Effective Advertising and Info Management

Dumpy blonde, 30 something Megan Barry orphaned at an early age and raised by her grandmother feels as though life may be passing her by. Determined to not marry one of the local men and live the life of a fisherman’s wife while equally determined to not go to work in the local fishery Meg worked first as a waitress at the local luncheon counter. Other than a six year relationship with a local married school teacher, a potential joining with clumsy gardener Jimmy Dooley and dime novels gotten from the Beara Penisula Mobile Library; Scullymore, Ireland did not have a lot to offer in Meg’s opinion. It was when she had packed her suitcase and set out for the bus that Meg was offered a job by Connor Gorman the local wealthy patron.

Killgorman house sits on a knoll at the edge of town. Gorman’s fiancée Helen Featherstone seems determined to prove her position as the lady of the house when Meg peruses a copy of ‘Sloop Skippers Notes,’ before seizing a chance to escape from her humdrum life. A purloined key, a weather driven adventure at sea, and an illegal still all figure in the tale. How Megan ends up alone on an island with only a gull for company comes before a surprise offer of affection and a new job offer.

Writer Trisha FitzGerald Petri has produced a festive, fast paced read on the pages of Casting Off. Megan Barry is not the characteristic fanciful heroine, she is however a very acceptable, and agreeable personality. In an eruption of witticism and style FitzGerald Petri paints a keenly focused anecdote filled with excellently masterminded settings, quick-witted plausible characters and exceptional conversation all set against an environment of sea and tumult in this rollicking tale.

The reader is drawn into the tale from the opening paragraphs. We taste the sea salt, feel the spray against our faces and grip the rails of the yacht as we, and Megan, ride out a horrific storm. Connor Gorman is a man we can enjoy coming to know, his fiancée Featherstone is quite the opposite. Reader interest is held tight in this easily read adventure from opening lines to the epilogue. Conflict is present in good measure and is suitably resolved.

Included is a glossary of Irish expressions and Gaelic words… although writer FitzGerald Petrie’s description writing leads little confusion as to meaning for the words used.

An excellent choice for the home pleasure reading shelf, high school library and those who like a good adventure with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure Casting Off is a delightful read for a long summery afternoon or an autumn evening spent reading and sipping cocoa.

Reviewed by: molly martin

http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mollymartin

Genre: Suspense
Author: . Trisha FitzGerald Petri

Line/Publisher Wings
ISBN: 1-59088-546-5 Available in print
Publisher Wings ePress.

Also available as eBook

Writer, Reviewer, Educator, Parent.

When it comes to optimizing your site for search engines you basically have two choices: You can hire someone, with experience, to do it for you, or you can learn the basic principles of search engine optimization and do it yourself. If you choose the do-it-yourself route, then it is necessary to have some proper tools or written information if you want to do optimize your site properly and not spend months learning search engine optimization by trial and error.

There are various kinds of software and guidebooks which claim to be able to help you get top rankings in the search engines. Just as it would be a waste of time to learn SEO by trial and error, it would be equally inefficient (and a big drain on your pocketbook) to read all the guidebooks that are out there. You can save time and money by getting Ryan Allis’s new book, Guide to Obtaining a #1 Ranking in the Search Engines. (http://www.a1-optimization.com/allis.htm)

Allis offers a step-by-step easily understood method. His advice is based on sound optimization practice, and avoids “tricks” that will get you in trouble with search engines. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, you will find something of interest in this ebook.

Allis takes you through the process of keyword selection, and then optimizing pages with these keywords, and explains where and how to submit the pages. Most importantly he takes into account on-page and off page factors that will affect your ranking. On page factors are such things as keyword-density (how many keywords you have compared to your total text), properly written metatags, page structure, file-naming and your site’s link structure. Off-page factors include link popularity, the quality and quantity of incoming links to your site. These days it is becoming very difficult to generate traffic to your site if you do not have a good amount of quality, incoming links. Allis shows you how to get these links, in the guide itself, and in a free companion book.

His basic optimizing strategy is to build a content-rich site, with a lot of articles and pages about the theme of your product or service. A large content-rich site is useful because each one of these pages serves as a mini-website attracting searchers looking for various aspects of your offerings. Also, the more content you have, the higher the page ranking and the better the placement your site will get in search results. This is a crucial factor if you are in a very competitive category.

The ebook is only around 40 pages, but its brevity is its strength. You will not get bogged down or suffocated by information overload. But if you are thinking that all you have to do is read a 40 page book and then you will get top rankings in the search engines you are dead wrong. Allis, like other competent people in this field, warns that in order to get a top rankings you will have to put in many hours of work and wait several months before you get results. If you have the time and interest to do-it-yourself, plus a reasonable command of the basics of site-building and maintenance, then Allis’s “Guide to Obtaining a #1 Ranking in the Search Engines” is a must-read ebook for you.

