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The burden of smoking is borne most by those who are socially disadvantaged and the social gradient in smoking contributes substantially to the health gap between the rich and poor. A number of factors contribute to higher tobacco use among socially disadvantaged populations including social (e.g., low social support for quitting), psychological (e.g., low self-efficacy) and physical factors (e.g., greater nicotine dependence). Current evidence for the effectiveness of peer or partner support interventions in enhancing the success of quit attempts in the general population is equivocal, largely due to study design and lack of a theoretical framework in this research. We conducted a systematic review of peer support interventions for smoking cessation in disadvantaged groups. The eight studies which met the inclusion criteria showed that interventions that improve social support for smoking cessation may be of greater importance to disadvantaged groups who experience fewer opportunities to access such support informally. Peer-support programs are emerging as highly effective and empowering ways for people to manage health issues in a socially supportive context. We discuss the potential for peer-support programs to address the high prevalence of smoking in vulnerable populations and also to build capacity in their communities.
While smoking prevalence in high income countries has fallen substantially in the general population over the past 50 years, the prevalence among disadvantaged sub-populations, such as indigenous peoples, people with severe mental illness and homeless people, within these countries has remained persistently high [
Research shows that unhealthy [
Peer-support programs may be a useful strategy to increase social support for smoking cessation in populations with high smoking prevalence. The generic peer-support model has its roots in the self-help, social justice, human rights and recovery movements [
Four previous reviews of social support and buddy systems in smoking cessation interventions have concluded that there is little rigorous evidence available to support the use of this method [
"Disadvantaged groups" are poorly defined in the literature, although Flaskerud [
Our aims were to firstly, systematically identify published evaluations of smoking cessation interventions utilizing peer or partner support for disadvantaged groups; secondly, review the key characteristics and outcomes of these programs to determine the extent to which they enhanced the success of quit attempts in these populations; and thirdly, assess their methodological quality.
Electronic databases Embase, Pubmed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO were searched. The search strategy used was (smoking OR tobacco) AND cessation AND (peer* OR social support* OR social network*). The search was limited to publications in English, studies of humans, publications since 1980 and search terms were required to be in the title/abstract or topic (Web of Science). Search results were further refined using index terms and limits including "tobacco dependence", "smoking cessation" and "social support". The search strategy used in PubMed is described in
Disadvantaged groups were defined as described above. Peer-support interventions were defined as smoking cessation support delivered by a lay person (
Flow diagram of selection of studies for the systematic review (adapted from [
The abstracts of the 1,037 studies were manually examined by the first author. This initial screening was repeated by two other authors (AC and KG) and any disagreements resolved by discussion by all authors (PF, AC, KG and CG) until consensus was reached. Studies were excluded if they were not original reports of interventions designed to support smoking cessation, did not include a peer support component in the intervention, or did not evaluate the peer support component of the intervention. A total of 994 studies were excluded, leaving 43 studies relevant to this review. The full-text articles of the 43 relevant studies were independently examined by two of the authors (PF and AC) and only those primarily targeting/recruiting disadvantaged populations were included. Interventions targeting the general population or a specific population not defined as disadvantaged were excluded. Where there was disagreement (
Criteria for data extraction from studies were adapted from the Cochrane Collaboration's Handbook: Systematic Reviews of Health Promotion and Public Health Interventions [
The methodological quality of studies was assessed using the Dictionary for the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies [
Characteristics of the included evaluations of peer support smoking interventions.
|Author, Year, Country
|Study Population
|Description of smokers
|Mean or Median Age (year)
|Baseline smoking
|Intervention integrity
|Length of follow up (% followed-up)
|Behaviour change
|Summary Efficacy Score
|Pregnant adolescents (14–19y) from low socio-economic areas; 53% Caucasian; 42% African American; 5% other
|UC = 6.76cpd TFS = 7.04cpd
|8 weeks
|Usual Care (UC) = 45–60 min individual education session and written materials
|Peer supporters were non-smoking females of similar age identified by the participants.
|Nurses certified in intervention delivery
|1year (53%)
|Abstinence at 8wks: TFSB
|Low income pregnant women who smoked aged 18+; 67% racial minority/Hispanic; 65% had a high school education or less 48% married/de facto
|Median = 5cpd; 52% smoked first cigarette within 30 min of waking
|Variable depending on due date (approx. 6 months)
|Participants identified a woman in their social network to help them quit. Dyads were then randomized to intervention or control groups. Intervention: supporters received monthly contacts from counselor Control: supporters not contacted
|Supporter session discussed activities to support participant's quit efforts; monthly calls reviewed support efforts and planned for next month
|Participant attendance recorded Intervention exposure > 89%
|3 months pp (68%)
|Abstinence at birth: intervention 13.0%; control 3.6%. Abstinence at 3 months pp: intervention 9.3%; control 0%.
|Pregnant women who smoked and recent quitters at an army medical centre living with a partner; 77% Caucasian; 50% employed; 52% more than high school education
|Mean = 13cpd; 33% smoked first cigarette within 30 min of waking
|Variable depending on due date (approx. 10 months)
|Usual Care (UC): advice at prenatal visit to quit smoking + self-help guide; Woman Only (WO): UC + late pregnancy relapse prevention kit and six counseling calls completed by 4 moths postpartum; Partner Assisted (PA): WO + partner adjunct in which partner advised how to be a quit coach.
|Partner training covered helpful/unhelpful behaviours, partners also given assistance to quit if they smoked.
|Intervention exposure = Number of counselling calls reported Self-report of partner interaction by woman and support partner
|1year pp (75%)
|Abstinence at 28 weeks of pregnancy UC 60%, WO 59%, PA 61%; Abstinence at 2 months pp UC 38%, WO 37%, PA 42%; Abstinence at 6 months pp UC 33%, WO 36%, PA 37%; Abstinence at 12 months pp UC 29%, WO 32%, PA 35%; Sustained abstinence: UC 15%, WO 20%, PA 21%.
|Pregnant women, mostly Caucasian, English speaking, low income, low education
|Mean = 10.5cpd (intervention); 9.8cpd (control)
|Variable depending on due date (approx. 6 months)
|Control: brief advice at first 3 pre-natal visits + printed materials. Intervention: Control + offer of telephone peer support for women with moderate or high intentions to quit during pregnancy
|Peer supporter (woman ex-smoker) received 8h training
|Number and duration of support calls recorded Quality control checks conducted on women in intervention group Intervention exposure > 80%
|End of pregnancy (approx. 6 months) (73%)
|Abstinence at end of pregnancy: intervention 19%; control 17%. No statistically significant differences. Low power reported.
|Low income women
|Mean = 23.7cpd
|3 months
|Control: free nicotine patches Intervention: free nicotine patches + pro-active telephone peer support
|Peer supporter (woman ex-smoker) received 7 h training
|Phone support personnel trained Intervention exposure = 53%
|6 months (90%)
|Abstinence at 3 months: intervention 42%; control 28% (
|Low income women
|33.7 (intervention)
|Mean = 23.6cpd
|4 months
|Control: free nicotine patches
|Peer supporter (woman ex-smoker) received 8h training
|Number and duration of support calls recorded
|6 months (87%)
|Abstinence at 3 months: intervention 42.7%; control 26.4% (
|Economically and socially disadvantaged
|42.6 (intervention)
|FTND = 4.9 (intervention); 5.1 (control)
|5 weeks
|Control: brief intervention + NRT
|No peer training (participants were paired with each other)
|Level of buddy interaction and use of pharmacotherapy self-reported Intervention exposure = 85%
|5 weeks (nr)
|Abstinence at end of intervention: intervention 27%; control 12% (
|People with mental illness (outpatients)
|Mean = 19cpd
|One off 20 min brief intervention
|Pre post study design.
|Peer counselors are mental health consumers with a min 1year tobacco-free period who receive 30 h intensive training and a detailed training manual.
|Weekly phone and face to face supervision and feedback to peer counsellours. Monitoring of number of visits, events and smokers receiving intervention. Intervention exposure = 100%
|6 months (59%)
|Reduction in cpd at 1 month (
nr = not reported.
All but one included studies were randomized controlled trials.
The included studies reported interventions for a range of disadvantaged groups. Half (four studies) targeted pregnant women of low socioeconomic status [
Summary scores (
Most interventions consisted of a package of support measures such as NRT, information and behavioural skills training. This complexity meant that a rigorous study design, often with multiple arms, was required to enable separate evaluation of the peer-support component. Several studies were excluded from the review due to the study design limitations which did not allow the peer-support component to be evaluated. The nature of the buddy/support person relationship meant that there were usually multiple contacts/interactions throughout the intervention period compared with a lesser number of contacts for control group participants, and this is likely to have been one of the factors explaining observed efficacy. Interventions varied in duration but were generally conducted over several months.
For three of the included studies, participants were asked to identify a peer from their social network or their partner as their support person for the intervention [
As identified in a recent review [
Most studies were rated strong on methodological quality criteria related to study design, data collection and analyses, and confounders. Seven of the eight study designs employed randomisation and a control group thereby reducing the risk of allocation bias [
Ratings for methodological quality criteria related to selection bias and withdrawal and drop-outs were variable across studies. Four studies were rated moderate [
No study performed a cost analysis and none reported blinding. However, the nature of the intervention would make effective blinding difficult. Economic analysis is important for understanding resources and the potential cost-effectiveness of peer-support strategies designed to enhance smoking cessation and subsequent economic cost and social savings [
While the evidence is mixed, research in general populations suggests that peer-support smoking cessation programs can assist quitting. Two studies employing dyad peer-based interventions to promote smoking cessation reported greater quitting among those receiving peer-support than controls (ORs were 1.3 and 1.8) [
None of the studies included in this review targeted Indigenous or First Nations populations, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, New Zealand Maori, American Indian, or Alaska Native peoples. Peer-support programs may be particularly suitable for supporting behaviour change among Indigenous people as peer-support programs have a strong emphasis on social empowerment and align with cultural approaches and values such as the mentoring role of Elders [
Funnel Plot.
Odds ratios were extracted from the data reported for each study for short term follow up (no longer than 3 months), apart from two studies [
This review has demonstrated some, albeit limited evidence for the efficacy of peer-support in smoking cessation for disadvantaged groups. It has also highlighted that there are substantial gaps in this evidence base. There were only a small number of studies identified with designs that allowed separate evaluation of the peer-support component, indicating that there are challenges in implementing RCTs with adequate statistical power, and acceptable levels of attrition and loss to follow up in these population groups. Importantly, there was only one included study which targeted a highly disadvantaged group, those with mental illness. There were no included studies targeting Indigenous, migrant, refugee, incarcerated or homeless populations.
In contrast with previous reviews of this intervention type in the general smoker population, our study has suggested more promising results when peer-support is implemented as a smoking cessation method in economically and socially disadvantaged populations. While short- and mid-term improvements in abstinence appeared achievable, more work needs to be done on improving the sustainability of the peer-support beyond the formal intervention if longer-term outcomes are to be achieved. Capacity building by training peers from the smoker's own social network seems worthy of further investigation. Results for disadvantaged pregnant women who smoke were less clear, indicating that the event of birth may introduce additional complexities and challenges to quit attempts in these groups. Further research is needed to provide more rigorous evidence regarding the most cost-effective interventions for smoking cessation in disadvantaged groups.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
PubMed search strategy 1980 to February 2013 (limits: humans, English)
social support*.ti,ab.
social network*.ti,ab.
smoking cessation/
social support/


