Non-profits are turning to email marketing to do a lion’s share of their fund-raising, marketing, and awareness-raising. As new businesses and schools increasing look to the web to attract new clients and potential students, it’s helpful to remind would-be advertisers that email marketing is very effective, but it’s also very sensitive. No need for spammy hit-them-over-the-head tactics will work with email marketing; rather, respect is key. It’s important to not be sales-y with these newsletters, but focus on providing quality information and timely advice. Here’s a good primer on basic email marketing tips that can help you and your organization get into the mindset of this unique opportunity. The approach is a long-term one, and it builds branding by associating quality content and unique perspectives with your company’s name. Even if no one buys a thing, they are still deeply educated into the comfort zone of your brand. So when the hard-hitting promotions do come around through other advertising ways, the trust is already there.

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Some of the most innovative designers are a part of the trade show industry in one form or another. From design of truss exhibit booths to some of the detailed graphics that display branding and sell products, there are top notch designers involved. For this reason, it would be a good idea for any design student to visit a major trade show. On view will be structural design, graphic design, product displays as well as the latest product design. It all pretty much comes together at trade shows.

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We just found this great little video that answers the question: What is a widget?

Widgets used to mean any mechanical part that you didn’t know the name to, so the question “What is a widget” didn’t used to make sense! But today, the term has been co-opted by Internet software enthusiasts. Widgets really fall into three forms, so follow closely:

1. A desktop widget is a simple application that performs a function, like a pop-up calculator.
2. An application widget is a simplified version of a running application, like a “minimized” form so you can see what’s happening.
3. An information widget collects data from the Internet, or other network sources, and presents it graphically and simply.

Now that you know what a widget is, can you guess what a thing-a-ma-jig is?

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As far as websites go - Plenty of Fish, Wikipedia, eBay, Google, Amazon, Craig’s List, My Space, YouTube and Ryanair are all perfect examples of ugly websites yet they are all hugely successful. For example, Plenty of Fish earns over $10,000 per day on Google Adsense. That’s over $300,000 per month. Yet when you look at this free online dating site, it is plain, simple and basically an ugly website.

Recently, after reading How to Make Money with Adsense on Grizzly’s How to Make Money Online Blog, I got to thinking about the ugly website concept again and how it relates now to blogs and Google Adsense revenue. I’m not going to go into the details about how Grizzly does it, you can have a read for yourself. But, his blog is certainly a great example of an ugly blog that makes money.

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A stock market for dummies rule that all investors need to follow is to control fear. Fear is something that always pops into investors head because nobody wants to lose money. However, it’s impossible for an investor to not see a period of losses. Investors need to accept them and have the thinking that their next investment can be a winner. That’s why success in the investing community is judged not on an investment by investment scale, instead success is judged by at end of year numbers.

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There are numerous fashion degree programs available for someone interested in pursuing a fashion career. Whether you are interested in fashion design, fashion merchandising, or the business side of fashion, there are many degrees that provide the building blocks you need to succeed in your fashion career. Specialization and additional education are options fashion professionals should always consider.

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If you enjoy cooking, you can turn your passion into a career. Consider earning a culinary arts degree. Like all incarnations of modern art and culture, the culinary arts never stop evolving, breaking new boundaries, and unveiling new standards of creativity and excellence.

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