You can get more information about Ryan Allis’s book by clicking here: http://www.a1-optimization.com/allis.htm

Be sure to read this related article: Improving Your Site’s Link Popularity and Search Engine Ranking

Donald Nelson is a web developer, editor, and social worker. He has been
working on the Internet since 1995 and is the proprietor of A1-Optimization,
http://www.a1-optimization.com, a firm providing search engine optimization,
copywriting, reciprocal linking, and other web promotion services. He
publishes a monthly ezine, A1-Web Promotion Tips, available at
http://www.a1-optimization.com/newsletter.html

Nope, this was the not the book that I had hoped for when I picked it up. Good thing that it was just borrowed from the library.

The first two-thirds of the book went deep into the history of human enlightenment, (which was so boring and difficult to stay focused on that it was a struggle to finish it).
If you are thinking of reading this book because it has James Redfield on the cover, don’t. After reading this book I then decided to carefully read the reviews that were all over the front and back cover - not one of those reviews was a review about this particular book! All the reviewers were just paying lip service to each author and their previous works.
Secondly, I felt cheated by the way the authors devoted only one chapter to the content that really matters - the development of our synchronistic abilities, and even that was really lame.

I am afraid the collaboration of these three fine authors was a dismal failure on this book. I think that each author should stick to his/her own “voice” and write what they know best. I am a James Redfield fan and this certainly was not James Redfield material.

(c) Cindy DeJager 2005
Cindy DeJager is a freelance writer living in Calgary, AB Canada. For more information on her book review service or articles email dejagerc@telus.net

“Author of two books and many short stories, J.P. Ransom
is busily writing a series of books called Colla’d Greens and
two more upcoming books including a sequel to Born Evil.

Born Evil is a compact, 150-page book that is printed on
acid-free paper - which may be of interest to the
environmentally conscious consumer. I would categorize
this book as a chilling horror, which involves an infant that is
born evil. Traumatized by early experiences, only
compounds Jonathan’s natural inclination - a cruel desire
to cause harm. Unprepared for a disturbed child, his
adopted parents are continually wallowing in deep pits of
overwhelming uncertainty. Rick suspects the truth, but Trish
finds it very hard to imagine or even accept that little
Jonathon is capable of such hateful acts.

I think the book makes a good point that some people are
simply born with a desire to do harm, with no abusive
situation to attribute these urges to. Readers are also
shown how these urges can easily be encouraged through
socially acceptable entertainment and through being
witness to violent acts.

While reading Born Evil, I experienced a wide range of
emotions from anger to sorrow and shock. The conclusion
was exceptional and I look forward to J.P. Ransom’s
sequel.”

ISBN#: 1410788520
Author: J.P. Ransom

~ Lillian Brummet - Book Reviewer - Co-author of the book Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the
environment Author of Towards Understanding, a collection of poetry. http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit

If you watch television, read the newspaper and/or magazines, frequent the Internet, or simply move in any kind of a business circle, you must have, at one time or another, pondered the following:

Why do some organizations consistently outperform their competitors?

What do managers at the best companies knowand doto keep their organizations on top?

When it comes to implementing management practices that can propel a company to lasting success … WHAT REALLY WORKS?

Well, what better way to find out than a massive five-year study in which over fifty consultants and business school professors at top universities around the country analyzed ten years of data on 160 companies and more than 200 management practices? They called it the Evergreen Project and their goal was to correlate superior corporate performance with the companies’ adherence to 200 commonly used practices.

Companies they identify as winners consistently followed successful practices in all four of the primary areas (strategy, execution, culture and structure) and any two secondary areas (talent, leadership, innovation, and mergers and partnerships).

Primary:

1. Strategy: Devise and Maintain a Clearly Stated, Focused Strategy
2. Execution: Develop and Maintain Flawless Operational Execution
3. Culture: Develop and Maintain a Performance-Oriented Culture
4. Structure: Build and Maintain a Fast, Flexible, Flat Organization

Secondary:

1. Talent: Hold on to Talented Employees and Find More
2. Leadership: Keep Leaders and Directors Committed to the Business
3. Innovation: Make Innovations That Are Industry Transforming
4. Mergers & Partnerships: Make Growth Happen with Mergers and Partnerships

The key to long-term success, they argue, is implementing effective programs in the six areas simultaneously. After analyzing the data, William Joyce and his colleagues concluded that a company following this “4+2″ formula over the ten year period had a better than 90% chance of being a winner.

Anecdotes from the successful companies will interest general business readers, but the contrast with the experience of companies that stumbled should be particularly instructive. The detailed profiles of “winner” and “loser” companies were especially interesting. Replete with incisive discussions of various companies’ approaches for each of the four primary and four secondary areas of practice, the book also offers summaries of the study results in table format. For managers who wonder how anybody can keep six areas of practice fine-tuned at the same time, the authors agree it may be a challenge but point to their wealth of success stories to show it isn’t impossible.