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The bees that I order look good. I am using the bees for a bee hive cake that I am giving my niece as a gag. She just gave me a gag cake of a trash can with all kinds of artificial insects and trash can contents on it. My turn for some sweat revenge ;-).
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Dear Mr. Kirchenbauer,
thank you for the gorgeous butterfly's. the pink and white garland is 100 times prettier in person. All thees decorations will be used at my daughter's wedding in Jerusalem, Israel. If you wish I would be happy to share some photos in September.
best wishes,
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I am excited to add them as a special touch to our wedding decor.
Thank you
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they are very nice, putting them in the vases of wildflowers for tables for my daughter's June wedding!
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I am very happy with my order, as the birds are adorable.
Since you are interested in what I have planned for the little birds, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to decorate my Christmas tree with a few. Instead of bows on a couple of gifts, I'm going to use some artificial greenery with a little bird perched on top of the gifts. Then, I found a cute project on-line where you take either a lantern-style bird feeder or a candlelight lantern, wrap some artificial pine garland and ribbon around it, and attach a couple of birds to it. It will look beautiful hanging outside on my front porch during the winter months. I will bring it inside however, should it rain, sleet or snow, so that the little birds won't be damaged. I'm going to make one for my friend also, as she's also a bird lover like me.
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Best regards,
Hi Jim,
Thank you for your excellent service. I bought the butterflies for some hats that I'm making. Enclosed are photos of two of my original designs.
We'll also be using the butterflies for decorating the glass display case where my daughter works sometime this summer.
Dear Jim,
Your email indicated that you like to know how your product is used. I have a baby boutique with manufactured and homemade items. I was walking through the craft store looking for things to make baby headbands out of and came across the feather butterflies, but they only had two kinds I liked. So, I looked for some on ebay and came a cross your store, which is also better priced. The first time I had the headbands in a trade show they sold amazingly. They were unique, cute and I can sell them at a reasonable price.
I don't have a picture at this time but if you were interested I can get one for you.
Best Regards
Crystal Nordstrom
you are too nice. I'm hosting a shower and the grooms name is Bluejay. that is his given name. am using those in decoration some how.
i'll give you all 5 stars on the feedback when i have time thanks
...they are great!
The birds and little nests arrived to me in Australia safe and sound on Friday. Thanks for packaging them so beautifully - they arrived in excellent condition and are lovely.
Kind regards,
I like the butterflies. I'm a painter, mixed media too, so I glue them on.I'm sure I'll be ordering some more of different kinds in the near future. I appreciated the free shipping. Cassie
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I received the branches w/nests today. I have a shop, I will be using these in florals that I make. I like them a lot, Connie
Jim I loved the birds will be ordering more. Thanks Mark C. McCullough, Open Hands Seed Project
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Happy new year and be well always...
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Thank you for your follow-up. I do like the birds. My plan is to make Christmas decorations with them.
Best regards,
I'm glad you had them in stock, I saw them earlier at a Floral wholesale place in my town, but unfortunately when I went to purchase them they were gone. The Cardinals were used to make Centerpieces for a birthday celebration for my husband's aunt who turned 75 and loves cardinals. They were simple lighted winter branches with 2 cardinals perched on each centerpiece. She loved them! Thanks again for offering them. Maryann
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I will save them until next year to use on the mantle and Christmas tree and will visit you in the fall for new ideas for a wreath and garlands.
Many thanks.
Patti Rockhill
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Very pleased as always!! I use your bees to accent the beeswax candles I make - they are the perfect accent and my customers love them. Thank you!
Hi Jim,
I hope this finds you having an enjoyable lead up to Christmas, I thought I would drop you this quick note to let you know how much my family is enjoying the white doves I have strategically hung over our Christmas tree.
They look beautiful and I have had many comments.
Thank you for the quick delivery, they arrived here in Australia all intact.
Well I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas with a safe and healthy New Year,
King Regards
Thank you for your prompt service. My friends and I will be making christmas ornaments this Saturday with the chickadees.
Patty S
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Thank you for your email, the birds were perfect. Size and very well packaged...and if need, i will buy again!!! Oh! The bird were used on a very woodsy Christmas tree...with lots of different colors of birds.. thanks afain
I was so surprised by the quality of the first batch Of red cardinals that I received that I decided To put them on a white Christmas tree.
Can't wait to get the rest of what I ordered.
Thanks again
I was so happy with Jackie the Bird. I got them for my sister for Christmas. She bought a spruce tree for her living room and she decided she would put little birds and nests all in it. The colors of the birds are lovley. I was well pleased and know she will be also. Thank you so much
Happy Holidays
I received the birds before Thanksgiving. I was thrilled to have them arrive so promptly. They are wonderful and I used them on my Christmas tree. Cardinals are my favorite bird and I have a large male that sits at the top... then I scatter more males and females over the rest of the tree. I decorate the tree with fruit and the birds (I have a birdhouse thrown in there, along with a couple of nests, "baby-sized" cardinals in the nest) and pinecones). I have a small condo that doesn't give me a lot of opportunity to decorate, so I go all out on my tree. Thanks so much for your prompt shipping. My Thanksgiving was all the better by having my tree completed.
Best wishes!
Janice M.
best little cardinals ever! ...my mom started a tradition many years ago by putting them in our trees in the winter ...i'm carrying it on ...with your beautiful birds ...thanks and peace always, Nancy
OHMYGOD I just got my parcel today!
Not only am I super-pleased you sent it off so quickly - the birds are just beautiful! Thank you so much!
"Just wanted to let you know that I received butterflies today and i dont like them, I LOVE them :)
The quality is fantastic and love the colors.
Will be ordering more soon for sure."
Thanks Chrissy
love my butterflies!
"... The butterflies I just opened today are any bride�s dream! I will have my wedding in a 16th century palace overy looking the city of Toledo in Spain, so, if I am making such an investment with the venue, I want everything from the weather down to the napkins to be perfect, and, well, you butterflies will do a great job in keeping the high standards!! I can reassure people that these are the best butterflies they can find."
Pleased!!! with my order!
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Far better than we expected! The eggs are perfect and the butterflies are
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as well. I have bookmarked your store and we be ordering again from you
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"i just wanted to let you know the butterflies arrived safe and sound and they are even more beautiful than they looked on the website. fantastic!"
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Karol ;)
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The little birds arrived here on Tuesday, and are absolutely perfect!"
"...They were
perfect and exactly what I was looking for! They arrived on time too :)"

