Gurus

LifeTips Home
Become a Client
Become a Writer
Entertain/Events
Exercise/Fitness
Family/Safety
Food/Drink
Gear/Gadgets
Health/Disease
Hobbies/Pets
Home/Garden
Kids/Games
Relationship/Love
Sports/Sporting
Style/Fashion
Travel/Cities
Holiday/Observances
B2B/Business
Careers/Jobs
Education/Training
Small Biz/Home Biz
Green/Living
Legal/Taxes
Marketing/Promotion
Manage/Employees
Money/Investing
Internet/Web
Hardware/Software
Supplies/Gear
Wheels/Auto
Religion/Spirituality

Listen to our Radio Show
Hot topics for both consumers
and webmarketers
on WebmasterRadio.FM

Every Wednesday, 5PM Eastern.
 

Linda J. Parker

Expert Guru
Linda J. Parker has more than twenty years experience writing sales, marketing, public relations, and educational campaigns. In fact, her expertise encompasses almost every type of writing, including corporate blogs, search engine optimized web copy, sales letters, press releases, published books, ebooks, ad copy, direct mail, white papers, annual reports, articles, pod casts, manuals, billboards, proposals, fiction, and speeches. Linda believes that each new writing assignment brings with it the opportunity to motivate the reader to action while helping the client put into words exactly the ideas he or she wants to convey.

She has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Kentucky, (Magna Cum Laude) with emphasis of study in educational psychology and biology. Her background in design makes it easy for her to work with graphic designers and conceptualize projects from beginning to end. Some of the topics she has extensively researched and written about in recent years include: timeshares, consulting, business development, sales strategies, golf instruction, golf balls, golf history, careers in the golf industry, golf courses, fertility and infertility, the Bushmen, South Africa, and travel pieces on many destinations. Linda Parker is the former VP of Education at Orange County National Golf Course.




10 Tips from Linda J. Parker

Five Ways to Pay Less When You Buy Timeshares

Depending on how much you normally spend on vacation accommodations, owning a timeshare can be a great way to lower the overall cost of vacationing. If you are shopping for a new timeshare and you attend a developer’s sales presentation, remember that
(1) the purchase price of a timeshare is always negotiable. Other important points to keep in mind are,
(2) if you attend a timeshare sales presentation that is scheduled for multiple days and you agree to sign a contract on day one, you will typically receive a discount. Likewise,
(3) paying cash at the time of purchase, or
(4) making a down payment of more than 10 percent of the timeshare purchase price are also reasons that timeshare developers will discount their selling price. Lastly, and this may be the most important way of all to save money on a timeshare,
(5) if you buy a timeshare resale, you can usually expect to save as much as 50 percent over the cost of buying a new timeshare.

Good News! Timeshares Are Not What They Used to Be

If your idea of a timeshare is a fixed week of vacation at the same resort, year after year, you are in for a nice surprise. As hospitality and hotel industry icons such as Disney, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and others have become part of the timeshare and vacation ownership industry, they have made the marketplace stabler, more competitive, and more user-friendly. Most timeshare companies today offer extensive exchange opportunities and many let you use your week or weeks of timeshare in 1, 2, 3, or 4-day increments. Some timeshare companies now offer the option to exchange weeks of timeshare for cruises, airline tickets, or other travel-related benefits. And nearly all timeshare companies permit you to bank your timeshare, meaning that if you can’t enjoy it this year, you have the opportunity to save your days and use them next year. Banking also allows you to accumulate multiple weeks and enjoy that extended vacation you’ve always wanted.

When You Putt, Grain Can be a Pain

Mowed blades of grass have a tendency to lay or lean in one predominating direction. Golfers call the direction the blades lie, the “grain” of the golf green. Three things influence grain. The first is the direction of the mower when cutting the grass. The second and third influences are the prevailing direction the sun shines on the grass and the prevailing direction rain or irrigation water drains away from it.

Always identify the direction of the grain before you putt. Putting against the grain tends to shorten how far your putt will roll because the ball rolls slower. Putting with the grain tends to lengthen the distance the ball rolls because it rolls faster.

The Non-Writer’s Approach to Writing a Book

Writing a book need not be limited to professional writers who write as their fulltime career. Many people are subject matter experts in one or two areas, with meaningful information to share through a book. While they may only write one or two books in their lifetime, these books can significantly contribute to their recognized status as an authority in their field. A book is a powerful marketing tool in building a career or a business, but writing a book can feel like an overwhelming task. To make the project simpler, apply the same approach to your book that you would use to write a single paragraph. Decide what your message is, choose what key points you will use to back-up or explain your message, and figure out how you can summarize your message to really drive it home. Presto! You have just created the outline for your book. You first chapter explains to the reader what you message is and why you are writing about it. Each of the chapters that follow tackles a key point about your message to explain it further. And your final chapter restates your message, recapping your strongest points. Just as a story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, so does your non-fiction book. Recognizing this, and classifying your information accordingly, can greatly simplify the process of getting your thoughts and wisdom down on paper.

