Author: Naz Daud
Food is big business currently. The shocking rise in the number of obese adults and children is great for the food industry. They love it when we eat more.
People who have a Body Mass Index (BMI) equal to or greater than 30 are classified as obese. BMI is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared. It's fairly easy to assess the BMI in adults but slightly trickier in children as you also then have to take age into account.
Around 25 percent of all adults and 20 percent of 15 years old in the US are now obese. The overall trend is set to rise even further in the next decade.
These figures have created a mini boom for low calorie healthy food alternatives. The food industry main aims are to ply us with cheap, unhealthy, high fat food and then market more expensive low calorie alternatives! You can now even buy pet food for overweight cats and dogs.
Vending machines selling high calorie fizzy drinks are springing up everywhere whilst chip shops and fast food takeaways are raking in the profits supplying cheap and nasty food quickly. Some children would like to eat healthily but temptation is everywhere.
Banning unhealthy foods in schools is unlikely to work unless you also stop the children leaving schools for their lunch! Most schools have within walking distance shops and fast food outlets that have seen their trade increase as children shun the move towards healthier meals in schools.
The race has begun to find a miracle pill that would stop us eating too much and help us to switch our hunger off. Many pharmaceutical companies claim that they are now close to finding a safe drug that helps us to burn more calories and stop the body from storing fat.
Does genetics have a part to play? Can you imagine if a company found fat genes that they could then patent and remove from babies in the womb? Big business indeed!
Sales of drugs to counteract the side effects of obesity (like diabetes) are also exploding. Overweight people struggle with a lot of weight related illnesses and the pharmaceutical giants have a pill for almost all know side effects of obesity!
The impact of obesity on small business owners is significant due to lost productivity and higher rates of absenteeism. How business deals with obesity is going to be very interesting in the years to come.
Businesses that can market products and services to this expanding market place will do well. Entrepreneurs who can find ways to make the lives of obese people easier and more fun rather than just trying to get them to lose weight will enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Five Things you Need to Know to Successfully Sell your Art Online
Author: Stephen Tanenbaum
The Internet has become an indispensable tool for artists. With the click of a button, art enthusiasts around the world can view your artwork. But before you begin posting your images on the web, there are five important things you should know. The following is a guide to effectively selling your art online.
1. Where to Exhibit – There are thousands of online galleries, so how do you decide which ones are best? Do your research. You need to find out how much they charge in fees or commission, what services they offer, if the gallery is curated, what type of marketing efforts they participate in, and most importantly, how much art they sell. Some of these questions can probably be answered right on the gallery’s website, while others will require a phone call or email. Their contact information should be easily visible on the site. If not, that should raise a red flag. By contacting them, you are also testing their customer service. See how knowledgeable they are on the phone, or send them an email and see how quickly they respond. Overall, you want to determine that they are working hard to promote the art they display, and not just making money off of signup fees and advertisements on the site.
2. Approaching a Gallery – When you are ready to put your art on a site, there are two things you need: great images of your work and an artist’s statement. Most online galleries are not curated, which means that anyone with a paintbrush and money to cover the signup fees can post their art. Be cautious of these sites. Instead, you want to apply to a gallery that has reputable curators who oversee the quality and direction. This is where great images and a statement are crucial; they represent everything about you and your art, and make it much easier for the gallery to see what you do. Once accepted to the gallery, these things will also be important for customers, who will be able to see your art clearly and understand it. As a result, they will be more likely to make a purchase.
3. Professionalism – Throughout this whole process, professionalism is key. You must respond promptly to emails and phone calls, do what you say you are going to do, and be conscious of small things like typos in your artist’s statement. Above all, you need to know your work. If you are a photographer, than you need to be an expert about everything related to your camera and prints. Are these pieces in a limited or unlimited edition? How many prints in the edition? Signed and numbered? To truly be a successful photographer or painter or anything else, you have to know your trade. Professionalism will show your gallery and customers that you are a serious artist worth their representation and money.
4. Pricing – Pricing your art can be one of the most difficult aspects of being an artist. Your prices should be based on the size, medium, and complexity of the piece, and your sales and exhibition history. If the only work you have sold has been to your family, or you have never sold anything, you need to start low. It may be less than you want in the beginning, but that is how you work your way up. If you throw a $10,000 dollar price tag on your first painting for sale, it’s probably never going to sell. Start with a couple hundred dollars and if the first pieces sell quickly you can raise your prices a bit; a ten to 15 percent raise is considered standard gallery practice. One important thing to remember is that you should almost never discount your art if it’s not selling. It makes collectors very unhappy, and it can devalue your whole portfolio. If someone buys a piece from you for $1,000, and then later you lower the price of a comparable piece to $500 because it isn’t selling, in effect you’ve just decreased the value of the first piece to $500 as well. Galleries and buyers will catch onto this and keep away; no one wants to put their money into a risky investment. Start low, be patient, and the right buyer will comes along.
