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“A picture is worth a thousand words.” That saying may be ages old but its message is just as vital today as when it was first uttered. Simply put, a single image can often communicate what might take you one thousand words (more or less) to say or write.

You have already spent the time putting together an ebook or software package that you want to market on the Internet. You have chosen the right words for your title and any other text you might use on the book cover.

Now you have to carefully design your cover to best represent your book or software. You have to find the right graphic(s) that will support the title and enhance the perceived value of your ebook.

There are two common forms of graphics: clip art and stock photos. Take some time exploring sites providing stock photos and clip art. It can be a lot of fun.

First of all, what is clip art? There are many differing opinions out there. Some call it “ready-made art” because sometimes clip art can include photos, pictures, or complete illustrations. But, for the sake of this article, we are defining clip art to mean: All ready-made pieces of digital art, such as illustrations, borders and line drawings that are used as graphic elements in a document. They can be either raster images (jpeg, tiff, bmp, gif) or vector images (eps, wmf, ai). They can be black and white, or color.

Regardless of what you call it, clip art should be used sparingly in quality ebook covers or software boxes. The fact is, clip art can range in quality from rough drawings to refined images. But, clip art is never mistaken for high quality paintings or photos. It is not intended to be the only or the primary image in a larger work (like an ebook cover).

Perhaps the best rule of thumb is: If you are not sure if you should use a piece of clip art in your document (ebook cover, box cover), don’t use it. If you are not careful, the wrong choice of clip art can imply a lack of quality.

The above statements notwithstanding, clip art can, if used properly, be an effective element in a quality ebook cover.

Where do you find graphics? Without a doubt, there are many sites where you can get images and photos you can use. There are literally hundreds of Web sites where you can find clip art of all types and quality. Just search online for “free clip art”, “free images”, or “free graphics.” Some may require that you sign up for a free membership.

Just be sure that you are allowed to use any clip art you find, and that it is of high quality. It is very important that you carefully read the “Terms of Use” before using any image. Some sites may only allow use of their images for personal use. Others allow commercial use. Still other sites let each contributor of the images determine what kinds of usage will be allowed. When paying a fee for an image, the fee usually grants you permission to use the image freely in any way that you wish.

When using an image for your ebook cover, make sure it is okay to use in a commercial situation, and check to see if you have to pay for that use, or if there are other requirements like giving the author/photographer credit for the image. You can also purchase large collections of clip art on CD sets in computer stores or on the Internet.

Good luck in your search for the right images. Finding the right picture will make your efforts worthwhile. It will increase sales of your ebook or software. If you find yourself a little lost trying to find the right images and design of your cover, then perhaps you should consider hiring an experienced graphic designer to produce the cover for you.

Boost your ebook sales with quality 3D ebook covers!
FREE 34+ clipart and photo resources.
Quality custom design of Web graphics
http://www.QualityEbookCovers.com.

Filed by admin at 6:23 pm under Paperbacks and Others
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An eBook is basically a document in the form of web pages that are put together, using special software, which is released in the form of a file that can be downloaded onto your computer’s hard drive. Many people may think it is no different than a web site, but there are important differences.

You may happen upon a site that is offering a free eBook download you are interested in. When you actually download the eBook you are downloading an “.exe” file, which is the most common format. Some eBooks are also offered in PDF format as well. When you double click on this file it then opens the main page, which is in HTML, web page format. There may be many pages included in the eBook but you cannot access them unless you open the eBook itself. When you download the “.exe” file that is all you see until you activate it by clicking on it. From the main page the author gives you access to what they want you to have access to.

One important feature of an eBook is that you can choose to not allow printing or copying. This may be very important to you if you have material that you want to protect. You may have written a book on “How To make A Waterfall Mirror” and give the reader snippets of the book in your eBook, but you don’t want them to be able to print or copy any of the material. Not that the material is completely safe, after all there are people out there that are going to copy or steal your work if they get a chance, no matter what steps you take, but it gives the reader the idea that the information is valuable to you.

