Bizarre Book Cafe

Classroom Discipline Techniques That Work At Home Too!

2008-07-18T11:50:00.010+05:30

Being born to two die-hard teachers I grew up in constant comparison with some 80 odd pseudo kins. And how I hated each one of them. I always thought my parents gave too much time and attention to their students. Now, 25 years later I feel my 7 year old is not getting enough attention at school. The guy is becoming absolutely rowdy and I don't think his teacher is doing anything about it. The more I talk about it the more widely prevalent this belief seems to be. Are teachers today lacking in commitment or drive? I almost thought so till I made the mistake of mentioning it to my father. The old man immediately took up cudgels on behalf of the entire worldwide teaching community. In the next 60 minutes he made me see the other side of the coin. Well - hugely abridging his copious outburst - he says that my discontent has more to do with my overindulgence with my kid, not placing enough trust in the teacher and not giving her any leverage whatsoever to discipline my child.

Come to think of it, he is not so wrong. Gone are the days when teachers were revered for the part they played in shaping a child's personality and parents actually thanked them for taking whatever steps necessary to discipline their rowdy children. Today such an act is more likely to invite legal action. Now I don't advocate thanking a teacher for beating a boy's bums blue (my dad would disagree...given his habit for both). But I do say that teacher's today are as much at a loss about how to discipline children as you as a parent are. My 7 year old thinks he is invincible. He firmly believes I am his toy. He is convinced that I am starting a game when I yell at him. He habitually assumes some crazy Ben 10 avatar the moment I approach to grab him. He drives me nuts playing with pencils when I make him do his homework. And I do not have the heart to hit him...except when he is hell bent on breaking his neck hanging upside down from the first floor window. Now imagine 20-30 of such specimens let loose on a teacher!

If you are a teacher looking for effective ways to discipline your classroom - or a parent looking for ways to instill some sanity in house - here is a great book for you. Classroom Discipline 101 is written by a teacher of 20 years and brings to you his tried, tested, refined strategies to discipline children of all age-groups. The best part is none of these strategies would land you in jail or invite human right campers to your front yard. Since most of these strategies are based on child psyche, they are equally applicable at home with a slight twist of context. There are not many books that deal with the subject of disciplining children in the classroom in as hands-on a manner as Classroom Discipline 101. A comprehensive resource of very practical, very workable ideas to end the mayhem in your class or living room. Interested to take a closer look? Go here!

DIY Dog Potty Training

2008-06-19T09:53:00.006+05:30

I don't know which time of the day or night you are going through this post, but I do hope you didn't see this just after biting into your sandwich. It's holiday season in India and I am just back from two days of pure hell. My cousin recently adopted a dog from a rescue shelter for abandoned canines. He already has two handsome German Shepherds in his house, but a chance visit to this animal shelter somehow made him take home this local crossbreed. One thing he realized very soon after taking the dog home was that it was not housetrained. Within hours it had marked almost every piece of furniture that stood on any sorts of legs. While the German Shepherds growled, the new addition merrily went about marking curtains and relieving itself on rugs and couches.

Now my cousin has experience in hand rearing pups for many years, but one whole week later he had not an iota of an idea what to do with his new dog that went around soiling and spoiling with a very business like purpose. By the time I landed up at his place last week, his well behaved German Shepherds were also getting into the act. It was near impossible to go around barefoot and extremely perilous to sink into a seat without inspecting where you are landing your ass. I love dogs, but those were two absolutely nauseating, stinking, mucky days. This is the reason my first post after a long holiday is not about anything more exotic than dog poo!

Here it is. Housetraining Your Dog - A Definitive Guide. If you have a similar problem with your dog, do take a look at this book. If you are planning to bring in your first dog, you MUST take a look at this book. Having a pet is a very lovely, de-stressing experience. So it better be that way. There are better reasons to go nuts or bananas than fretting over doggy shit.

Secrets Of An Expert Persuader

2008-05-27T11:43:00.008+05:30

The art of persuasion is perhaps the most used, abused and essential social skill. Voting for a candidate, buying something, trying to sell something, asking for a raise, landing a date, getting a leave, wriggling out of a bash-up, sorting an argument or going down on your knees to propose...almost everywhere someone is successfully persuading you to willingly part with your time, money, effort, belongings, ideas, beliefs, even the cherished carefree state of bachelorhood. Our behavior is governed by the process of stimulus and response. Persuasion provides the necessary stimulus to make us act in a certain way. It is a way of guiding you to adopt an idea, take a particular decision or act in some specific way. Persuasion employs subtle guidance techniques that appear quite rational, though they may not always be logical. One excellent example is advertising. A strategically placed, well written board announcing a clearance sale can make you fish out your credit card and blow up your next bonus even before receiving it. There is no logic to it, but it appears a perfectly rational decision till maybe its time to drop your next card payment.

Now persuasion is not something that always leaves you exploited. You also put your own persuasion skills to use so many times everyday both at work and at home. How does persuasion work? Persuasion experts broadly define following six principles of influencing or persuading people:

- The principle of reciprocation: People often get persuaded to do things when it appears they are returning a favor. A few examples are people donating generously to their previous schools or exchange of humanitarian aid between countries.

- The principle of social herding: People tend to accept an idea more easily if it is widely accepted in the society. The beauty of this principle is that it doesn't take a crowd to convince someone of the authenticity of an idea. Just try standing on the road gesturing wildly towards the sky. You may be pointing at a galaxy not yet discovered, but there will soon be a group of mighty interested people looking up for a UFO they think you just sighted.

- The principle of authority: People generally tend to abide by the law and authority. They would obey an order even if they find it objectionable. Driving within speed limits and frantic attempts to reach office on time are two good examples.

- The principle of commitment: People generally tend to honor a commitment. They would follow a course agreed upon even if their original motivating factor is removed. This is why people end up buying apartments at a far more escalated cost than the original booking.

- The principle of scarcity: Scarcity of something, whether real or perceived, propels people's will to act in a certain way. A good example is panic buying before an approaching storm or bulk buying in sales announced for short periods.

