Paper Quilling 101 – Essential Basics to Getting Started

 

Paper Quilling 101 – Essential Basics to Getting Started

Word Count:
557

Summary:
All the things about paper quilling, quilling supplies and other resources.

Keywords:
paper quilling,free quilling pattern,quilling pattern,paper quilling pattern,quilling supply,free quilling,quilling tool,quilting picture,quilling card,quilling fringer,free quilling design,quilling design,christmas instructions quilling

Article Body:
Paper quilling is a form of art or craft born out of creating decorative designs using thin strips of curled paper. This age-old quilling craft has emerged since the Renaissance time, and dated back to about 3 centuries old. It was during the time when all the nuns used small edges trimmed from the Bible pages. From there, those pieces were used to create simple but beautiful form of artistry. This craft was known as "Quilling" due to how the scrapped of paper were wrapped around goose quills to create "coiled shapes".

Getting into paper quilling craft was not expensive as most of the time you will only need few inexpensive basic materials, which you can buy at most art and craft stores.

Because of this, paper quilling has created much interest in family and friends especially home makers into creating endless opportunities around this paper craft. They are some enthusiasts who are totally involved in the craft, making their own sets of designs and ornaments, and even making it big by having inventories large enough to enter into local arts and crafts show.

With hard work and perseverance, anyone can be assured that the opportunities opened up by this unusual and highly flexible medium are endless. Christmas ornaments made through paper quilling are quite common and in-demand. According to a paper quiller, Lana J Bates had earned $900 in a farmers' market Christmas crafts show. That's quite a good to gain.

Moreover, the tools used in paper quilling are rather simple and straightforward. Some of the common tools used in the process are slotted quilling tool, needle, glue, tweezers and pins. Just by using these simple tools, long strips of paper are wound tightly and released, and hereby forming complicated and complex shapers. To get higher precision of quilling accuracy, these tools should be made with better metal quality and made to last longer.

Here are some of the basic uses of such tools
Slotted Quilling tool – the slot that is attached along its shaft is used to hold the paper securely as you turn the tool in your hand. Generally, the knurl on the handle ensures a firm grip of your hand that will be helpful in the rolling of a neater and even tight roll.

Needle tool – Basically the needle used to used to enable a finer centre hole after rolling. This will generally produce a much tighter roll with a smaller hole in the center.

Glue – One of the most important tools in paper quilling. The glue is widely used in joining the shaped quills. In order to produce better and tighter quills, a basic mastery of glue handling is necessary ie the quantity and how you apply them onto your paper.

Tweezers – Tweezers are excellent tool to put together small bits and pieces of your paper quilling in right place. They can be used to hold the coils that have been shaped, while you put a few drops of glue on the edges you are glueing together without damaging it.

Pins – While the tweezers will help you to put together all the small bits and pieces when you are sticking them, pins are used when you are drying up the glue. The pins will allow you to put the project aside and finish it later, while waiting for the glue to dry up.

 

The truth about paid surveys

 

The truth about paid surveys

Word Count:
394

Summary:
You may have been enticed in many of the emails for taking part in surveys. Surveys are conducted for collecting your precious opinion about a product or a company or a brand.

Keywords:
surveys

Article Body:
You may have been enticed in many of the emails for taking part in surveys. Surveys are conducted for collecting your precious opinion about a product or a company or a brand. Opinions of many people when analyzed create an understanding about that product or brand or company. Online paid surveys is a recent introduction to the art and science of surveys. Surveys have existed for almost 100 years in its scientific form as it exists today. Paid forms of survey has become popular because of two major reasons - people get bugged with traditional paper pencil survey at home and secondly, participating in an online survey is easy and non interfering.

Companies pay for participating in a survey - this is to increase the number of people taking part in the survey, who otherwise may skip to avoid. You are compensated in a paid survey in different ways by various survey conducting agencies - you may be paid cash (or check), through Paypal. Some agencies don't pay cash, but offer you points. These points can be converted into gifts or certificates. There are various levels of gifts and certificates against the number of points accumulated by the survey participant.

The money that can be made by you by participating is a survey can never be enough to run your family. Don't be misguided by this reality of life. While theoretically it is not impossible, data suggests that you can just about make enough money to make those extra payments or buy that extra something in your life.

The number of surveys that can be taken by you in a month or year depends on your demographic, geographic and psychographics profile. You should fit into the qualifying criteria definition of the participants for a particular survey. While the agency may have one survey running per day, you certainly will not fir into all of them. This restricts you to not more than 5-10 surveys per month.

There are few things to be kept in mind while trying to get into the world of paid survey participation. Don't ever pay a single dollar for participating in a survey. No research agency will charge you a cent for participating. Better is to research the web for the sites for paid surveys, get yourself registered with the information and expect the surveys to be sent to you over a period of time.

