You Gain by Losing Weight (Part 1)

By Omar Alcock

Countless people struggle with weight loss and wonder what they’re doing wrong. They try diets they read about on the Internet that promise rapid weight loss, but they never deliver. The bottom line is this. If you’re going to lose weight and stay fit, you have to think long-term lifestyle changes. You can’t eat a banana or a bowl of cabbage soup for three days and think you’ve succeeded in your weight loss goal.

Yes, I know you’re trying to lose weight. So it stands to reason that the first step in weight loss would be cutting back on your food intake. But not so fast. Cutting back too much can be as detrimental to weight loss as eating too much food. Don’t starve your body.

When you don’t eat enough food, your body will begin to take whatever it needs in the way of nutrients from other parts of your body in order to survive. That means taking nutrients from your bones, teeth, and vital organs, leaving your body depleted. Your metabolism will shut down in order to reserve energy and your body will only use enough energy to stay alive. So while you may think that by starving yourself you’ll drop weight quicker. What you’re actually doing is sabotaging your metabolism.

The operative word when thinking of food is “healthy”. It’s not enough to simply eat enough food to keep your metabolism running at optimal performance. You need foods that will give your body energy while allowing it to function with a minimal amount of effort (visit http://omar2129.eliteweightlosspackage.com for more details).

The trick is to balance the amount of food you eat with whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits, along with lean meats. Choosing those foods will give you the most bang for the buck. For instance, if you start the day out great by having a healthy breakfast of yogurt, eggs and toast but then skip lunch and eat a big dinner, you’ve thrown your body off balance by making the end of the day top heavy with calories.

You probably have a barrel full of excuses that you pull out every time you talk about why you haven’t lost the weight you want to lose. It could be anything from a sluggish thyroid to faulty genetics to just not having enough time to think about weight loss.

The only way you will lose weight and keep it off is to stop making excuses for why you’re not succeeding. Allowing yourself to use excuses for why you are unable to lose weight will only be self-defeating. Why bother trying when you’ve already decided that you won’t succeed? Empower yourself to change those excuses around and become proactive in your desire to lose weight.

You may not lose weight as fast as someone else who does not have the same issues you have. That’s a fact of life. But that doesn’t mean you won’t lose weight. And I can guarantee that you won’t lose any weight if you continue to use your excuses as a crutch.

Omar Alcock is the CEO/Managing Director of OJR Trading Services (http://ojr-services.webs.com/). For more information on this losing weight package visit http://omar2129.eliteweightlosspackage.com.

Affordable Local Marketing Techniques

By Liz T Jones

Effective local marketing is necessary to expand a business and increase profits. Business owners do not have to spend a ton of money to lead a successful advertising campaign. Internet presence, social media, and print media are all tools that do not cost a lot. With a few easy techniques, local businesses can easily reach hundreds of customers.

The first step is to create a website. The Internet is a very powerful marketing tool and its benefits should not be underestimated. Well-designed websites with high search engine rankings can reach thousands of people. Establishing a presence on the Internet is essential for any company to succeed in today's technology driven world. Local business marketing should always include targeting potential customers through the Internet.

Creating a website is easier and faster than most people think. The key to designing a website that will attract visitors is making it user-friendly. Include essential elements such as services or products offered, pricing, and contact information. A website should be well organized, and people must be able to find what they need easily. Hire a search engine optimization expert, so that customers can easily find it when searching for relevant keywords.

Another aspect of the Internet that can be very useful is social media. In recent years, social media websites have become very popular. Millions of people use them every day. Creating an account is easy and can provide many benefits. It is a great way to get exposure, advertise, and communicate with clients. The page should be updated often with any news or specials, and the comment option should be enabled, so that users can leave valuable feedback.

Print media can also be a successful marketing tool. Contacting local media can put the spotlight on a new or existing business and attract more customers who might not have known about it before. Press releases are another way to reach out to local residents. Another way to take advantage of media outlets is putting an advertisement in newspapers and magazines. Include any details that might get a reader's attention such as discounts or specials.

The Internet is arguably the best way to promote a business. The number of people that can be reached through social media and a well-designed website is limitless. Contacting small media outlets is a great way to target local residents. Take advantage of local marketing tools that are readily available, create specials, and always remain professional to gain and keep a loyal following for many years to come.
 

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information about local business marketing, please visit http://www.local-marketing.com/.

