Shirk

Theres nothing like lying on a sun-drenched beach, lying down under the shade of a palm tree with a warm sweet breeze soothing you and a nearby waiter bringing you pina colada cocktails and fresh seafood. Its a slice of heaven on earth. It doesnt matter where the beach is Hawaii, Florida, France, the Bahamas, Greece, Spain or anywhere in the Pacific. as long as you can see the relaxing waves on the ocean and soak up the sun. Its an image worthy of a dream vacation.

So whats keeping you? For lots of people, its the prohibitive cost of staying at a beachfront hotel. The expensive costs of these places is enough to prevent many from pursuing their dream beach vacation. But there are other ways, too. One of the alternatives that will help you save yet still retain that beach front location is through beach vacation rentals.

They are clean, well-furnished and comfortable, and theres nothing that beats their proximity to the beach. Besides, living in someones home does have its advantages over renting an expensive single room at a hotel. For one thing, you have more bedrooms to occupy, lots more room for entertaining and what-not, as well as kitchen facilities. For an entire family, beach vacation rentals can mean substantial savings.

If you think looking for a viable beach vacation venue to rent is a difficult task then it is my pleasure to correct you. Perhaps the easiest way it to get in touch with a real estate agency in the city you are eyeing for your vacation. These agencies often have a listing of available beach vacation rentals, complete with photographs, rental rates and other pertinent information. You may even try to find and communicate with these real estate agencies online.

Another way is to surf the city websites of the place that you plan to visit since these usually have business directories that list everything from your neighbourhood barber to the fanciest restaurants in town. Of course, the real estate agents and agencies will be listed there as well and, if youre lucky, so too will a roster of available beach rentals. Hey, if you can avoid using a real estate agent, then thats extra savings to spend on the beach, right?

Most beach rentals are for a week or less and, if you are planning to stay longer, you can probably get a discount on your rental rate. Some of these rentals even offer a staff that will cater to your every need.

http://www.myrecreationweb.com is a recreation portal providing recreation related articles and information.

Youve seen them on the lapels of celebrities at awards shows. Youve seen them as jewelry, as magnets, as pictures on grocery items. Theyre those little ribbons that show the wearer is a supporter of the cause the ribbon represents.

It all started with the red ribbons in support of the fight against aids. Now weve got yellow ribbons and blue ribbons and purple ribbons. Today, we will talk about pink ribbons those that show your support in the effort to find a cure for breast cancer.

The breast cancer ribbon is a favorite among women. This is because this disease has hit home to almost everyone. If you dont have a family member affected by breast cancer, you have a friend or co-worker who has. Youd be hard pressed to find anyone in America who doesnt know someone who has had breast cancer. Unfortunately, its almost as hard to find someone in America who hasnt known someone who DIED from breast cancer. Breast cancer occurs in more people than any other cancer except skin.

This is especially difficult, because we know that early detection might very well have saved our loved ones. This is what the pink ribbon is really all about. Yes, maybe weve lost someone. Maybe we just had a close call. Maybe were concerned for someone or ourselves right now. But the point is, wearing the ribbon might just remind another woman to get that mammogram shes been putting off. If just one woman did a self examination because she saw a pink ribbon pin on a co-worker that day, it was the most successful clothing choice ever made!

Wearing a pink ribbon might just save a life.

The pink ribbon is an international symbol for breast cancer awareness. You can wear your pink ribbon in any country; it has universal meaning. No one or no company owns the rights to the pink ribbon. In fact, companies who use this symbol each add their own flair. Avons pink ribbon doesnt look exactly like Estee Lauders. But theyre both recognizable as symbols of support for breast cancer issues, treatment and especially for finding a cure. And portions of the sale of each go to breast cancer research.

National breast cancer awareness month is October. Pink Ribbon Day is always on the fourth Monday. This is the culmination of the month and is the biggest day of activities, education and fundraising, all in support of breast cancer research. You can help by wearing your own pink ribbon. Let your community know you care. When people ask, tell them all about the great work that is being done to cure breast cancer, the second biggest killer of women. Make sure they know that they can do their part in this great cause just by buying a pink ribbon of their own.

So this October, buy a pink ribbon or make a pink ribbon. Wear it proudly as you contribute to this very worthy cause. Stamp out breast cancer in our lifetime and do it with a pretty pink ribbon!

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

One of the greatest challenges in direct email marketing is building your list. Your most valuable asset is a list of people who have given you their permission to email them periodically. The larger that list is, the better. Here are some proven ways to add opt-in subscribers to your email lists each day.

1. Offer two incentives.
You need to give your prospects and clients two incentives for subscribing to your email list. The first incentive is the one you offer in exchange for their email address. Offer a discount, white paper, special report, coupon or other attractive premium and youll see your sign-up rates climb.

The second incentive is your content. Describe the value that each email message delivers. If you publish an email newsletter, for example, describe the articles, feature stories, editorials, case studies and other valuable content that will motivate people to subscribe.

2. Make every email an invitation.
Every time you correspond with your clients, prospects, vendors and other key audiences by email, include a convenient way for them to opt-in to your list, giving you their permission to market to them more regularly.

3. Put a sign-up box on every webpage.
If you check your weblogs youll discover that many of your unique website visitors arrive at your site on a page other than your homepage. You need to capture these people regardless of the page they arrive on. So include an email opt-in box on every page, in a prominent place. Pay special attention to your product pages, and pages that visitors land on after clicking a link in a list of search engine results.

4. Embed opt-in links in body copy.
Figure out the webpages your visitors are most interested in, then find a way to embed a link to your email newsletter in the body copy on the page. A good example is this article youre reading, where at least one mention of our email newsletter could be a link to your newsletter sign-up page. Youll find mine at www.sharpecopy.com.

5. Test your opt-in offers.
I met a man at my sons soccer practice who said the three most popular sellers on the Internet are porn~, poker* and pills_. You need to discover whats popular with your potential subscribers, what will motivate them to sign up for your email newsletters. The best way to do that is to rotate your opt-in incentives and the language you use to describe them, testing each one to see which incentives pull the highest number of opt-ins (and the lowest number of subsequent unsubscribes, since some incentives, if too attractive, attract too many incentive-collectors).

About the author
Alan Sharpe is a direct mail copywriter who helps business owners and marketing managers generate leads, close sales and retain customers using direct mail marketing. Learn more about his creative direct mail writing services and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.sharpecopy.com.

2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).