5. Personal Websites and eBay – We’ve talked about online galleries, but what about creating a personal website? Selling your art on a personal site is difficult. The reason you pay signup fees or a commission to an online gallery is to handle things like building an e-commerce site, pursue marketing opportunities, and fostering relationships with customers. Having the time and resources to do this yourself is rare. eBay is even more dicey than a personal site. Although the customer base is there, it is somewhat of a black eye to the art world. Forgers go there en masse to offload knockoff paintings. Beyond that, you are probably not going to build a proper sales history that you can take to a physical gallery selling your art this way, which should be your goal.
Do your research, find a gallery that works hard for you, be professional and realistic, and your chances of being successful will increase infinitely. Once you build a sales history online, it will be that much easier to approach physical galleries. And the best part is, you can use these same five points.
The Internet has become an indispensable tool for artists. With the click of a button, art enthusiasts around the world can view your artwork. But before you begin posting your images on the web, there are five important things you should know. The following is a guide to effectively selling your art online.
1. Where to Exhibit – There are thousands of online galleries, so how do you decide which ones are best? Do your research. You need to find out how much they charge in fees or commission, what services they offer, if the gallery is curated, what type of marketing efforts they participate in, and most importantly, how much art they sell. Some of these questions can probably be answered right on the gallery’s website, while others will require a phone call or email. Their contact information should be easily visible on the site. If not, that should raise a red flag. By contacting them, you are also testing their customer service. See how knowledgeable they are on the phone, or send them an email and see how quickly they respond. Overall, you want to determine that they are working hard to promote the art they display, and not just making money off of signup fees and advertisements on the site.
2. Approaching a Gallery – When you are ready to put your art on a site, there are two things you need: great images of your work and an artist’s statement. Most online galleries are not curated, which means that anyone with a paintbrush and money to cover the signup fees can post their art. Be cautious of these sites. Instead, you want to apply to a gallery that has reputable curators who oversee the quality and direction. This is where great images and a statement are crucial; they represent everything about you and your art, and make it much easier for the gallery to see what you do. Once accepted to the gallery, these things will also be important for customers, who will be able to see your art clearly and understand it. As a result, they will be more likely to make a purchase.
3. Professionalism – Throughout this whole process, professionalism is key. You must respond promptly to emails and phone calls, do what you say you are going to do, and be conscious of small things like typos in your artist’s statement. Above all, you need to know your work. If you are a photographer, than you need to be an expert about everything related to your camera and prints. Are these pieces in a limited or unlimited edition? How many prints in the edition? Signed and numbered? To truly be a successful photographer or painter or anything else, you have to know your trade. Professionalism will show your gallery and customers that you are a serious artist worth their representation and money.
4. Pricing – Pricing your art can be one of the most difficult aspects of being an artist. Your prices should be based on the size, medium, and complexity of the piece, and your sales and exhibition history. If the only work you have sold has been to your family, or you have never sold anything, you need to start low. It may be less than you want in the beginning, but that is how you work your way up. If you throw a $10,000 dollar price tag on your first painting for sale, it’s probably never going to sell. Start with a couple hundred dollars and if the first pieces sell quickly you can raise your prices a bit; a ten to 15 percent raise is considered standard gallery practice. One important thing to remember is that you should almost never discount your art if it’s not selling. It makes collectors very unhappy, and it can devalue your whole portfolio. If someone buys a piece from you for $1,000, and then later you lower the price of a comparable piece to $500 because it isn’t selling, in effect you’ve just decreased the value of the first piece to $500 as well. Galleries and buyers will catch onto this and keep away; no one wants to put their money into a risky investment. Start low, be patient, and the right buyer will comes along.
5. Personal Websites and eBay – We’ve talked about online galleries, but what about creating a personal website? Selling your art on a personal site is difficult. The reason you pay signup fees or a commission to an online gallery is to handle things like building an e-commerce site, pursue marketing opportunities, and fostering relationships with customers. Having the time and resources to do this yourself is rare. eBay is even more dicey than a personal site. Although the customer base is there, it is somewhat of a black eye to the art world. Forgers go there en masse to offload knockoff paintings. Beyond that, you are probably not going to build a proper sales history that you can take to a physical gallery selling your art this way, which should be your goal.
