In today’s downed economy the storage business, like many others, has taken a huge hit. Rather than people storing their goods, they are selling them off to make some money and avoid paying another monthly bill. But they are still in demand, and there is still a market out there that you can tap into. One way of doing this is to look into an email marketing plan for storage companies. After all, consumers are always looking for a deal, and the Internet is full of them!

The Dos and Don’t of E-mail Marketing 

We all know the routine: checking our e-mail to see solicitations, and deleting them without even opening them. So how does one prevent these e-mails from going ignored? Consider this: The sender’s name and title of the e-mail are the first things the consumer will see. Avoid using words in the e-mail title like “great deal for the month of January” or “largest discounts ever given”. Most people interpret this verbiage as trickery. What you really need to do is be specific and to the point in your e-mail title. Write something like “pay as low as $49.99 a month and get first 2 month’s free”, or “rent a large locker for $69 a month and get your last month free”.

We all know the routine: checking our e-mail to see solicitations, and deleting them without even opening them. So how does one prevent these e-mails from going ignored? Consider this: The sender’s name and title of the e-mail are the first things the consumer will see. Avoid using words in the e-mail title like “great deal for the month of January” or “largest discounts ever given”. Most people interpret this verbiage as trickery. What you really need to do is be specific and to the point in your e-mail title. Write something like “pay as low as $49.99 a month and get first 2 month’s free”, or “rent a large locker for $69 a month and get your last month free”.

Starting a Flow of Dialogue

E-mail marketing is one of the easiest and cost-effective ways of marketing your business. But just because you send out an e-mail doesn’t mean it will be read. Nor does it mean that once it is opened, the link to your website will be clicked on. E-mail marketing is designed to initiate a flow of dialogue—to start a conversation between you and prospects. According to the popular studies, if a person’s interest has not been captured within the first three seconds of viewing an e-mail, he/she will click out of it. If the same holds true for a marketing e-mail campaign, then it is important to capture your prospect’s interest immediately.  Try doing the following:

·      Use full color HTML e-mails
·      Make the content brief, direct and easy to read
·      Offer an incentive for a client to visit your place of business or to call you, i.e. “mention this e-mail and get 25% off”.
·      Provide something for free. Cost-saving tips, storage safety tips, etc.

By avoiding a “preachy” desperate tone and instead offering the prospect something in return for their time, these tips, along with a clean, colorful, easy-to-read e-mail, will give you a much better chance of staring up a conversation with your client. Once they actually call you, all you need to do is close them and get their business!

Be Subtly Aggressive 

By forming an aggressive e-mail campaign with content that is subtly crafted to cushion the prospect and make them feel comfortably curious to click through into your e-mail (and to visit your website), is an art that can be easily learned. This is a learning process in itself, so if you are off to what you feel is a slow start, don’t give in to the pressure to be more aggressive. Give it time, and you will get in the groove.

Water is an essential element of our world. Life could not have evolved here without it. Mankind could not survive and flourish as a species without it. Civilizations depend on water and its life-giving properties. Agriculture and society revolve around the use and consumption of water. We revel in it and cherish it in ways that many would not even consider.

One of the benefits of having a fountain in your home, or even in your garden, is having a small portion of that vital and treasured element to enjoy any time you wish. The peaceful and soothing sound of water cascading over pebbles or slate can make a home something unique and individual. A bubbling wall or floor fountain may just be the perfect centerpiece that you have been searching for.

The ancient Middle East was the first area to use fountains and pools as a garden feature. These first fountains were often rectangular and arranged with trees and shade plants surrounding them. They offered a cool and relaxing place to escape from the harsh sun, and a beautiful environment to enjoy at the same time.

In ancient Persia enclosed gardens often contained fountains and pools as a part of their ornate and complicated architecture. Roman baths, fountains, and public pools were extremely popular, and the ancient Romans devised ingenious and unique ways to use the water from their famous aqueducts. The ancient world revered water and its life-giving properties.

All over the world fountains and pools have played an important part in the history of many cultures. Even today many cities and towns have large and ornate fountains at their hearts, and celebrations and occasion of all kinds are held and conducted around these treasured landmarks. Fountains represent the beauty of nature and act as an expression of human artistic expression as well.