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Last week, Sharon Case took a break from the CBS studio and design central to catch up with a friend and attend the opening of Young Frankenstein at the Pantages Theatre. Her companion was Lauren Woodward, a former The Young & the Restless actress, who's now a third-year law student.
Case, too, is journeying from acting, but staying in the role of Sharon Newman on Y&R. She's bringing her character's fashion sense in the daily drama to jewelry design on a home shopping network.
The Michigan native joins the ranks of Judith Ripka, Nancy O'Dell, Rachel Zoe, Joan Rivers, Marie Osmond, Tori Spelling, and Kenneth Jay Lane, who already hawk their wares on TV.
Elif Inanc, a wardrobe stylist with The Young & the Restless where Case has been hanging her chapeau for the last 16 years, and the actress have partnered on a glam-girl project. They're doing jewelry design and taking it to QVC. "We've been working on it for years and finally it's come to fruition! I can't believe it."
Many of her fans have called the show to find out about the jewelry she wore as Sharon Newman. It's a coincidence they have the same first name. "We decided to start a line, which we put online. We named it Pomp, which means pageantry and glamour. We wanted something with one syllable and something very flashy. QVC picked us up!"
Their first live show is set for August 10th.
The actress has been interested in jewelry since she was a kid. "When I was 10, my grandmother gave me her jewelry. She kept everything in these gorgeous silk bags. A lot of these styles are similar."
Case, a Daytime Emmy Winner, wore her jewels to the recent Daytime Emmy Awards in Las Vegas. "I wore them to all the red carpets I visited before each party. The response was better than I expected."
She described the jewelry she wore to the Pantages opening. "This is a string of pearls with an added a brooch. Pearls are really so elegant; I've always worn them when I get dress up. I love them – my real pearls, my costume pearls. When we started this business, my first wish was to do something with pearls. We added the brooch because when you are wearing it with a jacket, it anchors it and you don't have to wear a broach.
In addition, she sported a turquoise bracelet from the collection. "We wanted something more relaxed that you could wear with jeans and a tee-shirt. It's more colorful and whimsical for daytime and I love the idea of the flowers."
They do earrings, too. "We have three different pairs of chandelier earrings, as well as others."
Before you make an appearance on the network, you have to graduate QVC School. "The first half training we did online for two hours. "It was a lot of quizzes. You learn a lot." They'll complete the class in Pennsylvania in the studio the day before they air.
"We have an hour, but we are hoping to sell out before the hour!"
Sue Facter writes about all things A-list for publications world-wide. Her credits include: USA Today, People, Los Angeles Times and TV Guide.


