Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Making the Most of Indoor Exercise

!±8± Making the Most of Indoor Exercise

The type of exercise that a person does every day largely depends on their ultimate goals. Some people are interested in building muscles and growing in size while others are interested in losing weight. There are some exercises that work well for both of these goals.

One of the best indoor exercises is an indoor rower that gives exercisers a muscle building workout while burning the fat and calories needed to lose weight. The rowing machine provides an all over body workout that is similar to swimming in its ability to work all the muscles of the body. By no means is a rower machine workout easy. Some people who are in good physical condition may find it difficult to last for longer than ten minutes on a rowing machine. Those who run or exercise with only one part of the body may find a rowing machine that uses all the muscle groups an extremely challenging workout.

A workout on one of these machine is an excellent cardiovascular exercise. The cardio benefits include a workout for the heart, lungs and all the major muscles in your body. It is important that you use a good breathing technique during a rowing machine workout to gain all the benefits of this type of exercise.

A rower is also a low impact workout that will not harm the joints in the way that other cardiovascular exercises such as running can. When working out with a treadmill or even running outside, the right footwear is essential. On a rowing machine, the footwear that you use does not matter for a lower impact on your knees and ankles. A rowing machine uses a flowing motion that does not jar the joints during the workout. Of course, you should make sure that you are using the machine correctly to avoid injury from improper use of the machine.

These machines can be a good alternative for those with limited space in their home. The machine can typically be folded and stored away when it is not in use. The more expensive the rowing machine, the more convenient and easily stored it will be. For many people, however, the machine must be left out to avoid forgetting about the days workout.

There is great variety in the price and quality of machines. Some machines can cost under a hundred dollars while others can cost thousands of dollars. The type that you choose depends on your workout goals, financial resources and your experience with a rower machine. For those who are just starting out, a lower priced machine will give you a good workout and the opportunity to try the machine without investing a lot of money. Care and maintenance of your rowing machine will keep it functioning properly for many years.


Making the Most of Indoor Exercise

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Saturday, November 26, 2011

14 Keys to Improving Your Small Business Marketing

!±8± 14 Keys to Improving Your Small Business Marketing

No matter what industry a business is in, no matter what product or service a business sells, no matter what size a business is, These 14 keys are a main contributor to the continual growth and success of a business. Actually this is the reason why I call them 'The 14 keys of effective marketing' because they open up your business to that all important pathway to constant success.

1ST KEY is COMMITMENT: if you or I were to go down to the gym to either look at loosing a few pounds, or to build muscle mass to tone ourselves up, I doubt that we would get on the tread mill or the rowing machine just once and then say 'that's enough no need to do anymore of that' nor would we lift up a dumbbell and do one bicep curl, never to repeat it. we understand that doing the exercise only once is not going to have any effect or change to our health and fitness at all.

However despite this obvious realisation there have been numerous occasions when business owners have commented to me that the last marketing campaign they ran, didn't work. I can guarantee that when I am told that, the answer to my follow up question, "how many times did you do the campaign?" is inevitable, once!

Even if your campaign is not brilliant, you will get a far greater response, along with a more profitable outcome if you commit to it than if you had a brilliant campaign and did it just once.

2ND KEY is INVESTMENT: I am not just talking about money here. To have an effective marketing strategy you need to ensure you also invest the time and energy it rightly deserves to ensure you achieve the levels of success you want. This links into key number one. If you are committed to running a campaign, you will have to be prepared to ensure you invest the time to do it. The campaign will not be effective, the keys will not open you up to the pathway of business growth if you only do your marketing now and again or when you can fit it in. which brings us nicely on to the third key.

3RD KEY is CONSISTENCY: It has been said that it takes between seven and nine times for a marketing message to be seen before a person reacts to it. In fact trust is a major reason why people decide to part with their money and buy a product or service. People are not going to believe in you as a manufacturer of a product or provider of a service, or even trust that you can deliver quality or even still be around 6 years or even 6 months from now if your message is only around once or twice. The more your message is seen or heard the more you will build trust and faith in your ability to be a quality company to do business with.

Also a mistake that is commonly made by companies is to change the message. If you live in the UK, do you believe Fairy washing up liquid effectively cleans your dishes? I am sure you do. Did you know that this message had not been changed for over 50 years? The message had stayed the same, with the child waiting for the container to be empty so they can use it for some game or toy they are making. 'hands that do dishes...' It is only till recently that Proctor & Gamble the makers of Fairy liquid changed it by bringing in Ainsley Harriot. And that is mainly due to the fact that we have changed the way we predominantly wash up, no longer standing at the sink but rather choosing to load our dishwashers.

