Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Diet of the Bird of Paradise

The Bird of Paradise has up to 40 different species. Their diet though, doesn't vary much. The is only known in a few parts of the world. The place with the highest number of these beautiful birds is New Guinea. New Guinea offers these birds the perfect climate they need, and an abundant food source.The Food
We all imagine that the food of the Bird of Paradise will be strawberry daiquiris, caviar, and lobster. Sadly, all Paradise bird species would die off quickly if that were true... flying into trees and dying from heart attacks from never getting out of their beach chairs. The food of this specie is much more appropriate, and something they find delicious.There are over 40 different species of these beautiful birds, as mentioned above and their diets vary. The majority of the species though, find that wild tropical fruits mixed with arthropods (invertebrate creatures which have an external skeleton) are more than suitable to keep their bellies full. The amount of each type of food is dependent on the species.Some of the species find themselves almost completely surrounded by fruit, making it the staple of their diet. Other species may find themselves in an area that has less fruit and more arthropods. There are over one million different arthropod species, making it a prime diet for the beautiful birds inhabiting New Guinea.The Bird of Paradise's opportunistic eating habits are similar to that of its mating habits. Most of these species are monogamous or polygamous, depending on the species... and the bird. Some of the species use the number game to get more edible food by the end of the day, while other birds find it more comfortable to have one just one mate and two sets of eyes and wings looking for food. The form of polygamy that is practiced by this type of bird is anything but paradise, though.The male birds gather together and take up defensive positions. Any male that intrudes on another's space is attacked. The few lucky birds that keep their ground get to have their pick of the females. This can happen as often as every day during the mating season. It gets so furious that looking for food and other resources comes second to the fight for feathered glory and the chance to reproduce.The majority of species live in New Guinea, and are not found in many other places in the world. It is a fact that is missed by many of the New Guinea locals, and understandably so. When you have a large abundance of any resource, be it natural or otherwise, it is hard to imagine that the rest of the world doesn't also possess the same thing. The bird's jungle habitat is logged more and more each year, limiting their food supply. On top of this, hunters in the past, and now poachers, have trapped and hunted some species of the bird to endangered levels. If this continues, some of the most beautiful species of the Bird of Paradise may disappear off the face of the planet fore

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Sunday, December 8, 2013

Why Progressive Companies Are Implementing Corporate Health Programs

So lets get back to basics... why implement a corporate health and wellness program for your staff? Let's have a look at some of recent stats:. 10% of Australian workers are sedentary;
. 40% do minimal exercise;
. 12% exercise less than one hour per week
. 46% have high-fat diets;
. 92% eat less than the recommended servings of 5-9 serves of fruit & vegetables
. 21% smoke daily
. 53% feel overwhelmed with pressure and stress "a significant amount of the time"When you see these results, you have to ask yourself, how much is this costing our company's bottom line?It's obvious when people are healthy and happy in and amongst their surrounds and are happy with themselves they are far more productive and conducive to greater company growth.Also in the back of cutting edge CEO's minds, is a recent article in Australian Magazine, BRW, which stated that "pay is no longer the most important factor when attracting or retaining high performing staff." (Statistics were compiled by the Australian Institute of Management) The article goes on to state "... employers need to consider a whole range of "engagement factors", such as job satisfaction, good relationships with co-workers, new and interesting challenges, feeling valued and work life balance..." In fact pay ranked 10th on the list!Once upon a time, a company would demand its pound of flesh for monetary return, but in this day and age, with people working longer hours and, as per above, being under high levels of stress employers must ensure that work life doesn't take away too much from the things that are important to individuals.It's for this reason that so many progressive companies are giving back to their staff by implementing a corporate health strategy. By implementing ongoing health programs, the employer is showing the staff that they care about the team's wellbeing beyond the working hours. They build team/family spirit and "extra curricula" communication through people bonding while taking on personal challenges extending beyond the computer keyboard in front of them. And by educating your team, through corporate health seminars and by implementing health strategies with SMART goals and outcomes built into job descriptions, you can expect to see far more lively and enthusiastic workers.It's relatively simple... give and ye shall receive!Start a corporate health program today by calling us at Corporate Wellness Australia.

