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Offline Marketing Tips That Won't Break the Bank

In the digital age, digital marketing is taking over. It’s cheap, effective, and easily accessible. It makes sense to use it as much as possible, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon the older ways of marketing. They are also extremely effective and aren’t as expensive as you’d think.

Plus, you might not be reaching the people you need to. Maybe your business is aimed at a demographic who isn’t on the internet as much, maybe your local community needs reminding you’re there. Whatever the case, your business can only strengthen with a few additional moves that can make sure your business is at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Vinyl stickers

van

Vinyl sticks are a safe means of displaying your logo in various places. If you have a storefront, a big bold logo can be placed on your window to catch the eyes of shoppers going past. It won’t be a mess to remove but will stay firmly in its place without giving up and falling off one day.

This is also true if you’re thinking of dressing up your office with some vinyl graphics. Make sure visitors never forget when they visit a reception area that has your logo above their heads. Vinyl stickers can also be the more affordable option against bright lights and solid metal logos.

If you work from your vehicle, like a tradesman or a taxi driver, you can get a vinyl wrap. This will allow you to advertise your business wherever you go, or in the case of some taxis, earn money by advertising another company wherever you go. This can be an invaluable marketing strategy since people on their commute will see and remember your name and logo.

Uniform

You don’t have to be running a golf course to allow for your business logo to be worn by your staff. You can instead create some products using the Screen Textiles website, who offer printed or embroidered logos on pieces of clothing ranging from t-shirts and polo shirts to bags and hats.

If you work with food, order aprons embroidered with your logo, or if you work outside amongst nature, you can get parkas and jackets that display your logo. It’s a little touch that will stay in the minds of everyone your staff sees in person. It will also promote loyalty in your business and teamwork amongst your staff members.

Merchandise

Merchandise has taken off thanks to YouTubers and Instagram influencers offering merch to their loyal fans, but that isn’t an exclusive offer. Businesses with customers who enjoy their brand can always pick up something with your logo on it to show their peers just how much they love your products and services.

Clubs like golf clubs and spas can offer bathrobes with your name on it, making customers feel like royalty when they wear it. And of course, the biggest seller of merchandise are bands, but the bars hosting bands can also get in on the merchandise game. Customers can go home with a t-shirt or glass that displays their favourite hangout spot.

Go to events and sell your merchandise or even offer it for free. Job fairs, conventions, street markets, can all be places for you to distribute your merchandise to the public.
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How to Plan The Ideal Wedding Proposal

Whether you found your significant other on an app for dating, through mutual acquaintances, or in school, college or work, nothing beats falling in love and spending your life together. However, as you're probably aware, figuring out the best way to propose to your better half can be a colossal undertaking, yet it doesn't always have to be a complicated affair. To ensure that this long-awaited moment goes as intended, I've collected some of the best tips you should know when you go down on a knee and ask your partner for their hand in marriage. Continue reading if you want to learn more.

Make sure both of you are thinking about marriage

proposal

You’ll want to ensure that your partner feels the same way about marriage as you do. So before plotting the proposal, try to talk to him or her about how he or she sees their future with you. If you’re worried about making the conversation appear like a proposal or don’t want to ruin the surprise, start it by discussing a friend’s recent engagement or your parent's or someone's happy marriage that you know. It might not be as easy to drop it into conversation but it will give you a much better idea of what your soulmate might say if you pop the question.

Talk to your partner's parents

These days, not many talk to their partners’ parents before they open the ring box because it’s generally regarded as outdated. However, the reality is that there are benefits to letting them know about your proposal plans. After all, you may learn more about your significant other that you may not have otherwise, such as what types of ring settings she prefers for the engagement ring, where the ideal place to propose is, and many other valuable pieces of information. They may also want to be more involved with the moment and help you set everything up so that everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Get personal

For any wedding proposal to succeed, it needs to be personal. So think about what your partner would love out of your proposal, be it an intimate gesture or a family affair. Regardless of what your budget is, you'll may want to focus on a sentimental, beauty spot, perhaps somewhere that means something special to both of you.  Proposing within a space that has meaning to you both will earn you many points and help you get you the answer you're looking for. 

Have someone who can take photos on standby

It’s a good idea to have someone around who can document this special moment. This is especially true if your partner doesn’t know about it because you’ll want to capture that surprise, the emotion and maybe some funny reaction shots. Whether you choose to go with a professional or have a friend do it for you, having a photographer help capture those wonderful memories.

Conclusion

Proposing to your partner is likely to be one of the most important moments you’ll ever have. Because of this, you must get everything just right. With these tips, you’ll make this wonderful moment even more special.