On a web site, to get the some of the same protection, you would have to include directory or page protection on your site and have the visitor register for a password, which many will not. Then even if they do register, they may loose their password or not come back at all. If you don’t know much about CGI scripts or how to set password protection through your server’s control panel then this becomes difficult, unless you can afford to hire someone to do it for you. Even with that once the visitor is into your site, using a password, they can still copy as much of the material they want. With the eBook, once you set the “No Copying” and “No Printing” option, the reader would have to actually copy the material by typing it out him or herself. This offers more protection for your material. One of the challenges of a web site is keeping the visitor on it as long as possible so that they find something that they are actually interested in. Even if you have material that the visitor is genuinely interested in, many things can happen that may cause you to loose that visitor forever. The power may go out while they are on your site, they forget to bookmark your site, they may get distracted and shut the computer off, etc. With the eBook, once downloaded, the information is on the reader’s computer until they decide to delete it. I’ve come across eBooks and files that I have downloaded months before and forgotten about but have stumbled across on my hard drive while searching for something else.

You can even set the eBook to include an icon on the reader’s desktop to remind them to read your eBook. If the reader sees your icon each time their desktop loads you may get a few more visits, maybe even a sale or two.

You can include links back to your site, or any other site in the eBook to direct the reader to more information or to a sales page. Keeping with the same idea above you may want to have a page on other woodworking or fountain books for example that goes to Amazon.com or to other sites. You may have affiliate programs that you are associated with that you can earn commissions from any sales resulting from people clicking through from your eBook.

You can have your readers personalize it themselves. People get excited when they see their name on something. Most eBook software allows you to setup the eBook so that people can actually put their own personal information in the eBook, and give it away themselves on their web site. This is called “Regrinding”. If you see a free eBook download and it states that you can “Rebrand” it, that is what it means, you can personalize it. You can even run your own affiliate program and have others personalize the eBook and have the opportunity to earn some money. That’s a great incentive for people to advertise your products or services.

We will have more information on how you can develop your own eBook, distribute it, run your own affiliate program and have others selling your products and services in later articles.

In conclusion eBooks maybe seen by some as just glorified web sites but in fact with the option of protecting your material, the ability to allow others to personalize it, and the chance that viewers will add it to their desktop and view it at a later date, eBooks give you much more flexibility in your online business marketing efforts.

Read more articles by this author, about this and other subjects, here.

About The Author

Bob Power has been an Internet entrepreneur for longer than he would like to remember. He is currently on a voyage of learning, thanks to his readers, who have asked him to answer questions about topics they want more information on. You can see some of the surprising, and at times exciting results, and variety of topics and paths this has taken him on, or to contact Bob Power please click here.

These articles may be reproduced exactly as shown above. No revisions or changes are permitted.

Filed by admin at 2:22 pm under Paperbacks and Others
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Would you believe the sterling is fetching less than a Euro at at money changers, you would believe there would be lots of real skiing break deals to be had in alpine ski resorts this season as potential skiers stick in the UK to combat the credit crunch. Provisional numbers merely published highlight that ski towns are 87 percent full across the New year period. 13 % up on the self same period last year.

You’ll probably have more chance in January which at the moment has a 37 % booking rate. Signs of a downturn is during the important Feb skiing holiday month that has 62 percent bookings, 1 % down on last season. Information centres in the ski fields of Le Grand-Bornand, Chastreix-Sancy, Verchaix and Savoie have seen strong reservations in December advanced by the brilliant early ski season snow. Risoul has higher inquiries in comparison to last winter, and Les Trois Vallees experienced a first-class New Year and Christmas.

There is strong call for bigger catered chalet, 7 to 13 places, as folk group together to save the pennies. Early evidence shows that DIY ski breaks are holding up well, perhaps evidence that serious boarders will not give up their ski trip. Bookings from package ski holidays are lower than last year.

Filed by admin at 5:39 pm under Online Travel Resources, The Leisure Center
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In case you haven’t got the picture on betting room risks and opportunities, then you will surely want to read this —

Most commonly a gambling house is a house that offers betting. Here, visitors are expected to bet by operating the coin-operated machines or another games of luck. Gaming hall games on the whole have transparent likelihoods governing them which make sure the gambling establishment keeps possession of an above the gamers.

Numerous casino games can get you overly dependent in no time. We can look at the classic slot-machine, a coin operated appliance with 3 or more reels that circle when a lever on its side is tugged. The contraption as a rule returns with reference to a sequence of designs discernible on the information screen of the gadget. Lamentably, casino games strive to create the fallacy of remaining in control, effectively tricking the player — the addressee is endowed judgments, but these will never remove the client’s overall odds. This is induced by the betting room not refunding the full amount as expected. This structured policy is usually found in acclaimed casino games like straight poker, dice games, roulette or blackjack.

