Central Park, Cowdenbeath, UK_195

Central Park, Cowdenbeath, UK 3 Conversations Central Park, Cowdenbeath, UKCentral Park, also known as the 'Racewall', is a dual-purpose sports teh north face jackets stadium in Cowdenbeath, a small1 town in Fife, Scotland. The term 'stadium' might in fact appear rather grand for this ground - pictured here - which has a capacity of only 5,268.The two sports which currently take place at Central Park on a regular basis are football and stock car-racing, although greyhound racing has taken place at the venue in the past.The Stadium ItselfCentral Park does not fit the normal image one might have of a sports stadium - three sides of the ground are terraced, although the east and west-end terraces are not particularly popular areas for football spectators to stand, as they are set back quite a way from the pitch.The reason they are set back is the oval racing track that encircles the pitch. A short crash barrier separates the track from the pitch, and a metre-high, thick concrete wall separates the track from the spectators. These obstacles also mean that the front couple of rows in the main stand don't enjoy particularly good views of the pitch, and are thus normally left empty. The football pitch is the smallest in the Scottish League, measuring just 107 yards long and 66 yards wide.The views from the north and south sides of the ground are much better, being nearer to the action2. The south side is a full terrace with a scoreboard at the back, which is used by both the football club and stock car-racing organisers - although obviously in a different way. Under the scoreboard there is a food vendor and toilets built into the same structure.It is, however, on the north side of the ground that most of the facilities are located. When one enters the ground through the turnstiles in the north-east corner of the ground the first thing one sees, if it is a football match, is the programme vendor, selling copies of The Blue Brasilian3 matchday magazine. Behind the vendor, (or indeed the first thing one sees if a football match is not on), is a flight of stone steps leading to the east terrace. By walking around the east terrace, one can access the south and west terraces.If you turn away from the steps, you'll find the cabin containing (depending on the event taking place) either the louis vuitton borse football club shop or the racing memorabilia shop. Walking along the north side of the ground, looking away from the pitch, a large concreted area which resembles a car park can be seen, although this is in fact the pits used for the stock car-racing. Looking the other way, the grandstand is noticeable. This is split into two sections - the 'old grandstand', which is in fact only half of the grandstand from earlier in the ground's history, and seats 1000 in wooden seats, while the 'new stand' seats 500 and features plastic tip-up seats as seen in most newly constructed football stands and stadia.The main stands also contain access to a food vendor, toilets, motor-racing equipment shop and a bar.Cowdenbeath FC, despite being at the unfashionable end of the Scottish League, do own their own ground - although the car park was sold to Fife council for a nominal fee in the early 1990s and is now a public car park. The car park was sold as the club could no longer afford to maintain it and it was described by one fan as 'so full of craters Neil Armstrong wouldn't go near it' before the the north face jackets council took control and resurfaced it.FacilitiesThe major facilities of the ground, as mentioned above, are as follows:North Stand, 'new grandstand': food and drinks vendor, bar.North Stand, 'old grandstand': toilets, racing equipment shop.South terrace, under scoreboard: food and drinks vendor, toiletsNorth-east corner: football club/track shop.4History of Central ParkCentral Park first began hosting football in 1917 and has also hosted various other sporting events over the years - it has most notably become a home of stock car-racing since 1965.Over the years the ground has changed little, the main changes occurring after the fire which destroyed half of the old main stand, and the building of the 'new' main stand, opened in 1993 by then local MP Gordon Brown5.Other changes included the loss of the popular 'Coo Shed'6, a canopy covering the west end terrace. Unfortunately the structure was blown away by a storm in 1983.The ground has had floodlight pylons since 1968. The football club regularly packed over 10,000 people into the ground in the 1920s and 1930s, an era when they were a top division club, and the stock car-racing has seen crowds in excess of 10,000 on isolated occasions. Tougher safety restrictions since the Bradford Stadium disaster canada goose in the 1980s led to a severe restriction in attendance, although even the current capacity of over 5,000 is rarely even approached, as average crowds in the area of 300 to 400 show. Occasionally, a cup game or a big racing meeting will see the borse gucci crowd canada goose boosted to a couple spaccio moncler of thousand.One