As you can see by some of my most recent posts, I’ve taken a bit of a departure from “internet marketing” and ventured into the world of life in general (and sometimes specific). The reason? Sometimes you just need a break, need to shake things up a bit… expand your horizons.

Now I do have something most amazing to tell you, on a personal level, that might help you, too (!), but first let me remind you to (more…)

Holiday weekends, regular weekends, and just regular ‘ol days getting up, getting dressed, and presenting yourself in your best light is always critical, right?

So why exclude your dog?

Let’s face it, dogs can get rather stinky and their itching and scratching most likely is a good indicator that it’s “bath time!” (Not to mention that being around your dog just might be affecting your own personal ode cologne, yikes!)

Granted, some dogs just hate baths, but now there’s a way to change all that (maybe they hate baths because you’ve got to give them so often, or the soap never rinses out and they stand there forever, or you haven’t taken the time to train them to love bath time, or…?).

Well starting today, all the dog washing hassle is flying out the door (and he or she will look so much more presentable at that picnic or family gathering, right?).

Dinovite has your answer! An all natural dog shampoo called Dogosuds® that rinses out so easily, doesn’t cause that dry, itchy skin other dog shampoos produce, and leaves you with a clean, shiny, fresh smelling pooch to present to your guests.

Plus long after the guests leave, you reap the benefits, too – your dog will continue to smell fresh and clean – which means so does the overall smell of your house, apartment, condo, RV, and you and your kids.

People love new car smells, now you can have that “new dog smell” as well

Here are just a few of the benefits to switching your new dog shampoo to Dogosuds®:

• Its long lasting, fresh and clean (wonderful!) smell
• It lathers and rinses out easily
• Its 100% pure essential oils heal and soothe
• Its a NATURAL FLEA DETERRENT (you gotta love that!)
• And… it even removes SKUNK odor!

There’s still time for this upcoming 4th of July holiday (and plenty of time, the rest of your dog’s natural life) to make Fido or Fifi happy, and your guests and your family, too

It’s bath time!

With our son just graduating high school, and many hundreds of thousands of kids across the country doing the same, I’m sure that money is on the minds of many and the question, “How are we going to pay for further education?”

Of course you want to do right by your child, which actually (hopefully) starts from the moment he or she was even conceived. While many of us have children too old to qualify, right now there is a huge event going on to help you plan for your little tike’s future.

Conforts for Baby (Comforts, not my misspelling) is holding a contest so you can put $10,000 in the bank for your child’s future!

Nutrition makes a huge difference, and while that may be a common sense thing to say, it is amazing to me that so few people, parents in particular, have a complete understanding of what (and how much) nutritional supplements are vital to your child’s growth. I know this because many moon’s ago, the prenatal vitamins recommended to me during development did not have nearly enough – just as an example – folic acid (vital for brain development). I took it upon myself to ensure the proper balance of vitamins and minerals my child would need to “come out” whole and healthy. And, he really is brilliant (fact not just parental pride) and a nice “kid” (adult yikes now) to boot.

Luckily, nowadays, I believe the manufacturers of baby formula are much more in tune and in touch with the nutritional requirements babies need. For instance, the Comforts brand baby formula ensures your newborn receives all the vitamins, nutrients, and minerals (including just the right touch of iron), for a healthy start to his or her first year on the planet.

They’ve taken into consideration the need for lipids DHA and ARA for visual and mental development. Comforts for Baby actually has gone so far as to ensure that choline, lactose, and other naturally occurring nutrients are part of their nutritious formula – all based on research around mother’s milk btw.

One scare you will not have to worry about is, “Is it safe?” Their formula manufacturing facility is located in the United States (no worries about imports from, say, China, thank goodness!). In fact they follow the FDA ISO 9001:2000-certified standards (how’s that for facts).

So getting back to the money part – the scholarship contest is available to new parents right now, for your child’s future when he or she graduates. Just think, with caution and prudence, how much that $10,000 will mean when your child steps up and is handed that high school diploma! I know the money would mean the world to us right now!

Kroger-owned grocery stores are sponsoring this scholarship contest to help fund your child’s upcoming college education. All you need to do is enter to win, and help them name their Firefly mascot – how easy is that?

Just be sure to visit the link above, fill out all the information required on the entry form, and (be creative!), include a name for their mascot (25 characters or less please).

You’ve got time to enter, but I’d encourage you to do it now – the contest closes July 31, 2009. The winner will be announced online after September 21, 2009.

For a complete set of eligibility rules, just click here. (For instance, your child must be under the age of 2, etc.)

Trust me, you want to go for these opportunities! We’ve waited way too long and we will be scrambling come Autumn to get our son into just a community college.

Don’t be stupid (like we were). Start by entering to win this $10,000 Scholarship today!

I’ve known Melanie Milletics for a while now (list building secrets), and I’ve been hanging onto a notice of hers called, “What is a Magic Blog Post?” for a few days.

Today is the day I made the time to go read (and you should, too).

There are certain vital points she makes that really impact your posts (or your website for that matter) that I won’t rehash, she’s stated them quite nicely. However, I did notice a glaring what I’ll call “mistake” within her post. A mistake I see way too many web site and blog owners make – not coding their click-able links to open in new windows!

Such a small thing, with such huge implications!

When you are reading, and someone mentions a resource or reference to even more information (and assuming you are really interested), ten to one you’re going to click that link (like above) – which is also what I (and anyone else with common sense) is praying that you will do – it’s there to be clicked for a reason.

Yet after you click on it, do you think I want you to disappear for good? Of course not! I want you back to either finish up reading and/or to take the time to look around (use the search bar on this blog), watch the videos (there are even more “how to’s” in the right hand sidebar on a wide range of topics, that’s just one example), and (of course) COMMENT about what you’re reading.

So that simple bit of code – your “target” to open in a new window or blank window is critical.

You work hard to get your visitor, don’t let them just slip through your fingers. The coding is:

target=”_blank”

To see it in action, just right click anywhere on this page outside the framework of the blog itself (in other words pick a “white area” even if it’s colored, but doesn’t have words) and View Source (in IE) or View Page Source (in Firefox).

o  Go up under EDIT on your browser (very top)

o  Choose FIND and type in Milletics (it’s unique and only mentioned once on this page – okay twice but this one doesn’t count there’s no link involved)

o  Now look closely at the coding just prior to her name.

See how the code is put together? See the “target” part?

You can hand code this yourself in HTML or if you are a WordPress blog user, from the what-you-see-is-what-you-get view, just highlight the words, click on the little chain to make the link, and then select TARGET (new window).

Website owners you really need to do this, too.

It’s actually very sad to me when I see someone just willingly giving up their visitor. Don’t make me hunt to get back to you!

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