text:
Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 4, No. 834. Thursday, 24 November 1993.
Date: Tuesday, 23 Nov 93 10:40:37 EST
Subject: 4.0822 Re: History and Literature
Comment: Re: SHK 4.0822 Re: History and Literature
In reply to Jim McKenna,
I do not mean to advocate the "abandonment" of distinctions between (or the
"equivalency" of) non-literary and literary texts. This oversimplifies the
process somewhat. I may have overstated my position in order to make my case.
What I DO advocate is the recognition that this "history" that we all enjoy as
a means into a work of literature is itself a text that mediates material
conditions and must undergo the process of interpretation. I have enough
interest in rhetoric to accept the idea that occasion, purpose, and audience
are important factors in determining that interpretation (a nod to Bill
Godshalk here). For the record, I do not necessarily "equate" *Shrew* with the
"Homily on the State of Matrimony." I read the "Homily" to illuminate *Shrew*
because literature is my primary interest, but I keep in mind two points: 1)
the illumination could certainly work in reverse if I chose to focus my study
that way; and 2) the "Homily" cannot be blindly accepted as factual historical
material. Does this help to bring our positions slightly closer together?
N. Miller


text:
Grosse Pointes
Liggett football comes away with shutout win in season opener
By Mark Vest
Posted August 28, 2014
EASTPOINTE — With only a handful of games on a prep football squad's regular-season schedule, getting off to a good start can be a key factor for teams hoping to make the playoffs, and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett did just that via a 28-0 win against Detroit Edison Public School Academy.
The Knights' first touchdown of the game came in the first minute of game action, as Thomas Jackson threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Charles Caine to give Liggett an early 7-0 lead.
It didn't take long for the Knights to get on the scoreboard again, as quarterback Connor McCarron threw a touchdown pass to Will Morrison with 7:11 remaining in the first quarter.
Liggett got on the scoreboard one more time in the first half, when McCarron connected with Caine on a 51-yard yard touchdown pass with 57.8 seconds remaining in the first half.
"It was great," Liggett coach Dan Cimini said of how exciting it was to play the opening game. "There's nothing like Week 1. This is what you want — 28-0 win, game one. Lot of young guys did a lot of good things for us today."
Liggett's David Newman shared his thoughts regarding Liggett's opening-game victory.
"We started off well," he said. "We played a good game, overall. We're feeling good."
The Knights' second half touchdown came via a touchdown run by Morrison.
The Knights' opening day victory was considered a home game and came at Memorial Park in Eastpointe. Until further notice, the Knights are expected to play home games away from Liggett until a new turf field is put in at the school.
Offensively, McCarron threw for 117 yards, with Caine accounting for 97 yards for the Knights.
On the defensive side of the ball, Caleb Stokes and Spero Kefalonitis each contributed nine tackles.
Liggett is next scheduled to play at 2 p.m. Sept. 6 against Royal Oak Shrine Catholic.
About the author
Mark Vest is on the sports beat at C&G Newspapers. He covers high school sports for the Fraser-Clinton Chronicle and Grosse Pointe Times. In the past couple years or so, he has also began to cover collegiate sports for schools such as the University of Detroit Mercy, Oakland University, Wayne State University, Macomb Community College and Oakland Community College. Vest has worked at C&G Newspapers since 2011 and attended Oakland University and Oakland Community College.
More from C & G Newspapers
2017 Football Preview: Clinton Township Clintondale
Clinton Township
2017 Football Preview: Roseville High
2017 Football Preview: Farmington Hills Harrison
Farmington Hills
2017 Football Preview: Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
Clinton Township
2017 Football Preview: St. Clair Shores South Lake
St. Clair Shores


text:
Fashion Social: KEN CHEN SF Pop-Up Closing Party
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (PST)
Who's Going
San Francisco, California
London, United Kingdom
Florence, Italy
Event Details
KEN CHEN SF [http://www.kenchensf.com/] Limited Store will be having it's closing party on Nov. 14th, 2012, Wednesday, 6-9pm at KENCHEN Headquarters, 865 Market St. #247, 2nd Floor of Westfield Centre, San Francisco. Lite refreshments and non-alcoholic beverages will be served.
Shop KenChenSF's latest collection. Lots of Sale! Smiles & Beautiful people. Styling presentation by StyleSquadSF [http://stylesquadsf.com/]. Exclusive photography by Ilya Khoteev [http://ilyakhoteev.tumblr.com/].
/ About KENCHENSF [http://www.kenchensf.com/]:
Ken Chen San Francisco is dedicated to making extravagant yet elegant designs for the modern fashion conscious individual. Taking influences from the entertainment world, architecture, and a higher quality of life, these concepts are intended to not only to harbor new ideas but also to empower you with the strength to stand by them.
/ About STYLESQUADSF [http://stylesquadsf.com/]:
/ About FASHION SOCIALS [http://www.fashionsocial.org/]
- Like: http://www.facebook.com/fashionsocials
- Join: http://www.sanfranciscofashionindustry.org/
When & Where
KEN CHEN SF Pop-Up Shop
865 Market St. #247
Westfield Centre, 2nd Floor
San Francisco,
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (PST)
Add to my calendar
FASHION+TECHSF is the popular original monthly workshop and event series focused on building, promoting, educating and funding the enthusiastic communities of fashion and technology entrepreneurs who share our vision of a world-class fashion and technology industry that is innovative, disruptive and uniquely San Francisco. Launched in 2009,
FASHION+TECHSF has become the leading network for all things fashion and technology in the SF Bay Area. FASHION+TECHSF is produced by Fashion Tech Media LLC and San Francisco Fashion And Merchants Alliance, Inc. [SFFAMA].
For marketing inquiries, media relations, publicity, product promotions, sponsorship opportunities and booking info...please email your inquiry to: email@example.com or visit: FashionTechPR.


text:
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text:
ICD-10 Diagnosis Code S52.52
Torus fracture of lower end of radius
Diagnosis Code S52.52
Short Description: Torus fracture of lower end of radius
Long Description: Torus fracture of lower end of radius
This is the 2017 version of the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code S52.52
Not Valid for Submission
The code S52.52 is a "header" and not valid for submission for HIPAA-covered transactions.
Code Classification
Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00–T98)
Injuries to the elbow and forearm (S50-S59)
- Fracture of forearm (S52)
- Injuries to the elbow and forearm (S50-S59)
Information for Medical Professionals
References found for the code S52.52 in the Index of Diseases and Injuries:
- 7th Characters: "With"
The word "with" should be interpreted to mean "associated with" or "due to" when it appears in a code title, the Alphabetic Index, or an instructional note in the Tabular List. The word "with" in the Alphabetic Index is sequenced immediately following the main term, not in alphabetical order.
- The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes in subcategory S52.52
Information for Patients
Arm Injuries and Disorders
Of the 206 bones in your body, 3 of them are in your arm; the humerus, radius and ulna. Your arms are also made up of muscles, joints, tendons and other connective tissue. Injuries to any of these parts of the arm can occur during sports, a fall or an accident.
Types of arm injuries include
- Tendinitis and bursitis
- Sprains
- Dislocations
- Broken bones
Some nerve problems, arthritis, or cancers can affect the entire arm and cause pain, spasms, swelling and trouble moving. You may also have problems or injure specific parts of your arm, such as your hand, wrist, elbow or shoulder.
- Arm CT scan
- Brachial plexopathy
- Radial head fracture - aftercare
- Radial nerve dysfunction
[Read More]
Also called: Broken bone
A fracture is a break, usually in a bone. If the broken bone punctures the skin, it is called an open or compound fracture. Fractures commonly happen because of car accidents, falls, or sports injuries. Other causes are low bone density and osteoporosis, which cause weakening of the bones. Overuse can cause stress fractures, which are very small cracks in the bone.
Symptoms of a fracture are
- Intense pain
- Deformity - the limb looks out of place
- Swelling, bruising, or tenderness around the injury
- Numbness and tingling
- Problems moving a limb
You need to get medical care right away for any fracture. An x-ray can tell if your bone is broken. You may need to wear a cast or splint. Sometimes you need surgery to put in plates, pins or screws to keep the bone in place.
- Ankle fracture - aftercare
- Broken bone
- Broken collarbone - aftercare
- Closed reduction of a fractured bone
- Closed reduction of a fractured bone - aftercare
- Hand fracture - aftercare
- Metatarsal fracture (acute) - aftercare
- Metatarsal stress fractures - aftercare
- Radial head fracture - aftercare
- What Are Growth Plate Injuries? - NIH (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
[Read More]