of the reasons for Central Park becoming a lot more barren place than it used to be is the end of the mining industry in the area. Cowdenbeath was primarily a mining town, and once the mines closed, people either moved away, got jobs which would keep them away from the football, or they couldn't afford to attend sporting events.FootballCentral Park has been home to Cowdenbeath Football Club, since 1917, when the club relocated from their previous home, North End Park. The club remains there to this day, although the days when it could pack 25,000 into the ground are long gone. The 25,586 who attended a 1949 match with Glasgow Rangers is the highest attendance for any sport at the venue. Football is the primary function of the ground, and the presence of other sports is largely due to the football club's need for extra finances - the financial turnover generated by hosting Scottish lower-league football isn't exactly overwhelming. Cowdenbeath are one of just a few Scottish Football League sides still playing in an oval stadium.The club is currently in the Scottish Second Division, although back in the 1920s and 1930s they played at the highest level - they have rarely been back since - playing in the top division briefly in 1939/40 and 1970/71.Stock Car-racingThe oval racing track circling the football pitch is a popular venue for stock car-racing, and other motor sports. Speedway is another sport which has graced the venue. The racing community refer to Central Park as 'the Cowdenbeath Racewall' due to the one metre-high and one metre-thick wall which borders the track.The racewall hosts around four race meetings a month, and is a very popular venue for enthusiasts to attend cheap race meetings in an intimate venue. The bar in the main stand also shows the meetings on a big screen, so that spectators can watch in warmth if the weather is inclement.In 1977, the Racewall hosted the World Stock Car championships, attended by around moncler 15,000 spectators, an attendance rarely bettered by the football club, and never by the Racewall.Miscellaneous UsesIn louis vuitton sac addition to football and stock car-racing, Central Park has played host to greyhound racing, speedway and monster truck rallies. There is also a weekly open-air market held within the confines of the stadium. All these events have really been fund-raising measures for the cash-strapped football club.Transport LinksCentral Park is handily located just off Cowdenbeath High Street, and well signposted from the High Street. It is approximately five minutes' walk Doudoune canada goose from the Cowdenbeath rail station, and there are trains from Edinburgh on a regular basis, making it easily accessible by that route.To get to Central Park by road, leave the A92 at Cowdenbeath, and look out for signs from the High Street. Parking is available in a public car park outside the ground.1Population 12126 in the 1991 census.2As the wall surrounding the stadium is not very high, you quite often see a few heads peering over and watching the game for nothing!3Cowdenbeath FC's nickname is 'the Blue Brazil'.4Same building, they just change the contents5Brown went on to become British Prime Minister between 2007 and 2010.6'Coo' being the local pronunciation of 'cow' and one of the football club's three main nicknames, along with 'the miners' and 'the blue Brazil'

Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire, UK_483

Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire, UK 1 Conversation Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire, UKBolsover Castle, high on a hill in Derby and splendidly visible from the nearby M1, has, despite its name, almost nothing of its original medieval character surviving. Yet despite this it is a fascinating example of an Elizabethan sham castle - an attempt to encapsulate the spirit and glamour of the age of chivalry in a way that rivals modern Hollywood - and thus has a splendid unique air to it, which if not authentically medieval, is certainly historical.Outside The CastleThe castle was originally quite large, and is believed to have contained three baileys. The outermost bailey is sited on the castle's southern side, near the town of Bolsover. The medieval castle's service buildings were sited here. Remains of one of the buildings were discovered recently when the visitor centre, shop and restaurant were constructed, and the area was protected by earthworks. This area was later used as a lawn and now contains a bowling green.The Great CourtThe Elizabethan and Stuart castle that remains today is triangular-shaped and perched on an outcrop of rock that slopes up from the town of Bolsover. The wide-open end of the triangle consists of the Great Court, an area of open grass with one of the castle's entrances on the south-east side. The south-east gate is not defended, and is an ornate gateway rather than a gatehouse that would normally be expected in a castle. Inside the great court, the largest area of the castle, are two ranges of buildings, the Riding House range to the south and the terrace range