Nescafe Gold Blend got the nation hooked with its consistent advertising campaign in the 1980's with the attractive couple who lived next door to each other borrowing coffee and sharing a cup or two around awkward, funny and romantic situations.

Be consistent. Once you know what works, leave it alone.

4TH KEY is CONFIDENCE: In a survey done in the USA to determine why people buy, one reason was because they felt confident in the business they were buying from. I touched on this point in the 2nd key.

It doesn't matter where you live, the US, the UK, Europe, Australia, the result will be the same. In fact when I am asked to critique a business, be it their marketing, sales skills, presentations or customer service, the first thing I look at is are they promoting confidence to their customers? If a potential customer is not confident in you as a provider, in your product or service, then no matter how much money you send on your marketing, how slick your sales team are, what state of the art equipment you use to present your business to the world, you will find that without confidence in you, customers are not going to buy.

5TH KEY is PATIENCE: Too often I see businesses quit and give up marketing campaigns because they are not seeing the results they want, immediately. You have to ensure that you have patience when it comes to marketing otherwise it will be extremely difficult to carry out the first four keys to effective marketing.

6TH KEY is VARIETY: Marketing is not just advertising in a newspaper or on the TV. It is not just direct mailing or posters in the local high street. Marketing is everything we do and it is important to also understand and accept the fact that individual marketing tools rarely work on their own. However, you will soon discover that combining different marketing tools does work, very effectively. The wider your assortment the greater your success.

7TH KEY is CONVENIENCE: How easy is it to do business with you? The reason I ask this is because in today's society time is precious and people are now reluctant to waste it. So you need to ensure that you are running your business for your customers' convenience rather than yours. I regularly see frustrated people coming out of banks between 12 and 2pm each week day. The reason why they are frustrated is because they want to get their banking done during the only spare time they have during a busy day - lunch time. The problem is this is the optimum time for everyone else, but what makes this experience frustrating is that most banks also allow their cashiers to go to lunch during this time too, so the number of desks open is actually reduced thereby increasing the waiting time to be served. Not very convenient is it - maybe this is one of the reason why banks are so disliked?

8TH KEY is ENSUING: When are real profits made? Is it When a sale is made? If you think that the answer is yes, then please don't. One sale will only produce a small profit, maybe only actually covering costs especially if you are working to a tight margin. The actual time you make real, productive and rewarding profits is when you have ensuing activity and you get your customer to buy again, or provide you with referral business. It is actually after the point of the first sale that the real marketing begins. Subsequent sales and business from customers produces the real bench mark for business growth and success, that of real profit.

9th KEY is SURPRISE: There will be times in your business when you take it and what it offers, for granted. It's natural to do so because you are working in it everyday, around the same products or services. However customers are not as absorbed in your business as you are and we all know people like surprises. Make sure your marketing keeps your customers surprised and as a result, excited.

10TH KEY is MEASUREMENT: If I asked you to tell me how successful your last marketing campaign was would you be able to tell me? If you measure the results you get from your marketing you can effectively double your profits. You do this through making the necessary adjustments needed to your copy or stopping a campaign that is not working. Some of the different ways to market your business that you will learn in another podcast will get you these results. Dependent on your product or service, they may actually fail. You are not going to know which one is working and where if you are not measuring them.

I had a client who for 3 consecutive years ran the same 600 pound a year advertising campaign in a business directory and never received any enquiries. If he had measured the result after just the first year he could have saved himself an extra 1200 pounds

11TH KEY is INVOLVEMENT: This actually works two ways because involvement refers to your relationship between you and your customers. The first way is the relationship you have with your customers; do you follow up on leads? Do you speak to them in the correct manner? Do you provide quality service? And as a result the second part comes into effect, your customers' relationship with you. Do they continue to do business with you? Do they refer others to your business?

Business is all about having a relationship with your customers. The better the relationship you have with them the higher the chance that they will stay loyal to you and continue to frequent your business. So Get involved.

12TH KEY is CO-OPERATION: Most business owners are used to competing with companies who provide similar services or products to them. This is an antiquated view as co-operating with businesses that offer similar commodities to you will increase your presence in the market place, along with your profits, when done right at a reduced outlay both in time and money. Additionally there will be businesses local to you that provide products or services that compliment yours. Co-operating with these businesses in your marketing opens doors to a new customer base you never taped into before and thereby enabling you to increase your profits. We will look at this concept in more detail in the podcast on fusion marketing.

