Gulf Business Links

America's Dirty Little Secret

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:05:31 -0600

Hurricane Katrina has, for all intents and purposes, destroyedone of the most wonderful of all our American cities, NewOrleans. It has been five days since Katrina hit and the FederalGovernment has no idea what to do about it. Our wonderfullyabsent President George Bush said yesterday 'we had no idea thiswould happen' or some such rubbish. Yet there have beenpublished studies and news reports over the years that predictedexactly this kind of a catastrophic disaster. One of the most ridiculous recent reports from the news mediacame on Monday as the storm barreled across Louisiana,Mississippi and Alabama: 'New Orleans dodged a bullet,' thereports said, basing their stories on nothing more than wishfulthinking and the fact that the storm moved slightly east justbefore it hit the Gulf Coast. To add insult to injury, we now know that the levees that brokeon Tuesday turned out to be the newest ones. We also know thatthe Army Corps of Engineers were removed from the loop by ...

Origins Of The War

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:57:04 -0600

It has been the case that throughout history many people haveattempted to revise history to suit the needs of their time. Inan unprecedented way, many people in power today are trying torevise contemporary history and they seem to be getting awaywith it at least ,, people are buying it. The IndyVoice wanted to re-revise history to represent reality wow,what a concept.Many have said that George W. Bush's idea for war with Iraq cameonly after and was only for national security reasons. Thereality is that many within the administration were pushing fora military strike against Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein frompower going back to . In fact, on January , themembers of "The Project for the New American Century" PNACsent a letter to then President Bill Clinton outlining theirreasons for removing Hussein from Iraq. Their reasons DID NOTinclude an imminent threat. Actually the language they used was"we MAY soon face a threat".The present day posit...

SUPERCHARGED PUBLICITY - 21ST CENTURY PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:02:40 -0600

SUPERCHARGED PUBLICITY ' ST CENTURY PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLSOne Company Takes Public Relations To The Next LevelEveryone knows that good publicity is the best advertising. Awell placed article, a positive radio show, the right interviewon TV, these are all what good publicists dream about. A publicrelations firm that can CAUSE these events at will, well, theyare worth their weight in gold. I followed such a firm, InTouchMedia Group www.intouchmediagroup.com, during a one weekperiod, as it used an array of high tech PR tools to build greatpublicity and high volume web site traffic for its clients. Whatwas surprising was not just the results, which wereundisputable, but how methodically they achieved what they setout to do. In addition, they accomplished their goals during oneof the most traumatic periods in US history'the virtualdestruction of the gulf coast by Hurricane Katrina. Gettingeffective press for one's clients during this period, throughthe media storm of th...

Do You Fail To Sell Online Because You Ignore This Important

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:05:30 -0600

Do you struggle to sell enough to warrant the time andresources required to sell your goods through yourwebsite? Are you spending more money on your website than youearn from it? Is your website simply a contact point with ashopping cart that no-one buys anything from? Join the queue because you are far from alone.In the quest to resolve why this happens, we went out of our wayto find out what makes people buy directly from certain websitesand not from others. There is a huge gulf between relativelysuccessful websites and those that are failures. According toour research, the successful websites convert to of theirtotal visitors per month into direct paying customers, who buyproducts online with a credit card. The unsuccessful websiteshave similar designs and functionality in that they look goodand accept online payments, yet they convert no or just about novisitors into direct customers.What is the difference? This is what we have been striving to find out f...

When Hearts Turn

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:45:33 -0600

We stood on the bluffs three blocks from our home, our eyesreaching out to the scenery which expanded for miles across theValley.Katherine inhaled deeply and said, "You have to admit it:Bakersfield really is beautiful."How many times had I looked at that same view and compared itwith other bluffs: ones that I perceived to be far more pleasingto my eyes?I blocked the beauty that Katherine saw.All I tuned into was the oil fields with their derricks andtrucks and criss crossing roadways connecting well to well. Frommy perspective it most closely resembled the barrenness of themoon. I longed for the views from my childhood bluffs whichopened onto the Pacific Ocean.In the flash of a moment, my perspective changed as I turned myheart towards both my daughter and the community I call home. Iallowed myself to stretch and see from Katherine's viewpoint. Myheart gently turned.I smiled and responded, "You are right, Katherine. BakersfieldIS beautiful."Last night I did somethin...

Think Like McGyver - Unleash your own super genius!