to the west, with a wall on the east and a large wall separating the great court from the fountain garden and keep (known as the Little Castle) in the north.The Riding House RangeThe southernmost range of buildings in Bolsover Castle is the Riding House range (a series of buildings dedicated to horses) constructed by William Cavendish in the 1630s. The range consists of four areas, including a small shoeing house, which incorporated the forge for the horseshoes and is now used as a shop. From the shoeing house, stairs ascend to the Riding House gallery enabling the horses in the Riding House to be seen from above.The central part of the range is the Riding House itself, which was dedicated to the art of manege. This was the art of making horses leap, kneel, side-step and circle, which was very fashionable at the time. William Cavendish was obsessed with manege, writing a book on the subject, "La Methode Nouvelle et Invention Extraordinaire de Dresser les Chevaux" in 1657. He was even the riding instructor for Prince Charles (later King Charles II). The Riding House itself contained a soft, sand floor for the horses' hooves, and the horses could be watched in comfort from the gallery of the neighbouring shoeing house. As the Riding House was very much the centre of William Cavendish's life, he arranged that from its massive door you would be rewarded with a fine view north through the archway into the fountain garden and the little castle, and north-west through the terrace range into the terrace beyond. The Riding House originally had a ceiling above the two storeys, which would have been used as accommodation for the grooms.West of the Riding House were the stables - now converted into a discovery centre - where the horses lived in 12-feet-long stalls. After William Cavendish died, the stables were converted into two grand suites and later - after the castle was allowed to decay and the stable roof was gone - were used as a pig sty and cart shed. West of the stables was a small block which now contains the castle's toilets. This was originally used as a small accommodation block for the stableboys and grooms for the horses. It also contained a dressing room, accessible only from the lodging room in the terrace range next door.The Terrace RangeThe western side of the castle is dominated by the terrace range, the ruins of the Cavendish stately home that was the heart of Bolsover Castle. Building work began around 1610, and work on the range continued until the 1660s.The south-eastern room in the terrace range is the remains of the lodging room, which was William Cavendish's bedroom. This was one of the most decorated rooms in the house and was considered to be one of the more important rooms in the terrace as only trusted friends and colleagues would be accorded the honour north face jackets of being invited into the lord's bedchamber.North of the lodging room was the withdrawing room, a room noted for its family portraits and paintings of Charles II. This was used as a stateroom, and along with the lodging room and entrance hall next to it, was built in the 1660s. The main entrance to the terrace range, roughly halfway along the range, was in the entrance hall, north of the withdrawing room. Visitors to the castle would have been received in this room, which was richly decorated, in stark contrast to the roofless ruin that exists today.North of the entrance hall lie the pre-Civil War buildings, most notably sac louis vuitton the great hall. This was used as the main dining room, and as the floor of the great hall no longer exists, it is now possible to see into the remains of the kitchen and other service rooms that lay below the main floor level.Parallel to the main rooms in the terrace and to the west was the gallery - a long, wide corridor that ran 170 feet along the terrace and was richly decorated with paintings. moncler spaccio This room would have been used for dances.Outside the gallery lies the terrace itself - a lawn running beside the castle from the south-west gate next to the terrace to the little castle. From here the terrace range of buildings appear richly decorated with cannon-shaped pilasters between the ornate windows, whereas the range is dominated by the stairs and door to the gallery, up a grand staircase to a heavily arched and decorated doorway.Although the upper storey and the remains of the apartments of visitors and residents of the terrace no longer exist, the terrace range has survived as a ruin that gives us a vivid impression of the splendour in which the Cavendish family would have been accustomed to at Bolsover.The Fountain GardenNorth of the great court lies the fountain garden, separated from the court by a thick wall. The wall originally had a stone walk above it to re-emphasise the idea of a medieval castle. It is now fenced off and it is believed that the wall itself lies on the ruins of the original castle's medieval wall. Although the wall itself is from the 17th Century, it is believed that two of the rooms - the east garden room and south garden room, built into the