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A Better Life: ItsYourFuture!
Be Happy Be Healthy, Live Long and Prosper
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Vol. 3, No. 3 February 1st., 2001 ISSN 1442-5211
CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE
----------------------
1. Our Sponsor
2. Welcome - From the Publisher
3. Our Motto
4. BE HAPPY: the MIND-ATTITUDE
Inspiration: Point Of View
Humor: Definitions
Romance: You've Got to Charm Her
5. BE HEALTHY, LIVE LONG: the BODY-HEALTH/FITNESS/NUTRITION
Take Some Nutrition And Religion; Add Humor!
6. PROSPER: MONEY-CAREER/BUSINESS/INVESTING/HOME BUSINESS
How To Use Testing For Breakthrough Marketing Results
7. Our Companion Ezine
8. Classified Ads.
9. Privacy Policy, Disclaimer and Copyright Notice
10. Contact Information
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1. Our Sponsor:
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2. Welcome from the Publisher
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Hi all!
I'm sorry that this Issue is a little late. I'm finding that my
workload is getting a bit too much, and a that I'll have to
prune back a couple of things. One result is that A Better Life:
ItsYourFuture will be published monthly, rather than twice a
month. Faced with cutting the qaulity or cutting the frequency,
I'd rather cut the frequency. I'm not egotistical enough to
imagine that anyone will slash their wrists over this news, but
I do hope you are not inconvenienced! Watch out for your next
Issue on March 1st.
See you then,
John
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3. Our Motto
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Our Motto is- "Be Happy, Be Healthy, Live Long and Prosper."
>From this Motto, we can define the three areas in which we intend
to assist our readers.
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4. BE HAPPY: the MIND-ATTITUDE
=================================================================
Quote:
"Anger is just one letter short of danger."
- Unknown
Inspiration: Point Of View
--------------------------
It all depends on the way you look at things. One day a father
and his rich family took his son on a trip to the country with
the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent
a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they
got back from their trip the father asked his son, "How was the
trip?"
"Very good Dad!"
"Did you see how poor people can be?", the father asked.
"Yeah!"
"And what did you learn?"
The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they
have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the
garden, they have a creek that has no end. We have imported
lamps in the garden, they have the stars. Our patio reaches
to the front yard, they have a whole horizon."
When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless.
His son added, "Thanks, Dad for showing me how poor we are!"
Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things?
If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a
positive attitude towards life - you've got everything!
You can't buy any of these things, but still, you can have all
the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the
future, etc.; but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing!
Have a great day!
-Unknown
Humor: Definitions
------------------
A young girl who was writing a paper for school came to her
father and asked, "Dad, what is the difference between anger
and exasperation?"
The father replied, "It is mostly a matter of degree. Let me
show you what I mean."
With that the father went to the telephone an dialed a number at
random. To the man who answered the phone, he said, "Hello, is
Melvin there?"
The man answered, "There is no one living here named Melvin. Why
don't you learn to look up numbers before you dial them?"
"See," said the father to his daughter. "That man was not a bit
happy with our call. He was probably very busy with something
and we annoyed him. Now watch...."
The father dialed the number again. "Hello, is Melvin there?"
asked the father.
"Now look here!" came the heated reply. "You just called this
number and I told you that there is no Melvin here! You've got a
lot of nerve calling again!" The receiver slammed down hard.
The father turned to his daughter and said, "You see, that was
anger. Now I'll show you what exasperation means."
He dialed the same number, and when a violent voice roared,
"Hello!"
The father calmly said, "Hello, this is Melvin. Have there been
any calls for me?"
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Romance: You've Got to Charm Her
--------------------------------
One predicament I get myself into is that when I am being
romantic all year round, it becomes a little more difficult to
make certain occasions extra special. A couple of years ago when
I was wanting to do something very nice for Athena in honor of
our 8th yearly wedding anniversary, I scratched my head and
thought and thought.
Presto! It came together.
I found the box where Athena stores coins we have collected from
our many travels. She has always been fascinated by the various
designs, shapes and colors of foreign money and would keep a few
to take home.
I took about 30 of her precious francs, marks, crowns, pesos,
shillings and other coinage and whisked them away with me to the
shed (please don't do this with rare coins). One by one, I held
them to the counter with a clamp. Out came the drill and each
coin received a hole near its edge.
>From my pocket I drew the sterling charm bracelet I bought at the
mall and the tiny rings I purchased at the craft store. The rings
are like miniature key rings. I threaded a ring through each coin
and then attached the coins, one at a time, onto the bracelet.
Athena wears her bracelet everywhere - even when we are traveling.
She doesn't even care if she has to take it off each time we go
through the airport metal detectors.
The charm bracelet only cost $25 to make. However to Athena its
priceless.
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Michael Webb is author of The RoMANtic's Guide: Hundreds of
Creative Tips for a Lifetime of Love, available from Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786884347/itsyourfuture
For more of Michael's FREE tips, visit
http://www.TheRomantic.com
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Life In Africa Foundation Report
--------------------------------
Donations made by ABL:IYF! readers have made enabled micro-loans
to be made to four people in Uganda. These loans are made to
enable the borrowers create or expand the small businesses that
feed them and their families. Total loans of US $858 have been
guaranteed through the good efforts of our readers. It is
anticipated that repayments will see another loan made shortly.