text:
My Work on Garuda Indonesia Inflight MagazineTuesday, July 3rd, 2012
I have been sick for almost 10 days, typhoid. Such a boring sickness…on top of that, I was sad, my dear cousin passed away, in a way we were all happy for him, at least he is not in pain anymore now. Anyway, I am feeling much better today, I guess the antibiotics works really well, so I started to browse around the internet and found that the art direction work I did a while ago is published! (despite the cover, my project is not about food :)
I am really happy with the result, considering this is my second project art directing in fashion project. Yes, fashion :) Here is the online version of the magazine, along with the 100,000 copies distributed to all Garuda Indonesia routes. So if you fly GA, don't forget the check it out.
I was actually quite shocked with the cover. Wow! Garuda Indonesia magazine has evolved beautifully since it first launched! I remember it was always the scenery, the nature, the tourism with…not so attractive content. Now it really looks visually attractive, with beautiful content.
Yes, it is in Bali. Yes, I live in Bali. I don't live near by those beautiful beaches, but they are only 1-1,5 hour away. This one is Namos beach in Karma Kandara resort. We shot with the awesome-and-never-feel-tired photographer Julius Bramanto. Katya and Ben modeled for us, styling by Elisabetta Vidali, make up by Angie Anggoro, managed by the mighty Herlia and supported by Gusti Arya, Yogi Kusuma and a bunch of Biasa staff. Great team work! Will post some of the backstage photos later. It was a beautiful day.
Posted in Anything+Everything, Design, Life | 2 Comments »


text:
Analysis of DNA obtained from Neanderthal remains has revealed key differences
from modern humans that suggest their bodies produced excess heat.
Neanderthal DNA reveals key differences from modern humans
While in the cold climate of an ice age this would have provided the species
with an advantage, as the earth warmed they would have been less able to
cope. Ultimately this would have caused their extinction around 24,000 years
Neanderthals could have died out because their bodies overheated - Telegraph
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:41 PM
keyboard shortcuts: V vote up article J next comment K previous comment


text:
If you work with Microsoft Word a lot then I'm sure that you've created documents containing columns at one time or another.
I know that I use them frequently when I have long lists of short items… things that could be easily put into two or three columns across the page. The columns will save on printed paper as well as give a pleasing layout that would be almost impossible to accomplish using tab stops.
At any rate, when you're using columns in Word do you ever find that you've finished what you want in one before the end and now need to manually move to the next?
It happens to all of us and what I'm really interested in right now is how you made that move from one column to the next even though Word did not move you there automatically.
The most common thing that I've seen people do is to use the Enter key to add whatever number of blank lines needed to fill the column.
Don't do that! It's an editing nightmare.
Any time thereafter that you add an item to a column it pushes all those blank lines down one which will begin to put blank lines at the top of the following column(s).
Next time, enter an actual column break which will allow you to add to the bottom of a column without disturbing the rest.
One way to insert an actual column break is to use the menus / Ribbon.
Older versions of Word:
Use the Insert menu, Break choice.
Choose Column Break and click OK.
Word 2007:
The Page Layout tab of the Ribbon is where we must start.
Once there click the Breaks button (in the Page Setup section) and choose Column Break from the list.
Or… might I suggest a quick key combination to get the job done?
Yeah, I thought you might like that.
Next time you need to move on to the next column before the current one is filled try Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
Yep, that's all there is to it. Using column breaks saves you time now (they're faster to insert than all the blank lines) and a whole lot more time later when you go back to edit (you won't find yourself fighting to add information while you try to remove all those blank lines).


text:
Cube Media Studios Retoucher
Emma B MacModel Female London, England, United Kingdom
Mayhem # 1584761
About MeHi, im Emma im an experienced model. Im professional and punctual. Im easy to work with, take direction well, have over 10 years experience working on Film and TV sets and locations as a stunt woman. So Im happy to work in more challenging situations/locations !!. Im also based in Germany, so european travel is no problem.... :-) Im also a very experienced, skilled horserider (show jumping for the UK team)
check out my credits as a Stunt Woman and Actress for Film and TV at the "internet movie database" Including 2 James Bonds and 3 Harry Potter Movies.
Have you worked with Emma B Mac? Add Credits for Emma B Mac! >>
Cube Media Studios Retoucher
Ridas Creations Makeup Artist
Jonathon Eastern Photographer
GC1 Photographer
Hernan Farias Photographer
Scott Miron Photographer
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text:
How to do self hosting of javascript files?
Self-Hosting of Javacsript files is recommended if you don't want to rely on us to serve the files necessary to do the A/B Test.
The two files we provide are:
1. vwo_static.js
2. vwo_test_1.js where there can be any number instead of 1. This is a Test specific file so you need to download this file for each new test you want to self-host and update it on the smallest of change you make in the test settings.
Note: Make sure you download these files after you start the test.


text:
Reusable Jumbo Non-Woven Grocery Custom Tote Bags that are perfect for everyday grocery shopping.
These customized backpacks feature a reflective stripe to help increase visibility of the wearer and your logo.
Think safety first with your logo sticking on any metal surface with these flexible 30 mil promotional magnet.
Our hardworking, hard wearing CornerStone Industrial Pocket Pique Custom Polo Shirt is built to take on the toughest jobs.
Safety programs are a great way to protect your workforce, and safety program promotional products can help you make sure the message of safety doesn't go away once safety training is over.


