Setting up a successful small business is a major step ? and is not one we should take lightly. It?s also a huge topic, so I?m going to cover it over the next few weeks. Note my use of the word ?successful?. I?m going to start with the assumption that our small business will be successful. Anyone starting a small business hopes it will be successful, but only a small percentage of the businesses set up each year actually succeed.? So let's start from the belief that our business of writing will survive.
For our business to survive, there are ONLY three things that need to happen: we need to get customers; we need to satisfy the demands of those customers; and we need to get paid.? Everything else is window-dressing.? So, let?s start by thinking about those customers and how we are going to find them.
If we start by brainstorming all the different types of customer a writer might have, we come up with quite a long list (and I?m sure your list would be even longer than mine). For books, whether fiction of non-fiction, the traditional customer is an agent or a publisher; however, with the growth of e-publishing and self-publishing, the reader is much more accessible as a direct customer. Additionally, there are newspapers, journals, magazines, both hard-copy and electronic. Thinking slightly outside the box, every company in the country is publishing something ? whether it?s the annual report of a major multinational, or a simple website for the garage down the road ? and not all those companies will have the writers they need on the payroll. There are also professional associations, sports organisations; the list goes on and on. Think about your own interests, experiences and expertise: where would you go to find out about any of them? Once we?ve identified our potential customers, here are some tips for how to reach them (and it you?ve got any other suggestions, leave a comment, so we can all share them):
Network 1: For people to become your customers, they need to know you exist.? So get your name (and contact details) out there.? Spend as much time networking as you can.? Tell everyone you know (and everyone you don?t know, but just happen to be talking to) that you are a writer.
Network 2: Don't underestimate the size of your indirect network. Every one of your family and friends has their own circle of contacts. Ask them to pass the word around. Next time someone says to them ?I wish I could find some one who could...? they will think of you and pass the word on.?
Network 3: Print some simple flyers or business cards and leave them with local shops, restaurants and bars.? With today's technology, you can do this yourself, without incurring huge printing costs and still put over a professional image.
Network 4: As a writer, your customers don?t have to be just around the corner. Having dealt with the local opportunities, it?s time to turn to the rest of the big wide world ? and that?s where the internet comes in. The power of electronic networking was brought home to me when I joined LinkedIn a few years back ? at the time, it was the best option for my professional networking. Initially, I only had 11 contacts in my network. Yet the third degree network that opened to me (contacts of my contacts' contacts) was more than 182,000 people. Today, I have more than 500 contacts and my third degree network runs into the millions.
Network 5: Today, the options for electronic networking are much wider ? and frankly confusing: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Youtube plus others. I?m not going to attempt to unravel that particular tangled ball of wool here ? although we may return to it in a later post. I recently had the chance to hear the inspirational Rebecca Woodhead speak (see Authorpreneurship and Fishnets:Swanwick Day 4). My suggestion would be to go to?Rebecca's website and start learning about how to really network.
Making Contact 1: Make sure you are contactable at all times.? The best ways to do this are by email and mobile phone.? When you are starting out, you can't afford to be choosy over when you work or when you talk to people.? You are there when they need you - or you are not there at all.
Making Contact 2: Establish a presence on the Internet.? That doesn't mean spend huge amounts of time or money developing an all-singing, all-dancing website.? That can come later.? For now, all you need is the equivalent of an electronic business card.? Invest a small amount of money in a suitable domain name.? It makes the business look bigger than it is and allows you to have a suitable email address.? An address like mybusiness@hotmail.com is a dead give away that you are a small outfit.? An address like myname@mybusiness.com?looks more professional.? Use the templates and site-builder software that come with many of the web-hosting services.? You can develop a simple, professional-looking site in less than an hour.
?My ultimate fantasy is to have a threesome with a girl and a guy?but not with my boyfriend.? ? Anonymous sexual fantasy submitted to The Psychology of Human Sexuality
Think about your current partner or the last person with whom you had a romantic relationship. Did you ever fantasize about cheating on that person with someone else? If so, you?re probably not alone, as evidenced by the fantasy described above. But just how common is it for men and women to dream about sex outside of their relationships? And is this behavior something to be concerned about?
To address these questions, 349 university students and employees involved in heterosexual romantic relationships completed a survey inquiring about the number of sexual fantasies they had in the past two months.1 Participants indicated how often their fantasies featured either (1) their current partner, or (2) someone else.
Let?s first look at the overall proportion of fantasies that involved one?s partner compared to someone else. For men, the percentage of fantasies about cheating was higher than the percentage that included one?s partner (54% vs. 46%). For women, however, the opposite pattern was observed (i.e., 64% included their partner, while 36% were about cheating).