13TH KEY is EQUIPMENT: In today's society it is no good being reluctant to use the many assortments and styles of equipment available to market and promote your business, such as computers, emails, specific software packages, the internet, mobile phones, fax machines, palm top pc's and the like. All these and more will help you keep promoting your business and striving forward to increase your profits.

14TH and final KEY is CONSENT: You could waste your time and money sending out marketing materials to everyone and anyone; putting it simply, people who don't really want it. Or the most effective way as the marketing guru Seth Godin describes it is through permission marketing. Get the permission of your potential clients to send marketing materials out to them. Get them to opt in to receiving material from you, rather than opt out or throw it away. By doing so you are really targeting your efforts on those who want to hear from you, and more importantly more likely to buy from you.

So we have covered from Guerrilla Marketing the 14 keys to highly effective marketing. I urge you to critique the marketing campaigns run by your business. Look and see how many of these 14 keys you are not doing then begin to add them in to the way you run your marketing and it doesn't matter if you are doing general offline marketing for local internet marketing. You will be glad you did.


14 Keys to Improving Your Small Business Marketing

Cheep Olympic Trampolines

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Home Fitness Exercises - The Ultimate Home Fitness Gym Exercises

!±8± Home Fitness Exercises - The Ultimate Home Fitness Gym Exercises

OK, so you are ready to get started with your home fitness gym but don't know any exercises to do. This is a common roadblock but one we will overcome right now!

Now even if you don't have a designated area for a home gym, your kitchen can double as one. You may think I'm crazy here but stay with me. Here are a handful of killer, kitchen exercises.

· You can do tricep dips on your countertop. Depending on your height you may need to bring your legs up some but this is a great tricep workout and if you lean over the countertop you can work your chest.

· Use a kitchen towel on the floor with your hands in front of your head on the kitchen towel and pull back on the way back up which is like a straight arm pushdown.

· Lay on your back on the hardwood floor, put your butt off the ground, and bring your feet back and forth towards your torso then back out.

· Do a lunge with your foot on the floor sliding back on a kitchen towel.

· You can do mini bicep curls hanging under a kitchen counter overhang.

· You can also do knee tucks on the floor with a kitchen towel. Just get in the plank position with your feet on the towel and bring your knees up towards your torso.

Now that's a lot to soak in but a great workout just stay away from the pantry.

Outside the kitchen I have many more exercises for you. Let's break these down as well.

· Exercise Ball Push-Ups-if these are too hard reverse the position by putting your hands on the floor and your feet on the ball.

· Lunges For Your Legs-You can add barbells if you want but go across the room and back for one set.

· Bodyweight Squats-Go as low as you can for a great lower body workout.

· Tricep Dips-similar to the kitchen exercise but use a workout bench behind you to do the dip.

· V-Sit-Ups- Lay flat on the ground and hands above the head. Bring legs into the air and hands to meet the feet.

Well I think you are armed with a dozen or more exercises to get you started. So what are you waiting for? Go give them a shot!


Home Fitness Exercises - The Ultimate Home Fitness Gym Exercises

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

History of the Concept 2 Rowing Machines

!±8± History of the Concept 2 Rowing Machines

When most people evaluate their overall fitness level, there are very few that do not have goals they would like to meet to improve their performance. There are three major areas or concerns that most people indicate impact on their ability to increase their fitness level:


oThe time factor. Many people are so busy they simply don't have additional time in the day for longer or more frequent workouts.

oThe cost factor. Going to the gym or working out at home can be costly both in gym memberships and home fitness equipment prices.

oThe boredom factor. Whether at home or in the gym the workouts become old quickly and it is hard to get enthusiastic about returning.

These factors are even more pronounced if you are working out at home. Due to space and cost restrictions there are limits on the equipment that most of us can purchase to set up in a home gym. Luckily there are some impressive total body workout home fitness equipment products on the market. One such piece of equipment is the Concept 2 rowing machine.

Unique in its design and geared to provide an intense cardiovascular program as well as working all the major muscle groups this machine is everything the home or club fitness enthusiast could ask for. The design of the equipment and the natural movement of the muscle groups when exercising also provides opportunities for using the Concept 2 rowing machines in sports rehabilitation training.

Concept 2 rowing machines are also known ergs. This is a shortened version of the full name, ergometer, which comes from Greek and literally means a "work meter". Ergs have changed and developed over time to the effective exercise and training equipment that they now are.