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Text Messaging Marketing - 6 Benefits You Can Get From It

By Greg Swan

Forget email and direct mail campaigns. Text messaging marketing is the new way to reach both new and existing customers.

And, it's awfully successful. Did you know that text messages have a read rate of more than 95%? That's much higher than email or direct mail!In fact, SMS texts - or short message service texts - have become the most widely used data application in the world!

So, what can your business get from text messaging marketing?

1. It's a great way to reach your existing market You can send out an SMS text daily, weekly, or monthly to your subscribers. And, you can even automate everything to make it easier on yourself. You can write a message to your new or existing customers and set it up to go out at a particular time.
2. It's a good way to reach a qualified audience Since text messaging marketing is an opt-in service, you can rest easy knowing that the people who are getting your messages want to. You will never be labeled a spammer, or afraid that your message is falling on deaf ears.
3. It's versatile Text messaging marketing can be used by virtually any business, for any reason. If you own a pharmacy, you can use it to tell customers when their prescriptions are ready. Or, if you run a bank, you can use an SMS text to let people know when interest rates drop. You can use it to communicate any message you want!
4. It's instant No matter where people are, they have their cell phones with them. With text messaging marketing, you don't have to wait for them to log into an email account, or walk to check the mailbox. You don't even have to wait for them to get out of work! In fact, text messaging marketing is especially effective for time-sensitive information. For example, if you sent out an SMS text that says your restaurant is offering a brand new lunch special for the next 2 hours, people will be able to head your way immediately!
5. It's a great way to build customer loyalty Because text messaging marketing is such an easy way to send out discounts and coupons, it makes your existing customers feel like they're getting special treatment. And, the better you make them feel, the more likely they are to become return customers!
6. It's cost-effective With text message marketing, you don't have to budget for paper, envelopes, or stamps. You get all of your messages out easily, at an affordable price.

Greg Swan is the owner/CEO of Suncoast Publishing. He helps small businesses to improve search engine rankings through local search marketing, SEO, and lead generation. For more information on how to increase your web presence and get more customers, visit Local Search Marketing Specialist

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Is Marketing an Expense or an Investment?

By Rama Beerfas

There's an old saying that 50% of a business' marketing expense is wasted. The question is, which 50% is it?
Admittedly, it can be difficult to track the success of a marketing campaign; even more so given the fact that most micro to mid-size businesses don't set a specific goal, don't put a definite call to action and/or don't develop a metric that will allow them to measure the ROI and/or ROO on a given campaign.

The truth of the matter is that, the extra effort involved in:

• determining your target market,
• setting a specific goal for every marketing effort,
• designing a call to action suited to that market and your end goal and then
• developing and implementing a system to measure the desired outcome

It will show the results (good and/or bad) of any given campaign.

This method also allows you to eliminate or tweak marketing efforts that don't meet your expectations.

By developing a campaign that speaks to your target market and giving them a defined action to complete, your response rate will improve dramatically and your conversion rate will also show an increase. This is when the marketing expense evolves into an investment.

Of course, there are times that marketing just for marketing's sake pays off handsomely. Studies have shown that companies that maintained or increased their marketing efforts during the Great Depression were more likely to come out on the other end as thriving businesses. Some statistics show that about 80% of the companies that kept their marketing budget intact or augmented it survived the Great Depression, while only around 20% of those companies that cut back on marketing were still viable when the economy turned around. For a more detailed look at this, go to http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/20822.asp.

When the economy is down, it is vital to keep up with your previous marketing efforts - if only to convince your current and potential customers that your company is still alive and kicking. I can personally attest to this, as Lev Promotions' client base has grown at double the normal rate over the past three years as some of our competitors' have created the perception that they wouldn't be in business much longer because they were no sending out their regular marketing messages. These competitor's clients continued to see ours, though, and felt that we would continue to be there to service their needs. Their perception became reality as some of those competitors closed their doors due to lack of business.

That's when marketing is an investment!

Rama Beerfas is Chief Solutions Specialist for San Diego-based Lev Promotions, offering complete marketing services from consulting, promotional products, and social media marketing, editorial work and more. Rama also offers seminars and training in marketing and customer service related topics. She can be reached at (619) 697-2045 or at rama@levpromotions.com or visit http://www.levpromotions.com. Column requests and comments are welcome.

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