Pick Your Own Coupons and Discounts at CouponTrade! Very Cool.

There is a new online marketplace dedicated to serving up discounts on many of your favorite merchants. This includes gift cards and coupon codes. All of these are available for almost immediate savings. This is the world’s first consumer driven gift card and coupon marketplace, since members are able to both buy and sell.

Best Buy: CouponTrade offers Best Buy Coupon Codes and Best Buy Coupons for discounts and savings on thousands of electronics from brand name computers, home entertainment packages, tablets and cameras to TV's, movies, accessories and more. There are even Best Buy gift cards on offer from time to time.

Macy's:  Use CouponTrade to save with Macys Coupon Codes and Macys Coupons for discounts on womens and mens clothing, jewelry, beauty products, home decorations and more. Macys has the latest fashions in designer products, handbags, perfumes and more.

Home Depot: With Fathers day around the corner, visit CouponTrade for Home Depot Coupons and Home Depot Coupon Codes to save online on home improvements and supply needs. Home Depot has the perfect gifts for dad like brand name appliances, power tools and gift cards.

In short, Coupon Trade is an incredible place to find gift cards, coupons and all kinds of discounts. Additionally, members may even sell their own gift cards. It is a great place to take advantage of a huge consumer driven opportunity.

Think Positive Magazine - I Really Like This One!

Think positive is a magazine and website created by Miracle Media (which is headquartered in Chicago, IL).  Check out the site at: http://www.thinkpositivemag.com/.  This site and magazine are targeted at young, urban black professionals. However, this is more than a magazine or simply a web site. It is a call to action, according to Telie Woods, the co-founder and marketing manager. The aim of the content is on positivity in lifestyle and personal goals.

Having a magazine and site whose aim is to uplift and improve an entire community and demographic is certainly a noteworthy goal. One of the best things about Think Positive is that it is aimed at a demographic which is so often ignored. The content is excellent with tips and advice ranging from health and finances to career, education, family and even community.

Being positive in a world that so often seems negative can be a bit confusing to the mainstream media. However, Think Positive clearly sees itself not as just ‘another magazine,’ but as a medium for change.  Not change in the sense of revolution, but change in the sense of transformation. This can be the impetus for actually elevating our thinking, which is certainly the first step in instituting any type of lasting change.

Many studies have shown that when we elevate our thinking this leads to a more positive outlook and higher self-confidence. As these improve, we actually begin to get smarter! This magazine, therefore, can be the impetus to improve ourselves in all areas of life.

iVigil Offers and App with a Purpose

If you love hearing about new apps like I do, one of best apps that you will ever see has been developed by iVigil. 

iVigil is an application which can be used by cause marketers in an effort to help raise awareness and promote their particular cause. They call this a viral cause marketing tool. The stated goal of this application is to empower 200 million iPhone devices.

The first two causes which they intend to promote are World Peace and Women Empowerment. These are some excellent causes which should see a tremendous amount of support. After all, who would not be willing to get behind either of these?

Personally, I think the power of such an application is incredible. Since this was developed by a group of well-connected Linked In members, it is obvious that they understand the power and effectiveness of social media. A viral application like this is basically a type of social media.

They also focus a lot on what is known as disruptive technology. Something like this, if it proves effective has the power to actually create changes in app technology, social media and a number of additional related industries and conventions.

As a marketer myself, I can see the power in this. Most cause marketing is fairly expensive. Typically, after expenses the cause is only left with around 50 to 60 percent of whatever money was raised. Using iVigil as a marketing tool can reduce these costs significantly (as little as 5 or 10 percent). This is an incredible tool that all cause marketers should take advantage of.

Who Knew Zebra Striped Nails Could Be So Cute and Easy to Do Yourself?

It is unfortunate that more women do not get more creative with their acrylic nails and long natural nails.

If you live in a city, you will often find that long nails can get a bad reputation. Many women in the city wear their nails in tacky, gaudy styles and may or may not maintain the cleanliness under the nail, or the polish job on top of the nail. Unfortunately, though, this bad reputation is what has deterred many stylish women when it comes to wearing acrylic nails and long natural nails. Another thing that discourages many women is price. Fancy nail jobs can get expensive fast, if you go to a good salon.

I just recently came across a good article describing how you can create a zebra striped design on your own long acrylic/natural nails.

Now your first thought might be that zebra stripes on nails are a little bold, and might not be your style. However, it really is all in the clothes that you wear, and the way that you wear your hair and makeup when you wear your zebra striped nails. If you dress in elegant, attractive clothing, you will find that zebra striped nails will give your outfit a special kick that no other woman in the room will have.

All you need to create the look is a detail brush, a protective clear topcoat, white nail polish and black nail polish. Two important things to remember are, one, that you should let each coat dry for at least 20 minutes before applying the next coat and going about your day. This is vital, and so many people mess up all of their hard work by being hasty.

Two, you do not need to make your zebra stripes on nails perfectly straight. You can use any piece of paper as your guide and have a professional look for your nails in no time.