Evolution of the Concept 2 rowing machine

There are currently four models of the Concept 2 rowing machine and each one has improved on the last. The idea for the indoor rower was developed by two brothers, Peter and Dick Dreissigacker, both who are avid rowers and in 1976 were in training for the Olympic trials in pairs rowing. They were designing their own oars in the back of a bread truck that doubled as their home. While the trials for the Olympics did not go as planned, the carbon fiber oars that they developed did. The Dreissigackers moved in their combination home and office truck from California to Vermont to set up a shop to make carbon fiber oars. They bought an old dairy barn and began the process of converting it into a shop and producing rowing equipment, starting with oars. Since that time the company has grown and expanded to include many different types of products for both land and water rowing.

o1977 the first set of carbon fiber oars were used in the World's Championship.

o1978 colleges and universities began using the Dreissigacker oars for competitions with outstanding results.

o1980 the brothers look for ways to keep rowing over the long Vermont winters and experiment with a bicycle nailed to the floor and a pull chain. The concept of the rower is developed and improved.

o1981 the Model A, known then as the Rowing Ergometer was produced. It was made largely from bicycle parts.

o1982 the C.R.A.S.H-B rowing club in Boston called to discuss setting up an indoor rowing race.

o1984 the Dreissigacker brothers moved out of the barn and into a commercial facility due to the overwhelming response and demand for the Model A.

o1986 the Model B rower was developed that added a better, safer design including a flywheel cover, more natural rowing movement, and a performance monitor.

o1991 saw the introduction of the Model C rower. More streamlined and ergonomically designed the Model C rower became very popular for both club and home fitness use.

o2003 was the year the final version of the Concept 2 rower was introduced. The Model D rower is the most advanced of all the rowers that Concept 2 offers with a powerful performance monitor, heavy duty construction, ergonomically re-designed handle, quiet performance and impact-resistant flywheel cover. There are significantly more damper settings available on the Model D rower than on any other rower model. The chain can be easily removed for cleaning and the outlet strip is made of stainless steel to prevent any rusting.

The Model D PM3

One of the most unique features of the Model D Concept 2 rowing machine is the powerful PM3 that is included as a standard feature on the model. This advanced performance monitor is a menu-driven onboard computer that takes all the tedious paperwork and logging out of the rowing exercise. The PM3 uses a C2 logcard that allows you to set up your own personal training workout and use a simple push of a button to start it up rather than having to reprogram every use. In addition the C2 logcard can be removed and the program downloaded to your personal computer for additional data monitoring.

Indoor rowing competitions

One of the big problems with working out at home is the isolation and lack of competition and support. The indoor rowing enthusiasts have addressed this concern by setting up indoor rowing competitions. The Amateur Rowing Association and other rowing groups such as the C.R.A.S.H-B rowing club have been strong supports of these events.

Indoor rowing competitions have become very popular in a wide variety of settings. Schools across the UK and other countries hold indoor rowing competitions as part of their year long rowing training and conditioning exercises. 2005 will mark the beginning of the Concept 2 indoor rowing competitions for schools. It is free for schools to join the Concept 2 indoor rowing program. In Korea an indoor rowing competition is held yearly for blind individuals with a volunteer calling out information to the rowers that are competing.

The inclusive nature of indoor rowing makes the sport appealing to people of all ages and levels of experience. The categories in a competition depend on both age and weight and are calibrated on a Concept 2 rower to provide a standard for measurement. The indoor rowing competitions are usually 2,000 meters.

C.R.A.S.H-B Sprints

These annual indoor rowing competitions are held in Boston Maschettutes and started in 1980 by a group of Olympic rowers in the area. The original name of the organization was the Charles River Association of Sculling Has-Beens hence the C.R.A.S.H-B name. It was later changed to Charles River All-Star Has Beens, but the tradition continues. They originally raced five miles, but the competition has now been shorten to the 2, 000 meter sprints. All rowing equipment used is the Concept 2 Model D rower.

Anyone is able to enter the event and all that you need to supply is your correct name and your last 2000 meter ergonomic score. This allows the organizers to place you in the correct level for competition. The competition attracts people from all over the world, with hundreds competing in each category.

British Indoor Rowing Championship

This competition was first held in 1991 and attracted 200 competitors. Now held in Birmingham, England the competition attracted over 3000 participants and is the world's largest indoor rowing competition. Like the C.R.A.S.H-B competition is features Concept 2 rowing machines on a 2,000 meter sprint.

In addition to the sprint competition the BIRC includes a 4000 meter four person team relay competition.

The Future of the Concept 2

The popularity of the sport continues to increase and expand. With advances in the science of fitness and health the benefits of a Concept 2 rowing machine become more evident. The Dreissigackers continue to stay on the cutting edge of rowing equipment production and are always looking for ways to improve the product and to promote the sport. With advances in technology and design there just may be a Model E Concept 2 rowing machine in the future.


History of the Concept 2 Rowing Machines

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