Blind Poker is undeniably a highly trendy casino pastime. The bettors, holding fully concealed hands, make bets into a central pot which is ultimately paid out to the winning gamester owning the best combination of cards. (And yes, the best bluffing hand may win too!)

gamble casinos

Like straight poker, blackjack too is a very fashionable casino pastime. A sizeable portion of its approval is by virtue of its peculiar mix of luck and smarts & choice making, and a practise termed Card Counting. The aforementioned is a very demanding strategy through which customers can significantly change the probabilities of the game to give them the upper hand both by betting and systematic decisions in accordance with the hands dealt.

Craps is a acclaimed wagering game using the throw of two dice. Guests have to bet their money on the result of one roll, or on a sequence of rolls on 2 dice. In contrast to blackjack, there can’t be a feasible sustainable winning strategy punters can exercise to improve the odds.

Roulette is another extremely popular pastime — a croupier turns a roulette wheel which encloses thirty-seven (in the case of French roulette) or, alternatively precisely 38 (American roulette) uniquely tagged compartments in which a white ball must settle, thus announcing the winner as well as its supplemental odds. Supposing that our player bets on a specific number and is successful i.e. it’s their lucky day, the bounty will be 35 to one, the initial pledge itself is rebated. Therefore in totality it is multiplied by a factor of thirty six.

Filed by admin at 6:36 am under Betting Info, The Leisure Center, World Of Gambling
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The Wal-Mart Decade: How a New Generation of Leaders Turned Sam Walton’s Legacy into the World’s #1 Company was destined for publication. It was simply a matter of when it would be written and by whom. In fact, I’m amazed that it wasn’t published long before this. Wal-Mart is so much more than the smiling faces of the senior citizens who greet you with open arms at the front of the store, it’s more than the bouncing Smiley Face continually reducing prices in every aisle, and it’s certainly much more than a typical discount store chain headquartered in the small Arkansas town of Bentonville. Wal-Mart is the real thing. It’s here to stay. It’s a world-class company.

There is much to learn from this corporate giant that recently moved into the #1 spot on the Fortune 500 ahead of GM, Exxon Oil, Ford Motor, and GE. Do you think Wal-Mart simply stumbled into that coveted position? Consider this:

• Wal-Mart has revenues of $246 Billion;
• Wal-Mart has 1 million 300 thousand employees;
• Wal-Mart has mastered logistics and the supply chain;
• Wal-Mart shares its strategic vision with each and every employee;
• Wal-Mart leaders never rest on their laurels;
• Wal-Mart continually find ways to reduce costs while improving the shopping experience for its customers;
• Wal-Mart is the first company ever to head both the Fortune 500 list of American companies and that magazine’s list of Most Admired Companies; and
• the Wal-Mart management team has devised and then implemented strategies for rapid but prudent growth.

The greatest strength in the Wal-Mart arsenal is the fact that their CULTURE is everything. It’s hard to argue with the reality of Wal-Mart’s continued performance.

I think it’s important to realize that the author of this book isn’t a devoted Wal-Mart fan trying to recruit additional followers for the retail giant. Robert Slater was a reporter for Time Magazine for 21 years. He is the best-selling author of Jack Welch and the GE Way and has also written acclaimed books about IBM and Cisco. He probed deeply into the Wal-Mart organization from top to bottom, from Bentonville to China and beyond. This book offers a fresh and fascinating look at this unique companyas it was and as it has becomewith an immediacy and insider’s feel unrivaled since Sam Walton’s own memoir, Made In America.

Sam Walton set the bar high for his future leaders. He created a unique culture based on three basic beliefs:

1. Respect for the individual;
2. Service to the customers; and
3. Striving for excellence.

Walton was also totally committed to what he characterized as his Ten Rules of Business … each of which isexplained in detail in the book. The author allocates three of 14 chapters to “The Founder and His Legacy.” He wisely devotes the remainder of his book to explaining how the new management team devised and then implemented strategies for tremendous growth.