- The principle of endorsing: People easily get motivated to buy ideas or products endorsed by people they like or trust. Buying the toothpaste your favorite movie star endorses or purchasing Tupperware through a friend are both examples of such behavior.

Now why am I boring you with all this gibberish? Yes, as usual I have a book to tell you about, but I first want to say that persuasion - like any other skill - can be acquired, improved and mastered for greater success in life. Usually we do not look at persuasion as a stand-alone skill. We tend to look at small facets of it in terms of conversational skills, social etiquettes, body language, presentation skills and more. It's the complete package that amounts for good persuasion skills.

How To Be An Expert Persuader In 20 Days Or Less...is a rather long title for a book. Ok, but that does not take the credit away from it for being the most comprehensive and chaff-free resource on the subject of persuasion. The book touches upon all aspects of your personality that you can easily groom to acquire or enhance persuasion skills. The book discusses effective persuasion techniques that you can quickly master and use to influence people around you. Some of these techniques are based on the principle of conversational hypnosis, also called covert hypnosis. The difference is that here you don't just learn about abstract theories, you actually learn to put them in practice. If you think you could fare better in life if people took you more seriously, believed in what you say, understood you better or just listened to you...this book is for you. Take a look. Go here!

Jesus! Is This True?

2008-05-22T15:51:00.006+05:30

When I first came across this book, it appeared to be yet another man's interpretation of Jesus, his life and works. Nothing great about it eh? Philosophy and religion in general - and the life and work of a superior force in mortal personification in particular - are always open to personal reflections and interpretations. I didn't even bother to note who is selling this book since he doesn't happen to be the author. However, the author's name did ring a bell.

Jesus: The Man And His Work is (claimed to be) a little known book first written and published by Wallace Delois Wattles. Mr. Wattles was born in Illinois, United States in 1860. He had a rather difficult early life like most people during the American Civil War and in his 20s he was working as a farm laborer. Later in his life Mr. Wattles got interested in philosophy and different religious thoughts of the world. The turning point came when he got associated with the school of New Thought based in Chicago.

Now for the interested ones...The New Thought movement began in the US in the 19th century and continues till today. The subscribers of this school of thought believe in supreme sovereignty of God, spirit as the essence of all reality, divine thought as the force of good, mind as the birthplace of all ailments and therapeutic effect of right thinking. Mr. Wattles discovered and defined some of the basic principles of New Thought and his books were very popular in the New Thought movement. His best known work is The Science Of Getting Rich. His principles and methods must have worked, for despite always living a very hard life he died as a prosperous man.

Jesus: The Man And His Work is a book based on a lecture he delivered in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1905. The book is quite intriguing in terms of both its content and treatment. The book does not add or take away anything earth-shaking from what we've always known and believed about Jesus. But it does lend some very interesting twists to how we understand Jesus and what he said or did. It won't make you question your faith, but it would definitely help you refine your wisdom. Interested? Go here!

How to Survive A Recession

2008-05-14T10:46:00.012+05:30

If I am to trust the harbingers of global news, these are troubled times for common folks all over the world. The prices are rising, supplies are dwindling and pink slips, wage cuts and layoffs across the entire gamut of businesses is just making it worse. Whether someone blames it on the burgeoning middle class in India consuming more and better food or the cropping pattern in the US, these are just political farces staged to shift the common man's focus away from their own leaders' bungling to little understood factors across the oceans. I know economies today do not function in isolation, but I find it hard to digest that my chosen representatives can wash their hands off my plight by simply pointing towards the West...or East, North, South as it suits them.

Anyways, recessions come and recessions go. People live on. It's also amazing how your circumstances make you perceive a phenomenon differently. During the recession of late 90s that started in East Asia, I was just a few years into a career and it never really seemed to affect me. Now, 10 years, a growing child, a home loan and two credit cards later I am really feeling the pinch of an impending recession. I am not trying to sound pessimistic...just stating facts. So what can we do to survive a worldwide recession? First let us do away with the fancy word. Recession (or it's immediate effect) to me translates into my basic expenses being in excess of my earnings. Most economists would faint at this definition, but it makes sense to me!

So what do I do? There are two ways. I can either take a defensive approach or get aggressive. The defensive approach is to save and cut spending. Getting into car pools, walking short distances, using public transport to save money on gas. Making weekly trips to wholesale bargain markets for groceries instead of daily ones to the supermarket next door. Getting rid of short term, high interest credit card loans ASAP. Switching to a debit card instead of a credit card or setting strict limits to credit card spending. Cooking more at home, washing your car yourself, even switching off extra lights will save you bucks that will ultimately count. A good way to start is to list down your biggest expense heads and try to find how to reduce each by 10-15% initially. See if it works for a few weeks and then give it another tone down.

Like all defensive approaches, cutting on expenses has a limited bail-out effect. If you want better results, foster your saving efforts with increasing your earnings. If you run a business, find time to work on additional lines. If you are in a job, find time to take up part-time work or something you can work on from home. If you are a couple, start something together. Entrepreneurship is always the best bet against recession. Hard times often give you that extra reason and inspiration to do something that you always thought you would do. Start a small business of your own. Start on a scale that suits your availability of funds. Put in sincere sweat equity and most importantly get informed and plan your venture well. If you are looking for ideas, here are a few to explore...

These are just some of the ideas that you can work on. One important thing is to choose a venture that tickles a personal interest or passion. Remember this is additional work, so you better work on something that not only earn you money but also allows you to have some fun. Try converting a hobby or existing skill into a business venture. If nothing else, it will keep you a bit happy and sane. Best of luck!

Secrets of Happy Relationships

2008-05-13T09:39:00.008+05:30

Did you dare read any feature article on relationships lately? I did and let me tell you it was routinely disheartening. The latest finding is that having kids conclusively concludes the romance in your marriage. I couldn't disagree more. It never ceases to baffle me how much research is going on to establish why relationships are getting strained, bruised, warped, cracked, split wide open or categorically blown to bits. I agree that information is a key tool to avoid a possible disaster, but I would rather know what works than what doesn't. Being a married man for 13 years I have my own ponderous collection of what doesn't work for my relationship and my six year old is not one of them.