text:
Da Vinci's Demons S01E04: "The Magician"
Riario, backed by his uncle, who was rocking a seriously fine pimp—I mean pope hat—slaughtered a bunch of proles in Lorenzo's mine and brought the sass while backed with a huge army from Rome. He had a hefty list of demands, like the Medicis forgiving all papal debt and handing over Florence's finest artists to serve Sixtus IV, including our boy Leo, who sassed right back with "I would rather have my testicles gnawed off" and a quip about anal leakage. Sometimes the Da Vinci of Da Vinci's Demons tries my patience with his smarter-than-everyone-but-also-really-pretentious-about-it routine, but then he makes declarations like that and I'm over it because poop jokes are funny even when you're delivering them in rather formal language. In fact, sometimes that makes them funnier.
Still, we're at the halfway point of Da Vinci's Demons' inaugural season and like I said, sometimes this version of Da Vinci is just... infuriating? Sometimes? Time after time, Leo's been shown to simply pluck his ideas and these huge breakthroughs from the air as though he can see the molecules themselves and the molecules are full of brilliance and know-how. The real Leonardo Da Vinci was certainly one of the brightest minds humanity had/has ever seen, and many of his ideas probably did seem completely daffy to his contemporaries—like airborne insanity that only he was susceptible to—but sometimes, as a modern TV viewer watching Da Vinci's Demons as a fictional series and not a historical account of Da Vinci's life, the ease with which Leo just discovers everything has started to occasionally feel like some deus ex machina action.
Get Leo drunk, let him wander around town in a brown acid haze for a few hours, and it's all good. His brain is like Batman's utility belt.
This week, that meant destroying the gun-canon thing that Lorenzo threatened to execute him over because he didn't want to escalate things with Riario. Riario had figured out the weapon's limitations and brought enough men to overwhelm the Medicis' forces after the first round of shots was fired and the soldiers had to pause and reload. Sure, he'd lose some men in the siege, but he was prepared to make the sacrifice because his victory was almost certain.
Or so he thought.
Da Vinci may have blown up the works building his muskets, but just because he didn't want to actually massacre Riario's forces didn't mean he was ready to force the Medicis to surrender either. He just bluffed his way through a second confrontation with Riario by offering a demonstration of a weapon that was far superior to the muskets... but also far more not-actually-existent.
The bluff worked—for now. At a party celebrating Leo's big ol' brain, two Florentine conspirators who we'd seen being BFFs with Riario earlier in the episode, one of whom played the GOD HATES ARTISTIC PERVERTS card during Leo's latest binge-drinking session, crashed the party with sodomy charges against Da Vinci, punishable by death, because enlightenment and all.
At first, I wasn't terribly on board with that turn. Da Vinci's sexual orientation has been a topic in the comments here due to the show's overtly hetero stance on this particular incarnation of Da Vinci, and I took it for a cheap way for the series to acknowledge the "rumors" without actually delving into the possibility that Da Vinci was homosexual. However, I also thought it was a particularly odd choice for Starz, considering that our dearly departed Spartacus, formerly of the Friday-night slot, was very much okay with being a little gay and also featured what is widely acknowledged as one of the most positive gay relationships on TV.
But a little research never hurt anyone and it turns out that when he was 24, Leonardo Da Vinci really was arrested on sodomy charges in Florence. So, good job, show. I'll shut up now. Can't wait to see how this plays out.
Lucrezia Donati went all ninja lady again when Guiliano, Lorenzo's brother, revealed that Becchi—the dude Lucrezia pinned her espionage activities on last week—could prove his innocence after all. Stupid Guiliano.
I'm pretty much over Lucrezia being conflicted and sad about literally everything she does ever. I mean, killing peeps for Riario? SADNESS AND GUILT. Banging Lorenzo? GUILT. Banging Leonardo? GUILT GUILT GUILT. Getting her portrait painted. SADFACE. I get that she's a slave. I get that she's in kind of a tough position, but it's just a lot of guilt. I sincerely hope we learn more about this terrible, impossible, life-shattering situation that she's in because I'm really bored with the kill-cry-kill cycle she's caught in.
And for the record, I would totally watch a completely fantastical, cracked-out, not-grounded-in-reality-in-the-slightest show about Leonardo Da Vinci shipping off to the Americas to go on swashbuckling adventures in search of the Book of Leaves, but maybe that's just me.
What did you think of "The Magician"?
– Verrocchio told us the story of how Leonardo came under his tutelage. Not sure why it was necessary except to remind us that Da Vinci is crazy-smart and his dad is kind of douche.
– Zoroaster was crabby about not getting enough credit for helping Leo out. Might this be a bigger problem later?
– When Lucrezia claimed that she was killing Becchi in order to spare him from a more gruesome death at Lorenzo's hands, Becchi was having none of it, "This isn't mercy. This is you tying off lose ends." I miss you already, Becchi-boo.


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WAILI is a wavelet transform library. It includes some basic image processing operations based on the use of wavelets and forms the backbone of more complex image processing operations. WAILI uses integer wavelet transforms based on the Lifting Scheme, provides various wavelet transforms of the Cohen-Daubechies-Feauveau family of biorthogonal wavelets, crop and merge operations on wavelet-transformed images, noise reduction based on wavelet thresholding using Generalized Cross Validation, scaling of images, edge enhancement of images, some simple image operations (addition and subtraction of images), and allows different image representations (RGB, YUV, Lab, ...)
|Software Development Libraries
A Fluent OpenStack client API for Java.
A TWiki appliance that is easy to use and lightweight.


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Dances with Wolves
Fawcett Gold Medal, 1988 - Fiction - 313 pages
Ordered to hold an abandoned army post, John Dunbar found himself alone, beyond the edge of civilization. Thievery and survival soon forced him into the Indian camp, where he began a dangerous adventure that changed his life forever. Relive the adventure and beauty of the incredible movie, DANCES WITH WOLVES.
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Blake covers an incredibly interesting era of US history that breaks traditional stereotypes. While this work centers on the relationships between Natives and the expansionist US Army during the Civil ... Read full review
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First rate film of Michael Blake's excellent novel, lovingly made and acted. Music reminds me of "Out of Africa," which makes sense since both scores were by John Barry. If you like the movie, do read the book, it won't disappoint, and has a slightly more upbeat ending. Read full review
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Continued optimism in the housing sector drove the SPDR S&P Homebuilder ETF (NYSE:XHB) to yet another bull market high north of $24.50 at the end of last week. The likes of KB Home (NYSE:KBH), PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) and D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) are all seeing increasing momentum in their uptrends.
My last mention of the burgeoning housing space highlighted XHB's recent breakout over $22 along with a couple of bull call spread ideas. At the time, the suggested Dec 22-24 bull call spread was trading for 88 cents and offered a profit potential of $1.12. Let's take a renewed look at the position and highlight an interesting adjustment to help maximize gains while reducing risk.
Click to Enlarge Given the 12.7% rise in XHB since my aforementioned article published on Aug. 9, the Dec 22-24 bull call spread has increased in value from 88 cents to $1.40, generating a 59% return thus far. Because the spread can reach a max value of $2, you still have an additional 60 cents you can make if XHB remains above $24.
Suppose you still are bullish on XHB, but would like to modify your position to reduce risk yet increase the amount of potential upside profit. A technique called "rolling up" might be just the ticket.
Rolling a bull call spread consists of closing your existing spread while opening up a new spread with higher strike prices. Suppose you closed the Dec 22-24 call spread for $1.40 and opened up a Dec 24-26 spread for 95 cents. This would cut your overall risk by 45 cents (1.40 – 0.95). On the upside, you now have the ability to rack up $1.05 in additional profits instead of the original 60 cents.
Of course, the new spread is a bit more aggressive, as it now requires XHB to rise above $26 to capture the max profit.
A second consideration for those thinking that XHB might be a bit too extended at current prices would be to close the existing Dec 22-24 call spread and wait for a pullback before entering the new Dec 24-26 call spread.
As of this writing, Tyler Craig did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