This program is something of which we can all feel proud. You can
keep up-to-date with the help we are providing, by checking out
the Report at
http://LifeInAfrica.com/report.htm at any time.
Just click on the 'ABLIYF Ezine' link. You can then click on the
name of any of the borrowers, to read their story, and how we
are helping.
Readers who would like to contribute directly to LiA via credit
card (minimum $10), check, or international bank transfer, can
email Christina Jordan at
[email protected] for special
ABL:IYF! instructions. Please send a copy of the email to me
(John)at
[email protected] Please let me know if you
would like your generosity publicly acknowledged in the Ezine.
=================================================================
5. BE HEALTHY, LIVE LONG: the BODY-HEALTH/FITNESS/NUTRITION
=================================================================
Quote:
"Let nature be your teacher."
- William Wordsworth
Take Some Nutrition And Religion; Add Humor!
--------------------------------------------
In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. And
the Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon
the face of the deep.
And Satan said, "It doesn't get any better than this."
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
And God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb
yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit," and God
saw that it was good.
And Satan said, "There goes the neighborhood."
And God said, "Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness,
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air and over the cattle, and over all the Earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth."
And so God created Man in his own image; male and female
created He them. And God looked upon Man and Woman and saw that
they were lean and fit.
And Satan said, "I know how I can get back in this game."
And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and
spinach, green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and
Woman would live long and healthy lives.
And Satan created McDonald's. And McDonald's brought forth the
99-cent double cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want
fries with that?" And Man said, "Supersize them." And Man gained
five pounds.
And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her
figure that man found so fair.
And Satan brought forth chocolate. And Woman gained five pounds.
And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."
And Satan brought forth Ben and Jerry's. And Woman gained 10
pounds.
And God said, "I have sent thee heart-healthy vegetables and olive
oil with which to cook them."
And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed its
own platter. And Man gained 10 pounds and his bad cholesterol went
through the roof.
And God brought forth running shoes and Man resolved to lose those
extra pounds.
And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would
not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2.
And Man gained another 20 pounds.
And God said, "You're running up the score, Devil."
And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in
fat and brimming with nutrition.
And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy
center into chips and deep-fat fried them. And he created
sour cream dip also.
And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips
swaddled in cholesterol.
And Satan saw and said, "It is good."
And Man went into cardiac arrest.
And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.
And then Satan created HMOs.
-Read In Dave's Daily Chuckle
http://www.Daily-Chuckle.com
Glucosamine Sulfate Helps Osteo-Arthritis
-----------------------------------------
In an Editorial gratuitously entitled 'A Nutritional Supplement
Actually Survives Close Scientific Scrutiny' Elizabeth M. Whelan,
Sc.D., M.P.H. of the American Council on Science and Health
writes;
"The Jan. 27 issue of the prestigious British medical journal
Lancet presents the results of a carefully executed and well-
controlled study evaluating the effect of the nutritional
supplement glucosamine sulfate on the progression of
osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the United
States today, affecting nearly 12 percent of the population (over
20 million sufferers). It is often painful and can be
debilitating. There is no known "cure," and patients are often on
their own in dealing with the associated pain and stiffness,
seeking relief from over-the-counter pain relievers. Recently the
prescription drugs Vioxx and Celebrex have come on the scene,
offering pain relief with fewer major gastrointestinal side
effects -- but not offering any direct impact on slowing the
disease's progression.
Some arthritis suffers have turned to glucosamine, an
increasingly popular nutritional supplement, to help them cope
with the disease. But until now, there was no hard evidence that
glucosamine had any real beneficial effect. Now, a three year,
double-blind, placebo-controlled Belgian study involving 212
patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis has shown that those
taking glucosamine had significantly less disease progression,
and as a result fewer symptoms, than those who were on a placebo
(inactive) pill. The study also did not reveal significant side
effects from taking the preparation."
In introducing this item, I used the word "gratuitous" to
describe the author's attitude. I do that because I have seen
numerous studies cited that showed similar results. This
attitude is particularly prevalent in some sectors of the field
of Nutrition. Some in the field react to the thought of any
nutritional supplement with the need for a double-blind, placebo-
controlled study. While that's good science, they should at least
be consistent. They recommend foods such as tomatoes, lettuce,
beef etc. Fair enough, but when was the last time you saw a
double-blind, placebo-controlled study on tomatoes? Lettuce?
Beef? Should we not eat these foods until we have had the results
of such a study, and have them replicated elsewhere, to boot? If
Nutrition professionals want to turn their scientific rigor loose,
and protect us from useless and unhealthy products, how about they
start on Coke and Macdonalds?
You can read the rest of Whelan's article at
http://www.drkoop.com/news/focus/2001/jan/29_glucosamine.html
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=================================================================
6. PROSPER: MONEY-CAREER/BUSINESS/INVESTING/HOME BUSINESS
=================================================================
Quote:
" Whatever you are, be a good one."