Anyways, my point is that why so much stress on disasters and precious little on success stories. Maybe it has to do with the way scientific research works. They would obviously first cut open a cadaver to see what caused the casualty than spend time with a survivor to find out how he averted the disaster. It is safer to pin down a death...be it of a person or a relationship...because it (usually) cannot be undone. It takes courage to put forth a formula for survival since what worked for some may not work for all. However, I hope the relationship doctors start being more brave than safe and gloomy.

Having grumbled enough, let me get back to what I am here to do.
Here is a set of two books that I specially like and suggest all couples and singles should go through. 50 Secrets of Blissful Relationships is written by Michael Webb, a much celebrated author and relationships expert. Like all Michael's books, this book also focuses on what works. It does warn you of things like excessive criticism, but then it also shows you how to use criticism in the right way to avoid a storm without having to suffocate your own feelings. Why I recommend these books to singles is the fact that you also find great tips on finding your soulmate and starting your relationship on the right foot. You think you could do with some advice that really works? Go here!

Now when you talk about secrets of a happy relationship, physical aspects of it cannot be ignored. If you just want to spice up the love(making) aspect of your relationship, here are two more books that you will find really useful. Do check them out.

All About Training Your Cats and Dogs

2008-04-28T11:38:00.011+05:30

Having a pet is a delight. Having a well behaved pet is pure bliss. Having a problematic one is...well...quite common. So far training your pet goes, I do not vouch for turning a normal, playful animal into a programmed piece of meat fetching slippers, following you in photogenic poses, or crawling and begging at your command. Just because you are providing for an animal does not mean that it should stop having a mind of its own. Even your children wont do that. But yes, being a part of the family, a pet must know how to behave. Behavioral training (not performance antics) is a must for every pet.

Behavioral training for dogs and cats not only makes them safer, more enjoyable pets, it also keeps them safe in your home, makes them accept new pets more easily, prevents irritating habits like clawing and chewing, avoids turning your home into a warzone and much more. When it comes to behavioral training, the first thing your pet needs to understand is who is the master. Once your pet acknowledges you as a pack or pride leader, it will listen to you. This is where hiring professional trainers becomes a disadvantage. Besides being expensive, hiring professional pet trainers is like involving a third person in your relationship with your pet. Instead of watching over a fence, who not get in there and do it yourself!

Here are two delightful resources to get you started. Cat Secrets Revealed and DIY Dog Training are the two simplest, most comprehensive and garbage-free help books available on behavioral training of dogs and cats. Both these books allow you a deep insight into your pet's world so you can not only correct it behavior, but also make that process fun, interesting and stress-free. These books are written by pet lovers (not trainers) and offer practical advice that really works. Do check them out!

How To Stop Excessive Sweating

2008-04-27T02:17:00.006+05:30

Perspiration or sweating is our body's natural mechanism to control our body temperature. However, excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis is a rather inconvenient condition that can hugely dent the self-image and social life of a person. Excessive sweating is not related to the climate zone you live in. You are as likely to suffer from it whether you live bang on the equator or way up north or down south. Symptoms of excessive sweating differ from person to person. Some sweat more on the head, some on the face and neck and some under the armpits. Whatever the case, excessive sweating and related problems like body odor are not easy to either ignore or live with.

Unfortunately, most common treatments for excessive sweating are either hugely expensive (like botox injections or surgery to remove sweat glands from a particular area); or come laden with side-effects (like high-potency antiperspirants, prescription drugs or the so-called natural pills); or are just too uncomfortable (like electric current treatment or creams and lotions that soon after application smell more foul that the perspiration itself). If you are looking for a quick, safe and effective way to combat excessive sweating, Stop Sweating & Start Living is highly recommended. The simple procedures in this ebook can help you reduce sweating significantly within days.

You wardrobe need not be all black anymore to hide sweat stains and you need not carry a bundle of under-shirts and deodorant to office to keep yourself presentable. Stop Sweating & Start Living uses commonly available, inexpensive products that you can pick up at your local store. The best part is that this book is not about temporary, part-time relief. The simple procedures in this book take less than a minute to perform, can easily be integrated in your morning and evening routine, and help you cure your excessive sweating problem for good. Some other important things discussed in this book include reducing triggers of excessive sweating, foods and herbs to control heavy sweating and even some emergency treatments when you desperately need quick results. You think you would finally like to be sweat-free? Go here!

Creative Budget Dating Ideas

2008-04-22T10:15:00.010+05:30

The art of dating is not just about earth-shaking ideas to make your beloved go weak in the knees. For people like me (consistently out of money a good ten days before payday) it is as much about not blasting a gaping hole in my pocket. In any case, a date need not be expensive to be good. Don't take my word for this. This comes from Michael Webb in his book 300 Creative Dates. Michael is a romance expert featured in almost all major newspapers in the US, dozens of leading magazines and over 500 radio and TV shows including Oprah, The 700 Club and Men Are From Mars - Women Are From Venus. He is also an author of 11 books, his first bestseller being The Romatic's Guide (an ebook version of this comes free with 300 Creative Dates).

300 Creative Dates is a book that contains hundreds of charming, quick-to-plan dates. The best part is that all these creative ideas cost just between US$5-US$20. It's budget dating at its best. The book also helps you chose the most appropriate date to suit an occasion. Whether you are looking for a creative way to ask someone out, make a grand first impression or just make your partner fall in love with you all over again, 300 Creative Dates offers a perfect idea.

Another thing I liked about 300 Creative Dates is the part on the worst (and most common) dating ideas that can sink your chances for good. My first date with my wife was the usual movie + dinner combo and 13 years later we still avoid talking about it. After going through this book I realized how foolish it was to have such expansive first contact with so little to make it meaningful in terms of personal interaction. I am yet to come across someone who does not take a date seriously. If you take it for granted you better not be there. A dating disaster and rejection can take a pretty solid toll on anybody's self-esteem. You think you would like to avoid that heartache for good? Go here!