In our own homes or in our gardens fountains can be that last touch to make a perfect environment. Any bird watching enthusiast would have hours of enjoyment watching the various bird species bathing and playing in their garden fountain. No one is limited in the style or design of an outdoor fountain. They range from traditional to ultra-modern, and often can be made to appear as if they are simply another part of the environment.

Natural looking cascades and water features are extremely popular for gardeners today. What better way to recreate a small portion of nature than with a stylized fountain or cascade? These nature-like features can be adapted for indoors as well. Any room in the home could be transformed into a natural refuge for relaxation and peace.

When we bring water fountains or features into our homes and onto our properties we capture a portion of human history. Mankind has a deep emotional and intellectual connection with water, and it represents peace and serenity, the perpetual cycle of life and infinity. Fountains are beauty, art, philosophy, and meditation all wrapped into a single package. They give us something special that simple furniture and typical home décor cannot imitate.

Let’s get something straight from the off, I’m not going to answer that question. The reason why we dream has in no why been scientifically answered and everybody’s is different. For example, it could be your subconscious telling you that you need to see a Dentist that uses reputable Dental Equipment Suppliers like the ones found at https://www.photonsurgicalsystems.co.uk/ for example as they are all about to fall out.

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Or it might not. Even specialist neuroscientists have a clue, so I doubt I’ll be able to provide the answer. I seem tense, don’t I? Perhaps I’m not dreaming enough. Because one thing that one set of scientists claim to know is that you must dream otherwise you will not get quality sleep, the kind the body requires, to recharge. If you don’t get the chance to dream then you can put on weight, start to hallucinate and even have anxiety and depression.  The other thing the scientist people are convinced of is that dreams mean absolutely nothing. They are not premonitions, they are not commentary on your mental state (which is a relief for many people out there I would imagine), they cannot bring to light a faded memory that you had and eschew it’s meaning. They are simply the sleeping brain sorting itself out and outing its house in order.

That’s all a bit of shame really though isn’t it? I mean, it has to mean something when you dream abut your teeth are falling out surely. Luckily there are people on hand who claim that they can interpret your dreams. One of the most famous of these is the biblical favourite Joseph, he of the coat of many colours. He managed to get himself out of jail by correctly interpreting the Pharaoh of Egypt’s fat cow and thin cow dream. Here’s how it goes. Seven fat cows came up the River Nile. They were followed by seven thin cows who ate them. Any ideas? Joseph nails it by saying that it means 7 years of good harvest followed by 7 years of famine. Pharaoh took his advice and as a result the kingdom was able to weather the storm and be prepared. The is now a whole industry around it with professional interpreters ready to help you and a feast of books to. Google “Dream interpreters for hire” I dare you.

Still, I can give you some idea as to what your dreams of your teeth might mean. I hasten to add very quickly that this does not mean it’s true. When you dream of teeth it can mean that you are embarrassed or feel that an upcoming situation is going to make you look like a fool. So, there you have it. Make sure that you are prepared because  your subconscious is trying its best to save you from a big fall. Sweet dreams.

On the face of it the Apprentice appears to be a very good deal. What young thrusting executive psychopath would turn down the chance to gather with like minded individuals and spar for place at the side of that captain of industry Alan, sorry Sir Alan Sugar and his jolly minions Nick Hewer and Karen Brady. As the show starts they come like a smart business suited zombie apocalypse over the Millennium bridge in London. The figures-based Accountant from Altringham with the people skills of a gnat, the Business lawyer from Birmingham who always looks cold and calculating no matter what they do and the bright one from the Marketing Agency Cheltenham or other small town. Though if you are looking for that kind of thing then this page http://www.thepagesgroup.co.uk/ will be of great help.

“I’m gonna give it 110%!” “I’ll make sure Sir Alan knows how good I am at making money”, “I’ve started up 15 business all bringing in 100k clear profit a month”, “I was a millionaire by the time I was 21”, are all the likely things that we are going to hear over the course of the series. The most popular one being “For me, failure is not an option…”, ignoring that fact that it’s plainly a fact of life in whatever field you choose. It’s bluster of course and you do feel a bit sorry for the “contestants”, (Yes, they are contestants. This is a just a big game show at the end of the day). The BBC should have called it “Damned if you do and Damned if you don’t” as it would have been a more accurate title for the show.