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Teachers, Authors, Speakers, Writers And Experts!
Copy My Blogging System To Sell Your Online Course. Follow My Step-By-Step Blueprint, Updated For 2017
Catherine left a comment to my last post – If Long Sales Pages Work, Why Do You Hate Them So Much? and there was a part of it I want to highlight –
You download a free ebook and invest some time reading it – then you get halfway through and realize that it's nothing more than a sales pitch for an expensive product.
Now, I feel cheated when that happens, because the author is wasting my time. But, I guess some people don't.
My initial thought-response to this was that obviously those marketers who provide a genuinely helpful resource for 90% of the content and sell their more expensive product for 10% of the content should do fine. You earn the right to pitch your product after delivering so much value before this.
Some books, blogs and email newsletters seem to have the ratio a bit screwed up and you feel the pitch way too early and way too often, yet this can work still – so what is with that?
The average consumer when looking to solve a problem wants the following in a solution –
In other words when talking about the make money crowd, it's
– I want my money now
– I don't want to work very hard to make it, and
– it should be cheap compared to how much I will make
Ask anyone who actually makes money online and they will tell you it's pretty much impossible to have the first two ingredients. It takes time and hard work to bring in consistent results, yet marketers and copywriters realize that the "magic button" must be presented. A customer will not buy unless it's 'quick and easy' and merchants will lose the customer to a competitor who panders the push button magic if they don't.
This is why some people can get away offering poor value and distributing resources that are more sales pitch than substance. If you present the magic button and use compelling copy to convince the unsuspecting newbie or problem sufferer, sales will be made.
Unfortunately this often results in nothing more than a lesson in reality for the customer, who may then becomes so jaded that they don't trust any product that proposes to solve their problems. They then label all marketers as liars (which is true according to Mr. Godin).
For many online buyers, it's a right of passage. People go through a phase of pure desperation. They need an answer NOW and are so emotionally distraught that anyone who seems to understand their problem is worth buying from. Enough testimonials, a hard-luck-to-big-success story, case studies, before and after shots, and all the other appropriate triggers, is very convincing.
The problem with compelling copy, though marketers will not consider this a problem – it's just good copy – is that a person will feel a sense of satisfaction from only making the purchase. It's a form of action that feels like you are moving closer to solving your problem.
You are moving closer, but it's like taking one step in a journey of a thousand miles. Until you put the work in to build the car using the schematics you just purchased, the act of buying the schematics doesn't help bring you closer to your destination.
With a purchase made and that sense of satisfaction present – Yes I am working to solve my problem, I just spent money to prove it! – our buyer goes and does something else.
Maybe watch TV, or grab some take away food or surf the web for more Lost spoiler information. Whatever he or she does, it's not using the product just purchased to solve the problem. The product sits on the virtual shelf and is forgotten.
Some people will have the motivation to open the product and put in some work, but after a few days or weeks or months with less than satisfying results, motivation wanes, that jadedness sets in and we are back to square one.
Some merchants only care about making the first sale and will forget about the buyer and move on to the next potential victim. These are the people who rely on marketing to drive conversion and don't put much into the product itself. Let's hope they never make much money, though sadly I expect they already do.
Entrepreneurs that really care about building a business and offering value realize that longevity comes from having a solid product. The top result a merchant can hope for is a customer who uses their product and achieves better than expected results. A satisfied customer is the best marketing tool available.
It frustrates merchants who sell information and have only 10% to 20% of their customers use what they buy and even fewer who get a result.
Which phrase is more compelling?
"Buy this book and in three days your problem will be gone"
"But this book and follow the instructions consistently for 6 months and you should notice some results"
It's tough to market reality. You can't sell work.
No matter what type of marketer you are and no matter how good your product is, to compete in a market driven by irrational emotional responses, shot-term thinking and instant gratification seekers, you have to sell the magic button.
Yaro Starak
Selling Magic
Sad but true.
I once heard copywriter Yanik Silver say something like, "You've heard the phrase, 'Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you'll feed him for a lifetime.' The fact of the matter is that people just want you to give them the fish right now!"
I totally agree. This is very much the reason why peer reviews are so important. Merchants offer free product to respected peers to review because they know the influence they have. In the same way, the influential peer's readership will buy a product recommended to them, just because of who recommended it. They trust the review.
Good copy is not good enough. Testimonials on a page are not enough. We need to hear it from people we know and trust. You made $1400 off that ebook last week because people trust you. We trust that you would not recommend a product that is more pitch than value.
This is a very insightful post. I'm trying to figure out exactly how to apply the concept here to my particular niche.
It's sort of like you have to sell the sizzle, and get readers hooked in with some sensational claims….then you have to bring them back down to reality and convince them that they can have the pot of gold if they are willing to put in some real work. The trick is to keep pumping up that pot of gold while you are bringing them around to the concept of real work.
Every step of the way, as you are showing them how much work it's going to take, keep dangling the carrot in front of them.
I guess that is still a bait-and-switch, because you promised them a push-button solution. Oh well, it's still some good food for thought…thanks for the ideas Yaro!
The approach changes as the customer becomes more experienced. Sure, the emotional hook still sells. But I find myself looking for the way out of that emotion more and more because I've purchased several low-quality products. I also find that I stop and ask if I don't already know as much or more about the topic than the author, so the author's reputation and track record come more into play as I mature in the market.
Your two points seem to contradict each other.
Good quality sells and you have to sell the magic button?
Which is it?
In my view all of us who care about quality should run a campaign to oust those who sell magic button nonsense. They are destroying the future of those of us who care about people and quality. Fortunately customer forums and discussion boards are already doing this.
The 'sell the magic button' advice seems to ignore these fora (forums). If people like the magic button how come these places exist?
So true. I've just have a mojor breakthrough and realized this a few weeks ago.
Plus some of my clients sent me email asking for push buttong solution…
And now I'm working on giving them the buttons.
Bottome line: sell the solution, and then sell the button to make it work faster.
So the logical process that follows to avoid that "rite of passage" of online buying desperation solved by a push button, a crappy download and a wave of disappointment at low value after purchase.
In short, if you're gonna hook people in to buy, don't screw them of their money by cheaping out on the product.
As both an offline and online retailer, I place the highest value on my time. If I have a business issue, I'm not interested in buying an ebook or resource guide showing me how to solve it myself. I'm looking someone who provides a solution, and am willing to pay for it.
As you point out Yaro, the vast majority of people who purchase information products never take action.
What people really want is someone else to do the work for them. Much of the sales copy I see online is focusing on selling solutions, but not actually providing them.
Businesses that can provide turn-key solutions at competitive prices, are the ones that experience the most success, and the most loyal customers.
Providing solutions is hard work, but in my case, it has been very rewarding over the years.
Hi Yaro – thanks for mentioning my comment. And I see your point. If they've written something that's worth reading I can't complain.
It's when they let you think they're going to tell you something valuable and they don't tell you anything unless you spend $2000 – that's just plain annoying.