Now, in case you are really serious about how you come across to the opposite sex, here are two more great books to put your best foot forward on a date. Do check them out! Be good, be happy, be irresistible and be loved. Happy dating!

Get Free PPC Advertising On Google

2008-04-17T11:09:00.010+05:30

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is one of the main promotional tools used by serious online marketers. However, PPC campaigns never come cheap. Most of the people working with limited budgets find PPC campaigns too expensive a proposition to sustain over a long time. If you set your CPC (cost-per-click) and CPI (cost-per-impression) values within reasonable limits you may get more impressions, but you lose out on better keywords and your ad gets positioned so far low on the rung that it never gets noticed. If you work with higher CPCs you get listed further up, but you exhaust your daily budget too soon to make any reasonable conversions. Running a PPC campaign can be rather baffling. So what is the best way out...Run your PPC campaigns absolutely FREE!

Yes, this does sound like another TGTBT (too-good-to-be-true) story, but this one is true indeed. Get Google Ads Free is a system developed (or rather discovered) by Dr. Jon Cohen, MD, who frequently lectures on this path-breaking system to executives from leading global Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Cohen's system is not based on any warped, illegal twist of advertising contracts on search engines; neither is it dependent on Adwords credits of occasional Google vouchers. This system is based on a little known secret that not only allows you to run free PPC ad campaigns on Google, but also generates other passive income sources to feed your pocket. What more can you ask for in terms of free promotion.

Get Googel Ads Free does not take you out of the PPC loop. It just allows you to choose the highest priced keywords, set ridiculously high daily advertising budgets to get top, premium blue ribbon positions in listings and promote as many products or businesses as you like because you will never pay a single penny for it. What's more, Dr. Cohen's system is not limited to getting FREE PPC ad campaigns on Google. This system works equally well with PPC campaigns on over 1500 earch engines available today including Yahoo, MSN, AOl, HotBot, Lycos, Overture, Gigablast, DogPile, Froogle, AskJeevs...and many many more. So you can actually run parallel ad campaigns on all the major search engines to get maximum exposure to targeted customers absolutely FREE! You think you can let an offer like that go by? I guess not...Go here!

Optimize A Website For Top SE Position

2008-04-15T16:36:00.008+05:30

Optimizing a website for top search engine position is the biggest dream and nightmare for any website owner. While it is relatively hassle-free to put a website together, making it appear on the revered Google, Yahoo and MSN searches can be hugely frustrating. So who do you turn to? You can look up for free advice littered all over the web. Some of it is quite useful, but mostly you find an article that addresses a particular issue and says nothing about its overall implications. Many a times a smart solution for a small problem can trigger an avalanche of huge problems in terms of how the SE crawlers start looking at your site. Losing your Google cache because of one harmless looking snippet of html can make you lose weeks of search result rankings or sink your website for good.

Be weary of advice in bits and pieces. A guy hits upon a smart idea that seems to work. He paints the whole web and blog world red with his discovery. Huge amount of back-links pour in. Hundreds of people try it out. Then a few start coming in with reports of getting error messages, slipping SE position, template malfunctions and suddenly the good guy is no longer there acknowledging applauds and thank yous. He disappears and your weeks or months of effort goes down the drain. It is always better to seek advice from someone who has a complete picture and can guide you in terms of SE position from start to finish. Unfortunately, like all professional advice this does not come free. If you are serious about getting your website to the top SE position, SEO Mindset is for you.

Here is what SEO Mindset helps you do:

Understand various search engines and their ranking factors (this is one thing most website owners are least informed about at their own peril)
Create a SEO Master Plan and SEO Goal Setting
Comprehensive keyword search and analysis including competition analysis
Generate new or modifying existing website content to make it keyword rich at the right density
Create SE friendly site architecture
SEO of individual pages
Demystify link-building and explain the dos and don'ts
Find potential link partners and create link worth content
Create and track your promotional campaigns

In short, SEO Mindset provides the complete package to optimize a website for top SE position. If your website rankings mean a dime to you, you must check it out. Go here!

Now in case you find explanations and directions a bit tedious to follow (I do!), try SEO Elite. This is a neat, pathbreaking automated system that guides you step-by-step as you unlock the full SE potential of your website. Check it out!

How To Attract Lovely Women Online

2008-04-15T08:58:00.013+05:30

Now this book is for men only and it is brazenly geared for inspired online dating. The only advantage women can find in this book is probably to know the most successful strategies men use to get them floored online. Notwithstanding all the hype about real above cyber, online dating is here to stay. According to a survey by Online Dating magazine, over 20 million people visit some of the other dating website each month and the trend is still rising. The same survey reveals that people worldwide are currently spending in excess of US$ 250 million on online personals and dating services. The good thing is that this is not just about mind games. Over 120,000 marriages resulted from online dating in 2007 alone.

So Guys, Internet can help you get your profile up and visible to millions of lovely, gorgeous women online. However, to actually get one (or more...I know some things are not meant for frugality) of them to take you seriously is an entirely different ball game. Online socializing allows you to be free of certain inhibitions like hiding a paunch you are planning to lose or losing your tongue in the presence of a woman, but it also imposes certain limitations. Your imposing height, ripped body or golden heart is all reduced to the way you break the ice, start a communication and keep it going without getting on her iggy list. Communication applies as much to online dating as it does to coffee house romance, just that in online dating it plays a much stronger role in sweeping her off her feet. This is where Remote Seducer can help you gain an incomparable advantage.