Grow Your Business By Setting Measurable Goals

Setting goals is an important career-building skill. But setting the wrong kinds of goals can add to your stress and contribute to your potential failure. Goals must be concrete in order for you to achieve them. If you simply tell yourself that you want to get more customers or clients, you have created an abstract goal and made it almost impossible to know if or when you have met that goal. A concrete goal is stated in a measurable way, for example, “I want to add five new clients to my consulting practice during the next nine months.” A goal with a clearly defined objective and timeline is not only achievable, but requires you to also develop specific strategies for reaching it. Anyone who has ever dieted to lose weight knows that saying, “I want to lose weight,” rarely works as well as saying, “I am buying a pedometer and walking three miles every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning for the next six months.” Make it easy to reach your goals in life by making them concrete and measurable.

Avoiding Common Mistakes When Creating Your Own Marketing Brochure

With all the templates available for designing your own informational booklet or brochure, many small business people are creating effective self-promotional materials without enlisting the help of a graphic designer. Here are a few simple but valuable tips for designing your own marketing material.
1. The cost of mailing hundreds or thousands of brochures can add up quickly. Start your project by deciding how much you can afford to spend on postage per piece, and then design the thickness and size of your brochure with mailing costs in mind.
2. Shop for a mailing envelop before you actually design the booklet or brochure. Select an envelope that is a stock size and can be purchased at any office supply store or stationery shop.
3. Remember that a 9 x 12 brochure will not fit into a 9 x 12 envelope. All too often people make the mistake of designing and printing a beautiful marketing brochure, only to discover that they did not allow enough room to fit the brochure inside the envelope.
In the US, the most commonly used standardized envelopes are: monarch (7½ inches x 3 7/8 inches); #10 (9½ inches x 4 1/8 inches); #12 (11 inches x 4 3/4 inches); 6 inches x 9 inches; and 9 inches x 12 inches.

Obtaining an International Driving Permit

If you are a US citizen and you are planning to rent or borrow a car during your travels outside the US, you may be required to present an International Driving Permit, known as an IDP. If you are traveling to South or Central America, the required permit is called an Inter-American Driving Permit or IADP. To obtain either permit you must be in possession of a valid and current US driver license. One of the easiest ways to obtain your international driver permit is to contact either: The American Automobile Association (AAA), 1000 AAA Drive, Heathrow, Florida 32745-5063, (http://www.aaa.com) or the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA) of the National Automobile Club, 1151 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, California 94404, (http://www.nationalautoclub.com).
The fee for the permit is approximately ten dollars, and the application may be submitted online if you have a current photograph in a digital format, taken to the same size specifications as a passport photo. If you are submitting your application by mail or in person, you will be required to provide two copies of your photograph. The permit is valid in approximately 150 countries and is good for up to one year from the date of issue.

When You Dress for Travel, Think Comfort Over Style

If you are planning a trip that begins with a long day of driving or many hours sleeping on an airplane, you might want to think in terms of disposable clothing for you and your family. For your first day of travel, select shirts or blouses you were already planning to donate or discard. You won’t be concerned about what you, your children, or the passenger beside you spills on your clothes. When you reach your destination, simply toss out your “travel” shirt. You’ll be starting your vacation with one less item of dirty clothing in your suitcase.

Preventing Fertility Challenges from Taking Over Your Life

When you are trying to conceive a child, it is easy for questions about “when” and “why” to occupy your thoughts and conversations. But it is important that during this already stressful period, you schedule time to consciously set aside those concerns and questions. You and your spouse need to spend time together enjoying favorite pastimes and hobbies. The two of you will benefit by going on dates and planning trips together. Try to arrange outings with friends where babies, pregnancy, and fertility treatments will not be part of the conversation. Do not give in to the temptation to focus your every waking moment on your fertility challenges. Remember that you were a whole person before you began trying to conceive and that you and your spouse made the commitment to marry for more reasons than just the goal of producing a biological child together.

Wet and Wonderful Orlando Vacations

While Orlando is one of the few Florida vacation destinations that is not beachside, you’ll find an abundance of ways to relax and enjoy yourself in or on the water. Second in the nation in the number of natural lakes, Orlando offers lots of opportunities for skiing, motor boating, sailing, or zipping across sparkling lakes on a personal watercraft. If you prefer your water sports to be a little more relaxed, try touring downtown’s Lake Eola in a swan-shaped boat, or take the leisurely Winter Park scenic boat tour that winds along lakes and canals to give you a firsthand look at the Kraft Azalea Gardens, the Isle of Sicily, and many magnificent homes and mansions along the shores.

Orlando theme parks include plenty of places to splash and play as well. SeaWorld® Orlando combines their charming animal performers and exhibits with thrill rides like Kraken and Journey to Atlantis, guaranteed to leave you breathless and usually at least a little wet. Wet ‘n Wild®, located along the busy tourist strip of International Drive, is truly an all-water theme park. Not to be out done, Disney offers two different types of water play, Typhoon Lagoon where you can ride manmade waves in the world’s largest outdoor wave pool and Blizzard Beach where you can take the ski lift to the top of Mt. Gushmore and then choose your favorite flume or slide to bring you quickly back down.

In Orlando, you’ll find spectacular swimming pools at all of the larger hotels and plenty of lovely lakesides along which to stroll or dine. But the most important thing to remember about water in Orlando is that almost every afternoon from mid-May to late September, you can count on a cooling, drenching tropical rain. So pack your swimwear and your sun block when you head to Orlando, but don’t forget to also take along your umbrella.