thickness of the wall - were on the site of the castle's towers. The other room, the west garden room, was the site of the original entrance into the garden, which was blocked up and converted into a room when the Riding House range and the entrance opposite the Riding House door was built.The garden inside is a simple lawn with a path to the little castle, with a hedge around the outside. In the heart of the garden is the fountain from which it gets its name - the Venus fountain.The Venus FountainThe fountain dates from around 1630 and has been described as one of the rudest in Britain. On the top is the statue of Venus washing herself. She is standing with her right leg bent - which means that her legs are of different length. Below her four lions on each gucci borse side of a pillar spout water into a bowl, which itself spouts water on all sides into the basin below.Around the outside of the crenellated basin below ground level are statues of busts of emperors in marble, as well as four beasts and four satyrs on birds attempting to attack the defenceless Venus. Fortunately, below the lions are four black Derbyshire stone statues of Cupid, who are protecting Venus from the monsters by urinating on them.The Little CastleThe focus of Bolsover Castle is on the castle's keep1, known as the little castle. This keep is designed to bring to mind a small tower keep, such as that at nearby Peveril, yet was built to create the chivalric atmosphere fashionable during the Elizabethan period, the time in which it was built. From the outside, the castle looks medieval with some classical features, such as the turrets, the cupola dome and most strikingly of all, the balcony. This balcony on the first floor looks out onto the Venus garden and contains iron railings - one of the earliest examples of external English decorative ironwork still in existence.Throughout the little castle classical and biblical images abound. It has four floors, with the entrance to the ground floor up a large flight of grand stairs from a forecourt outside (in contrast to the narrow, defendable stairways 12th Century keeps had which the little castle was designed to bring to mind).The bottom floor, beneath the ground floor, is the basement, which still contains the remains of ovens and sinks in the area that was originally the kitchen, scullery, larder, bakehouse and wine cellar. The largest room in the basement was the "great beer cellar". From the basement, three internal staircases led to the floors above, while two external staircases led outside - one near the grand stairs and one on the opposite side of the building.The main entrance on the grand staircase is on the western side of the building, from which an anteroom leads to the north. This was used as a room in which guests were greeted and contained three paintings in a Renaissance style, depicting four types of people: melancholic, phlegmatic, choleric and sanguine. There is no painting depicting sanguine humour, which was intentional as William Cavendish believed that he personified that way of life.Next to this room is the pillar parlour, an impressively decorated room adorned with panels and gilding. The pillar parlour, so-named as it had a central column supporting the floors above, was used as a dining room. It was canada goose jackets used for small banquets and is decorated with paintings showing the five senses. It is believed that it was in this room that William Cavendish entertained King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria with a song about the senses.The south of the Doudoune canada goose ground floor is dominated by the hall, the largest room in the little castle. This too contained pillars, and was intended to replicate the great halls seen in medieval castles. There are classical paintings here also and the room is dominated by images of Hercules. The ground floor is dominated by canada goose jackets staircases, and contains stairs in the southwest corner that descend to the basement, as do stairs in the middle of the floor, whilst stairs in the northeast corner and west of the Hall ascend to the floors above.The first floor contained five rooms: the star chamber dominated the north of the floor, the marble closet the west, the heaven room the east, and on the south side of the floor lay the elysium room between two bedchambers.The star chamber is the most spectacular room in the castle, with painted panels and a highly decorated ceiling painted blue to resemble heaven and the sky above, with gold stars shining through. There are several paintings in this room of key biblical figures, such as Moses, Saint Peter and King David, as well as heraldic devices. Next to this lay the marble closet, a room decorated in black and white and used for more intimate and private conversations, as well as for dressing. Next to this room was a small balcony over the grand staircase.The south side of the first floor was the private space of William Cavendish, with three rooms being part of his personal bedchamber. The bedchamber itself was located on the southeast