How to Create a Call to Action

If you are a work at home Mom, or are involved in your own business in any way, you know how hard it can be to ask for the sale. Selling just does not come naturally to most people, and it can be an uncomfortable and humiliating process for even the most confident person. In addition, there are no easy ways to overcome this discomfort.

Really, the best way to make the sales process easier is to genuinely believe in the product you are marketing; be educated about the product so that you can answer all questions; use ethical marketing practices; and understand that at some point, you are going to have create a call to action.

You are going to have to ask for the sale. You do not always have to do this by physically asking though, you can ask for the sale in your sales letter or in other marketing materials, and it truly does not have to be the hardest part of your sales process. If you are like many marketers, you can get so caught up in informing the customer about the product benefits, that you forget to simply give the customer clear instructions on how to take the next step. You must understand that if you do not give clear instructions, you will lose a very large percentage of interested people.

There are many simple ways that you can create a call to action through your website. You can use a simple web button, you can include forms for the customer to fill out, or in your sales letter, you can give clear contact or purchasing instructions. Just remember when you are creating your call to action to use action words like Buy, Call, Subscribe, Donate, Register etc. If you do things this way, the customer knows exactly what you want her to do.

A great resource that you can use to get advice on growing your online business is 123Marketing.Com and Wikipedia.

Could Natural Weight Loss Pills Be Right for You?

When it comes to getting in shape, it can be a frustrating process. Though I was able to manage my weight pretty well throughout my life, things became a little harder after having my child.

I managed to lose the weight I needed to eventually, but being heavier in the meantime was not fun. Hearing people’s comments about how “I had lost some weight, but put it back on, and maybe I would lose it again,” made me feel alienated and embarrassed as they talked about me as if I was not even in the room. I cannot imagine how hard it must be for some people that struggle with weight issues all their lives. It seems as though people feel that they have license to treat you as if you are not even a person when you have are having a weight problem.

There are many good methods out there though. One thing that I have found is that every method has controversy attached to it, and the main thing that you have to do is you make sure you do research before you start any program. Do not just listen to hype, make your own choices based on your own solid research.

I chose to go slightly low carb, and tried to incorporate more exercise into my day, and this did work for me, but it took some time and discipline. What I’m learning these days is that things might have been easier if I had known about natural weight loss pills. When I thought about weight loss pills, I thought they had tons of chemicals and questionable herbs from other countries in them. There just seemed to be too many factors when it came to these pills, that I never even gave them a second look.

However, there are some companies that manufacture pills using good standards of quality control, and that have ingredients that are typically recognized as safe. Though this is the case, you should ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS do your own research. Certain ingredients could conflict with medicine that you take or pre-existing medical conditions that you have, and some products might produce results too quickly. If you lose weight too fast, you could have lose skin. It is good to learn about ingredients and read customer testimonials and reviews, before you make you final choice.

One website, Slimming101, is a great resource if you are interested in learning more about natural weight loss pills. They sell Unique Hoodia pills, Phen 375, and Capsiplex. These pills can help you lose anywhere from 2 to 5 pounds every week. This is a healthy rate of weight loss.

The website has product reviews and talks about all aspects of weight loss, which I love. Even if you take natural weight loss pills, you should also include exercise and a healthy diet into your routine. You should also not have huge expectations. Being super skinny is not in style right now anyway. In my opinion, being healthy and in shape should be your main goal, and natural weight loss pills can help get you close to that goal, but these pills should not be the only part of your plan.

Great Information on Hair Care and Styling

One thing I really enjoy is going on YouTube and viewing hair videos. I still have not decided whether I am going to go full blonde, or if I am just going do some highlights, because my main concern is trying to do things carefully to prevent damage.

Right now, I wear my hair natural, and do a lot of twist outs and braid outs with a new baby. However, I enjoy roller setting my hair when I have time. I do not typically straighten it all the way out after roller setting; I just apply oil and separate the curls with my fingers. I like those results, but might straighten my roots with a flat iron for a different look in the coming weeks.

I like this video that follows. I especially like how she outlined her process in a manner that was straight and to the point. I do not think I will flat iron my whole hair strand though, just the roots, and I do not think I will blow-dry the roots, because I think that much heat is not necessary. When I do flat iron, I typically use it on low, and I typically have bigger and poofier hair, but I like that better anyway.



I really like this video that follows because the girl who made it experienced real hair growth. My only issue is the avocado in the recipe. I think washing food down your shower drain when you wash your hair is an invitation to critters, so I’m thinking I will make a similar deep conditioner, but just use a natural store bought conditioner with oil added. I feel that the regular use of the deep conditioner is what might have made her hair seem to grow faster because it was not breaking off as much, so she was retaining length.

I think many people use deep conditioners regularly, but actually only get around to doing them once a month, or once every two weeks or so. Life gets busy, and I think we often lose track of things like that. She deliberately did this treatment once a week, and her hair was 3 inches longer in 3 months, instead of ½ inch every month (the typical growth cycle).