 

Tornado Rips Building; 150 Live to Tell the Story

 

Tornado Rips Building; 150 Live to Tell the Story

Word Count:
400

Summary:
About 150 employees at Parsons Manufacturing Co. in Illinois were shocked to see their company's building turned into a pile of mangled steel beams and other rubble as an F-4 tornado ripped through the area. But what's even more shocking is that they were inside the building when the storm hit.

Keywords:
Tornado Rips Building; 150 Live to Tell the Story

Article Body:
About 150 employees at Parsons Manufacturing Co. in Illinois were shocked to see their company's building turned into a pile of mangled steel beams and other rubble as an F-4 tornado ripped through the area. But what's even more shocking is that they were inside the building when the storm hit.

Thanks to reinforced concrete masonry shelters, all 150 people walked away from the disaster without a scratch. An F-4 tornado has wind speeds from 207 to 260 mph.

Winds from the storm leveled the 225,000-square-foot plant and destroyed at least half a dozen homes nearby.

"We were told over a public address system to head to the three restrooms, which are made of reinforced concrete masonry and serve as storm shelters. When we got to the shelters, we could see steel beams and machinery flying in the air," recalled Dave McClallen, a Parsons employee.

Woodford County Emergency Services & Disaster Agency volunteer Dustin Oltman said reports indicated that the storm inflicted the most damage on the half-mile area in Roanoke, Ill., where Parsons Manufacturing Co. is located.

Bob Parsons, owner of Parsons Manufacturing, which makes parts for the construction and mining industries, didn't want to take any chances when constructing his operation after a near miss of his first business by a tornado in 1972. When he built an expanded business across the street, he included reinforced concrete masonry storm shelters inside. He said that he never could have guessed that decision would save 150 lives 30 years later.

"The storm shelters were so important. They saved all of our lives," said Craig Joraanstad, the company's human resources manager. "The most important thing we hope happens out of this is that more businesses take storm shelters seriously. Concrete masonry protects lives and property ... 150 people are alive today thanks to those concrete masonry storm shelters."

The inherent strength of reinforced concrete masonry makes it an excellent choice to withstand wind-borne debris - the largest threat to occupants in these storms, said Dennis Graber, an engineer on the staff of the National Concrete Masonry Association in Herndon, Va.

"Researchers at the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech University demonstrated this fact at a wind projectile test in September 2003," Graber said. "In that test, solid grouted 8- and 6-inch reinforced concrete masonry wall panels withstood the standardized FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] test of 15-pound, 2 by 4 projectiles shot at 100 mph, which is representative of debris in a 250-mph tornado."

 

Powerful Tips to Creating Testimonials That Sell Your Products Fast

Powerful Tips to Creating Testimonials That Sell Your Products Fast

Word Count:
804

Summary:
Capture the power of testimonials today. Testimonials can never be underestimated. People, especially nowadays, will only purchase products or avail services which have been referred to them by people whom they know. Discover right now 6 tips to creating testimonials that will sell your products fast.

Keywords:
Advertising, marketing, selling, sales, small business, lead generation, direct response marketing, profit, testimonials, business, money, copywriting

Article Body:
There are many ways to market a product or a service and providing the potential clients and customers with testimonials is one of the best ways to market.
 
The power of testimonials can never be underestimated. People, especially nowadays, will only purchase products or avail services which have been referred to them by people whom they know. But most of the times, this is not an option that is in the hands of the business owner, he has to do the next best thing, which is to get testimonials from his past clients.

Testimonials are living statements from past customers or clients which states that they were satisfied by the product/ service. Every business must have testimonials to be able to stand out in the ever crowded markets.

There are many benefits of having testimonials. Here are some of them.

Testimonials appease the target market

Testimonials usually lessen the doubts of the target market. There are a lot of scammers and con artists nowadays, and this has turned the market into a fearsome one. Credible testimonials provide security to the people who are eyeing at a certain product or service. The provision of testimonials gives people a much more relaxed attitude towards a product or service.

Testimonials assure quality

Aside from confirming the existence of a business and lessening doubts, testimonials provide assurance to potential customers and clients of the quality of the product or service. The fact that they took time out to be able to write testimonials about the product reflect their levels of satisfaction towards the product/service.

Testimonials give advantage

Credible testimonials provide a competitive advantage for the product/service. There are many products and services out there and one of the ways to stand out from the rest is the use of credible testimonials.

There are many types of testimonials. Testimonials are usually categorized according to the source. Here are a few examples:

a) Testimonials from satisfied customers

This is probably the most effective type of testimonial. Nothing beats a testimonial from a satisfied customer because it is a picture of what the product/service is all about.

b) Testimonials from experts

Experts can be credible sources of testimonials.  If a renowned dermatologist writes a testimonial for a beauty soap, it will surely help in boosting its sales, wouldn't it?

c) Testimonials from celebrities

In a world that is run by mass media, celebrities have become powerful sources of testimonials. Today, even infomercials are infested by testimonials from celebrities.
People may think that getting testimonials from celebrities will cost a lot, but if it's a real testimonial, celebrities may even waive their talent fees.