Remote Seducer attempts to sift the science from the art of online romancing. Please note that this book, that took around 54 months to compile, is not about fooling women into believing you and getting laid. This is about attracting genuine interest from gorgeous women all over the world and leaving you to decide how you wish to handle all that adoration. Knowing just the right way to put yourself across as an alpha male without even putting a pic on your profile, getting your rejection score down to ground level, finding secret ways to dominate online communities like MySpace and Friendster, turning assumed handicaps like being short or too overweight or skinny into your star attraction, innovative ways of finding dates through text messaging are just some of the hundreds of surefire methods you will find in this wonderfully entertaining book to remotely attract women. If you are into online dating at any level, this book is a must-have. You think you could do with more female attention? Go here!

Now if it is not just online success in romance you are looking for, here are two more books that you may find interesting to rev up your love life. Check them out!

Creative Profitable Fundraising Ideas

2008-04-13T17:02:00.011+05:30

Fundraising is not for the faint hearted. It ought not to be, since free money never comes easy. Whether it is church fundraising, school fundraising, non-profit fundraising, fundraising for events, companies or individuals, it takes a lot of planning, effort and perseverance. You also need unique, creative ideas, inspired volunteers, a mesmerizing communication strategy, focused lists of prospective donors, optimal use of media and much more. Stress-Free & Profitable Fundraising is one comprehensive resource that answers all your questions about fundraising and provides you a water-tight plan of action for your fundraising activity.

Ever wonder how professional fundraisers can tap into millions as donations like a breeze? It is not about sheer personal charisma or contacts. It is about setting the correct goals for a fundraiser, making irresistible offers to volunteers, identifying all possible target donors and segregating them into communication specific niches, using targeted communication for each niche group to get maximum response, locating and using all possible free resources of publicity (and believe me there are plenty) and most of all...avoiding the most common mistakes that spell doom for any fundraiser.

Stress-Free & Profitable Fundraising reveals all these professional secrets, ideas and resources that apply to all kinds of fundraising activities. This ebook is a must-have for all individuals and organizations looking to generate substantial amount of money through donations on a recurring basis. You think you would like your next fundraiser to be less hair-raising and more fun? Go here!

Blogging Tricks To Be A Power Affiliate Reseller

2008-04-10T09:01:00.013+05:30

From the launch of Online Diaries in 1994 and the first ever affiliate program by Amazon (this is debatable) in 1996, blogging and affiliate marketing have come a long way to become two of the major e-commerce activities at individual level. The attraction for the combo is magnetic. What could be more cushy than writing about things you like and make money in the bargain. Selling affiliate products through blogging has sure turned the fortunes of millions of people worldwide. However, the success to failure ratio in this business is not too good and there are reasons for it...

Firstly the availability of free blogging platforms and free registration in most affiliate programs allows for perhaps the only business venture to be started with zero capital. This means just too many people competing with each other to sell similar products. Secondly, there are virtually no industry standards in terms of training, certification and code of conduct. This means that though the opportunity is open to everyone, the progress is largely made through trial and error. Each time you read about a small little something you could do to herd more traffic to your blog and make it SE friendly, you update and lose on weeks of effort. Suddenly Google has no cache of your site and your visitor count plummets. It is a painful learning process. No wonder almost 90% of people using blogs to sell affiliate products run out of steam in the first 4-5 months.

Whatever may be the associated problems, the combo of blogging and affiliate marketing multi-billion market has the potential to turn your life around...if only you had a way to get over (or possibly avoid altogether) the teething troubles. If you are really serious about using blogging to sell affiliate products, here are two highly recommended resources that reveal all that you need to know to make way quickly and profitably.

The Super Affiliate Handbook and Atomic Blogging 2.0 are the latest bestselling resources in their respective industries. However, few have realized the combined potential of the two. You think you would like to have the first mover's advantage... Check them out. Happy Mega Earnings!

Handling Hyperactive Attention Deficit Children

2008-04-08T11:42:00.013+05:30

Do you know any kid who:

Gets easily distracted in work or play
Finds it difficult of follow simple instructions
Has very short attention span in any activity
Appears lost and doesn't seem to hear when called
Easily misplaces things and has trouble remembering
Does not pay much attention to detail in activities like coloring

All these are telltale symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. Not so long ago natural and artificial sweeteners, vitamin deficiencies, food allergies and even too much TV or vedio games were all sighted as possible causes of hyperactive attention deficit children. However, recent research shows that none of this is actually true. ADHD is supposed to be caused by imbalance of certain chemicals in brain. What causes this imbalance is still not conclusive. However, being related to people suffering from ADHD and use of certain drugs and smoking during pregnancy is linked to children getting attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Like all mental or anxiety disorders, ADHD requires immediate attention. However, most of the children suffering from ADHD do not get proper treatment. Often these children are branded as obstinate, difficult, rude kids and get scolded and punished for something they just can't control. Typically pediatricians prescribe drugs for this condition and none of these drugs is complete free of side-effects. Coping With ADHD is a completely drug-free system to understand attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and alleviating the symptoms quickly with minimal discomfort to the child.

Coping With ADHD is not just a book to read. This is a complete system that helps parents handle hyperactive attention deficit kids using a safe and effective audio technology and also guides them to bring about attitudinal changes so no more damage is caused to a child's already troubled brain. Medical research has established that most children do not outgrow attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. So if your kid is showing any such sypmtoms, don't wait up any longer. Take your child to the doctor ASAP. Alternatively, if you wish to start immediately with something totally drug-free...Go here!

How To Get Best Deals On Airfare

2008-04-04T09:27:00.009+05:30

One of the things that hurt most on a flight is the deep hole it digs into your pocket. With fuel prices rising worldwide (and no hope of it going down in near future), cost of air travel has only one way to go...UP! Don't you wish you could knock off a few hundred bucks off your next air ticket? That money is so much better spent on upgrading your hotel room, a relaxing sauna or just shopping. I would rather blow it up in a bar than pay it to an airline that forgets about me as soon as I am belted into a seat. If you care to save on air travel, here is your chance to consistently get the best deals on airfare.