A lot of stuff gets read that just isn't put into practise doesn't it? And it must be annoying if you sell someone a good information product, then they complain it didn't work when they haven't even tried to make it work.
Maybe we all need to read less and do more.
its so true, sometimes i come up on these ebooks that say "stop you 9to5 job" before buying the product it seems so easy, but when you read into it you realize that it a load of… and at that point you have just trashed some useful dollars
[…] to see what new business strategies or ideas were out there and ran across this blog, "You Have To Sell The Push Button Solution". Sadly this blog was talking about the way world in general expects thing to happen in […]
Evan –
Good quality sells and you have to sell the magic button?
Which is it?
Good quality sells and becomes sustainable. The magic button sells too regardless of the quality of the product (to a certain degree – a hideous product will likely spur up so much negative word of mouth that it will stop selling, but a mediocre product can continue to sell with the magic button for a long time).
The idea is you must at least have the magic button. That's what people want. If you have a quality product too, that's even better. The incongruency is when you sell the magic button as a 3 day solution knowing full well that it takes a lot longer than that. In that case you can try the anti-hype method, which can work well in copy, or sell with a lot of magic and a good dose of reality too.
It's really about experimenting with the understanding that people respond well to the quick and easy solution, not the work hard for a long time solution, which may in fact be reality.
The problem marketing online is that the consumer really has no idea if the products for sale are of any value to him/her. In sales you generally have to "survey needs" before you can officially offer a "solution" (as a salesperson). And if a consumer is an internet newbie or say someone like myself with no programming knowledge (and doesn't want to become a full fledged webmaster) well than an eBook about how to implement fancy schmancy coding and html just is not something that "satisfies" my need. Don't need not high tech jargon and fancy html or coding methods. Without finding specific "needs" than a seller is simply broadcasting a "product" to a massive array of totally different levels of internet users – and never really puts himself "into the consumers shoes". But people are making money- not from me anymore, but as always there will be "new folks" willing to toss a few dollars here or there to investigate if a "product" is their magic solution. My advice is – find out who else has the product (several folks) and get direct feedback from them. Hopefully you won't accidently be talking to another Affiliate Marketer for the product you want a review about! Brian Morgan
I bought a product with resale rights – probably $47 or so – turns out the "instructions" to implement the "internet business in a box" had about 300 to 700 pages for me to read, investigate, and also just understand. One eBook after another eBook…. I was pretty pissed. Sh*t – he should have just sent me a link to a PDF doc that said in the doc: "Hey dumby, go to the Library and research it for about 6 months, thanks for the 50 bux". Brian Morgan
How true. How true. People don't really like hard work. They dislike hard work over a long period of time even more. Honestly, I have to admit that I'll always look out for the easiest and quickest way to solve problems. And who's to say there aren't products like that floating around?
I strongly agree with you. I am a newbie in this field, trying to learn the basics.
Thanks for such great articles.
Rahul Nimawat
@ Claudio: I think I must have spent hundreds of dollars in those ebooks. And I am still in a 9to5! Actually, lately has been more like 9to9!!
I work with a variety of clients who sell info products and courses that require work. It never ceases to amaze me that people spend money to get into the course and half of them don't even make it through the first lesson. The infopreneur who follows up and has a system of accountability is much more likely to earn a loyal and repeat customer if they help them digest the information.
Deborah Carraro
Marketers who offer a solution that turns out not to be a solution are better known as scammers.
If the product takes work then this should be stated clearly (I plan to offer a course which will be a guide to living with authenticity and would never pretend that this doesn't take work).
I disagree! You CAN sell work. See I think the problem here is that the reality is that there will always be people out there who want that push button solution but the question is – are these people your target market for your product? Take your own Blog Mastermind for instance – those guys who want the push button solution will never renew past the first month because the pace will be too slow for them.
I say ignore those people, leave them to buy the hyped up products and concentrate on building products for people that are really going to use them. Those people will become your evangelists (like I am for you Yaro!) and will put your product into action, write testimonials for you, provide you with social proof and will probably go on to buy everything else you create.
Take your own Blog Mastermind for instance – those guys who want the push button solution will never renew past the first month because the pace will be too slow for them.
Not always – many of the push button solution people won't even read the lessons yet remain subscribed.
All you really can do is offer the best product you can create and then test the copy until you find the language that works to bring the right customer to your product.
You can sell work if you are selling it as anti-not work. This only works though when the existing perception in the market is of a lot of people selling the no-work, quick-results lie, because then you stand out from the crowd and appear more credible.
It's anti-hype, which works great when your target market is used to (and sick of) hype.
I've experienced loads of Internet Marketing garbage but there are the occasional gems which pop up from time to time. The ratio is something like 1 good item for 10 bad items although if you follow the more reputable players, you might get a much better ratio.
Another downside to the hype is a person trying to make something work will jump from one thing to another because the fast $ doesn't happen. Even when you choose a direction it is still easy to get side tracked by what looks like greener grass on the other side of the fence. Thanks for the reminder.
Evan, it might sound good to try to oust all the scams, but that's probably not realistic. Once the idea of "get rich quick" promotion is out there someone will always be using it.
Yaro – I'd sooner believe that you're on the good side of this than the bad side, but it's still a dangerous game. You're right to say that people who won't put in more than a few hours of effort aren't going to buy from you if you don't at least mention someone who had quick results (even if it was mostly luck), but if you're fully expecting them to buy the product and then give up the only person who gains from marketing the product that way is you.
Imagine you were selling general investment advice. You could write on and on about a few people who had their investment double in a year and go after the beginners who think that's the most likely outcome – maybe a few of them will grow through experience and eventually become wise investors. That's likely to turn off the people who have experience and more money to invest though, who know that if something has a consistent return much higher than 10% per year it's not going to be available to anyone who can read a webpage. I can see how online business might be able to go a bit more towards the middle, but it still looks like two distinct choices…
That's pretty much how I see "make money online" offers now. I want to learn more but I can't bring myself to pay for anything because they all talk about results that are way too good to be realistic without assuming hyperinflation. I want something that's only a small piece of the puzzle that takes countless hours – possibly spread out over years – to assemble. I have the technical skills to do anything I need and I'm already working on a couple of things that will take a while to pay off if they do at all. Unfortunately everyone is too busy going after the beginners who haven't come down to reality yet to even give me a hint of whether or not their product will do that.
[…] Push The Magic Button No matter what type of marketer you are and no matter how good your product is, to compete in a market driven by irrational emotional responses, shot-term thinking and instant gratification seekers, you have to sell the magic button. […]
If you try to sell without the "magic button" but on truth (maybe flowered up a little) won't you get more quality customers? People who understand that they have to invest time and hard work, but recognise the rewards offered in doing so. Thus making sales, possibly slowly at first but with an built-in potential for sustainable growth?