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For example, if they say, “I’m supremely confident, I have faith in my abilities over the others”, it just comes across as arrogance and they get roundly reviled. Immediately the production team start to edit everything like the speaker is the “bad guy”. If they don’t come out with anything or take a more measured approach Sir Alan is on them like a shot rebuking them for not putting themselves forward or questioning why they are there (answer to be on telly and famous for a bit, no sorry get the job with the great one.) “Tell me Aaron/Javid/Michelle, do you really want this?! If not daan’t waste my time…”.

This came out into sharp focus in one episode when Sir Alan fired someone for being “too nice”. No one had really done anything wrong that week, so he was clutching at straws. Where does that leave the guy that’s fired? Does he then go away and start being unpleasant? What does that say to those watching it? Nice guys come last and people who try and launch a product without any real planning, market research or testing deserve everything they get. My search for a decent show to watch continues.

Traditional bathrooms can be a great way of enjoying luxury and high quality fixtures, from claw tubs through to vanities. However, traditional bathrooms can sometimes have the problem of not being accessible, and of appearing too formal to be truly relaxing. This problem can be easily solved through the use of creative decoration, and by adjustments in terms of lighting, traditional and contemporary style mixes, and through special features and accessories. By doing so, it’s possible to still have an excellent traditional bathroom suite, and feel that you have personalised it to your tastes.

Lighting

Different tastes come into play with lighting for a bathroom. At times, it can be better to go for more of a natural look, with open windows and a lot of light passing into a room to show off its features, and to create a clean, airy feeling. However, some people like to enjoy different lighting options, which use modern technology alongside traditional fittings. This approach might involve installing LED lights and strips, as well as dimmers, in order to create the perfect atmosphere. Tealights and other candles can also create the right mood for a room.

Mix Traditional and Contemporary

There’s nothing to say that you can’t mix some traditional and contemporary styles when putting your bathroom suite together. Approaches to this might range from simply investing in a few key items, such as a claw footed bath or chrome taps, or adding in modern heated tower rails and underfloor heating. At the same time, you can add a personal touch to a traditional bathroom by using contemporary prints and colour schemes for wallpaper, while adding in a few more functional, minimalist cabinets for extra storage.

Extend Other Home Decor Themes

One option to make your traditional bathroom more accessible is to extend a decor theme from elsewhere in a house. This might involve simply matching up wallpaper, or colours from blinds and other pieces of furniture. It’s important for your traditional bathroom not to clash too much with the rest of your home, and particularly if you have more of a contemporary feel elsewhere. Light fittings, artwork that matches up with the rest of the house, and a few choice pieces of furniture that match other items in your home can work well for achieving this goal.

Add Warmth to Classical Designs

It’s also possible to add some warmth to classical designs, and particularly if you feel that your bathroom design is too cold. Mirrors that provide a lot of depth and light can work well with darker shades of wallpaper, which can also add colour, and soften marble counters and chrome. Making some personal touches, which can involve hanging up artwork that you love, or using dark brown hardwood floors, can also make a big difference to the overall look of your bathroom.

Be Selective with Items

If you’re not comfortable going or a full, traditional bathroom suite, then consider whether a few choice items can achieve the effect that you want. You don’t have to completely fit out a bathroom, and can instead use a traditional claw foot tub, or an antique vanity with a mirror, to make a modern bathroom standout. Using traditional light fittings, or chrome and brass handles and faucets, can similarly have a great effect on your bathroom.

A dessert table at Christmas is a thing of joy. But everyone has a slightly different idea of what the perfect Christmas dessert selection is and everybody’s budget is varied. We’ll pick three of our favourite festive sweet treats and give you the rundown on how to make each cheaply. Mince pies and a Christmas pudding are a given, so let’s explore some other options.

1. The Yule Log
This humble chocolate log is a childhood favourite of almost everyone. With its beautiful rounded shape and different textures combined with that essential sprinkle of wintery icing sugar, it makes a lovely centrepiece on a table. Use canned raspberries instead of fresh to save a few pennies. Skip chocolate garnishes and save your chocolate for the main event of the log.

2. Black Forrest Trifle
A Black Forrest trifle is pretty easy to customise to your guests tastes and preferences. Start with broken up pre-bought chocolate brownies and then drench them in cherry liquid and your cherries. You could customise the trifle by adding any kind of toppings you want. Tradition is great, but it’s also cool to mix things up! Some of the ingredients may run expensive, but this is where RIFT UK can really help out with tax advice, making sure that you have free funds to spend.