There really have been three quite different periods of Wal-Mart’s development from a Ben Franklin franchise (opened in Bentonville as the Walton 5 and 10 in March of 1951) to the global retailing giant it is today. The three periods include the Sam Walton Years until his death in 1992, the David Glass Years (1992-2000), and the Lee Scott Years (2000-Present).

For years, many people asked about Wal-Mart the same question that others asked about Southwest Airlines: “What’s going to happen after HE leaves?” With all due respect to both Sam Walton and Herb Kelleher, their respective organizations have done just fine. Perhaps that is the ultimate test of leadership: a heritage which endures after the leader is either gone or much less involved. In this exceptionally informative book, Slater explains how and why such a heritage guides and inspires the entire Wal-Mart organization.

More than 100 business book reviews written by Harry K. Jones are available at http://www.AchieveMax.com/books/.

Reprint Information

Your organization may reprint this article for your newsletter, online publication, or mailing list. We ask that you print the:

• article in its entirety;
• byline of the writer;
• information about the writer, which is available at the end of each article; and
• contact information, including our toll-free phone number in the U.S. (800-886-2MAX) and link to our website - www.AchieveMax.com.

We would appreciate a tear sheet or electronic copy of the articles you reprint.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax^®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has made presentations ranging from leadership to employee retention and time management to stress management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. He can be reached at 800-886-2MAX or by visiting http://www.AchieveMax.com.

Filed by admin at 7:56 am under Paperbacks and Others
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Videos online are a good way to expose your organisation. There is no doubt that there are many other kinds of marketing strategies available from editorial writing to blogging, from public relations to podcasting. However, nothing says “cool, connection, and creative” like a video.

Increasingly organisations of different sizes are generating professional videos about their offerings. They’re not only adding them on their company websites, but They’re adding them to their own blogs. To gain international twenty-four-seven publicity, promotional videos are being added to a lot of video-sharing websites like that of YouTube & Kwego. And why not ? it?s economical, easy-to-do, and can have a vast impact, in a number of cases, on the traffic it brings to your businesses website.

There are a lot more reasons why Web videos are a tremendous way to promote your business.

Short format videos benefit from a far reaching circulation: Videos by their own nature are simple to “package” which means they are just right to fit into a selection of different distribution circulations. You can add them on your companies site or blog, on the other hand you can store them onto your computer machine and run them time after time at a selected event. You can add them to dozens & dozens of online video-sharing social sites. You can copy them onto DVDs and give them away or sell them. You can even distribute them via email.

Video commercials are an outstanding way to communicate. As our sophistication with technology evolves, so do the methods in which business like to interact with others. Most people are visually oriented meaning that is how they best understand and work with their world. This makes professional videos the best company strategy to communicate to today’s customers. If you are looking for a company that specialises in corporate video production in London then look no further than Vidify.

These are just one or two of the countless reasons why promotional videos might be a great way to advertise your firm’s products. Discover more about this topic to see how you could use your precious time, cash, & energy to speak with your target consumers in a original and attractive way.

Filed by admin at 1:30 pm under House Of Marketing, Universe Of Videos, University of Publishing
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For those of you who’ve been on another planet for the past year or so, Morgan Spurlock is a filmaker who spent an entire month eating nothing but McDonald’s food and filming the decline in his health, expanding waistline and other alarming consequences of this damaging diet.

The result was the gripping documentary, Super Size Me, which earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination.

Don’t Eat This Book, although an obvious offshoot of the film, is a worthy project in its own right, with plenty to offer Spurlock fans and newbies alike.

If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll appreciate the behind the scenes perspectives revealed in Don’t Eat This Book. But the main thrust of the book should appeal to anyone with an interest in the fast food industry and its role in modern society. Certainly, if you’re a parent or teacher who cares what children eat, you should own this book.

The title - Don’t Eat This Book - is a spoof on the warning labels emblazoned on virtually every US product.

The warnings are aimed at warding off court cases from the kinds of people people not only stupid enough to put their hands into a whirring grass cutter or to mistake silcone gel sneaker inserts for mints, but also shameless enough to blame the manufacturer for their ensuing, and well-deserved, misfortune.

Spurlock has no time for such frivilous litigation. But he convincingly argues that such cases are very different from the kinds of class actions being pursued against giant tobacco and food companies.