Second, let?s look at the number of people who had ever fantasied about cheating. Results indicated that almost all men (98%) and the vast majority of women (80%) reported having fantasized about someone other than their current partner at least occasionally (and keep in mind that some people might engage in this behavior but aren't willing to admit it, meaning that the actual numbers could be even higher). For both men and women, most of these fantasies were about someone they had never physically been with; however, about one-fifth of men and one-third of women reported fantasizing about former sexual partners.
Beyond gender, researchers found that a number of other factors predicted frequency of fantasizing about cheating. Specifically, these fantasies were more common among people who had been in their relationships longer, people who had a larger number of sexual partners in the past, and people who had previously cheated on someone in real life.
So what does all of this mean? Although cheating fantasies are somewhat more common for men than for women, it would appear that having at least occasional cheating fantasies is a normative behavior in relationships for both sexes. Also, if anything, these fantasies many only increase in frequency the longer a relationship goes on. Of course, these data are limited in that they only reflect heterosexual individuals drawn from one university; however, there is nothing in these data to suggest that fantasizing about someone other than your partner is necessarily pathological or damaging to a relationship. So if you find yourself dreaming about sex that doesn't include your partner, it's not necessarily a bad sign or something you should feel guilty about--the fact of the matter is that almost everyone else (including your partner) is fantasizing about the same thing.
Want to learn more about The Psychology of Human Sexuality? Click here for a complete list of articles or like the Facebook page to get articles delivered to your newsfeed.
1Leitenberg, H., & Hicks, T. V. (2001). Sexual fantasies about one?s partner versus someone else: Gender differences in incidence and frequency. The Journal of Sex Research, 38, 43-50.
After making therounds with Mr. Blurry Cam, Sprint's rumored LG LS860 'Cayenne' handset has taken a breather from its photo tour and made a stop at the FCC. The federal filing reveals that the smartphone uses LTE bands tailored for the Now Network (CDMA 850 / 1900; LTE Band 25) and totes NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, SVLTE (simultaneous voice and data) and the usual suspects of WiFi b/g/n and GPS. If other details previously gleaned from the grapevine hold true, the mobile will be powered by a flavor of Android 4.0, pack a 4-inch WVGA screen and a 1.2GHz dual-core S4 processor. There's no word from LG or Big Yellow about the phone's official debut, but its FCC appearance means that it could soon show up packaged and properly photographed in the US.
NIH-funded researchers restore sense of smell in mice using genetic techniquePublic release date: 2-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Robin Latham lathamr@nidcd.nih.gov 301-496-7243 NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Study could lead way to first therapeutic treatment for people born with anosmia
Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have restored the ability to smell in a mouse model of a human genetic disorder that causes congenital anosmiathe inability to smell from birth. The approach uses gene therapy to regrow cilia, cell structures that are essential for olfactory function.
The study was funded by four parts of NIH: the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD), the National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Eye Institute (NEI). It was published online in the September 2, 2012, issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
"These results could lead to one of the first therapeutic options for treating people with congenital anosmia," said James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of NIDCD. "They also set the stage for therapeutic approaches to treating diseases that involve cilia dysfunction in other organ systems, many of which can be fatal if left untreated."
Olfactory dysfunction can be a symptom of a newly recognized class of genetic disorders, known as ciliopathies, which include diseases as diverse as polycystic kidney disease and retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment and blindness. The disorders are caused by defects in cilia, antenna-like projections on cells that help them sense their environment. Scientists believe that nearly every cell in the body has the capacity to grow one or more cilia. In the olfactory system, multiple cilia project from olfactory sensory neurons, sensory cells that are found in the olfactory epithelium, tissue high up in the nasal cavity. Receptors that bind odorants are localized on the cilia, which is why a loss of cilia results in a loss in the ability to smell.
The team of researchers, led by Jeffrey R. Martens, Ph.D., at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Jeremy C. McIntyre, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in Martens' laboratory, worked with a mouse model carrying a mutation in the IFT88 gene. The mutation causes a decrease in the IFT88 protein, which leads to a dramatic reduction in cilia function in several different organ systems, including the olfactory system.
The researchers used an adenovirus to introduce a healthy copy of the gene as a way to restore IFT88 protein levels in the mice. They wanted to see if the reintroduction of the lost protein could restore cilia to the olfactory sensory neurons and return the ability to smell. For three consecutive days, the mice received intranasal gene delivery therapy and then were allowed 10 days for the infected sensory neurons to express the viral-encoded IFT88 protein. After that time, the mice were tested with increasing concentrations of an odorant (amyl acetate). Their responses were measured at the cellular, tissue, and synaptic levels, which all indicated that the mice had regained olfactory function.
