Costa (rocky mountain) Rica - adventure and romance
Are you looking for an adventure honeymoon with rainforests,
volcanoes, and great beaches?
You can hike through a rainforest, unwind in a hot springs spa, see a
volcano, scuba dive,raft a white water river, or relax on one of the most
beautiful Pacific beaches in the world - all of this and more can be
found in Costa Rica.
The Arenal Volcano National Park is a popular area and is surrounded
by forests, rivers, and waterfalls the can be explored by foot or by
boat , horse or bicyle.
The following photo is of the Arenal Volcano.
The Tabacon Hot Springs Resort is located near the base of the
active Areanal Volcano and provides you with a relaxing experience
with its natural hot springs and thermo water pools and its famous
Iskandria Spa.
The following photo shows the view from the
Tabacon Hot Springs Resort.
Hotel Makanda by the Sea is a great place to end your adventure in
Costa Rica and is located betwenn Quepos and Manual Antonio National
Park.
The hotel is 100 meters above the ocean and all of the Villas and studios
have been carefully placed in the botanical rainforest garden with
spectacular views of the sixty mile coastline.
The following photo shows the view from a
villa at the Hotel Makanda by the Sea.
For many people, horseback riding on rainforest trails or 
sunset beaches
is an unforgettable part of their Costa Rican experience.
World - renown for its beautiful beaches and wildlife,
Manuel Antonio National Park showcases the area’s
natural abundance through its professionally-guided tours
and well-tended trails.
You can view additonal additional Costa Rica specials on
The Big Day website, the travel company that I work for.
The Least Marketing You Can Do - and Still Have a Successful Small Business
Why do small business owners get such poor results from their marketing? You can sum this up in three reasons: They don’t know what to do, or they don’t know how to do it. Sometimes, even when they know both of these, they just don’t do it!
Not marketing is bad for business.
Marketing is by far the most misunderstood aspect of small business. Many people think it’s selling, which it isn’t. Some people avoid doing marketing, because they fear it’s too pushy and will make them feel needy. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If you love your business and love your customers, you can love marketing. After all, it’s just talking to people you love about something you love, which is your vocation.
Convinced? OK, maybe not yet. Let’s take a look at the three elements of marketing that are the absolute minimum you can do and still have a successful business.
- Marketing is about creating awareness in your target audience.
Unfortunately, most people don’t have psychic powers to sense that you are out there, available to help them.Instead, we have to make them aware of ourselves. And then, we need to communicate to them in a way that lets them know how they will benefit from whatever we do.
So the first piece of this is a target audience. Since I don’t like the idea of shooting my audience with an arrow or a bullet, I prefer the term “intended audience.” Whom do I intend to serve in my business?
Again, we have to be specific. “Everyone,” “people” and other general terms like this are no good. Even “women” is too general. What kind of women are they? “Brides-to-be who want to capture their wedding memories on film” is better. “Mothers of children with autism” works well, too.
Articulating your intended audience with precision is one of the three things you must do. You will not be successful if you don’t do this step.
- Now that you know who they are, how will you reach them? Where do they go? What do they read? How could they find out about you?
If you’re a restaurant, you may rely on nothing more than an excellent location to create awareness (like in a food court in a mall). Most of us have to do more.
A residential cleaning service may put up flyers at the supermarket or hang something on neighborhood doorknobs. A financial planner may attend networking events or speak at trade association meetings. A catering company could advertise in a local bridal magazine. A pressure washing service may go door-to-door, knocking.
Getting in front of your audience - whether literally in person, with an ad or an article, or through product sampling - is the second thing you must do. Again, no success without this step.
- The third and final “least marketing you can do” is to craft a message. If you know your intended audience and get in front of them, what will you say - or broadly, communicate - to them? How will they know that what you are offering is something they should buy?
The core part of your message is your value statement. This is when you tell your intended audience why you are exactly the right choice for them. Think beyond your process ? what you do and how you do it ? to the final result, the benefit; think big!