It should be obvious to anyone but the most brain dead that putting your hand into a power mower’s blades is bad for you. But until recently it was not so obvious that cigarettes and fast food were bad for you.

For decades tobacco companies hid evidence that their product was a health hazard, cunningly designed to be addictive. At the same time they spent staggering amounts of money on marketing to create the image that cigarettes were “cool”.

With the success of the initial tobacco class actions, attitudes began to change.

As Spurlock points out, “Suddenly it was apparent that sticking a cigarette in your mouth was not quite the same thing as sticking those sneaker mints in your mouth. No one spent billlions and billions of dollars in marketing, advertising and promotions telling that guy those sneaker mints would make him cool, hip and sexy. Big Tobacco did exactly that to smokers.”

He spends much of the rest of Don’t Eat This Book building a similarly damning case against the fast food industry.

The parallels are inescapable. Fast food chains like McDonalds spend billions on convincing kids that eating their unhealthy, fattening products will make you popular and cool.

Their “Super Size” policy, cynically designed to prey on the natural human instinct to get value for money, is roundly criticised, with the author’s own experience in filming Super Size Me serving as chief witness for the prosecution.

And if it wasn’t hard enough to keep your kids from eating junk food outside of school, there’s the growing trend of fast food chains to offer funds to cash-strapped schools in exchange for branding and advertising opportunities. In several cases, fast food chains have even set up shop inside school cafeterias.

Thankfully, all is not doom and gloom. Spurlock heaps praise on schools that provide healthy, local food in their cafeterias. He also provides advice and a list of resources for parents and teachers seeking to turn the tide in their own communities.

This, combined with Spurlock’s casual, humorous writing style make for a quick, breezy and ultimately optimistic read. Its accessibility makes Don’t Eat This Book an ideal educational tool, especially when combined with Spurlock’s Super Size Me documentary.

If you prefer a more measured, investigative style of journalism, Don’t Eat This Book may be a little lightweight for your liking - Eric Schlosser’s brilliant Fast Food Nation will probably be more to your taste.

I’ll end with one word of caution. If you do print out this review, please don’t eat it. It may give you indigestion and I can’t afford the lawsuit!

————————————————–

For more reviews of the best obesity books, visit http://www.obesitycures.com/obesity-books.html

Alan Cooper is a journalist with 20 year’s experience and the publisher of ObesityCures.com, a site with the ambitious aim of being a “one-stop-shop” for impartial information on obesity and weight loss solutions - including fad diets, prescription weightloss pills and natural weightloss aids.

Filed by admin at 1:01 pm under Paperbacks and Others
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The “Rich Ad Freak” is helping thousands of Entrepreneurs To Make Huge Amounts of Cash in Newspapers.

The “Rich Ad Freak” has caught the attention amongst such marketing gurus, such as Kevin Lewis, Lance Groom, and Trina Gerg, because of its simple to understand but yet legendary insider secrets on how to make thousands or even millions in the newspapers by placing small classified ads.

The Rich Ad Freak’s true identity may never be known, but one thing that is for certain is that he is not on his death bed as some might suspect, due to all of the newspaper secrets, tricks, businesses, and ad campaigns of his that he reveals. The Rich Ad Freak is also not the Rich Jerk, although he is an expert marketing guru too who teaches google adwords and adsense. The Rich Ad Freak teaches how to make tons of cash placing small ads in newspapers with very little money to start reaping huge profits.

The Rich Ad Freak has been able to become a newspaper millionaire with these same techniques that he now teaches to all of his readers and classified ad students. He has had some prior business problems, as he shares this story with his readers in his new e-book “The Stupid People’s Guide”. For example, once in 1994 he was held prisoner in a dungeon in St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands for over a week and tortured there for days. His capturers were members of the PLO - Palestinian Liberation Organization. It took a very crafty team with unconventional means to help break him out, hide him in Puerto Rico, and get him safely back to his hometown in the United States. Because he was the son of a politician, things got heated up really quickly getting him to back to safety by means of his father’s connections.

His book is also not for people who might get easily offended as he tells it like it is. It contains some marketing tactics that are considered “gray hat” and “black hat.” There is a nice mix of many different tactics and approaches to placing ads that are taught as he assures the readers. You will never run out of ads or places to put them. The book is a “no fluff” and “no filler” type e-book that gets right to the point and shows you exactly how this guy is making tons of cash with his step-by-step, easy-to-use systems that made him a newspaper millionaire.