Wayne Dart is the CEO of Corporate Wellness Australia - the leader in the Australia for implementing health and wellness programs throughout small and large corporations nationally. From the large range of seminars, team building events, seated massage, health and fitness programs, or gym management, the qualified and experienced team at Corporate Wellness Australia will assist you with what you require for your organisation. Go to http://www.corporatewellness.com.au for m

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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

New York Times Raises Concerns Regarding McCain's Health

A New York Times article raised concerns that John McCain could suffer a recurrence of the skin cancer that he suffered eight years ago. The report follows close on the hells of the story alleging an affair between the senior senator and lobbyist Vicki Iseman.The report, by reporter Lawrence K. Altman, who is also a medical doctor, refers to the melanoma, or skin cancer, that McCain had back in 2000. Altman writes that though McCain is occasionally asked about his age, he has almost never been asked about his health. He suggests that McCain's melanoma could recur. He does, however, indicate that the chances of a recurrence are extremely slim."Doctors advise melanoma patients to have regular checkups to detect new skin cancers and the spread of old ones because melanomas can be quirky," the report states. McCain's staff, it points out, has not revealed the tests that his doctors are using to monitor the case, it adds. Altman states that recurrences of melanoma take place in the first few years after diagnosis. He adds that the survival figures for melanomas are often measured in ten-year periods instead of the five-year periods used to calculate survival in the case of some other cancers."Altman has described how McCain had undergone a surgery to determine whether the cancer had spread from his left temple to a key lymph node in his neck. The test showed that it had not, he adds. He writes, "But because such a test cannot be definitive, the surgeons, with Mr. McCain's advance permission, removed the surrounding lymph nodes and part of the parotid gland, which produces saliva, in the same operation, which lasted five and a half hours." McCain's staff at the time, according to Altman, had said that the final pathology analysis reported no evidence of the spread of the melanoma, or that chemotherapy or radiation was needed.However, Altman quotes Dr. Richard L. Shapiro, a melanoma surgeon at New York University, as saying that "With melanoma, a patient is never completely clear." Altman accepts that a recurrence did not seem likely in the case of McCain. However, he indicates that the typical treatment, in case of a recurrence, involved surgery and a complicated form of chemotherapy, adding that the "chances of long-term survival diminish."Altman even goes on to point out that John McCain seemed to be very careful about shielding himself from the sun by using a "powerful sunscreen before outdoor events," and relying on "spots of shade" or "baseball caps." Altman said that McCain's "prognosis for the recurrence of melanoma medical" could be estimated only by talking with experts having no firsthand knowledge of his medical condition. But those "experts say his prospects appear favorable," he writes.

Emma Johnson has majored in American History, who manages portfolios of Electionspeak related to Presidential Elections 2008. Her key areas are elections, candidates speeches, electio