- Abraham Lincoln
How To Use Testing For Breakthrough Marketing Results
-----------------------------------------------------
by Yanik Silver
Advertising is expensive. And it costs you the same amount of
money to run an ad (or mail a letter) that brings in 2 customers
as one that drives in 20 customers. So that difference is in your
ad (or letter).
Let's say you've come up with what you think is a good ad
(powerful headline, good offer, sizzling copy, etc.), now
you're ready to test.
Testing will help you:
1. Save yourself a bunch of money.
2. Improve any results you're currently getting.
3. Stop guessing about what works.
I'd say those are some pretty good reasons to learn all about
testing and how to apply it to your business. So before
spending loads of money on your new ad you can (and should) do a
few low-cost/no-cost tests:
The Sleep On It Test
First, you should let your ad sit for at least a day. Then the
next day you can come back to it with new eyes and a fresher
perspective. You can find errors that weren't apparent before.
Also, your chances of writing a good ad are significantly
improved with rewriting. (I will rewrite an ad or letter 3, 4 or
5 times before I'm done.)
Reading Aloud Test
I don't know what it is about reading something aloud versus
reading to yourself, but you'll pick up lots and lots of insight
into how good (or bad) your ad really is by reading it aloud. All
the bumps and rough spots jump out at you.
Or a variation on this is to have someone else read it you. This
is even better. As they're reading it, you should take out a copy
of the ad and make notes on it. One big advantage of this is your
reader is completely impartial. He won't stress certain phrases or
words to make the meaning clearer. And if the reader is having
trouble you know that's an area to edit.
Sneaky Opinion Test
This test is really great. Take your ad off your printer and make
a xerox copy of it. Then go around to a few peoplewho should be
in your target market and say something like, "Take a look at
this, I just found this in a magazine."
Key point: Do not tell people you wrote the ad because they'll be
sure to say how nice it is.
You're gauging their response. If they say something like "Did
you write this?" or "This is really good." What that really means
is your ad stinks.
But if you start hearing "Do you know how I can get this done?"
or "Do you do this?" then you know you're on to something good
and ready to spend money on your test.
Opinions are great, but the only votes that really count are the
ones that are paid for. The first thing you *don't* want to do is
call every newspaper, magazine, throw-away, etc. You need to start
by testing small. And that means spending as little as possible to
get accurate results.
Test Small
Joe Sugarman (He sold millions of Blu-blocker sunglasses) tells
how he would test all his ads in the Southwestern edition of the
Wall Street Journal. Because this was the cheapest and smallest
edition of the Journal to test. That way he was able to read
results quickly and then decide whether or not to 'roll-out' to
other editions.
So how can you apply this information to your business?
Easy.
Let's say you've been running ads in your local paper. Well,
usually newspapers have zoned editions based on zip codes. So
instead of paying for your ad to appear in the entire
circulation, you simply put it in one of the cheapest and most
representative zones available.
And by tracking the response (using a specific phone#, person,
extension#, etc.) you can safely predict what results you'll get
once you go out to the entire circulation.
One more point: It's better to run your test ad in a daily paper
instead of a monthly magazine. Simply because you can ascertain
information more quickly.
Don't Fall For Your Ad Rep's Traps
You cannot multiply zero. That means if there is no life in your
ad -- kill it before it drains more money and time from you.
Don't listen to your media rep's b.s. about repetition and
getting discounts for multiple insertions. Remember, these guys
have no clue about how to create advertising that works. If they
did, they'd be running ads in their own magazines and making tons
of money.
Infomercial marketers realize this point. Imagine spending
$100,000.00 to produce one single 30 minute spot and then buying
$400 - $1,000 in media to test it out. That's what infomercial
companies do.
They know if the phones aren't ringing after a couple of TV spots
-- they're definitely not going to ring if they throw tens of
thousands of dollars in media at it, either.
Follow these tips and you'll be able to save a lot of money plus
increase response. Just test until you come up with a winner and
then keep running it!
(c)2000 Surefire Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved.
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7. Our Companion Ezine:
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===================== WEB MARKETING EZINE =====================
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on Web Marketing and E-Commerce, from a street-smart Marketer.
Subscribe FREE at:
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Or mailto:
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8. Classified Advertisements:
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important letter you read this year. Read about your business's
future at:
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articles on subjects such as time management, money management
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9. Privacy Policy, Disclaimer and Copyright Notice
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PRIVACY POLICY: Your privacy is important to us. We will not,
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without your approval.
DISCLAIMER: A Better Life:ItsYourFuture! Ezine is intended
to increase your knowledge of the opinions and options in the
fields that we cover. Its contents should not be used to replace
professional advice. If you use this information without the
approval of a qualified professional, no responsibility can be
taken. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of
A Better Life:ItsYourFuture!
A Better Life:ItsYourFuture! may only be redistributed in its
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as you wish, with our thanks. Written permission must be obtained
to reprint or quote original material published in the Ezine.
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10. Subscription and Contact Information
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ItsYourFuture is published By John Payne AAMI AIMM
At February 1st, 2001- 1465 subscribers, 48 countries
=================================================================
