MediaBorn

When you are looking for light, you may often ignore the lamp in your own house and look for other options here and there. It is, after all, common human mentality to assume that the grass is always greener on the other side. So if you are desperate to find effective ways of health club promotions for your fitness business, try to consider your own staff members.

In case you are rubbing your eyes in disbelief, let me tell you that you have read it right. If you have certified fitness professionals on your payroll, why can’t you use them for promotions? There is no doubting the fact that there is great value attached to working with expert fitness trainers. So, by turning the spotlight on your training team, you can gain tremendous mileage in terms of promotions.

The following tips can tell you how to do health club promotions by gaining media exposure for your staff.

1. Be on the lookout for opportunities such as fitness columns in newspapers and health shows on television. Try to get your best trainers to write articles in newspapers and health journals or demonstrate exercises on television. Even if you can get hold of a ten minute slot on TV every morning, imagine the exposure your health club can get.

The reputation of your staff will also increase once they become a part of people’s lives through the television and print media.

2. If one of your trainers has devised a workout routine that has greatly helped your existing clients, make sure that this gets good media coverage. The media can project this as ‘a great new exercise regimen’ while you can look forward to hordes of new members at your club.

3. Building your media contacts is another vital component of health club promotions. Your ‘friends’ in the media will be more than willing to provide coverage on informative and interesting inputs about health and fitness (given that it is such a popular topic nowadays), that your trainers can come up with.

This can also ensure that whenever there is a health related panel discussion that calls for a fitness expert, they call you up to send one of your trainers. Even in case of ‘breaking news’ such as an injury to a top sportsperson, one of your staff members can get the chance to provide expert comments on the general nature and effects of the injury.

4. If your staff already has a substantial media presence, it may be the right thing to hammer home the point that they are ahead of your competition by a country mile!

This can be done by such health club promotion ideas such as:

Posting newspaper cutouts of articles and columns written by your staff on your health club notice-board.

Making the articles a part of your marketing newsletter.

Make a press kit with video clippings of your trainers from TV shows and news programs and use it for courting prospective members.

By now you may have realized the great opportunity that lies in front of you if you can project your staff for health club promotions. After all, it can also make these men and women, who are the pillars of your business, feel special!

Author:

Chris McCombs offers input for gyms looking to ramp up their health club promotions

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Lola T70 

Source: antsphoto

A very cool presentation of the new Misa Guitar running Kernel 2.6.31

When it comes to solar energy of the future, we are going to have to start thinking outside the box. In fact, we are going to have to forget that there ever was a box at all.

What we are used to seeing today, such things as roofs adorned with rectangular solar panels, or small garden solar lights, solar powered handbags and so on - all these things will become museum pieces.

Put on your thinking cap of the future and dream along with me for a few minutes while we sort out the world’s energy problems.

We have become so used to having unlimited energy at our beck and call, that the first thing we will have to fix is our attitude. With the current energy systems that we use, continuing on the present path is nothing more than a recipe for disaster. Not only environmentally, but financially as well.

We seem to have some particular need to drive 300 h.p. vehicles. Why? Most cars could reach any posted speed limit with 20 h.p., so why the need for such excess. Don’t believe me? Do you remember the old VW of years ago? It had a 36 h.p. engine and could easily exceed any posted speed limit of today. No, I’m not selling old VW’s, but if it could be done 50 years ago, why could it not be done far more efficiently today?

The one thing we must not forget is this…every time we consume 1 gallon of gasoline, there will be one less gallon available for future use. We may find in future that gasoline will have a more beneficial use to us than moving a 3,500 lb car around with a single occupant. In fact, would you not think that future governments might ban such an activity? Think about that for a minute. What would you do if that happened?

In case you think that is out of the question, consider what has already been done with H.O.V. (high occupancy vehicle) lanes for the past couple of decades. The only single occupant vehicles (S.O.V.) which will be allowed will need to be powered by alternative energy. Is that really so bad? No, of course it isn’t. In fact, we need to get behind anyone and everyone who is working in this direction.

There are plans afoot for several electric vehicles. All of these use present technology, and most can deliver a mileage cost compared to gasoline powered cars at about 75 cents per gallon. Depending on where you are gasoline may run anywhere between $2.50 and $4.50 a gallon (more in Europe) so the electric vehicle will have a considerably lower fuel cost. This cost is based on current utility prices (2009) being used to re-charge the electric vehicle’s batteries.

The future will see not only electric vehicles in abundance, but they will be lighter, have better batteries for energy storage, and will be re-charged at home with personal solar power re-charging stations. All these things will go a long way toward reducing our carbon footprint, which, in case you have forgotten, is one of the primary reasons for getting away from fossil fuels in the first place.

And how about this for an idea, every exterior surface on the car would use some sort of energy absorbing material which would convert sunlight into usable power. So, while you are sitting in your favorite coffee shop, your car is being re-charged courtesy of the sun.

And no matter what store or mall you went to, a plug in would be available to charge your car while you were shopping. For free yet, no charge!

In case that sounds implausible, let’s figure out why that would be really good for business. Can you imagine one mall offering free plug-ins and the next not? Where would you shop? Yes, that’s right, your “fuel” to get home again would tip the scale in favor of the forward thinking mall. Not only that, there would be pride of place parking spots for electric cars, right in front of the store. Gas powered cars would be relegated to the back rows.

And where would this power come from? Why, the roof of the mall itself, which would be covered with the solar panel of the future. And for those windy days, pop-up mini wind turbines would rise up into the wind to capture extra kilowatts. Store windows will have embedded solar capacity right in the glass. Building materials used for cladding exteriors will have solar coverings, adding yet more energy to the mix. The very parking lots themselves will generate electricity. The list surely is endless.

When the day arrives that big cities adopt a more futuristic approach to street parking, what do you suppose might happen? You arrive downtown and wish to park your electric car. Your chosen parking space has an electric plug in for your car, there is no charge for this. Not only that, but the parking itself is free! Never happen you say? Not so…it already is in London, England.

Do you play golf? Do you drive a golf cart? Where does it get re-charged? See if you can get your golf club to install a solar powered charging system. Everything that we remove from grid power is another step in the right direction.

None of these things will happen on their own. We all need to take stock of our present energy “load” and see what we can do to switch from fossil fuel to sun power. See what you can come up with on your own that can be powered by the sun. An electric lawn mower perhaps? You can get some help with generating electricity from the sun by visiting here.

Author:

Keith Elliott is a retired builder with interests in Astronomy, Architecture, Japanese Gardening, Photography, Writing, Woodworking and anything else that doesn’t move. He has been living with solar energy for more than a decade.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Summer 2009 

Source: Ivan Walsh

Google is going hyper - and businesses are worried about it, according to BusinessWeek.Google is rolling out new "under-the-hood" search technology, codenamed "Caffeine," that could change how your company ranks in its search results. For those businesses that live-and-die based on Google-generated traffic, this is potentially a very big deal.The story has been out there for a couple of days in the more geek-oriented suburbs of the blogosphere, but the business implications didn't dawn on me right away. Then I saw the BusinessWeek article. David Coursey of PC World looks at the possible shake up as a result of Google's new technology that may be comign to the world of web design and SEO. It's unclear just how much of a different the new Google would make in search results.

© Yodel Anecdotal

By:  Steve                        Source