Do your research, find a gallery that works hard for you, be professional and realistic, and your chances of being successful will increase infinitely. Once you build a sales history online, it will be that much easier to approach physical galleries. And the best part is, you can use these same five points.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Exercising Regularly is a Healthy Requirement so Why Dont Most People Do It?
Author: Landa Marsili
Every week it seems like a new type of exercise machine is being introduced to us all. Every time another new exercise product gets introduced, we all watch with hopeful eyes trying to decide whether this is the exercise miracle machine that will finally take us to our healthy and fit dreams. Gyms are on the rise too as more and more gyms pop up all over every town, offering us all the opportunity to realize our healthy fitness fantasies.
Most of us want to achieve that dream, in fact most of us pay tons of hard earned money for those gym memberships and that home exercise equipment, convinced that this time we will succeed. But the reality is that most of us never succeed at ever keeping up that healthy goal, no matter how much money we spend trying to get there. In fact, since 75% of all Americans are currently considered medically overweight, not only do most people not succeed at keeping up a regular exercise routine, most people are becoming at risk because they can't keep up a regular exercise routine.
There is nothing wrong with most of the exercise equipment that is sold to consumers. If it gives you a work out, it will work. Gyms also offer real opportunities to get fit through their various quality exercise machines and exercise classes that also work. Well, it all works if you can keep up the regular routine of using it that is. The reality is that success at achieving a healthy fitness goal isn't about what gym you belong to or what type of exercise equipment you use, or about how much money you spent on the proposition of getting fit and healthy.
Real success at achieving the healthy fitness goal takes being able to continue a regular exercise routine and never quitting. Sound impossible? It was impossible for almost everyone until now! Habit Braker Enterprises Inc., a California privately held corporation, is the first company in the world to step outside of the box and create a very real and powerful new solution that solves the problem of sticking with a regular exercise commitment allowing people to now finally achieve their dream of becoming fit and healthy. Using 21st century popular consumer technology such as cell phones, iPODs, MP3 and CD players, and old world real help, staying motivated and committed to any regular exercise routine, won't be a problem for anyone ever again.
The Habit Braker US patent pending (11770472) system provides consumers with 20 different short but powerful audio messages that can be downloaded into cell phones, iPODs, MP3 players or used with a CD player, that help everyone stay on track with a regular exercise commitment for life! The system works by delivering real messages, that deal with the very real issues of keeping up a regular exercise commitment, in a way that has been working for 100% of everyone who already uses it.
When naughty brains send messages to give up and quit now everyone can instantly fight back and never give in to the thoughts to give up again. Everyone needs to maintain regular exercise in their life because without it true health cannot be achieved. If everyone exercised regularly, health statistics would change for the better exponentially all across the board.
Regular exercise is the only real fountain of youth keeping everyone who engages in it, healthier, happier, more confident, stronger and more content with life overall. With the Habit Braker system now everyone who wants to achieve all of the tremendous benefits regular exercise brings finally can.
Habit Braker Enterprises is working night and day, seven days a week, to get the word out about this fantastic system of real help to keep up a regular exercise commitment so everyone who wants to achieve healthy fitness has the real opportunity to finally do so with the only system on the planet that make what used to be impossible for most, now possible for all.
Every week it seems like a new type of exercise machine is being introduced to us all. Every time another new exercise product gets introduced, we all watch with hopeful eyes trying to decide whether this is the exercise miracle machine that will finally take us to our healthy and fit dreams. Gyms are on the rise too as more and more gyms pop up all over every town, offering us all the opportunity to realize our healthy fitness fantasies.
Most of us want to achieve that dream, in fact most of us pay tons of hard earned money for those gym memberships and that home exercise equipment, convinced that this time we will succeed. But the reality is that most of us never succeed at ever keeping up that healthy goal, no matter how much money we spend trying to get there. In fact, since 75% of all Americans are currently considered medically overweight, not only do most people not succeed at keeping up a regular exercise routine, most people are becoming at risk because they can't keep up a regular exercise routine.
There is nothing wrong with most of the exercise equipment that is sold to consumers. If it gives you a work out, it will work. Gyms also offer real opportunities to get fit through their various quality exercise machines and exercise classes that also work. Well, it all works if you can keep up the regular routine of using it that is. The reality is that success at achieving a healthy fitness goal isn't about what gym you belong to or what type of exercise equipment you use, or about how much money you spent on the proposition of getting fit and healthy.
Real success at achieving the healthy fitness goal takes being able to continue a regular exercise routine and never quitting. Sound impossible? It was impossible for almost everyone until now! Habit Braker Enterprises Inc., a California privately held corporation, is the first company in the world to step outside of the box and create a very real and powerful new solution that solves the problem of sticking with a regular exercise commitment allowing people to now finally achieve their dream of becoming fit and healthy. Using 21st century popular consumer technology such as cell phones, iPODs, MP3 and CD players, and old world real help, staying motivated and committed to any regular exercise routine, won't be a problem for anyone ever again.
