Health tips for better life

When setting up a home for your bearded dragon, there are a number of things you’ll need to be aware of. Firstly, what do we call this makeshift beardie habitat? Well many people refer to it as an enclosure, tank, vivarium or in some cases a terrarium. In reality each variation has a slightly different meaning, however they all generally refer to the same thing and that’s the most important point. Secondly and most importantly you’ll need to setup the enclosure so that it is safe, comfortable and secure. Below are a number of steps to optimizing the enclosure.

• Select and purchase an appropriately sized tank. This needs to be 6 feet long, 2 feet high and approximately 2 feet wide. This is the equivalent of a 180 gallon tank and is necessary to allow your bearded dragon to move, run, bask, climb and hide. As I’m sure you’ve realised, their natural habitat includes open plains, deserts and forests, providing a huge area to roam free, therefore the more space you can provide the better.

• Lay substrate in the bottom of the tank.

This is very important as it absorbs liquids and odors and provides a non slippery surface for your dragon to move about on. Be aware though, there are some bad substrates on the market that can actually be very harmful. So do plenty of research and choose carefully!

• Cover the back wall with a material such as wood, wallpaper (like the kind found in fish tanks) or a more cost effective option is to secure some newspaper on the outer surface. This is to help you dragon feel secure and provides a hideaway from pets or children who might be enjoying the novelty of a pet lizard.

• Provide an adequate source of light and heat. This sort of equipment can be purchased from most pet stores, especially those which specialize in reptiles and fish. As a guideline though, the lighting should give off both UVA and UVB rays and be out of reach from your beardie. Although the heat is essential for their survival, it has also been known to cause severe injury and in a worst case scenario – death.

• Place a basking rock, branch or other perch both under the heat and in a cooler area of the enclosure. This is to accommodate their natural instincts to bask in the sun (they do this to regulate their body temperature) and to climb onto logs or low branches.

• Also ensure your bearded dragon has somewhere to hide. This can be a reptile cave which can be found in pet stores, a hollow log or upside down container. Just make sure it is dark and allows your beardie to completely hide itself from its surroundings.

• Finally, provide a water and food dish. These are essential times for feeding as it helps to keep the tank clean and tide. However if your beardie doesn’t like or use the water container you might opt to just spray him once a day with water instead. This is a good alternative that many keepers choose to use.

This is a general outline on the steps to take when setting up your bearded dragon’s new home. Remember to do further research and inform yourself on the specific requirements to keeping a bearded dragon. There is plenty of information available on the net, in books or from other reptile keepers, you just need to go looking!

Online shopping is something that allows individuals the ability to buy either goods or services from a seller over the internet. These stores are similar to buying in a real environment on the high street or shopping mall. It is a process known as B2C (Business to Consumer). In scenarios where one business buys something from another business, that process is known as B2B (Business to Business). Both processes are types of e-commerce.

It all began in 1990 when a chap called Tim Berners-Lee created the worlds first world wide web server and browser. By 1994, things like online banking had begun and Pizza Hut opened an online shop whilst Netscape made shopping online secure. The following year saw the introduction of Amazon to the world of shopping online and by 1996, Ebay had entered into the online market.

Dan Dare is a classic British science fiction comic hero. The comic hero was first created by Frank Hampson in his “Dan Dare – Pilot Of The Future” science-fiction strip-cartoon series in 1950. The series was distinguished by its snappy dialogues, meticulously illustrated artwork and complex story lines. The popularity and quality of the comic series remained high throughout the 1950s.

Initially, Dan Dare was surrounded by a varying cast of characters that included Digby, Professor Peabody, Hank Hogan, Sondra and Sir Hubert Guest. The series was also aired five times a week on Radio Luxembourg during 1950s. Dan Dare appeared in the first issue of “2000 AD” magazine in 1977. The strip got a major changeover in 1987 and became more like a space opera. Dan sported a “tough guy” look and led a team of space commandos.

