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	<title>News and Views</title>
	<description>BizShop News and Views</description>
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		<title>Social Media used by half of US population
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		<link>http://bizshop.com/blogindex.php?entry=103</link>
		

		<description><![CDATA[Half of all adult Americans now use social media sites, according to data collected by the Pew Research Center. The center found 65% of all adult Web users in the U.S. use social tools, an increase of four percentage points from a year earlier. Still, older, wealthier and better-educated adults lag the national average, even as they surge ahead in search-engine use and e-reader ownership.

StumbleUpon is responsible for about half of all U.S. social sharing, according to StatCounter data. Facebook accounted for about 39% of social sharing, and no other social network accounted for more than 5% of referrals. Globally, Facebook retains its social-sharing crown with about 60% of total traffic referrals, compared with about 28% for StumbleUpon.

We've just released our latest Manual-on-CD, Irresistible Website Promotion and Social Media which covers how to use the surging popularity of social media as well as other ways to bring in customers online. I just shipped the first copies, so it is hot off the press! 

<a href="http://bizshop.com/description.php/MPROMO">http://bizshop.com/description.php/MPROMO</a>
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		<title>Create Your Marketing Calendar</title>
		

		<link>http://bizshop.com/blogindex.php?entry=102</link>
		

		<description><![CDATA[1. Take a marker and draw a line from one side of a wall to the next (you can put some paper up there first, if you want)

2. Divide into 52 weeks. If you don't want to measure, divide in half, then divide each half into halves, and keep doing this 3 more times (5 total). You'll have 64 divisions, which is a year and almost a quarter of weeks. Make a heavy mark at the end of each month.

3. Above the line, mark down your budget for each month.

4. Mark the holidays and any special events. For example, if you want to have a booth at a show, you usually have to have your reservation in by a certain date.

5. Plan some marketing activity for each week, and write it in. You don't have to have a year's worth of new ideas, you can repeat - for instance every 4 weeks is your newsletter.

Now all you need to do each week is mark off last week and see what you need to do for your marketing this week. I like using the wall because it is visible - no way to miss it!
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		<title>QM's do it with stars</title>
		

		<link>http://bizshop.com/blogindex.php?entry=34</link>
		

		<description><![CDATA[Just had a great visit with an old Navy friend and mentor, QMC Ed Nezworski. He and I are old WestPac mates, having each spent 2 tours aboard the USS White Plains and many years based out of Japan.

It was great to swap lies and memories, drink a few San Miguels, and renew friendship. Isn't this much of what life is about? It sure isn't about making money, so take some time to enjoy!

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		<title>First Class All The Way</title>
		

		<link>http://bizshop.com/blogindex.php?entry=32</link>
		

		<description><![CDATA[I'm scheduled to teach in DC at First Class beginning on the 23rd - and I thought it would be my last time there.   DC is one of my favorite cities, and First Class has been a regular since 1994. Deb scheduled me as a last hurrah - but today I got an email that they would be continuing in rented spaces. Good news if they can pull it off, I'll be returning to DC....

Check them out at <a href="http://takeaclass.org">Takeaclass.org</a>
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		<title>Spring seminars booking already</title>
		

		<link>http://bizshop.com/blogindex.php?entry=101</link>
		

		<description><![CDATA[Schools are already emailing me with requests for seminar dates for Spring, and it is still July! If you want me to be in your city on any particular dates for in-person consultations, now would be the time to email me, or you can leave a comment on this posting.]]></description>
		

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		<title>New server</title>
		

		<link>http://bizshop.com/blogindex.php?entry=100</link>
		

		<description><![CDATA[The culmination of many hours of work, BizShop and all the client sites are now up and running on an upgraded server. I also have reworked my own BizShop site design.<br />
<br />
Please leave a comment if you see anything that is not working right.]]></description>
		

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		<title>Find Your Own Adventure</title>
		

		<link>http://bizshop.com/blogindex.php?entry=4</link>
		

		<description><![CDATA[Those who think adventure is dead are simply unwilling to find it. We have the capability today to know more information in five minutes than could be known in five decades a short time ago. There is great adventure waiting in anything new. Yet most people spend their time rooted in the familiar. The TV goes on when they get home. They take the same route to work every day. They haven't studied a new skill for many years. Then they complain about the lack of adventure! <br />
<P>Boredom is an <FONT color=red>internal</FONT> problem! </P> <br />
<HR> <br />
 <br />
<P align=center><FONT color=#008000><STRONG>Get out of your rut!</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#ff0000><STRONG>Learn a new language.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#800000><STRONG>Unplug your television.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#ff8040><STRONG>Get up an hour earlier and take a long walk.</STRONG></FONT><BR><STRONG><FONT color=#800080>Practice drawing cartoons of people you see</FONT><FONT color=#ff0000>.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#0080ff><STRONG>Drive out of town after dark, just to look at the sky.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#ff0000><STRONG>Learn how to give a good massage.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>Take an object you use everyday and learn how it is made and then make one (bind a book, sew a shirt, anything).</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#0088ff><STRONG>Board an unfamiliar local bus, and just ride it all the way around.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#ff00ff><STRONG>Take a night class in an unfamiliar subject.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#8000ff><STRONG>Really explore your public library. Devote a whole day.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#000000><STRONG>Take the bus instead of your car one day a week, or ride a bike.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#800000><STRONG>Make a point of getting to know somebody new.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#008080><STRONG>Drive exactly 25 miles in one direction, then write down everything you see.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#0000a0><STRONG>Pick a country you've never been to and find out all you can about it.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#ff0000><STRONG>Practice writing with your other hand.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#400040><STRONG>Learn how to mindmap.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#808080><STRONG>Volunteer at your local charity.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#ff00ff><STRONG>Try any new food or drink you have a chance to.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#ff8000><STRONG>Order #14 at every new restaurant, <I>without looking at the menu.</STRONG></FONT></I><BR><FONT color=#804000><STRONG>Savor life.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#004000><STRONG>We only pass this way once.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#000ff0 size=4><STRONG>Life is an adventure.</STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT color=#ff0000 size=4><STRONG>Live it large!</STRONG></FONT></P>]]></description>
		

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