Save On Airfare - Secrets is written by Tony Morrison, an ex-airlines employee. The guy got fired from his job and this guide is his way of getting back to the industry by revealing how to get the best deals on flights. One good thing - which I know from my experience of writing extensively for some of the leading airlines of Middle East and Europe - is that all the methods described in this ebook are legal. Do you know airlines offer hundreds of discounted promotional deals and free vouchers of air tickets every single day?! What little you get from your travel agent or ticket counter is just a drop out of a barrel. Getting the best deal on airfare is all about knowing these offers and getting them - over and over again - by knowing which magic words to say to your ticketing agent. Save On Airfare - Secrets explains it all.

Tony's book is not just about getting the best deals on flights. He goes on to reveal how to save on your traveling gear by purchasing it at airlines employee-level discounts, get the best seats by exploiting the ticketing system, get your flight honored even when you miss it and much much more. You also get a candid peek into getting best deals on car rental, discounted hotel deals and saving the most on your cruise trip. This is an overall money saver package for all your future business or pleasure trips. You think you could do with saving a few hundred bucks on your upcoming air trip? Go here!

Use Dowsing Techniques to Discover Your Sixth Sense

2008-04-02T09:13:00.009+05:30

One good thing about writing this blog is that it keeps me aware of how unaware I am. For instance when I found this book - Learn To Dowse - my first question was what on earth is dowsing? As it turned out, it's kind of browsing while drowsing. For the less-informed ones like me, dowsing is the technique to locate hidden objects (or find answers) using simple, rather unscientific, instruments. Dowsing has been around for thousands of years. It's been put to use for divination purposes, locating underground water and minerals, nurturing intuition (or the sixth sense) to find answers to baffling questions and even deciding court trials! The last practice was (thankfully) abandoned after 1701. Though there is no scientific explanation for dowsing, there is ample proof that it works. Dowsing techniques were used by US Marines to locate tunnels and buried weapons in the Vietnam war.

Dowsing techniques use simple tools like Y-rods, L-rods, bobber (a long tapering stick) and pendulums. Pendulums appear to be quiet a favourite with some of the best known dowsers of latter times like Karl Spiesberger, Ludwig Straniak and J. Francis Hitching. Learn To Dowse teaches you how to use each of these dowsing tools and the pendulum in particular. It even teaches you how to dowse without any tools. This book is written by Nigel and Maggie Percy who have over 30 years of dowsing experience between them. The good thing about this book is that it demystifies dowsing from just being a technique to find where to dig a well. This book finds common, daily-life applications of dowsing like finding lost objects or pets, saving money, locating plumbing and wiring in an unfamiliar house, verifying the freshness of food, checking your vehicle for problems and many many more...

Learn To Dowse combines the medium of text, audio and video to make you learn dowsing correctly and quickly. The content of this ebook comes from actual classroom sessions held by the authors for several institutes and organizations for developing intuitive behavior and awakening dormant sixth sense. Besides it's practical use in your home, dowsing is a great hobby and you may even make it your part-time vocation. This one is a must-have-a-look. Go here!

Detox and Cleanse Your Body

2008-03-31T16:18:00.011+05:30

Do you tire easily? Do you suffer from a chronic illness? Do you find it extremely hard to lose weight? By the time the salesperson at the mall was through spitting these queries at me, my fists were already clenched. It sounded almost like being damned for life. Before I could offer my rather flowery responses, he came up with another beamer - Your can be as full of toxins as your vacuum cleaner's bag. Imagine! The guy was calling me a talking, walking trash bag. Then I looked at my pretty ample burger - and the smoking cigarette dangling from my lips - and I didn't have the heart to refute him.

It's true. No matter where you live, every day your body adds to its store of potentially damaging toxins. These toxins can be in the form of living breathing microbes or stone dead particles of heavy metals that can readily combine with your living tissue and cause it irreparable damage. Some of these toxins come our way naturally as air and water pollutants or workplace contaminants and some we stuff ourselves with at will thanks to processed foods, aerated drinks, cigarettes, alcohol and even plush foam mattresses. One common goal all these hundreds of toxins serve is to put you on top gear to ageing and overall deterioration of your body. No wonder detoxification is the first prescribed procedure by top dieticians and personal trainers today.

In her book The Detox Strategy, Brenda Watson (bestselling author of The Fiber35 Diet fame) explains what these toxins are, where they come from and how you can help your natural cleansing system take care of this nuisance. Depending on your condition, you can follow Brenda's program from six to fourteen weeks. The book guides you how to reduce exposure to toxins, get rid of accumulated toxins in your body and reverse their harmful effects as far as possible. The book also lists recommended foods, diet, workouts and procedures like colonics and medicinal baths that can help speed up your detox process. More helpful sections include detox recipes, sample menus and a complete periodic detox schedule to keep recharging your body at regular intervals. You think you would like to feel younger, lighter and more energetic? Go here!

Now if you are in a hurry and want a shortcut to complete detox, here is another great resource. Master Cleanse is a quick, effective lemon detox system that has stood its ground for 50 years now. If you wish to shed up to 20 pounds, cleanse your body, feel younger and increase your energy levels in 10 days flat...this is what you are looking for. Check it out!

About Gynecomastia - Losing Male Boobs

2008-03-27T11:13:00.016+05:30

Ever played shirts and skins? Did you notice that usually cheerful guy who got terribly distraught at the mere mention of the idea...and suddenly found a reason to slip away. He might be one of the millions of men struggling with Gynecomastia. Gynecomastia is a condition of unusually large mammary glands in males resulting in what we call male breasts. This condition can be distressing in adolescence and wreak havoc with a man's self image and confidence all his life...unless of course he decides to get rid of the problem.

One of the most prominent causes of Gynecomastia is imbalanced level of the hormone called testosterone (yes the one often abused by body-builders and athletes). This hormone is produced in excess in boys approaching puberty. Excess of testosterone often gets converted into estrogen - a female sex hormone. This triggers enlargement of mammary glands. For the lucky 90% who suffer this effect, the condition returns to normal once their testosterone levels stabilize. However, the remaining 10% get permanently marked by Gynecomastia. The problem with Gynecomastia is that most people think of it as excess chest fat. Guys pump iron, go on diets and run half marathons every week, but it does little to solve their problem. Demystifying Gynecomastia is the first step to understand this severe emotional handicap.