There is much more to making a testimonial an effective tool for marketing than gathering them.  Good testimonials are the ones which can be compressed into a few catchy words. "I lost 20 pounds in two weeks time!" is an example of an eye-catching testimonial. However, one must never rephrase or edit what the client had said. How to get the right kinds of testimonials will be discussed later.

Credible testimonials should also contain the complete attributes of the people who gave them. Their titles, location and age should be included whenever possible.

Visual appeal will also be a great help in using testimonials. If the clients are willing, one must insist in taking photographs or videos for their testimonials.

So how does a business owner get started with the whole testimonial thing?

Here are some steps on how to archive testimonials.

1. Before anything else, only products/ services with outstanding quality deserve testimonials, so one must make sure that his product/service possesses exceptional quality.

2. Ask the help of your customers. One must be able to communicate to his customers his need of getting their testimonials. If they are really satisfied with the product/service, they would be more than willing to participate.

3. Interview your customers. Ask them about what they like about your product/service, why they chose your product and other questions like these.

4. Ask them if they are willing to make a written testimonial. You can offer to make the testimonial yourself based on their responses during the interview but the testimonial is still up for their approval. You might want to make the wordings catchy and let them approve the testimonials.

5. Ask them if you could record the testimonial using a tape recorder or video cam. A video testimonial is better, but of course, many people are camera-shy and this can be a limited option for most.

6. Choose the best testimonials. Use the best ones so as to maximize the benefits that your product can get from the testimonials.

Testimonials are very powerful and this is the reason why every business should have them. They provide assurance and security and reflect the real essence of a product or a service.

 

Free Online Advertising Channels For Your Business

Free Online Advertising Channels For Your Business

Word Count:
615

Summary:
This article reveals 5 free methods to advertise any business online.

Keywords:
online advertising

Article Body:
What a wonderful invention it is, this thing we call the Internet!

If you would just take your time to know your way around, you could discover a lot of premium products and services being offered for free.  What's best is that there is a seemingly endless number of these wonderful finds, what with the Internet being a vast network of constantly evolving ideas and all!

Among these magnificent benefits is the chance to be able to promote your business, any business, online, free of charge!  It doesn't matter if your enterprise is a purely online or offline venture, the World Wide Web is home to a great number of marketing opportunities that you could avail of, with no damage to your business' budget whatsoever.

Advertising can be a big problem otherwise.  A lot of companies reserve a big chunk of their budgets to cover marketing expenditures.  Sometimes, these gambles pay off, but there are occasions when they fail miserably, putting to waste some good money that could have been used in other areas of development for the business involved.

But with the many channels available online, marketing has become a less risky course of action.  There so many avenues available online where you could advertise your business for free and attain more exposure for your products or services.  Here are some of them.

1. You could advertise through your own website.  Ordinarily, you should pay a nominal fee for web hosting and your domain name.  A paid web hosting service is more reliable.  Your own domain name would impress upon your visitors an immediate sense of professionalism.  But if you don't want to spend for them, there are a lot of free web space providers on the Internet!

2. You could advertise through other people's websites.  And you could do this in a lot of ways too!  You could create a banner that would summarize your business' offers and have it displayed on existing pages.  Or if you have your won website for your business, you could use the said banner to link to your pages, or you could even settle for simple links.  Additionally, you could have other webmasters rave about your venture and they could talk about it in their own websites.

3. You could create your own affiliate program.  By giving commissions as incentive, you could invite a lot of Internet users to become your affiliates.  Each affiliate would work to help you make a sale.  It's like having a battalion of sales representatives that you'd only have to pay if they manage to refer a willing customer!

4. You could try viral marketing.  Viral marketing is the online equivalent of word o mouth advertising.  By giving away something for free, for as long as that something has a link or a simple reference to your business, you're encouraging the recipient to spread the word about your business to the people he knows.  This would result in the exponential expansion of your business message like wildfire.

5. You could advertise in online communities.  Forums and mailing lists are popular venues that could likewise convey your business message.  Membership to these groups is usually free.  Additionally, you could also create your own mailing list and start capturing leads for future sales by doing some helpful follow-ups.

The Internet is a great place for promoting your business.  There are five million people online at any given time and the world is, quite literally, your market.  It would be best for your business to capitalize on this wonderful opportunity and expand your audience a thousand fold bigger!

And you wouldn't even have to spend a penny while you're at it.