3. Pannetone
This delicious Italian dessert is one of the most moreish items you’ll find on any dessert table. It’s a fruitcake that’s usually eaten at Easter or at Christmas. Any leftovers can be reborn as a delicious bread and butter pudding. It tastes great paired with custard, or even something fancy like cinnamon and current cream. You’ll need a special mould if you fancy making your own – a pannetone is supposed to be high and round. Search eBay for cheap cake moulds.

Add to your ‘main event’ cakes with cheaper extras such as chocolate coins, penny sweets like boiled candies and assorted licorice, not forgetting traditional items such as candy canes and even sugared fruit.  You can save money by DIY-ing the tabled decorations instead of buying expensive items that you only use once. Try painting the table with an illustration rather than buying a printed tablecloth. You can also use online price checkers to find the cheapest ingredients – you might have to shop around. Specialist cake shops tend to sell things at astronomical prices, so look on the internet for extras that are hard to find.

If you have a global business and find that you are going to have to start exporting your products overseas, then it is important that you understand the process of exporting cargo. If you miss out any of the important steps of exporting cargo, then you may find that your cargo will not get to the intended destination in one piece or it may not arrive at all. To ensure that it gets there safely you should make sure you take the time to understand the process of exporting your cargo.

Packing Your Cargo

You will need to make sure that you use the correct packaging for your cargo. If you are exporting goods overseas, it is likely that you will have quite a lot of cargo. If this is the case, then it is highly likely that you are going to have to design packaging specifically for your goods. If you do not have efficient packaging on your goods then you may struggle with getting your cargo to your destination. Getting packaging designed specifically for your products may seem like extremely hard work; however it does not need to be. You can get export packing services to come to your place of business to come and assess what you are sending, from here they will then design packaging for your goods and come and deliver it to your business.

Some export packing services will offer you warehouse space for you to store your products which you are sending. This is because it will be much easier for them to get your packaging right and to prepare your goods for export.

Shipping Your Cargo

The next step is to find a global freight shipping company who will be willing to export your cargo to the intended destination. Freight companies will differ in the services which they will offer you, some companies will prepare the paperwork which your cargo is going to need to get through customs and will also prepare your insurance. However, you will need to check with these companies to see if these services are included as not all of them will be willing to offer them.

Your cargo should then be ready to be transported to where it is getting exported. It is likely that you will need to be present when it comes to exporting your cargo so that you can sign it off. If you are unable to get to where it is being exported from, some freight companies will be willing to check that your cargo is loaded and secured safely and will sign the paperwork for you. You will need to check with the freight company whether they will include this in their services.

If you are looking at expanding your business and begin trading overseas, there are many things which you will need to consider. First will be is how to export your cargo to these intended destinations. One of the most used ways of exporting cargo is by using sea freight services. Sea freight is one of the most reliable ways to get your cargo from one place to another.

All about Sea Freight

One of the most popular ways of exporting goods from coast to coast is now through sea freight services. Many global businesses now to turn to sea freight to ship their goods; this is because there are a huge number of ports all around the world. It is much cheaper to export goods using sea freight rather than using air freight services.

Benefits of Choosing Sea Freight

There are many benefits of using sea freight services to export cargo, the first is that cargo can be transported in large volumes, this means you will not struggle to get huge amounts of your products transported. Transporting goods using sea freight is not as fast as it would be if you were using air freight services, however, you would have to pay much more to use air freight, so sea freight is a much more cost-effective way.

Almost anything can be transported through sea freight services; this will include livestock, food, medical equipment, explosives, and materials. This will mean that if you are a bit worried that your goods will not be able to travel using sea freight, it most likely will be able to. As ships are so large, it also means that many different types of cargo are able to travel on the same ship. The ship will be housed in different compartments so the environment can be controlled in that certain compartment.

How Can I Get Sea Freight Services?

There are many different global freight services which you can use, however many of these will differ in the services which they will offer you. Some will be able to offer you packaging and transport services, whereas other will not be able to. You should check with each individual company what services they have to offer you and at what price. You should look at employing a company which has a long history in what they do and look any testimonials which they have on their website. This will secure your trust in the company so that you will trust them with your goods.

Before you employ a freight company, you should speak to the project manager who will discuss their plans for your products so that you be sure that you are happy with what they intend to do.