The Habit Braker US patent pending (11770472) system provides consumers with 20 different short but powerful audio messages that can be downloaded into cell phones, iPODs, MP3 players or used with a CD player, that help everyone stay on track with a regular exercise commitment for life! The system works by delivering real messages, that deal with the very real issues of keeping up a regular exercise commitment, in a way that has been working for 100% of everyone who already uses it.
When naughty brains send messages to give up and quit now everyone can instantly fight back and never give in to the thoughts to give up again. Everyone needs to maintain regular exercise in their life because without it true health cannot be achieved. If everyone exercised regularly, health statistics would change for the better exponentially all across the board.
Regular exercise is the only real fountain of youth keeping everyone who engages in it, healthier, happier, more confident, stronger and more content with life overall. With the Habit Braker system now everyone who wants to achieve all of the tremendous benefits regular exercise brings finally can.
Habit Braker Enterprises is working night and day, seven days a week, to get the word out about this fantastic system of real help to keep up a regular exercise commitment so everyone who wants to achieve healthy fitness has the real opportunity to finally do so with the only system on the planet that make what used to be impossible for most, now possible for all.
Why the Cheapest VOIP is not your Best Option
Author: Jon Arnold
People love to find a bargain, but for the most part, people who shop on price alone are hurting themselves. If you know exactly what you are looking for in a product and get the lowest price on a model XYZ123 dishwasher, that is one thing, but getting the lowest price on a generic service more often than not does not represent your best value. This is particularly true when someone gets the cheapest VOIP service available anywhere, because they will be spending much of their own time on the phone with the VOIP service provider trying to get it to work as advertised.
Now if such people put zero value on their own time, then perhaps it may be a good deal to get the cheapest VOIP service possible, but most people do not consider their own time as being of no value whatsoever.
I recommend looking for the best value, which is often different from the lowest price. You need to determine what features you are looking for, outline and detail your calling requirements, and find out exactly what you want your VOIP service to do. Then you are in a position to make intelligent and informed decisions about who has the lowest price compared with the feature set being offered. Getting VOIP based on price alone however, is rarely a good decision and will present more problems than it solves.
One particular aspect of VOIP, whether it is the cheapest VOIP or the most expensive VOIP service, that most people do not realize is that the VOIP service itself is not responsible for nor has any control over the most critical aspect of a successful VOIP implementation, and that is the reliability and stability of your high-speed Internet connection. The VOIP carrier you have chosen has zero control over that, and if your high-speed Internet connection, whether it is cable or DSL, is not rock solid, there is not a VOIP service anywhere on the planet that can provide a good solution. If your high-speed Internet connection is not rock solid without hiccups, slowdowns, and outages, you should consider a different high-speed Internet provider before you even think about a VOIP installation.
If you live off the beaten track and do not have DSL or cable available, where your only solution for high-speed Internet access is satellite, do not consider VOIP because it will almost certainly not work well. Satellite Internet service was not designed for real-time communications as VOIP requires, and your VOIP experience will not be good, regardless of which provider you select.
If you do have a rock solid high-speed Internet connection, then you can start comparing VOIP features and benefits to determine who provides the best bang for the buck. More often than not, your most cost effective solution is NOT getting VOIP from your cable or DSL company. I have seen offerings from the cable and DSL carriers where their price was more than twice as much as reliable alternatives, and did not even have as many features!
Determine your needs and then find the VOIP service that meets those needs at the best price. But be aware that the cheapest VOIP service probably does not represent your most cost effective and best value. Paying a big price does not guarantee good service. In fact, our Expert Pick at our web site is under $20 per month and chock full of features!
People love to find a bargain, but for the most part, people who shop on price alone are hurting themselves. If you know exactly what you are looking for in a product and get the lowest price on a model XYZ123 dishwasher, that is one thing, but getting the lowest price on a generic service more often than not does not represent your best value. This is particularly true when someone gets the cheapest VOIP service available anywhere, because they will be spending much of their own time on the phone with the VOIP service provider trying to get it to work as advertised.
Now if such people put zero value on their own time, then perhaps it may be a good deal to get the cheapest VOIP service possible, but most people do not consider their own time as being of no value whatsoever.
I recommend looking for the best value, which is often different from the lowest price. You need to determine what features you are looking for, outline and detail your calling requirements, and find out exactly what you want your VOIP service to do. Then you are in a position to make intelligent and informed decisions about who has the lowest price compared with the feature set being offered. Getting VOIP based on price alone however, is rarely a good decision and will present more problems than it solves.