 

Easy Ways To Get Your Creative Juices Going

Easy Ways To Get Your Creative Juices Going

Word Count:
749

Summary:
Writing an article doesn't just mean putting down thoughts into words then typing and writing it. You have to capture the interest of your readers and get them to keep on reading. To send your message across you have to get the attention of the reader and have a firm grasp of their interest and pique their curiosity.

Keywords:
internet business plan, small business advertising, business newsletter, business location, business competitors, business website, search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing, business marketing tips

Article Body:
Writing an article doesn't just mean putting down thoughts into words then typing and writing it. You have to capture the interest of your readers and get them to keep on reading. To send your message across you have to get the attention of the reader and have a firm grasp of their interest and pique their curiosity.

The main ingredient in baking up an article is a large dose of creativity. While creativity may come natural to many people, some just gets into a block or something to that effect that can drive someone crazy. Many writers have literally torn their hair out when they get writers block and just can't seem to get their creative juices flowing. 

Putting words into images in the readers mind is an art. A clear and crisp depiction requires a certain flair that only creativity can provide. Similes and metaphors help a lot, but the way an article gets entwined word for word, sentence by sentence then paragraph by paragraph into a whole article develops the essence of the article. 

So just what do you have to do when nothing comes to mind? There is no surefire ways to get the perfect ideas but there are easy ways to get your creative juices flowing. No one can guarantee you of having the perfect mindset but many methods may aid you in achieving that state of mind. Here are five easy ways for that.

1) Keep a diary or a journal with you always. Ideas can be triggered by anything you may hear, see, or smell. Your senses are your radar in finding great ideas. Write all of them into a journal and keep it with you for future reference. You may also write down anything that you have read or heard, someone's ideas could be used to develop your own ideas and this is not stealing. Remember that ideas and creativity can come from anywhere; it's the development of the idea that makes it unique.

2) Relax and take time to sort things out. A jumbled mind cannot create any space for new ideas. Everyone must have a clear mind if one wishes to have their creativity in full speed. Get rid of all obstacles that can be a hindrance to your creativity. If you are bothered by something, you cannot force your mind to stay focused.

Try to relax every time that you can and think about your experiences and interactions with others. Your experiences are what shape your mindset and your opinions which could be reflected on your writings. Try to discover yourself, find out what triggers your emotions. Discover what inspires you and what ticks you off. You can use these emotions to help you in expressing yourself and your ideas, with this you can grow creatively.

3) Create a working place that can inspire your creativeness. Your working place can be quite a hindrance if it doesn't make you feel happy or relaxed. Creativity comes from being in a good state of mind and a messed up workplace that causes distraction won't be conducive in firing up your creative flow.

Surround your working place with objects that makes you happy and relaxed. You may put up pictures, or scents, objects that inspire, or anything that can get your creativeness cranking. A clean and well organized workplace also rids of distractions and unwanted hindrances. With a good working place, you can work in peace and never notice the time pass by.

4) Set the mood. Setting the mood requires you to just go with the moment or to induce your self to feeling what makes your mind works best. Finding out what makes you tick could help you find ways to get your creative juices flowing. Set the pace and tempo for your mood and everything else will follow.

There are many ways to set the mood. Some writers have been known to use alcohol, a little sip of wine to stir up the imagination. Some would like some mood music while others let the lighting of the environment create the mood.

5) Go on a getaway and just do something unlike crazy. Letting yourself go and have fun produces adrenaline that can make your imagination go wild. Take an adventure or a solemn hike. Whatever it is that is unusual from your daily routine can take the rut out of your schedule. In no time at all, your creativeness will make use of that experience and get your imagination to go on overdrive.

 

4 Simple Steps To Great Free Advertising

4 Simple Steps To Great Free Advertising

Word Count:
225

Summary:
Advertising a product, service, or any undertaking, such as a website for example, has always been a pain in the wallet. Here are four simple steps to great free advertising.

Keywords:

 

Article Body:
Advertising a product, service, or any undertaking, such as a website for example, has always been a pain in the wallet.

I have been a follower of the free advertising mode, incidentally.

I would like to share with you two of the strategies I've used in getting free advertising.

The first strategy is to advertise in free but well-visited web sites.

I have published some of the best web sites that accept free advertising. You can access these free ad sites by first going to internetmarketinglearningcenter.com/classified-ads.html.

The second strategy I used to post free ads is to buy a Free Classified Ad Course.

This is actually a brief course and I had to pay Clickbank $19.95 to avail of this ad resource.

The highlight of the Free Classified Ad Course is going to the download link of a free software that you will use to post and monitor your ads.

I would like to share with you this Free Classified Ad Course FREE.

You don't have to pay Clickbank $19.95, and you don't have to spend hours researching for this free software.

Just go to my web site listed on the resource box below, click the link on the sidebar menu entitled 4 Simple Steps to Great Free Advertising, and you are off to posting your free ads. Free.

Enjoy your success in ad posting!