped onto the subway tracks to save another man from being run over by the oncoming train. This small act of heroism saved a life and changed two lives forever. I related that to the events surrounding one of my mentors in his life and business. All of this makes us more real and human in the eyes of our prospects.

Even though our businesses are interesting and exciting to us, or should be, this may not be the case with someone on your list. By relating a current event and sharing a more personal story along with it, we are able to draw that person in to our world, even if it is only for a short time. When I think about how I came to start my online business and become an entrepreneur, it is the stories that made a difference to me. Imagine getting just one person to want to change their life, based on a story you shared that was based on a current event. When I was a classroom teacher that happened regularly; in my online business it is far too rare.