The Rich Ad Freak is a legitimate newspaper advertiser who started with only $7 and was able to turn that into over one million dollars a year. People are also stating that they just couldn’t resist The Rich Ad Freak’s approach to buying his e-book and that if they hadn’t purchased it then, they might still fumble another year away, wasting both time and money trying to learn these secrets on their own. Yes, he does have an abrasive advertising style, but what the Ad Freak does do is make a lot of money, and is now willing to teach other people how to do the same in newspapers.

The first chapter, entitled “My Story” really grips the reader as he takes you into a very private side of his life revealing his story of capture and torture in the Islands. You really want to wipe the sweat from your brow and be thankful that it was not you enduring that.

With over 17 chapters and 70 plus pages, the “Rich Ad Freak” teaches you how to wake up, find your products and services, track your competitors, research the right newspapers, and dare to compete making two times as much as everyone else. He also reveals his own businesses and how he made so much money along with his hottest newspapers, their contact information, and his own personal advertising connections to make this really profitable. He also gives you complete sample ads to run immediately that he has personally developed, tested, and researched with strategies that really work.

In the final sections of his book he concludes with the top three programs that are a MUST to join and even one that will be on a national infomercial spot this year because it has made people so much money, including him.

So why is “The Rich Ad Freak” smarter than you? The answer to this question lies within his newly released e-book.

For more information on “The Rich Ad Freak” Go To… http://www.Rich-Ad-Freak.com

See some of his actual sales below: http://www.richadfreak.com/sales.html

Please Help Hurricane Katrina Victims below: Visit “RED CROSS” by using the link below… http://www.redcross.org

Filed by admin at 4:17 am under Paperbacks and Others
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Kiss, Bow, Or Shake Hands:
How To Do Business In Sixty Countries
By Terri Morrison, Wayne A. Conaway, George A. Borden, and Hans Koehler

• While in Germany, on business, you meet with your local counterpart. Between your broken German and his
textbook English you are able to carry on a fairly well understood conversation. You reach a lull in your talk
and to keep the conversation going you ask your friend about his spouse and children. Suddenly, he grows very quiet and a look of anger sweeps across his face. You ask yourself, “Did I mispronounce something? Did I say something wrong?”

• In Ecuador, you engage a street vendor in a lively negotiation for one of the Indian artifacts that he is selling. You grow increasingly uncomfortable as you realize that not even a foot separates you from him; you take that to mean he is interested in you personally. Whenever you took a step backward, he takes one step towards you to close the gap. Alarmed, you break off the conversation suddenly and head back to your hotel hoping that the merchant is not following after you.

• On the streets of Copenhagen, you wait for traffic to thin out so that you may cross the road. A driver slows down and signals for you to proceed. You smile and flash an okay gesture (thumb and forefinger forming a circle) at her and then are surprised by the glaring look of disgust from her.

Each of the above examples shows cultural differences that can occur when traveling outside the United States. “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries,” is a helpful reference for travelers. From Argentina to Greece to Japan, the authors present a work that is both serious and funny, practical and helpful, to assist business travelers as they navigate the cultural maze in the land(s) they are visiting.

The book is a helpful tool that will enhance the globetrotter in brushing up on what to expect before his/her trip abroad. Each featured country has its own chapter and contains the following information:

• Country Background — History, Type of Government, Language, Religion, and Demographics.

• Cultural Orientation — Particular Value Systems and Negotiation Strategies.

• Business Practices — Appointments (When to be punctual and when to be purposely late), Negotiating, and Business Entertainment.

Interspersed throughout are cultural notes that are meant to inform travelers how to present their best foot forward and avoid mistakes like those listed earlier. Now, let’s take a look at the examples mentioned earlier and see what went wrong:

• For Germans, family life and business life are kept separate. Germans will find a way to work family into their conversation if they want to share that information with you (see page 131).

• Ecuadorians, like many South Americans, traditionally stand close to one another when conversing. If you move back, they often will close the gap to maintain their close proximity. In the U.S., we are accustomed to at least a two foot gap between people and consider anything closer as threatening (see page 92).

• Danes, as well as many cultures around the world, take the American “o.k.” gesture to be an obscene or insulting response. Be careful what hand gestures you use abroad — you may get a very unwelcome response (see page 87).

