Business and Investment Center

Famous is as famous does and the famous get known through publicity. Yes, that’s right, fame doesn’t discover you, you create it through strategic campaigning. What’s more, the techniques for increasing your exposure are not as difficult to attain as you might think. A great publicity campaign starts with courage, then planning, and lastly, it succeeds through persistence. If you’re not sure why you should seek fame, consider fortune because the two go hand in hand.

Fame will bring your business into the forefront of your target audience faster than any advertising campaign can hope to do. It solidifies you as an expert and creates a deep, abiding confidence in the consumer. It makes you a shining star with infinite possibilities. So what are the steps you ask? Well paste a gold star to your forehead and let’s get started.

1. Press Releases:
Increase awareness through a press release. Yes, I know, press releases have become quite the popular little tool around cyberspace with releases being blasted hither and there, but are they working? Probably not. Blasting your press release will bring blasted little results. Instead, thoughtfully put together a very dynamic one-page press release and target publications that would be most interested in you and your business. Don’t drone out the details; make that press release sing your praises. Then send it to a real live editor and follow up with a phone call. In other words, let the press release be the invitation to your follow up phone call. Begin making connections with the media. Be polite, be excited, and be patient.

2. Create A Press Kit:
A Press kit is basically an exaggerated press release turned into a package. It’s more complex, tells more about you and your company, and is all pulled together into a nice neat folder. Of all the questions I receive, first is, what is a press kit? Simply, it is a folder of information about you or your business. It should contain:

A. An Introduction Letter
B. One or Two Press Releases
C. A Fact Sheet
(This contains the facts about you or your business.)
D. Bio Sheet
(Which is a biography of you and your accomplishments.)
E. Copies of Published Articles
F. Company Literature
G. A Business Card

Send your press kit when an editor, publisher, or producer wants to know more about you.

3. Newsletters Offline.
Don’t forget that a whole world exists offline. Locate newsletters or smaller print publications offline and submit articles. This can be a very dynamic way to increase your exposure as well as add to your press kit. You can locate newsletters in your subject area by visiting the local university library reference section. Ask for a directory of trade newsletters and do your research. Once you have been published, it’s easier to step up to the larger publications. Fame starts small and then snowballs onto itself.

4. Speak Up!
Yep, that’s right. Start giving speeches on your area of expertise. Start locally at civic clubs and local educational programs. Then find the local talk radio shows and make your case to the producer. It’s surprising how many talk radio shows are actively looking for new speakers. Once you have achieved Talk Radio, the opportunities will start coming to you.

5. Publicity Pitches:
Put together several dynamic article ideas. Just the ideas, not the actual article. This is called a Publicity Pitch. Take those ideas and then pitch them to editors of targeted publications. This can work very well as it saves Editors time and puts the outline right into their hands. As a past Editor I know how well this works. Editors love ideas, especially ideas that are completely outlined and correct for their readership. This means don’t send pet article ideas to cooking magazines. Send pet articles ideas to pet publications. Seems like a no brainer, huh? But you’d be amazed at what editors see that don’t apply to their own publication.

Fame comes from planning and persistence. It has its rejections, but if you can learn not to take it personally, it will eventually work. Remember, once you start, keep going. Once you stop, you have to start all over.

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The conventional way of buying drugs wherein a person has to drive to the drugstore to fill a prescription is starting to appear as an inconvenience, especially now that internet pharmacies have started appearing left and right.  People are now relying on the world wide web to get their medications, all in the click of a button.  But are internet pharmacies helpful?  Or do they just cause further inconvenience?

Let’s start with the advantages most internet pharmacies claim to offer if one should choose to buy medications from them.

- It eliminates the need to travel to the pharmacy.  All a person needs to order is a computer, a steady internet connection, and a credit card to pay.  The medicine is delivered straight to your doorstep.  No need to pick up the order package from some place.
- The medicine prices are less expensive.  Compared to prices in a conventional drugstores, a lot of internet pharmacies sell medications at a relatively cheaper price.
- It also lowers the cost of traveling to the pharmacy and back.
- They do not require prescription to sell prescription narcotics to their customers.  They claim to be able to diagnose and write a prescription just by reading the information you submit through their online medical questionnaires.

The advantages mentioned above do come with its negative aspects, these disadvantages include:

- Identity theft.  Other people may use another person’s identity through the personal information entered in the online medical questionnaire supposedly used by internet pharmacies to diagnose and prescribe medications.
- Credit card fraud.  Financial information entered to pay for order can be used by shady individuals to place unauthorized purchases and orders to different stores.
- Knock-off medications.  Illegal internet pharmacies may send out counterfeit drugs, out-of-date medications, or drugs in incorrect doses.
- Serious drug interaction.  As these online pharmacies do not require a valid prescription, they may sell you medicine that may cause a serious drug interaction or trigger an allergic reaction.

With all the pros and cons laid out to you, here are a few tips on how to distinguish a good internet pharmacy:

- Check the National Association of Board of Pharmacy (NABP) if the online drugstore you are checking out is a Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site (VIPPS).
- Contact your local pharmacy board to determine if the internet pharmacy you’re going to order from is licensed to dispense medication in your state.
- Have a physical check up to have a proper diagnosis of your condition and an valid prescription for the medication you’re going to order online.
- Look for internet pharmacies that require a valid prescription before processing your order. Even an expert doctor won’t be able to come up with a precise diagnosis by just reading a medical questionnaire.
- Look for online drugstores that offer the service of a licensed pharmacist to assist in you with any queries or concerns regarding the medicines.

Even if online pharmacies offer a lot of convenient features, there are a lot more things you need to consider than just that.  Your safety and your health may be put in jeopardy just because you thought a short trip to the pharmacy was too much of a hassle.