Recently, a hotel events planner gave her value statement this way: “When you’re planning a business meeting and there’s no room for mistakes, we ensure a seamless event.” The caterer we talked about could specialize in vegetarian meals, and might say: “I offer vegetarian meals that are so delicious, even the carnivores will want seconds.”
You can vary your message all you want, but the requirement is that there is one. Be sure, when you have the awareness of your intended audience, they leave not with a question mark over their heads, but with an understanding of your value.
Now, that is the least marketing you can do and still be successful.
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Samantha Hartley of Enlightened Marketing helps socially responsible and values-driven business owners to start up, operate and grow more consciously and effectively. To get more FREE marketing tips by email, sign up for our eZine at www.enlightenedmarketing.com/index.php/site/freestuff or visit our blog blog.enlightenedmarketing.com. You really can increase sales without selling out! |
Advantages of Kitchen Granite Countertops
Kitchen granite countertops are created by nature and fashioned by man are a beautiful, durable and cost effective choice for kitchens and baths. The term granite comes from the Latin root word granum, which means “grain.”
Granite is often imported from Europe, Africa, Brazil and other regions of the world rich in natural stone. Granite is an attractive natural stone that will add color and warmth to your kitchen. Granite is an extremely hard material that will not blister, scratch or crack.
The hardness of granite is rivaled only be the hardness of diamonds. In fact diamonds are used to cut and polish granite.
Over the last 10 years kitchen granite countertops have become popular with homeowners, after first being popular with designers for decades. Granite is available in hundreds of colors, from various shades of white to browns, reds, greens, blues, and black. The most popular tones are brown and beige.
As well as being hard kitchen granite countertops can take hot items, like pots and pans, and is very stain resistant to hot grease and oil if it is sealed with a silicone-based impregnator. It can easily be cleaned and cut for a basin. Granite has a cool polished surface that makes it an excellent surface for rolling out pastry dough. The polished finish of granite will not wear off.
Kitchen granite countertops are unique because no two pieces of granite are exactly the same, therefore granite provides an interesting design element and adds certain richness and texture to your kitchen not found in other surfaces. Kitchen granite countertops can create a brilliance and elegance that is only found in nature. Granite adds a personality and character to kitchen countertops that is unsurpassed. Kitchen granite countertops have a natural beauty that is capable of complementing any tone of wood or style of cabinets.
It doesn’t matter if you are planning a new home or remodeling an existing kitchen, with granite kitchen countertops you can be sure that you will add to value of your home.
Kitchen remodelers and home builders have experienced a boom in the demand for kitchen granite countertops. Although it can be more expensive to put in granite countertops, they remain the odds on favorite choice for more upscale homes, since they keep their value better than most home improvements
The investment you make in kitchen granite countertops should pay you back at least three times what you invested. If you are selling your home you will find that home buyers wanting kitchen granite countertops will be willing to pay more for your home than if you have ceramic tile or plastic laminate.
Planning out your kitchen granite countertop first involves selecting the right granite color. You should concentrate on the most popular colors. Even though granite tones are usually neutral, you may find that a certain color goes well for your kitchen design.
If you are replacing the old countertop material in your kitchen with granite, carefully diagram all the measurements for the granite installer. If installing new cabinets is part of your kitchen remodel ask the granite fabricator what they recommend for cabinetry.
Since you are using such a superior product as granite, you should think about the right type of sink to go with your new kitchen granite countertop. You should definitely consider going with an undermount stainless steel sink, as opposed to an overmount sink that would be difficult to clean around.
In addition to getting the right kind of sink installed, it is also important to select the just the right faucet to go with the sink. A stainless steel faucet would go well with the looks of a rich kitchen granite countertop.
The next important area is upgrading your cabinet hardware. The handles and knobs should also be of high quality in order to provide good accent to the overall look of the kitchen. Even if you are not replacing the cabinetry having high quality hardware with make those cabinets and the whole kitchen
stand out.
So in planning your kitchen remodeling, just remember that kitchen granite countertops will make a provide a world-class addition and increase the re-sale value of your home.
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