Demystifying Gynecomastia is written by Merle Yost, a licensed, practicing Psychotherapist in Oakland, California. In this book the author not only explains all about Gynecomastia, but also how this condition points to other dormant problems in the body waiting to surface. The book also discusses in detail how some prescribed medicines are causing onset of Gynecomastia adult males. If you or anybody you know is silently suffering from this difficult, yet curable condition, this book is for you. You think you would like to rip that shirt off on the beach next time? Go here!

Chest Coach is another great resource to treat Gynecomastia. This is a scientific way, tested and proven through field research, to lose man boobs and shape your chest. Few of us are celebrities and rock stars, but it always feels good to feel good (and not pathetic) about your body. Check it out!

Boost Your Online Business - Niche Marketing Secrets Revealed

2008-03-25T16:26:00.013+05:30

Niche marketing is the current buzzword for anyone hoping to make money online. It is a seasoned, tried and tested concept adapted from conventional marketing to Internet marketing. So what is niche marketing? Niche marketing is targeting a very focused set of customers with a very well defined requirement that is not being taken care of by the mainstream suppliers. For example consider thousands of people selling dog food on the Internet. In comes a new dude and starts offering special food for old dogs. Now he has the advantage of being the only one catering to specific requirements of serious pet lovers who want something more chewable or nutritious for their old faithful canine. He would be far ahead by the time other small businesses get to know about his brilliant idea and big players won't even bother about him anyways. He has found a niche to make killer profit.

If you are constantly hitting a wall with your online business; trying to earn through affiliate marketing; or going bankrupt in PPC campaigns, niche marketing is what you need to do. It's about time you had some top selling affiliates selling for you instead of the other way round. The wonderful thing about niche marketing is that niches don't just exist, they can even be created. All toothpastes have a base compound that contains calcium, but one day a company screamed all over the media about it's product being rich in calcium for stronger teeth and hey presto! A new niche was created. Niche Annihilation Method is a book that shows you just how you can do this to your online business. If you don't have any, no sweat. You also get complete step-by-step guidance to set up your own niche website.

Niche Annihilation Method is not a push-button success strategy. This is about setting up an online business and doing it the smart way. One good thing is that you don't need a fortune to start up and you can decide what you want to sell...be it airplanes or garbage collection service. The niche marketing ideas in this ebook are not limited to any specific kinds of products. This ebook demystifies the basic essence of successful niche marketing that you can start applying online to any kind of business in less than an hour after getting it. You think you would like to push your online earnings up a notch or 10? Go here!

Winning Formulae To Save A Troubled Relationship

2008-03-23T10:04:00.012+05:30

In the days when marriage is increasingly considered an obsolete, redundant institution, It is really heart-warming to find people who still care enough to try and save their troubled relationship. It is sad when a loving relationship, that you consider your life-breath, crumbles to a stage where it needs resuscitation. However, there is a lot that can be salvaged given a sincere effort and desire. Walking away is the easiest thing to do. It takes a lot of courage to acknowledge your own faults and show a mirror to your partner.

I've been married 13 years now and no matter how madly we feel in love, life isn't always sweet, happy and romantic. We take offences, we disagree, we have our spats and at times they turn nasty. But one thing we try not doing...stop talking. One of my regular readers, Jane Philips (pardon me the mention Jane) recently wrote why I so often reiterate that I am married for 13 years. Well, it gives me a feel that my wife is part of my work and a kick to my confidence for being a long-term survivor (Wifey should not read this post I guess :). Anyways, the point is that communication gaps can fuel a simple altercation till it becomes a serious conflict. When people don't talk to each other they talk to themselves. And most often all they tell themselves is that their partner just does not care. Often you can't just go and force a conversation. You need a method when dealing with a lot of madness. We Can Work It Out is a book that is all about resolving conflicts and saving your marriage.

We Can Work It Out is not just inspired text. This book is based on extensive research on what makes people happy and unhappy in their relationships. The book helps you understand what's wrong in a relationship and then guides you how to resolve the issues through strategies tried and tested by psychologists and counselors the world over. In fact this is about as good as consulting a real counselor...especially when your partner refuses to be even dragged there by force. This book not only helps you troubleshoot an knotty relationship, it also helps you keep your marriage divorce-proof (amen!) even if you are facing no such issues as of now. As they say, the best precaution is prevention of course. You think you would like to take a look? Go here!

Before I sign off for today, let me tell you about another very potent book I found on relationships. This one is about winning back an estranged lover. Bring Back The Love Of Your Life is a lean book of practical strategies to deal quickly and effectively with problems like infidelity issues, indifferent partner, frequent fights and avoiding a potential divorce. So God forbid if you are drifting apart, start getting closer now. Check it out!

Save On Gas - Run Your Vehicle On Water

2008-03-22T03:16:00.012+05:30

How is always keeping your partner in good humor same as driving your car on water? Well, both claims sound kind of...Looney! So when I came across this ebook - Modify Your Car To Save Gas Using Water - I obviously considered the information with much more than a pinch of salt. If this is really true, why isn't any automobile company coming forward with the idea instead of an individual selling me this breakthrough.

The idea is to split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen and use the hydrogen fuel to run the vehicle. The combustion of Hydrogen is far neater that any hydrocarbon so obviously it will give more power and better mileage. But my first question was is this possible? Being a science graduate - and still remembering a bit of it - I know that it takes far more energy to split water than obtained by burning the Hydrogen and Oxygen it yields. I read up and came across this Water Fuel Cell device invented by a Mr. Stanley Meyer. Mr. Meyer it seems made a successful demonstration of his technique, but then suddenly disappeared - according to some he was eliminated at the behest the rich oil companies that showed tremendous annoyance towards his project. I looked for a working prototype and found visible proof here.