"By restoring the protein back into the olfactory neurons, we could give the cell the ability to regrow and extend cilia off the dendrite knob, which is what the olfactory neuron needs to detect odorants," said McIntyre.
The change in olfactory function also has implications in the feeding behavior of the mice. The mouse model the scientists used is born underweight and its anosmia interferes with the motivation to eat, which in many mammals, including humans, is driven by smell. Treatment with adenovirus therapy increased bodyweight by 60 percent in treated compared to untreated mice, indicating that the restored olfactory function was motivating feeding.
The researchers plan to continue their work by developing another mouse model to look at the impact on olfactory function and the potential for restoring function when the IFT88 gene is completely missing, rather than just mutated. Future studies could begin to plot a way to bring this therapeutic tactic to human study volunteers, which could eventually restore the sense of smell, and a better quality of life, to people who are born with anosmia. Further research could also advance the treatments for other ciliopathies, as these findings show that gene therapy is a viable option for the functional rescue of cilia in established, already differentiated cells.
###
This research was supported with funding by NIH grants R01DC009606, F32DC011990, R01DC004553, R01DC008295, R01DK75996, R01DK072301, R01DK075972, R01HD042601, and R01EY021872.
The NIDCD supports and conducts research and research training on the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech and language and provides health information, based upon scientific discovery, to the public. For more information about NIDCD programs, see the website at http://www.nidcd.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NIH-funded researchers restore sense of smell in mice using genetic techniquePublic release date: 2-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Robin Latham lathamr@nidcd.nih.gov 301-496-7243 NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Study could lead way to first therapeutic treatment for people born with anosmia
Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have restored the ability to smell in a mouse model of a human genetic disorder that causes congenital anosmiathe inability to smell from birth. The approach uses gene therapy to regrow cilia, cell structures that are essential for olfactory function.
The study was funded by four parts of NIH: the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD), the National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Eye Institute (NEI). It was published online in the September 2, 2012, issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
"These results could lead to one of the first therapeutic options for treating people with congenital anosmia," said James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of NIDCD. "They also set the stage for therapeutic approaches to treating diseases that involve cilia dysfunction in other organ systems, many of which can be fatal if left untreated."
Olfactory dysfunction can be a symptom of a newly recognized class of genetic disorders, known as ciliopathies, which include diseases as diverse as polycystic kidney disease and retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment and blindness. The disorders are caused by defects in cilia, antenna-like projections on cells that help them sense their environment. Scientists believe that nearly every cell in the body has the capacity to grow one or more cilia. In the olfactory system, multiple cilia project from olfactory sensory neurons, sensory cells that are found in the olfactory epithelium, tissue high up in the nasal cavity. Receptors that bind odorants are localized on the cilia, which is why a loss of cilia results in a loss in the ability to smell.
The team of researchers, led by Jeffrey R. Martens, Ph.D., at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Jeremy C. McIntyre, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in Martens' laboratory, worked with a mouse model carrying a mutation in the IFT88 gene. The mutation causes a decrease in the IFT88 protein, which leads to a dramatic reduction in cilia function in several different organ systems, including the olfactory system.
The researchers used an adenovirus to introduce a healthy copy of the gene as a way to restore IFT88 protein levels in the mice. They wanted to see if the reintroduction of the lost protein could restore cilia to the olfactory sensory neurons and return the ability to smell. For three consecutive days, the mice received intranasal gene delivery therapy and then were allowed 10 days for the infected sensory neurons to express the viral-encoded IFT88 protein. After that time, the mice were tested with increasing concentrations of an odorant (amyl acetate). Their responses were measured at the cellular, tissue, and synaptic levels, which all indicated that the mice had regained olfactory function.
"By restoring the protein back into the olfactory neurons, we could give the cell the ability to regrow and extend cilia off the dendrite knob, which is what the olfactory neuron needs to detect odorants," said McIntyre.
The change in olfactory function also has implications in the feeding behavior of the mice. The mouse model the scientists used is born underweight and its anosmia interferes with the motivation to eat, which in many mammals, including humans, is driven by smell. Treatment with adenovirus therapy increased bodyweight by 60 percent in treated compared to untreated mice, indicating that the restored olfactory function was motivating feeding.
The researchers plan to continue their work by developing another mouse model to look at the impact on olfactory function and the potential for restoring function when the IFT88 gene is completely missing, rather than just mutated. Future studies could begin to plot a way to bring this therapeutic tactic to human study volunteers, which could eventually restore the sense of smell, and a better quality of life, to people who are born with anosmia. Further research could also advance the treatments for other ciliopathies, as these findings show that gene therapy is a viable option for the functional rescue of cilia in established, already differentiated cells.