side and contains dark, wooden panelling originally decorated with rich tapestries. Dominating the room now is the large fireplace which would have kept the room warm and cosy. From the bedchamber lead two closets. To the north is a room decorated with images from the life of Jesus with a painting of his ascent to heaven on the ceiling. To the west lies elysium, a closet decorated with classical gods and goddesses based on paintings in the palace of Fontainebleau, France. From here the main balcony over the Venus garden is accessible.The second floor contains a maze of smaller rooms and chambers used as the quarters for family members and important members of the lord's household, but is dominated in the centre by the lantern room. This octagonal room contains a octagonal cupola skylight decorated with gold plaster to give the impression of the sun shining just above. The room also contained spaces in which guests could sit, rest and admire the light. The roof above the second floor was originally accessible from the northeast staircase, yet it is now fenced off.HistoryThe Original CastleAlthough none of it remains, following the Norman Conquest Bolsover Castle was a standard medieval castle, probably similar in size to Peveril Castle also in Derbyshire. After the Norman Conquest, William The Bastard made William Peveril, one of William The Bastard's most trusted knights, Bailiff Of The Royal Manors Of The Peak.William Peveril was moncler outlet granted the land of two Saxons, Gernebern and Hundline, and began work on constructing the castle. In 1114 William Peveril died, and the castle was inherited by his son, also called William Peveril. By this time the Peveril estates also included the larger Bolsover Castle, and William Peveril concentrated his time and attention on this castle instead.In 1135, on the death of Henry I, the Civil War between King Stephen and Empress Matilda known as 'The Chaos' began. William Peveril was one of the many Norman barons who supported King Stephen, and initially resisted the ascension of Henry II, son of Matilda. In 1155, accused of the murder of the Earl of Chester, William Peveril was forced to forfeit his possessions, and retired to spend the rest of his life in a monastery.It is believed that the original castle's inner ward was on the site of the fountain garden wall, with the keep perhaps in the same position as the little castle. Very little is known about the medieval castle, although it is known that it was besieged in 1215.In 1325 Gerald de Furnival defended Bolsover Castle during the Baron's Revolt which erupted throughout the country after de Furnival's refusal to obey the Magna Carta. Bolsover Castle was besieged by William de Ferrars, Earl of Derby. Although the details are vague, one of Bolsover Castle's towers was breached in the attack.After this time, the castle was allowed to decline as it had little strategic value and was too old and uncomfortable to be a royal palace particularly when the crown had several castles in its possession.Charles CavendishIn 1608 Charles Cavendish acquired Bolsover Castle from Gilbert Talbot, son of the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Gilbert Talbot was both Charles Cavendish's step-brother and brother-in-law. Charles's mother Bess of Hardwick's2 fourth husband was George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Gilbert Talbot was also Charles's brother-in-law as he had married Mary Cavendish, sister of Charles. To further complicate the family tree, Charles Cavendish's older brother Henry Cavendish was married to Gilbert Talbot's sister Grace. Suffice it to say that Charles Cavendish acquired Bolsover Castle from his intermarried relative, Gilbert Talbot.Charles Cavendish employed the famous designer Robert Smythson to help redesign the castle as a more modern residence. In 1613 the foundations of the little castle were laid - however, in 1617, four years after beginning to construct the new castle, Charles Cavendish had died. He was buried nearby in Bolsover Church.William CavendishWilliam Cavendish, Charles Cavendish's son by his second wife, inherited the castle and continued his father's building work, finishing the little castle in 1618, and then beginning work on the terrace range. While this was going on, William's main residence was at Welbeck Abbey.William Cavendish was fond of music, poetry, architecture, horses and women. He was married twice - once in 1618 to Elizabeth Bassett, a wealthy Staffordshire heiress. She died of illness during the Civil War in 1643 whilst William was fighting for the royalist cause.Love's north face jackets WelcomeWilliam Cavendish was a staunch royalist and friend of Charles I. In 1633 Charles had visited William Cavendish at Welbeck Abbey after a visit to Sherwood Forest, and had enjoyed himself so much that he stayed in Welbeck Abbey with his beloved wife, Henrietta Maria, for several weeks in July 1634.On 30 July, 1634 the royal couple visited William Cavendish in Bolsover borse louis vuitton Castle. William Cavendish had commissioned Ben Jonson