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How To Choose A Cross Country Moving Company

Moving house takes time to organise, especially when you are moving out of state or cross country. With some careful planning, you can reduce the stress to minimal levels so you can enjoy the experience and focus on the excitement of your new home.

Getting the best price

moving box

You may decide to go it alone and hire a van to move your own possessions. Or if you need some extra help with bulky items or a high volume of boxes, you will need to look at a moving firm.

When you select cross country moving companies, you will need to source online moving quotes to get the best price.

There are lots of options out there, so a moving cost calculator can be a good start to planning your move within your budget.

Put the paperwork in place

When you have settled on the right moving firm to use, there is some core paperwork to get in place. This ensures both parties are on the same page, and you have everything documented in the event of a dispute.

You also need to take care of your budget because the costs can vary. With a non-binding estimate, the moving firm is not under any obligation to stick to that price. In other words, additional fees can be added for extra services provided, or for additional boxes or furniture. Your estimate should clearly state whether it is binding (fixed price) or non-binding (potentially variable).

Packing everything up

packing

You also need to choose who is responsible for packing your items up. This service obviously costs more but can save you a lot of time. If you have children or pets to consider, you may need to look at childcare or pet care to allow you to focus on this important task.

As you go, label each box with the room it will be going to. This will mean your movers know where to put things and you will not be trying to reorganize everything once it is in your new home.

The moving company will also check your packing to ensure the boxes are securely and safely packed and will not bring any danger to the shipment. This could mean lighter items at the bottom of a box with heavier items on top, which could lead to the box becoming unstable in transit. Poor packing is legally classified as an ‘act of omission’. This means for any comeback on the shipping firm, the damage must be caused due to their responsibility.

How to find the best cross country moving company

Carry out a comprehensive online search to find the best cross country moving companies to fit your needs. Spending a little time on this could potentially save you a lot of money.

It also means your possessions will be in the best possible hands if you choose a mover with the best reputation. Look for positive customer reviews on third-party review sites and social media networks. This way there is nowhere to hide for the moving firms, and you are almost certain to find the best one for the job.

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Major Roadblocks That Are Getting In The Way Of Your Blogging Success (& How To Overcome Them)

Blogging success is measured by many metrics including the number of readers, followers, commenters, and even subscribers. Of course, getting to the point where you can maximise these metrics isn't always easy. Indeed, there often seems as if there are many hurdles in between you and blogging success. The good news is that you can find out about the most troublesome ones below, as well as how to overcome them and achieve the success your blog deserves.

Ideas

wordpress blog

If a lack of ideas is preventing you from writing amazing content for your blog, you may have things confused. This is because you don't have to come up with the ideas yourself. Instead, you should let the demographic that you are looking to appeal to define the type of topics you write and publish about. After all, the product that you are providing your audience is entertainment and information on things that are of value to them, so you need to make sure that anything you write matches this brief.


Now, having said that you may well have to come up with an angle. That is a way of approaching the topic that doesn't just repeat everything that is already being said online, and that will especially appeal to your audience, However, once again, by doing some research into your demographic and understanding what makes them tick, you can put yourself in their shoes and determine the right approach for your content from that.

Confidence

So you didn't go to uni to study journalism? You've never had any of your work published in a national newspaper or magazine? Don't worry! None of these things is an issue or should be a roadblock to you writing or releasing your content. Indeed, for the most part, what readers are looking for in blogs is someone they can relate to and put across a sense of their personality in their writing, not the next Booker Prize-winning author.


Often confidence is something that comes from building one small success on the top of another, over and over again until we have evidence and faith in ourselves that we can do what is required of us. To that end, why not start with shorter posts at 250 or 500 words to test the waters and build to more extension ones later?

Of course, there is absolutely no harm in taking some classes or doing some research into the way other bloggers write, plan and organise their content. After all, there is no need to reinvent the wheel when many people have trodden the road before you! Instead, just make sure that you take any inspiration and information and adapt it for your blog.  

Equipment

Once you have the skills you need to create successful and profitable content, you are almost ready to dive into the world of blogging. Except, you won't be able to get very far unless you have the right kind of equipment.

The good news is that for most people this means a laptop or Macbook and a fast internet connection. However, the bad news is that many people regularly experience frustration or some issues with their Mac or laptop slowing down, something that can at best be very annoying when you need to meet your blogging deadline, and at worst begin to chip away at your morale and productivity.

Fortunately, there are some actions you can take to make sure that your computer equipment works effectively, and as fast as possible. Delete any programmes or apps you do not need, close down any programmes that you are not using that are running in your background and store any large videos or photos on the cloud or backup drive. Indeed, taking such steps as well as regularly updating and maintaining your system is the best way to avoid such issues altogether.