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands is published by Adams Media Corporation, 1994, Holbrook, Mass.

Matt is the webmaster for the Corporate Flight Attendant Community at http://www.corporateflyer.net and http://www.cabinmanagers.com

Filed by admin at 11:35 pm under Paperbacks and Others
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Have you ever been so absorbed in a book that you just couldn’t put it down? And have you ever kept interrupting your partner saying “Listen to this” and read out aloud yet another extract (till they leave the room or the bed and go elsewhere for some peace)?

Well I’m guilty of that and it’s not the latest John Grisham thriller or a fact more exciting than fiction Jeffrey Archer story. It’s ‘Why We Buy. The Science Of Shopping’ by Paco Underhill founder of retail research company Envirosell. A man until recently unknown to me but not to McDonald’s, Starbucks, Estee Lauder, Wal-Mart and Blockbuster Video to name just a few.

I can’t believe that I was foolish enough to let this book sit on my bookshelf for over three months before I picked it up. It is so good. So enlightening. So filled with facts and actual results from studies conducted in almost every type of retail store or related service business you can think of. Some of these businesses must have paid tens of thousands of dollars for this research. Probably more, and here I am in possession of all the facts and inferences for under $50.

My copy is now so covered in highlighter pen marks that it looks more like a child’s colouring in book. But let me peer through the rainbow of colours and give you a taste of what I mean.

Time In Store

“The amount of time a shopper spends in a store (excluding waiting in line) is perhaps the single most important factor in determining how much they will buy. In an electronics store we studied, non-buyers spent 5 minutes 6 seconds in the store compared to 9 minutes 29 seconds for buyers. In a toy store buyers spent over 17 minutes compared to 10 minutes for non-buyers….The majority of advice we give to retailers involves ways of getting shoppers to shop longer. But you’ve got to know how long people spend shopping your store or your product before you can increase it.”

Interception Rate

“The interception rate means the percentage of customers who have some contact with an employee….All our research shows this direct relationship: The more shopper employee contact that takes place, the greater the average sale.”

Dressing Rooms

“When a man takes clothing into a dressing room, the only thing that stops him from buying is if it doesn’t fit. Women, on the other hand, try things on as only part of the consideration process, and garments that fit just fine may still be rejected on other grounds. In one study, we found that 65% of male shoppers who tried something on bought it, as opposed to 25% of female shoppers.”

Price Tags

“Eighty six per cent of women look at price tags when they are shopping. Only 72% of men do. For a man, ignoring a price tag is almost a measure of his virility. As a result, men are far more easily upgraded than are women shoppers” What Women Want Forget Mel Gibson, according to Paco Underhill, for many women there are psychological and emotional aspects to shopping that are just plain absent in most men. The searching, examining, questioning and acquiring the best of what they see.

“At that exalted level shopping is a transforming experience, a method of becoming a newer, perhaps slightly improved person. The products you buy turn you into that other, idealized version of yourself: That dress makes you beautiful, this lipstick makes you more kissable, that lamp turns your house into an elegant showpiece”

Men And Shopping

“Men always move faster than women through a store’s aisles. Men spend less time looking. In many settings it’s hard to get them to look at anything they hadn’t intended to buy. They usually don’t like asking where things are (they shop like they drive). If a man can’t find what he is looking for, he’ll wheel around about once or twice, then give up and leave the store without asking for help.” With this one fact alone, just think of how often men spin around and walk out of that largely female domain, the pharmacy. The implications are enormous.

Reading Information

While on the subject of pharmacies, here is a final example for you with relevance to all forms of retail.

“We’ve studied many drugstore (pharmacy) health and beauty departments and the result is always the same - women like to study products before they buy, especially if the product is new on the market. In one study, we saw that 91% of all buyers read the front of package, 42% read the back and 8% read the sides. Sixty three per cent of women who bought something read at least one product package. Reading takes time and time requires space….but if women don’t feel comfortable, they won’t pause for two seconds….Retailers should walk every foot of selling space asking this question: Can I stand here and shop without being jostled from behind ( or feeling I’m in someone’s way)?”

Get into your store and have a look and please buy and act on the book. It’s invaluable.

Filed by admin at 12:18 am under Paperbacks and Others
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