Dan Dare starred in a series of three computer games during the 1980s. The series featured spacecrafts of various designs as products of the inhabitants of other planets. Later an experimental time-traveling ship “Tempus Frangit” was also introduced into the series.

In 2002, Dan Dare became a computer-generated TV series. The series was first produced by Netter Digital and then by Foundation Imaging. It ran a total of 26 episodes during the year. The series was later repeated on Channel 5. The Dan’s movies have got immense popularity among children in the US also. The Dan’s movies have also been broadcasted on various television channels across the UK and other countries of the world. You will find many die-hard Dan Dare fans around the world. The comic series now features as an online movie on several Internet sites. You can also download Dan Dare movie DVDs from the free online movies download sites.

Dan Dare movie DVDs are widely available across the retailers in the UK at attractive bargain prices. You may also download the whole range of Dan’s movies from the free online movies download sites. Dan Dare movie DVDs are sure to keep your children entertained this festive season.

Think of Miami and it is likely that pictures of sun-kissed golden sand, crystal blue waves, surfers and bikini-clad ladies come to the fore. Or maybe for TV addicts, it’ll be images of Crockett and Tubbs, or Horation Caine. But the backdrop will remain constant – sun, sand and beaches.

However, for tourists looking for an alternative to the beach, surfer dudes and constant sunshine, the Everglades National Park can provide welcome relief.

The Everglades National Park is one of the most unusual in the United States and is situated on the southern-most tip of Florida. Covering more than 1.5 million acres, comprising of swamps, saw-grass prairies and sub-tropical jungles, it is home to 14 rare and endangered species, including the American Crocodile, the Florida Panther and the West Indian Manatee. The Everglades is also the only place on earth where crocodiles and alligators exist side-by-side.

The park will call out to tourists’ adventurous side, and the bolder tourists will enjoy ample opportunity to walk, camp and canoe through the park’s fields and waterways rather than spending their holidays in Miami basking on the beaches of the city.

Wilderness Waterway is a popular tourist excursion but not one to be taken lightly; a 100 mile marked route which wends its way along creeks, rivers and bays from the Gulf of Mexico to Flamingo on Florida Bay. Campsites are scattered throughout the trail, many of them land-based while others involve raised pontoons still in the water. An exhilarating experience, it will appeal to experienced canoeists, but novices are likely to find the demands great.

For an easier time, jump on board an airboat and traverse around the park’s outskirts or join one of the boat tours which allow access to parts of the park that are inaccessible by land. Take your camera for the chance to snap alligators, leatherback turtles, manatees, hawks and snakes in their natural habitat.

If you want to keep your feet firmly on dry land, then a tram tour from the Shark Valley Visitor Centre offers a two-hour narrated tram tour along a 15 mile loop of the ‘River of Grass’ and provide an opportunity to see native wildlife while avoiding the heat and bugs that may otherwise interfere out on the lakes.

There are many more tours, trails and excursions available throughout the massive expanse of the national park, so it is always wise to consult the park rangers at any of the four visitor centres found throughout the park, who will be able to advise on the best trails for the particular season you visit.

When you’re done exploring, settle down to a snack and a beer in Everglades City, where there are some excellent seafood restaurants serving local fare – and also fried alligator, adding another twist to your alternative holiday in Miami.

Many moons ago, small entrepreneurs had to invest money in different types of media to attract new customers: the yellow pages, newspapers, magazines, radio, flyers, direct mail, to name a few.

And then came the biggest gift a small business owner could ask for: the Internet and e-mail.

Suddenly, you don’t have to use a courier, postal service, or messenger to send a sales message to customers. With e-mail, you could send a dozen, a hundred, or even thousands of messages simultaneously to customers, contacts or subscribers.

This week, we continue to answer the questions of Mrs PK (the spa entrepreneur) on the right way to start doing e-mail marketing and how to start a database of customers (for they go hand in hand).

Here were Mrs PK’s other questions:

“Should I start investing and using CRM (customer relationship management) software to keep track of customers and start a database?”

