Since I never really had the opportunity to choose from the many educational institutions as to where I wanted to go to college, it has been very difficult for me to follow the educational desires of my daughter.  I think that at one point I know what she wants to do, only to be mistaken and corrected by her.

You see, I think the confusion is based on the number of choices she has, even though they all sound the same.  For example, she wants to go to hair school, but then in the next breath, she tells me that she wants to attend a Beauty Academy instead.

I just don’t understand how they can have so many different names for a beauty school - but I guess she will let us know which one she would like to attend - I wouldn’t want her to go to the "wrong" one.

Isn’t it interesting that in our society today, we have become a bunch of freebie seekers. And yet, research has shown that we do not value free as much as we do paid services or products. Is this a personality disorder or at the very least a personality contradiction, or is it two different groups of people? Are there freebie seeking consumers and yet another set of consumers who believe that if it does not cost a lot it obviously is not worth anything?

Another interesting contradiction is this: Those same people who believe “free” is inferior, are thrilled when they win something, for example a free iPhone. All I can figure out is this.

When the price of an item, like an iPhone, has already been established, the value of receiving it free is obvious. The problem lies in products, particularly e-books, with no intrinsic value in the eye of the consumer. The price of such an item which is not found in stores, has not been set within the common marketplace. The price and therefore the perceived value need to be firmly established in the consumers’ mind before they will buy. This is the challenge everyday marketers face. It’s easy to see, then, why tangible goods fare better in some instances than digital goods. Just a little insight from your friendly Internet philosopher.

Have you ever wondered how AARP knows who is turning 50? There must be multiple databases out there of personal information that they have access to. Those “turning 50” invitation packets (so many trees sacrificed…) arrive the week before that fateful big 5-0 day. With the number of Baby Boomers turning 50 every day, (I’d love to know the exact statistic), that is too many trees just to get one postcard back. Umm, people? There’s this thing called email.

On second thought, I get too much email, including the unsolicited kind. Like the time I was considering moving out west. You wouldn’t believe the number of California Life Insurance quote messages I received. How did they know? At least those have finally stopped. But about once a week I get a pitch from a national life insurance company via snail mail.

Maybe that’s good. When they stop sending to me, will it mean I’m too old to insure? Don’t even want to go there.

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits to the Internet is your ability to share your views and opinions with the world.  Do you like something?  Then say something about it.  You can share your opinions in many different ways such as forums, blogs, and video.  You can pick the way to best way that you like to express yourself and share your opinions that way.

For example, I was at the supposedly best buffet restaurant in town, but I thought that title was not on the mark.  There food was mediocre, and the selection was pathetic, and when I confronted management with my opinion - they told me to jump off a bridge.

After the treatment I received, I went home to see if the restaurant had a blog or site - and they did.  They had a section where you could share your opinions and reviews - and I was sure to share mine.  I also went to the publication that published the glowing review of the restaurant in search for a place to comment, and they had a section for "your opinion" - and put my comments there.

But you don’t have to just search for the site of the product or company that you want to share your opinion - in fact you could just comment on your own site about it.  And do these companies care what is written online about them?  You bet.  The Internet has become an outlet for the little guy to be heard - and a place where the big companies listen. 

Speak out and be heard - share your opinions online.

If you look into the personal finances of some high-class celebrities, you would be quite amazed.  Although most of them have no mortgages they can be pretty crazy in debt.

I myself cannot imagine being in debt at all if I was pulling in millions of dollars per year.  But, they somehow manage to do so.  Maybe it is because of the car insurance on their many vehicles. 

I just really don’t get it.

But then, I could not fathom to understand the lifestyles of these people.  And the saying is probably true that the more  money you have, the more money you want.  I suppose I am happier just being a nobody where no one really cares much about my personal finances except for my husband.

Now I try to read the paper everyday.  You can find different news headlines each day, but they are all so serious.  From everything from finance, to international news, there is not a lot of excitement when it comes to news headlines in our paper.

Sure, you can get excited with a little music gossip now and then - it seems that everyone is so fascinated with all the scandals that celebrities get involved in.  Once in awhile, they do manage to sneak into the regular paper and you get a little laugh.

Now, what should really be in the newspaper should be some strange news.  Not necessarily strange creepy, but strange funny.  There would be nothing better than the paper having some weird news headlines to pique your interest.  In that case they could make the front page interesting to grab your attention with headlines that scream to you to read the paper.  Then they could leave the boring or more serious stuff till later in the paper.  It would give us more incentive to buy it…. just my two bits.

1) Choose the right audience
There is nothing worst than a bad choice of audience, you cannot force a guitarist to read blogs about internet marketing, dont waste your time promoting your blog to the wrong audience.2) Approach indirectly
Don’t go for the COLD SELLING, approach indirectly preferably through a medium already known to your audience, like:
- guest posting in someone elses blog
- posting helpful comments in other (related) blogs
- posting and proving your worth in (related) forums
And prove your worth before you ask them to visit your website/blog
3) Mirror - don’t go against general sentiment
If everyone in the crowd loves ADSENSE it can be a HUGE mistake bad mouthing it. Unless you learn how to word your posts in a cunning way, avoid going against general sentiment.

4) Surprise your readers often
An unexpected bonuses can often surprise your readers and lead to more loyal and responsive group

5) Don’t ignore questions or comment.
Make sure that you encourage reader involvement and participation, under no circumstances ignore a questions or a comment

6) Enter their world
Get them thinking of your blog, even when they arent reading it…. offer PDF downloads, video downloads, even things like T-shirts and Mugs, the idea is to reminded your readers of your blog everytime they see the file/t-shirt/mug and to create a long lasting impression.

7) Prove your worth.
You need to constantly keep proving your worth to your readers, remember its a jungle out there

About the author:
Divyansh Sharma owns Exploding Profits.
*post inspired by book - “24 laws of persuation”

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Welcome to Creative Wits. I will be blogging about things I find on the internet that are creative in form or another. I will also blog about websites about?their designs. Or just something about the site I would like to Rant, Rave or Review them.