“It is time for the first book identifying the fundamental practices that create business success-the ones that do indeed really matter.”

More than 100 business book reviews written by Harry K. Jones are available at http://www.AchieveMax.com/books/.

Reprint Information

Your organization may reprint this article for your newsletter, online publication, or mailing list. We ask that you print the:

• article in its entirety;
• byline of the writer;
• information about the writer, which is available at the end of each article; and
• contact information, including our toll-free phone number in the U.S. (800-886-2MAX) and link to our website - www.AchieveMax.com.

We would appreciate a tear sheet or electronic copy of the articles you reprint.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax^®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has made presentations ranging from leadership to employee retention and time management to stress management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. He can be reached at 800-886-2MAX or by visiting http://www.AchieveMax.com.

This is one of the few dedicated books that provide a complete inside picture of the makings of a great car manufacturing company, in this case - the BMW. A keen auto journalist, David portrays the complete canvass of the brand called BMW, the unceasing effort undertaken to make its cars distinctive, the clear focus of its brand identity with the affluent, its inseparable link of design to marketing as well as the disastrous consequences of the Rover deal acquisition. The book makes for compelling reading as the author gives all the inner details of the finer aspects of the car components and structure, the behind-the-scene corporate maneuvering, the ups and downs in the owner’s family, the heavy cost incurred due to the wrong decision on Rover deal acquisition and the poor response received to redesigning attempts. What makes the book interesting is that it never gets too technical to be boring but combines all the interesting details about the engineering and marketing philosophy of BMW along with the tumultuous history of the company.

In all a racy book worth reading not only for auto journalists, car manufacturers, and professionals, but even owners of the proud car, and any lay person wanting to know the complex road that the company traversed to produce its brand of highly exclusive and renowned cars.

As business gets more complex and demanding, entrepreneurs
invariably turn to management consultants to keep them afloat
and ensure success especially when the chips are down and
competition becomes too heavy to handle. While there are many
big consultancy names doing the rounds, the book encases the
ideal attributes of a business consultant. The authors underline
the exemplary quality of a consultant as one who views his/her
assignment primarily for creating value and for forging
long-term relationships with the clients. Authors Ron A. Carucci
and Toby J. Tetenbaum underscore in this book, the need for
Management Consultants to imbue these attitudes. Using extensive
survey data and punched with their personal viewpoints, the duo
stress on the need for overhauling the profile, approach and
objectives of management consultants. The authors stipulate the
model of value creating consultant as the best solution. The
book throws light on all that is right and wrong with the
profession and calls on the consultants to sustain client
relationships by providing value creating consulting work. The
book further urges them to discard the destructive roles of
Messiah, the dependency builder and the colluder, and instead,
adopt the constructive roles of partner, the capability builder
and the truth-teller with their clients. A value-creating
consultant will naturally work towards creating lasting value in
client organizations and hence the need for management
consultant to rework on their strategy and approach. Management
consultants, entrepreneurs, business professional and students
will definitely find this well-researched and opinionated book
highly useful.

“Personal research references, especially for families who once lived in the South End area of Albany, are very difficult to come by”, said Yakel. “Lower Albany had a very strong mix of European immigrants, especially Germans, throughout the 19th century. These were spirited, hard working people, that helped to build the city’s distinction through their values and all kinds of family run businesses”, he explained. “Unfortunately, unlike other parts of the city, such as the Central Avenue thoroughfare and the downtown district of Pearl Street, documentation relative to much of the South End, especially around the Second Avenue area, is far and few between.”

He added, “Knowing that others have experienced the same frustration I have felt while trying to find useful research information about the lower Albany area and families, I decided to take a wonderful source of family history I already had in my possession, my grand aunt’s autograph book, and make it available to other researchers. The book mentions dozens of surnames and individuals, and it’s this kind of personal information that brings family history and genealogical research alive. I’m excited to share this book, and help to preserve the family history of Albany.”

Joseph Yakel, third generation Albany native, presents this unique family work with a simple elegance certain to be enjoyed. To start, Joe provides some personal details on the life of his grand aunt, Mary Yakel, and her family. Then, below each original page entry, Joe has added interesting details about each person or family mentioned in the book, if known. Over 30 surnames fully indexed. The cover art and the background images come from the original autograph book cover, and provide warmth as well as symmetry from page to page.

The Yakel family (originally spelled Jackel and Jeckel) hails from the villages of Hergenfeld, Spabrucken and Wallhausen, located in the Kreis Kreuznach, Rhineland area of Germany. Since emigrating to Albany in 1847, the Yakel family has built upon the solid foundation of its Patriarch, Johannes Jeckel, to become well known throughout the Tri-City area.