###
This research was supported with funding by NIH grants R01DC009606, F32DC011990, R01DC004553, R01DC008295, R01DK75996, R01DK072301, R01DK075972, R01HD042601, and R01EY021872.
The NIDCD supports and conducts research and research training on the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech and language and provides health information, based upon scientific discovery, to the public. For more information about NIDCD programs, see the website at http://www.nidcd.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Excrement Has 3 Legs ? just one single or two and you fall over. The three major legs are what you consume, how you exercise, and what happens in your life internally and externally. Never concentrate on just one single ? maintain a balance.What we eat decides 70% of our health. With the diet gadgets that are continually sweeping our lifestyle, more and more people are emphasizing just lowering their calories, or eating only selected foods. Some food diets heart on some high carbs, high meat protein, and the others concentrate on body type or metabolic type. Unbalanced food diets like they?re narrowly centered on losing weight and have little respect or understanding of simple nutrition.Limiting our food intake to only what someone else or we believe will enable drop weight will never succeed because our anatomies become nutritionally disappointed. Then our anatomies get us to consume whatever is available to meet our natural needs. Here is the major reason why diets fail. It is not really a matter of self-discipline. We should balance our strategy with your bodies needs.Try the China Study Diet for a few weeks and see what goes on. Minimize your milk and meat, refined and processed foods, and drink a green shake once per day. My simple menu is on my website. Your body will become nutritionally happy, your cravings will decline and go away. Then work from there. But remain balanced. You?ll drop weight down seriously to your perfect weight and stay there naturally.The second knee, exercise, decides 20% of one?s health. Get going, operating, hiking, bicycling, swimming, or any aerobic fitness exercise repeatedly per week. Do some stretching. See my basic extending routine on the site. Good health requires a good movement of oxygen and energy to your tissues, and removal of waste material. Workout makes this happen.Finally, to be truly healthier, the ultimate one hundred thousand is our health environment. To remain healthy we must believe, sense, and act really, both inwardly and outwardly. You?ve a relationship with yourself and with others that must be developed with self-respect and self-esteem. That arises from a sound balanced view of the entire world, of your self, and the others. Love yourself and enjoy individual time and love the others and enjoy social time with them.Take time regularly to get your health stability pulse, in every three parts. Research, reflect, check, check out, and reflect, as you grow in knowledge and health..by Terry Kent, creator of The Health and Nutrition CenterTo your health,
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Because the weather condition in Philly, PA that holds a good balance between temperature extremes, it is able to present nice, scenic views. With the help of window treatments such as draperies, shades, blinds, and shutters, you can boost your viewing experience. Apart from aesthetic improvements, window treatments help regulate the heat, cold, and light that enters your house.
Drapes
When you go shopping, you'll find that the terms "drapes" and "curtains" are frequently used interchangeably. Drapery materials could be either uncoated or coated. Lots of draperies make use of uncoated materials, which usually combine cotton and polyester, and offer an opaque view. Coated fabrics, on the other hand, are essentially uncoated fabrics with an opaque rubber backing that improves light absorption. Draperies are available in a minimum of twenty styles, that include thermal or blackout draperies, grommet, sash, rod pocket, flat panels and tab tops.
Shades
Similar to drapes, shades have many assortments. Most shades are attached to a covered mounting board outside or inside the window trim. They're operated with a spring-loaded roller or a rigged cords system. You'll typically discover Roman, Austrian, and cloud or balloon shades out there.
Blinds
Blinds as window treatments Philadelphia residences can utilize can be made from wood, metal, and other natural materials. Metal mini blinds can be found in different weights, sizes, cloth tapes, finishes, header choices, privacy options, and colors. You have around the exact same number of choices for wood blinds. Natural blinds, also known as bamboo or matchstick blinds, mimic the look of fabric; you can select between edge binding, valances, privacy liners, and roll or fold up operation.
Shutters
You might also wish to think about both interior and exterior shutters for window treatments Philadelphia. Shutters can be mounted within or overlapping the opening. Shutters come in a number of styles, including louvre blades and louvre shutters. Louvre blades may be operable or fixed; operable louvre shutters could be traditional, plantation, or Californian.
When you choose window treatments to install in your Philadelphia residence, you have to think about practical and aesthetic considerations. Examples of practical considerations are the amount of privacy, heat, cold, and light you prefer in a specific room. Aesthetic factors involve just how well the treatment matches the window, the rest of the room, and your home's overall architecture. For more details on choosing window treatments, browse through blog.hgtv.com/design/2011/06/01/design-for-mankind-how-do-you-choose-window-treatments-heres-4-helpful-tips.
For more details, search window treatments and window treatments philadelphia in Google for related information.
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