One particular aspect of VOIP, whether it is the cheapest VOIP or the most expensive VOIP service, that most people do not realize is that the VOIP service itself is not responsible for nor has any control over the most critical aspect of a successful VOIP implementation, and that is the reliability and stability of your high-speed Internet connection. The VOIP carrier you have chosen has zero control over that, and if your high-speed Internet connection, whether it is cable or DSL, is not rock solid, there is not a VOIP service anywhere on the planet that can provide a good solution. If your high-speed Internet connection is not rock solid without hiccups, slowdowns, and outages, you should consider a different high-speed Internet provider before you even think about a VOIP installation.
If you live off the beaten track and do not have DSL or cable available, where your only solution for high-speed Internet access is satellite, do not consider VOIP because it will almost certainly not work well. Satellite Internet service was not designed for real-time communications as VOIP requires, and your VOIP experience will not be good, regardless of which provider you select.
If you do have a rock solid high-speed Internet connection, then you can start comparing VOIP features and benefits to determine who provides the best bang for the buck. More often than not, your most cost effective solution is NOT getting VOIP from your cable or DSL company. I have seen offerings from the cable and DSL carriers where their price was more than twice as much as reliable alternatives, and did not even have as many features!
Determine your needs and then find the VOIP service that meets those needs at the best price. But be aware that the cheapest VOIP service probably does not represent your most cost effective and best value. Paying a big price does not guarantee good service. In fact, our Expert Pick at our web site is under $20 per month and chock full of features!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Electronic Gadget Gift Ideas
Author: Elhusseiny Shahin
What about electronic gadgets as gifts, well, you can think about it for minutes. For all occasions the electronic gifts will make difference feeling for your gift receiver, I will provide you some great ideas for your next gift, It will be the coolest one you have given.
Mp3 sunglasses, the perfect one for the active life style people, It will let you enjoying your favorite music during you ordinary day, they have a high technology built-in mp3 player. In addition to the mp3 player option you will have a perfect UV coated sunglasses, to protect your beautiful eyes.
Mp3 alarm clock, what about waking up with a special message from your lover, it will get you in very good mood, there are many types of alarm clocks that can download the mp3, wav files from your computer, they also can record a voice message to replay it at the morning.
Video sunglasses, they can take you in the magic world, you are within events of the movie, you can watch your ipod or DVD movies like a wide screen, very cool gift for everyone like movies. They will be more expensive than mp3 sunglasses but you or your lover will have the maximum enjoyment.
Wireless security camera, to monitor your home, office, garden, backyard. To watch your children while playing, the best gadget for these issues is the wireless security camera. By the way, you can access your wireless camera from anywhere and at anytime by using IP address.
Mp4 watch, a great watch to watch your favorite movie, your favorite complete movie. Nowadays, watches can download anything from small music files to complete movies, you can enjoy your time while watching films, clips, personal recordings anywhere.
I was trying help you to find a special gift for yourself or for your lover, there are many other gift ideas I will write on them in the next articles, do your search about some of those electronic gadgets to give a nice electronic gift.
What about electronic gadgets as gifts, well, you can think about it for minutes. For all occasions the electronic gifts will make difference feeling for your gift receiver, I will provide you some great ideas for your next gift, It will be the coolest one you have given.
Mp3 sunglasses, the perfect one for the active life style people, It will let you enjoying your favorite music during you ordinary day, they have a high technology built-in mp3 player. In addition to the mp3 player option you will have a perfect UV coated sunglasses, to protect your beautiful eyes.
Mp3 alarm clock, what about waking up with a special message from your lover, it will get you in very good mood, there are many types of alarm clocks that can download the mp3, wav files from your computer, they also can record a voice message to replay it at the morning.
Video sunglasses, they can take you in the magic world, you are within events of the movie, you can watch your ipod or DVD movies like a wide screen, very cool gift for everyone like movies. They will be more expensive than mp3 sunglasses but you or your lover will have the maximum enjoyment.
Wireless security camera, to monitor your home, office, garden, backyard. To watch your children while playing, the best gadget for these issues is the wireless security camera. By the way, you can access your wireless camera from anywhere and at anytime by using IP address.
Mp4 watch, a great watch to watch your favorite movie, your favorite complete movie. Nowadays, watches can download anything from small music files to complete movies, you can enjoy your time while watching films, clips, personal recordings anywhere.
I was trying help you to find a special gift for yourself or for your lover, there are many other gift ideas I will write on them in the next articles, do your search about some of those electronic gadgets to give a nice electronic gift.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