“The Autograph Memories of Mary Yakel” can be purchased directly from Lulu.com. Pricing is $9.00, plus any applicable sales tax and shipping charges.

Printed: 75 pages, 8.5 x 11.0 in., Saddle-stitch-bound, 80# white interior paper, black and white interior ink, 100# white exterior paper, full-color (CMYK) exterior
ISBN: 1-4116-2101-8
Copyright Year: © 2004
http://www.lulu.com/content/95637

About the Author:
Among his credits, Joseph Yakel has three books. He describes two of them as ’serious’ genealogy works. The Autograph Memories of Mary Yakel (December 2004) details the 19th century memoir of his grand aunt. The JACKEL, JECKEL, JAECKEL, IEKEL, YAKEL Family History Book (March 2005) is a family chronology, tracing 350 years of his Rheinish ancestry. Joe categorizes his third work, The Legend of Juggin Joe (March 2005) as a ‘country boy comedy / melodrama’ written with a corresponding country dialogue.

First published in 1998, Joe’s articles have appeared in publications such as Communications Technology, The Pipeline, and Army Reserve Magazine. His articles have also been highlighted on USAWOA Online, USAR Online, and other Internet websites.

His books can be previewed and purchased at:
http://www.lulu.com/yakel

Just think. If the Vikings had made just that little extra effort to stay on in America when they first arrived just over 1000 years ago then the modern history of not only North America but the whole continent might have started 500 years earlier in 992AD rather than 1492AD.

And that would have meant there would be an extra 500 years of this enthalling history to read; and an extra 500 years of the American dream to follow.

They couldn’t have been too far from staying - after all they had already started permanent settlements on both Iceland and Greenland and surely North America must have seemed a pretty attractive proposition compared to either of those cold, inhospitable, barren lands.

Even their own records, their sagas, are full of vivid descriptions of the amazing landscapes across what is nowadays New England, with the sandy beaches, wooded hills and fast-flowing torrents; not to mention the plentiful supplies of salmon, game and wild grapes and the endless forests of timber. And don’t forget these were the very same tough, formidable warriors who had already conquered much of England, Ireland and northern France. They were certainly no weaklings!

No, something must have put them off big time, because although both their sagas and modern archaeology confirm that they definitely DID reach North America, by 1002AD, a mere 10 years after their first sighting of the previously unknown land, they had loaded their longships with their possesions and livestock and headed back to Greenland for the last time.

Surely the distance didn’t put them off, and the climate would have been much kinder than they were accustomed too in Greenland, Iceland or their native Scandinavia, and we know they had plenty of food and resources.

No, it must have been the Skraelings (the Viking name for the natives - meaning savages) who ended their dream. The very same AmerIndians who were to give the English settlers such a torrid time over 600 years later and who all but spelt the end of English colonization of North America too. It was the Skraelings who forced them to retreat and even put them off any further attempts to return to the great lands to the west.

The Vikings were just too few in numbers and too unprepared to tackle such a ferocious onslaught. They retreated wisely, reasoning that they would be better off as live Vikngs on freezing Greenland than dead Vikings in warm and pleasant America.

Things might have been different, but then….. .

This excerpt is from Discovery - The Story of America by Anthony Treasure. This book is already published in the UK (listed on Amazon.co.uk) and is due to be published in the US at a later date. For now it is published as an ebook and as a SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER Discovery Part One is available to download COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE. Three further titles - Discovery Part Two, Colonization Part One and Colonization Part Two are also out as ebooks and can be bought and downloaded from the website. To claim your free ebook today simply visit http://www.farawaybooks.com

What is the Emperor Wearing?

Once upon a time, an emperor who loved clothes was
approached by two con men who made him an offer he
couldn’t refuse. They promised to weave him a special
cloth that would be invisible to anyone that is stupid or
unworthy of their position. As the work proceeded, the
emperor sent high-ranking officials to inspect the cloth.
While these officials saw only air where the cloth was
supposedly being made, they reported that the work was
proceeding well for fear of being considered stupid or
unworthy of their rank. Finally the emperor and his
entourage came to inspect the cloth. None could see it,
but all, also fearing to be known as stupid, proclaimed
its magnificence. The con men pretended to cut and sew
while everyone supported the deception. When the emperor
wore clothes made from the “fabric,” the crowd likewise
pretended to see clothes. A small child, viewing the
naked emperor, announced to all that could hear: “the
emperor has no clothes!”

This book provides valuable stories similar to the one
told above. These are stories of ordinary individuals in
the workplace who are striving to steer a course between
deception and damaging confrontation by developing
truth-telling skills.

By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla
Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a
company that provides business book summaries of the latest
bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

http://www.bizsum.com
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Executives and Entrepreneurs

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