Modify Your Car To Save Gas Using Water uses the same Water Fuel Cell technique to help you run any car or truck on plain water. The book is filled with detailed illustrations and step-by-step instructions to carry out the simple modification process. If you live somewhere near Los Angeles you can see the author of this ebook displaying his water hybrid car at Velleyheart Drive, Studio City, LA every Saturday. One last check I made before I wrote this post was to search if this ebook is a scam. If it figured as a scam anywhere...I won't be talking to you about this. So even if you are happy stepping on the gas, this book is worth checking out once. You think you would like to take a look? Go here!

Understanding Eating Disorders

2008-03-20T10:07:00.012+05:30

A while ago - midway through munching on a mountain of chips - a friend asked me which mental illness had the highest mortality rate. The question slightly baffled me, but the answer was simply stupefying. It's Eating Disorders! The timing of the revelation was so perfect that I suddenly got very interested and this is what I found. As of now, eating disorders like Anorexia, Bulimia and Compulsive Overeating or Binge Eating together form the third most common chronic illness in adolescent girls. This does not mean that men are spared. Around 12-15% of all people suffering from eating disorders are males. The worldwide statistics are a bit fuzzy since eating disorders are often not reported as illnesses. However, according to South Carolina Department of Mental Health there are 8 million people suffering from eating disorders in the US alone.

Another disturbing fact is that most eating disorders go unnoticed or untreated. Like most psychological problems, people suffering from eating disorders find it hard to accept their condition or share the problem with others. Some just suffer from it without even realizing that they have a condition that requires immediate attention. What may start as a simple health or body consciousness can silently creep up to become a obsessive disorder. Eating Disorders: The Path to Recovery by Dr Kate Middleton is one book where you can find all the information about eating disorders. From answering basic questions like what are eating disorders and their types, symptoms and causes, the book also helps the reader gauge whether full recovery is possible and how. The book draws heavily from Dr Middleton's extensive experience with patients suffering from eating disorders and related case studies. The best part is that this book deals with not just one but all common types of eating disorders. You think you would like to take a look? Go here!

Out of all the eating disorders, Binge Eating is the one afflicting the most number of people. The percentage of men having eating disorders is highest amongst binge eaters. Binge eaters show an addiction to food that becomes more severe in times of stress. Binging often results in further complications like obesity and in some cases even diabetes. If you or someone you know is struggling with binging, End Binge Eating is a great resource. This book is written by an ex food-addict and is based on her own journal of recovery from binge eating. Check it out!

Ideas to Manage Childhood Anger Problems

2008-03-19T10:03:00.012+05:30

Got a baby on hair-trigger? The one who hits the roof about a dozen times a day…if not more. Well it’s about time someone took it seriously. Child anger problems can not be written off simply as tantrums that a child will just grow out of. These are serious issues that sometimes result in catastrophic consequences. In the last 3 months I read about 5 cases where 6-11 year olds used knives and guns to fatal effects on their friends at school. It was a pain to see the innocent faces of the deceased victims as well as the offenders whose lives ahead are now marred with uncertainty.

Being the father of a rather moody six year old I couldn’t help being concerned. I read up on the causes and there were many. Some of the most common reasons are bullying at school, exposure to violent cartoons and video games, excessive disciplining with hitting and verbal abuse, special physical or psychological needs and even overindulgence by parents. When lack of spending quality time with kids is made up with reckless spending to meet all their demands, children tend to go wild when they feel their wish is not being fulfilled.

Children have limitations is expressing their emotions and more so with controlling or disguising them. We adults have a much wider bandwidth of emotions, but do we really understand our children? Do we know how to handle those emotions that may seem absolute bizarre to us but grounded in perfect logic for a toddler? Here is some professional advice. A Volcano In My Tummy is a book that can help you help your child overcome swearing, hitting, throwing things and other anger related problems in a constructive manner. The book contains absorbing, coordinated activities and methods to help mitigate childhood anger. The book offers a very clear distinction between the feeling of anger and violent behavior. This book is meant for working both with an individual or a group of kids. You think you would like to take a look? Go here!

If you wish to dive deeper into your child’s mind and understand what makes him or her angry, here is another great resource. Child Anger Revealed helps you understand the causes and nature of your child’s emotional trauma. This helps you address the problem without loosing your own cool or making your child think you hate him or her. Check it out. Here’s to happy kids! I love mine and may God bless yours.

Boost Your Confidence for Greater Social Success

2008-03-18T12:13:00.016+05:30

The gift of gab is a remarkable virtue. The art of conversation is the key to your social success and popularity. If you can strike a meaningful conversation with absolute strangers, you have a much greater chance of influencing people. Like all performing arts (pardon me the analogy if it seems too far-fetched) making a conversation and public speaking derive a lot out of your self confidence. People seek to boost their self-confidence in the most bizarre ways. Self-confidence is sadly not an ingredient of either a quick shot of whisky or a cigarette. It comes from how you personally value yourself and your capabilities.

We all also have our own preferred means of communication. I am somehow more of a letter, email and sms person. What I find a cakewalk expressing in writing, I fumble and stumble with speaking out. Over the years I realized how this marginalized me in social gatherings, family reunions and even business meetings. If it’s not the case with you, believe me you are a very lucky person. If it is…the books here can do you a world of good.

The Little Book of Confidence is written by Susan Jeffers, a bestselling author of Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway fame. This little (I mean it literally) book helps you overcome your self-doubt, take quick decisions, assert yourself and of course improve your public speaking. The book is littered with practical advice and tips to identify your fears and then successfully transform your fears into better self-confidence, higher energy levels and love for yourself and others. One thing I liked about this book is that you need no necessarily read it cover to cover to solve your problem. You can dip into it as and when required for specific issues and find relevant solutions. You think you would like to take a look? Go here!

Here is another splendid resource to reclaim your social life the way you always wanted it to be. Secrets To Social Success quickly helps you recondition your attitude and behavior to successfully deal with people in all areas of your life…be it romance, business, social networking or friendship. Check it out! Be good and be more popular.