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Monday, December 2, 2013

23 Things to Know Before Attending Or Having a Display at Another Tradeshow

Here are some simple tradeshow do's and don'ts that you may or may not know, but you might want to review them every time to decide to attend or become a vendor at one. I've compiled these from years of doing different tradeshows, biz expos, kid's expos, health fairs, community festivals and more while working at various jobs and with my own marketing business as well.Learn how to work the room OR be the vendor everyone wants to stop at with my 23 tradeshow techniques!Here are the 14 Things Every Vendor Should Know:1. Bring your friendliest employees or friends to work the booth with you, at least one other person so you're not managing it by yourself. You want high-energy, happy people in your booth that know about your business but most of all ones that know how to talk to people.2. Try not to stand or sit behind your booth, sometimes it's more appropriate to put your table behind you while you stand out in the aisle pulling people into your booth with a great "hook" or catch phrase. In fact you can put the chairs they give you away you shouldn't really ever sit down in your booth. Those who sit at their booth are not as inviting or seem less interested in getting people to stop.3. Do not talk on your phone or to other workers in your booth; always have your attention focused on the attendees passing by. If you look busy, people won't stop.4. Practice your hook, a quick attention getting phrase to get people interested and to stop. You might say something like "Want to know how to lose 10 pounds in 10 days?", "Find out how to save $100 on your next _____", "Having trouble figuring out how much to save for retirement?" or something like these.5. Do not try to spend too much time trying to 'sell' anyone that day or you'll be spending WAY too much time with that one person. You'll want to meet and collect info on as many people as possible; you can always follow up with them later. Try to make a note or check mark those bus cards of those who might be hot prospects so you'll remember later. Having a booth at a tradeshow is like an instant database boosting venue; you want to be focused on getting the name, address, phone and emails of everyone you possibly can at all times.6. Bring a clever giveaway of some type of promotion item, pens tend to be overused. Think of something people will not only keep or use but that will also have some type of correlation with your type of business. I've seen letter openers, flashlights, plastic water bottles, computer dusting brushes, mousepads, coffee cups, sticky notes and I use little books to put business cards in with my logo and website on it so they always have it on hand.7. Hold a drawing for a free gift - not a discount off your services, but something anyone would want. Not everyone will want your services. Have a big bowl or basket for people to drop their cards into AND have a drawing slip in case they don't have cards and make sure to collect all info including email addresses - this obviously builds your database which should be the MAIN REASON you are there.8. Offer incentives if they sign up now with you or purchase today, a discount or throw in a gift certificate just for taking the time for a consultation (Ex: Give them $10 to Starbucks or something when they show up for the appointment?).9. Make your booth interactive, think up some way for the attendees to "get involved" in your booth so they take the time to stop. I've seen real popcorn machines that give off a great smell, big spin wheels with corresponding prizes, puzzles to figure out right on the spot, questionnaire to fill out (bonus, it gets you more info too), video playing on a television, chair massage person giving free massages in your booth, card game or magic trick.10. Have a large (3'x8' average size for booths) full color banner for trade shows with your business name or logo, tagline or catchy phrase/headline on top, phone & website in big bold letters too. You want as much signage as will fit in or around your booth that people can spot across the room. Don't get fancy with lettering; remember the goal should be to get people to stop at your booth and for you to capture their info.11. Make your booth stand out with balloons, music or larger signs if possible. Many tradeshows that are inside allow you to hang signs or such from the ceiling and often times you can get electrical to your booth so you can have fun, energetic music - everyone loves music. Just make sure the music isn't too loud so you can't hear people or they can't hear you when they stop by.12. Bring goodies, candies or some kind of original food if possible, not just the normal Hershey's Kisses or hard candy; the more original you get with this, the more people want to find your booth (I've seen someone with a popcorn machine at their booth for example with cute red and white stripped popcorn bags). If you can get something with your logo on it or name too, that's a plus but it's not necessary unless it's your only giveaway because people will just eat the food/candy and throw away the wrapper. I used to give away individually wrapped fortune cookies and stuck a label with my info on the outside but you can get fortune cookies for example with your unique phrase, name, logo or even a discount offer on the inside fortune part!13. Bring a small ice chest with bottled waters, sodas and quick, easy snacks in case you can't get a break, however step out and eat quickly and don't leave your food and drinks on your tables in plain sight. This is why you want at least one other person with you so you can break each other.14. Don't let your leads get cold! Immediately contact leads and thank them for dropping by your booth. You'll want to set aside the whole next day after a good size show to do your follow up - enter names into a spreadsheet, mail merge them to labels if you want or handwrite them on a quick note with your business card in it or preprinted card or letter written specifically to them as a thank you for stopping by your booth, etc. You could also have preprinted follow up postcards ready to go. If your leads get cold, one of your competitors will beat you to them and if you don't do your follow up YOU'VE WASTED YOUR TIME AND YOUR MONEY at the show!Here are the 9 Tips Tradeshow Attendees Should Follow:1. Have a goal in mind - How many people you want to meet? How many cards you want to pass out or collect? Do you want to make at least 2 good contacts? Are you targeting the vendors or other attendees? Know who you're targeting so you don't go off track and you make the most of your time while you're there; some of these can take some time to get through and you want to be efficient.2. First of all, please, for goodness sakes bring enough business cards (3 times as many as you think you will need). You can even have more in your car.3. Allow enough time to walk the whole show without being rushed. For a larger business expo you'd want to allow at least 4 hours. For a small community event you can usually allow about 1.5 - 2 hours.4. Rather than carrying around heavy brochures, collect the cards of serious prospects and follow up with them later; you can always mail anyone there some follow up information about you or your company. They won't have time to talk to you too much anyway since they are there to make contacts for their own business, so don't be pushy with your stuff. Remember, they paid to be there, you didn't.5. Wear a nametag and possibly a shirt with your logo on it as well so people recognize you and see your logo and make that connection - this is branding for small businesses. Plus it allows those who might need your product or service to see what you do easily when you're walking around.6. Wear comfortable clothes with pockets and/or carry a large bag to put all the info in that you pick up. Pick up everyone's business cards that you talk to so you can follow up with them afterwards. Even if they're not a hot target prospect, they might make a good referral source for you if you built a good rapport with them. In fact, you might pick up all the vendors' cards as well as any attendees you meet - the more the merrier for your database!7. Don't try to sell your product or service to someone who has a booth. This just says that you were too cheap to pay for a booth yourself so you thought you'd go and try to sell everyone while you were there. If the vendors are good prospects, then get their cards and contact info and say hello, but then go back and call or write to them later to introduce your business to them - if they're prospects today, they'll be prospects tomorrow.8. Enter all drawings given at all booths - for the simple reason to see how they follow up. Many of them won't follow up with you, which means they are wasting their tradeshow dollars but that's ok, notice which ones DO follow up with you and how they do it. Those companies will be more likely to do business with you simply because 'they get it'. Plus you might discover some cool ideas for your own follow up strategies.9. Be outgoing and have lots of fun! If you look like you're having fun, more people will want to meet you and talk to you - hence, you build a bigger database!Do you realize how many contacts you can make at the appropriate type of expo or show for your business and target market - TONS!Most of you probably know all of this, but are you doing it? Are you having booths at trade shows for your industry? There are so many out there that you may not even be aware of.To find tradeshows in your area the best places to look are the local venues' websites who hold such events regularly - the community centers, convention centers, concert halls, etc.Have fun!**** Scroll Below for a SPECIAL BONUS! *****************************BONUS!***************************List of Items Any Vendor Should Bring to a Trade Show:

bus cards, brochures
sales or special offer flyers
plastic (or other) holders for bus cards, brochures, flyers, etc.
promo items and basket to display them in
fish bowl to collect cards in
signup sheet for email
drawing slips for those without bus cards to enter drawing
drawing prize
sign and holder to show FREE DRAWING
risers for table display
extra tablecloths, colored napkins and or tooling to match theme
banner or large sign
balloons, matching colors to theme
Office supplies: regular pens & large fat pens, extra paper for handwritten signs, regular tape and packing/duck tape, tablecloth clips/holders, paperclips, safety pins, velcro stickers, metal banner hooks, clipboard (s), dice for game, rubber bands, name badge holders or nametags
basket of candy or some edible goodie either with bus card attached or not
flowers, candy and/or decor for table
portfolio to show
brag book to show
bio sheets
list of services and fees
new client packets
rope or hooks for signage and banners
ice chest with waters, snacks (for the vendor!)


(c) Copyright 2010 K. Sawa Marketing International. To publish this article in your ezine or website please include the following blurb: Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Author, Speaker and International JumpStart Your Biz Coach who's helped hundreds of small business owners take dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next level in business, revenues and their personal life. She offers one-on-one coaching, group coaching and do-it-yourself business-building products. She's been featured on various news talk shows and radio shows including Oprah and Friends XM Radio. Go online now to get started with her Free Entrepreneur's Success Kit at http://www.JumpStartY

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