Time


We don’t do things because we haven't got time! What I mean here is that if something is important enough we will make time for it, and prioritize it in our day. With that in mind, setting aside a portion of time like 30 minutes every morning to work on your blog content can be a very useful exercise. Be strict with yourself too, add it into your calendar, and daily planner, and set a timer so you don't end up wandering off to make a cuppa during your writing time.

Indeed, as you become more practised you will be able to write, and edit around 500 words in this time. You can always put it in draft and come back to it later if you are not sure it's perfect. I like to do this myself as you don't always see any mistakes straight away. 

Let me know, have you started a blog?

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Top Tips For A Happy Relationship

Being in a relationship is hard work. For it to work out both of you have to put the effort in. Of course, some things are worth it and if you have found the right person for you then working on your relationship is something you should do. 

Here are some top tips to keep your relationship healthy and happy from someone who's been married twice and intends to stay married!

Go on regular dates

couple
Whether you spend every second together or have very busy lives where you don't see each other as often as you like you still need to have regular dates. By this I mean spend time together on your own and make an effort. Dress up and go out to a restaurant, or do another activity on your own without the kids.  We used to love going to comedy nights once every couple of months, or the theatre a few times a year and these nights with definitely date nights. These are times to reconnect, enjoy spending time together and to talk. 

Make time for talking 

Talking is very important in a relationship, and not just talking - listening too. If you have any problems talking about it to your partner is very important in my humble opinion. If he or she won't listen to you when you are feeling sad, confused, angry or vulnerable and also when you are happy as well, do you really want to be in a relationship with them? You need to tell them that it is important for them to listen to you and if they won't then you really need to think is this the best it will ever be? Relationship counselling may be an option if you can't work out the issues between you. 

Get down to intimacy

Being intimate is an important part of a relationship. People's sex drives do vary however and this needs to be taken into consideration. An intimate relationship doesn't have to be just penetrative sex, there are other things you can do including mutual masturbation and oral sex. It's good to know what is pleasurable to yourself too, so you can tell your partner. Check out this website for further ideas to add some spice to your love life including the best vibrators and male masturbators. You can also be intimate without having sex too by cuddling and kissing, massaging each other and talking about sexual fantasies.  

Know where you stand on the big issues

couple having dinner

It's important in a relationship to know where you stand on the big issues such as if you want children or not, who pays for what and how money is divided. It can be easier and more straightforward to have separate bank accounts and I always feel people should have a bank account that isn't in joint names so it's money that they can do with what they please. If the relationship broke down for any reason then they would have their own finances. 

Don't sweat the small stuff

Sometimes in a relationship, and especially the longer you have been together you realise not to sweat the small stuff. This means you need to know when to complain and stand your ground and when to let things go over your head without resentment. Sometimes it's not worth worrying about the small things, think - would this issue still matter a year from now.

It's the little things that matter 

Making a cup of tea for the other person without being asked, buying them a little present now and again, walking the dog when it's not your turn or making them breakfast in bed, these are the things that matter as they show that you are thinking of them and that you care. They help the day to day drudgery of life be that more bearable. 

Don't forget to apologise 

We don't always see eye to eye with our partners and may disagree and this could lead to an argument. If you do have a full-blown argument, get it off your chest so to speak and then when you've both calmed down apologise if any hurt was caused. It's never worth holding a grudge. Apologise or accept an apology if it's meant well and move on. 

So these are my top tips for a happy relationship. Do you have any tips for my readers?

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Win A Lindt Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar and Box Ends - 07/11

As we are now truly into autumn and before just over two months to Christmas I have a little treat for my readers today. Today on the blog I am giving you a chance to win two delicious milk chocolate prizes from Lindt. A Lindt Milk Chocolate advent calendar and a box of Lindt milk chocolate truffles. 

I love a good advent calendar, it always feels like a treat opening the one in December and this Lindt one is of great quality and has lots of delicious chocolates.




In my experience, both kids and grown-ups love this advent calendar. The little bunnies are so sweet and the artwork gets you in the Christmas spirit. 


You will also win a Lindt milk chocolate truffle box. These chocolates are truly delicious with a smooth rich truffle centre. 

Entry is via the Gleam app,  just let me know what your favourite chocolate is and entry is easy with a click of a button.  If for some reason the chocolate is unavailable I will send you good quality chocolate to a similar value e.g. Other Lindt chocolate or a Hotel Chocolat box. Good luck!


Win Lindt Chocolate
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