A large number of the people that call us regarding their newly discovered roach problem mention how clean their house is. They don’t understand where all these roaches came from or why they would bother with such an immaculate house.

We spend the next few minutes educating and explaining the behavior and habits of cockroaches, but it could also be summed up in one simple statement.

THEY. DON’T. CARE!

We understand how much time and effort you put in to keeping your house clean and orderly. We appreciate that you vacuum, mop your floors and dust your surfaces at least twice a week. We admire that, but roaches simply don’t care if you did all that every single day.

They are looking for three things: food, water and shelter.

Most of us water our yards on a regular basis. We blast our sprinklers for 20 minutes a day and turn on our drippers around the plans and bushes. That’s the equivalent to the Ritz-Carlton posting a “Free Room and Board” sign all year long. We make our yards as the Promised Land to not just roaches, but spiders, scorpions, and every other insect. Pretty soon they push up against the foundation of the home. In soon time they’ve penetrated into the exterior walls of the house, and eventually spill over into the hallways of the house in plain sight.

They are specifically looking for last night’s left-overs. Roaches don’t don’t need that much food. If needs be, they can scrape any food residue off any single fingerprint they come across. They aren’t looking for a seven-course meal. There are enough unseen food sources in and around your house, they don’t have to look very far.

The interior of your walls provide the perfect place for any roach to set up camp and stay a while – a long while. They would rather not see you anyways, so hidden away in a crevice where there is no human disturbance is ideal. That’s the penthouse to them.

Some of our customers have houses that can nearly be mistaken for museums. They are perfetly spotless, but have substantial roach problems. It’s not any doing, un undoing, of their own, other than the fact that they built the house in the first place.

If you plan on hiring a pest professional to tackle the problem for you, they should be attacking the problem at the same source the roaches themselves are searching for – the water. Applying the proper chemicals at the moisture points of the yard is the first step in eradicating roaches from the property. They will keep coming, but the idea is to set up a well-placed barrier, and then maintain it.

If you have a roach problem there are only two ways to completely solve it. One, burn your house down. That’s probably not an option, so the only other thing you can do is hire a pest professional. That’s sounds more logical, right?

A few more weeks to go and Christmas will be here. What better way to capture the festive mood of the season by decorating your home with a holiday flair? Unlike regular decorating where you have to pain over what color to paint your walls and what furniture style will last for a long time, decorating for Christmas doesn’t have to be intimidating nor expensive. With little money to spare and by reusing or revamping some of the items you already have, jazzing up your home for the holidays is easy. Below are some holiday decorating suggestions you can try that won’t blast a hole in your pocket.

Give your guests a warm and bright welcome

Before your guests even step through your front door, give them a warm and bright greeting by dressing up your mailbox, entry posts or fence with colored bulbs. You can purchase LED colored bulbs that are specially rated for outdoor use and casually wrap them around the aforesaid areas. The good thing about these LED colored bulbs is that they are longer-lasting compared to incandescent, thereby giving more value to your money. For a lighthearted twist, add some garlands or greenery.

Deck the hall table

A hall table is a handy spot to arrange holiday bits and pieces. Try arranging holiday cards on the table and set out a small pot to hold keys and other trinkets. If you have glass cloches, stack pine cones underneath them to give the scene a rustic feel.

Add a conversation piece on the dining table

Elevate the holiday mood right on the dining table while you, your family and guests share a hearty meal by adding a beautiful centerpiece. Purchase a cornucopia basket and give it a new look by painting it and lining the inside with shiny fabric. Fill it with fruits and vegetables and carefully lay the piece on the table, allowing the contents to spill out.

Update old dining chairs by repainting their legs

Another great way to make Christmas dinner a festive affair? Perk up your old dining chairs by repainting their legs with a vibrant hue. Smooth out the chair legs using a medium-grit sandpaper and wipe the dust using a tack cloth. Then, with a small brush apply a coat of primer. Allow the primer to dry before applying two coats of latex paint in your desired color. To cap off the look and give your guests more comfort, add patterned cushions on the seats.

Let your mantel glow

When it comes to Christmas decorating, it’s a no-brainer that your fireplace is the best spot where you can show off the spirit of the season. However, rather than decorating your fireplace mantel with a traditional garland, let it glow along with the firebox by placing candlesticks of varying heights on one side. Balance the look by lining the opposing side with dishes filled with candies.