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:30:28 -0600

Think Like MacGyver! Unleash Your Own Super Genius By Frank F.Lunn Sometimes it is really difficult to find the positive side of achallenge confronting us. When dealing with adversity - a careersetback, the ending of a long-time relationship or the illnessof a child - it's hard to believe there is a sunny side or asilver lining to this experience. But history is full of peoplewho found possibilities through adversity. Reflecting on theirachievements can remind us to look for opportunities. If a youngSpanish soccer star had not been injured seriously in a caraccident and spent months recuperating in the hospital, helikely would not have discovered his musical side. The worldmight have missed the beautiful voice of Julio Iglesias.McDonalds and the 'golden arches' would not exist today if RayKroc had succeeded in his first several ventures. Instead theyended in bankruptcy prior to his opportune meeting the McDonaldbrothers and purc...

Get it Done - Put off procrastination forever!

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:03:18 -0600

Get It Done! Put off procrastination forever By Frank F. Lunn Make Forward ProgressYou've set your goals, made your plans, now it's just a matterof taking steps in the right direction to reach your planneddestination. Taking action will help you cross the bridgebetween your goals and accomplishment. One of the biggestobstacles in your path is procrastination- the failure to begin,to delay the start and ultimately leave your potential wasted inthe end. It's worth remembering that a week from now ' it willbe a week from now and you will either be closer to your goalsor you won't. Start by reducing some of procrastination's bestallies. Probably the strongest of those has just two initials'TV. Is your TV time cutting into your productive time? Takethis little test. Estimate how many hours of TV you watched lastweek. Be honest with yourself. On average people spend to hours watching TV. If you reduce that even by a little, you hav...

Manufacturers Impacted by Hurricane Katrina Find PR Help with TR

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:24:33 -0600

Manufacturers impacted by Hurricane Katrina will receive directuse and access to the Manufacturing Media Katrina Campaign atcost. It is through this aggressive media marketing effort thatwe will help to rebuild the Gulf Coasts' Manufacturingcommunity. This positive approach allows Katrina manufacturers aunique PR campaign that provides a three month publicrelations campaign with no less than press releases writtenand distributed by TR Cutler, Inc. Our sincere commitment is tohelp rebuild lives and manufacturing businesses in the region.Both current and prospective customers need to know the businessis still running. The ultimate goal is to drive sales forthrough heightened media exposure via the very best publicrelations program available in the country. According to Thomas R. Cutler, "As the nation's largestmanufacturing public relations firm, we have a responsibility tothe manufacturers impacted by Hurricane Katrina."Dean Schmidt, the firms Vice-President of Op...

Discount PR for Katrina's Manufacturers

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:19:26 -0600

The staff of TR Cutler, Inc., the nation's largest manufacturingpublic relations firm, wishes to express our deep compassion andconcern for the manufacturers impacted by Hurricane Katrina.Beyond compassion there is action.TR Cutler, Inc. Action for Manufacturers Impacted by HurricaneKatrina Effective immediately, manufacturers in Florida,Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama will receive direct use andaccess to the Manufacturing Media Katrina Campaign at cost. Itis through this aggressive media marketing effort that we willhelp to rebuild the Gulf Coasts' Manufacturing community. Thispositive approach allows Katrina manufacturers a unique PRcampaign that provides a three month public relationscampaign with no less than press releases written anddistributed by TR Cutler, Inc. Our sincere commitment is to helprebuild lives and manufacturing businesses in the region. Both current and prospective customers need to know the businessis still running. The ultimate goal is...

Marketing

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:26:04 -0600

In early, President George H.W. Bush was riding high. He wassitting on an almost unprecedented approval rating followingthe first Gulf War. Conventional wisdom pegged him as a shoe-infor a second term.Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton faced an uphill battle. He waslargely unknown at the start of , facing a very popularincumbent. Worse for him, his opponent 'owned' foreign policy.There was no way to successfully attack him on that front. So what did the Governor's campaign do? They got focused. Theyfound or created, depending on your politics a chink in thePresident's armor: the economy. Every word that came out of thecampaign's collective mouth had something to do with the stateof economic affairs. And just so no one would even think aboutchanging the subject, signs were posted in campaign headquartersacross the country that read, 'It's the economy, stupid!'By November, the formerly 'unbeatable' President was out of ajob. That is the power of a focused messag...

7 Strategies for Sustained Innovation

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:17:28 -0600

The need for constant reinvention is a given in today'sbusiness environment. And while a breakthrough product orconcept can catapult an organization ahead of its competitors,in these fast-paced times, that advantage is often short-lived.While major product or service breakthroughs make headlines,it's the steady incremental innovations made by employees everyday that give an organization the sustained growth it needs.Sustained innovation comes from developing a collective sense ofpurpose; from unleashing the creativity of people throughoutyour organization and from teaching them how to recognizeunconventional opportunities.As innovative ideas surface, a clear sense of mission empowersfront-line employees to act on new ideas that further yourcompany's purpose. It Starts at the Top Leaders create the psychological environment that fosterssustained innovation at all levels. The challenge is that as anorganization grows, management structures and bureaucracies,des...