“How do I get started doing e-mail marketing the right way (sending health newsletters to customers and prospects)?”

The short answer to the first question is “yes.”

If you don’t start a database, then you can’t get to do e-mail marketing.

But you don’t need expensive software to start out. Just start with what you have. Microsoft Excel and Outlook are just fine.

Before PCs were around, the entrepreneurs who ran mail order businesses like the Book of the Month Club in the United States, kept all customer and subscriber details on index cards-clerks would actually write by hand or type names and addresses on labels.

Try writing 100,000 mailing labels by hand or on typewriters.

Let’s count our blessings. Nominate Steve Jobs and Bill Gates for sainthood.

They have made our jobs so much easier.

There are direct marketing outfits where you could send your direct mailers instead of gumming the address labels on your mailers. They have an assembly line of workers who will write names and addresses of your customers or prospects on the outer envelope to give it that personal feel. International mail order companies do this because they say that when the name and address on the outer envelope is handwritten, it is most likely to be opened, unlike computer-generated and printed names.

Take advantage of technology and enter your contacts and customers in your computer database file. Make sure you separate the first name, last name, nickname, job title, birthday, e-mail, etc., in different fields so that you can sort, segment or personalize your e-mail letters later on.

E-mail marketing has great benefits. It’s inexpensive, it’s fast, almost dummy proof, and it is quickly becoming a “personal” media. Almost 20 percent of the population have access to e-mail and cell phones of many people can now access e-mail. The problem with e-mail marketing is that it is prone to abuse and misuse.

Here are some DOs and DON’Ts in sending out e-mail marketing communications, whether they are promotions, newsletter or even thank you letters:

What to send

Do send product updates. We receive Skyway and South super highway construction updates from an Ayala Land real estate broker who knows that we have property in the south that are affected by the current expressway expansion. Knowing what is happening gives peace of mind or helps one make decisions and plans. Sunlife Financial, our mutual funds manager, sends us updates on our accounts. All these are welcome content.

Drayton Bird, the direct marketing and CRM guru, says that sending information to your customers is a “service.” So keep on sending information as long as it is relevant.

Don’t send too much information in the form of attachments-photos, powerpoint presentations, word files, etc. Instead, offer links to your website where they can access those photos or files.

Whom to send

Do send to YOUR mailing list. Most entrepreneurs start by mailing out to friends, family members and personal contacts-basically everyone whom they’ve met. This is an okay start, but give your contacts, and even your friends and family members, the option to “opt-out” or unsubscribe to your mailing list if they don’t want to receive your newsletters or promos.

Don’t show your mailing list to everyone. Put those e-mail addresses of your contacts in the “bcc” and not “To” or “cc” field where everyone can see and be tempted to copy your list. Investing in e-mail marketing software would be a smart move since mistakes like these could be prevented.

How to craft letters

Do consider the timing of your offer. If you’re a restaurant operator, consider sending your e-mail offer at 11 a.m., when people are considering their lunch options. If you are a retail shop, consider sending your e-mail on a Friday afternoon so that they can see it right before the weekend.

Don’t leave the subject line blank. Either come up with a creative subject line-”what do Mickey Mouse and the House of Fashion have in common?”-or a subject that is straightforward and informative-”the ultimate fashion sale starts in 24 hours.”

Don’t set your subject line in all caps and use exclamation points in your subject line. E-mail servers will screen this out as spam.

Do include an offer at the beginning of the e-mail letter. Offer something for free or highlight your product benefits right away.

Do repeat the offer at the end of the letter. It still is the most read portion of the letter.

Don’t forget to include testimonials or reviews of your service or products. These boost response rates-by as much as 30 percent in some tests-and your small business’ credibility as well.

Do test your e-mail marketing offer to a portion of your subscriber list before sending it out to everyone. You could come up with two or three variations testing different offers or ad copy. Use the one that gets the best response for the rest of the list.

(Keep on sending your comments or questions to marketingrx@pldtdsl.net or text us at 0918-3386412. God bless!)