to write a masque3 in their honour. Love's Welcome was set in several of the little castle's rooms. This was followed by a vast banquet which included a feast of 41 different types of birds. The whole banquet cost William Cavendish ��15,000 and put him in debt for the rest of his life. He had hoped to impress the king into giving him a lucrative court position, yet this was not to be. However, in 1638 William became tutor and riding instructor to the future Charles II.The Civil WarOn the outbreak of the Civil War, William Cavendish and Bolsover Castle declared for the king. However, despite William's obsession with horse training and the art of manege, his involvement in the war was more of a hindrance than a help. At the time it was said that he was more concerned with his appearance than winning battles, and would 'lay in bed until eleven o'clock and combed [his hair] till twelve'. This was not a useful tactic for a commander of the king's troops, and he was primarily responsible for the royalist defeat at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644. After the defeat he fled abroad to the exiled court of Queen Henrietta Maria, where he met his second wife, Margaret 'Mad Madge Of Newcastle' Lucas. He later lived in Antwerp, living in the painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens's house.In 1645 the parliamentary army approached Bolsover Castle, which, following the spirit of its owner, promptly surrendered before a siege began. The occupants were allowed to march out but the castle was confiscated. In 1649 parliament ordered that Bolsover Castle be slighted - with the house to be left alone, but all the outer walls and court demolished and doors removed. The castle was then sold to Robert Thorpe, with William Cavendish unable to return to England unless he compounded himself - ie, apologised before parliament and paying a fine in order to have his lands restored. William Cavendish refused to do this.After The Civil WarFortunately for William Cavendish, his younger brother Charles Cavendish compounded himself on William's behalf, paid the fine and bought back the Cavendish estates, passing them on to William's children. In 1660, on the restoration of the monarchy, William Cavendish returned to England. Despite his reputation for having let down the royalist cause, he was granted the title of Duke of Newcastle in 1665. Bolsover Castle was repaired and the Riding Range completed.William Cavendish died on Christmas Day 1676 at the age of 83 and was buried in Westminster Abbey; his tomb was labelled 'The Loyall Duke'. His son Henry by his first wife inherited both his castle and title - however, the title Duke of Newcastle died with him. Henry's daughter, who had married John Holles, inherited the castle and eventually passed it onto their own daughter, who was married to the Earl of Oxford. The castle was then inherited by the Duke of Portland.By 1829 the Dukes of Portland were renting the castle out to Reverend John Hamilton Gray, vicar of Bolsover. It was during this time that people began to visit Bolsover Castle for its historical significance. A serialised novel was published about William Cavendish's royal cousin, Arbella Stuart, set in Bolsover Castle. In 1912 Queen Mary visited it. During the Great War it was used as a rifle range and after the Second World War was regularly open to visitors, as it is today.Related h2g2 LinksCarisbrooke Castle, Isle of WightTudor Castles on and around the Isle of Wight, UKCowes Castle & The America's Cup, Isle of WightSouthampton Town Walls and CastleEdinburgh Castle, ScotlandRochester Castle, EnglandGreat Castles of EnglandGreat Castles1The main tower within the walls of a medieval castle.2Bess of Hardwick was one of the Elizabethan age's most famous characters. She was born a yeoman's daughter in 1527, married Robert Barley at 14, was widowed by the age of 15, then married the wealthy Sir William Cavendish, by whom she had eight children. At the age of 30 she married William St Loe, and on his death married Sir George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, the richest man in the country. She was so argumentative and stubborn that it is after her (Lady Shrewsbury) temperament and actions that the word 'shrew', as in 'Taming of The' came into the English language. She had acquired great wealth during her marital career, as well as several houses. A fortune teller prophesised that she 'should not die while she was building' and she went on to build many of Derbyshire's greatest houses: Hardwick Hall, Hardwick Old Hall and the incomparable Chatsworth House. She died in 1608 when a cold forced her to pause on construction work on Hardwick Old Hall.3A type of play praising the virtues of the chief guest. Perhaps the greatest masque was John Milton's Comus.

It can seem so technical. Only large companies are going to have extensive databases about all of their sales along with any other information they feel like keeping track of. For the small business owner, using something a little less formal might be better, you might think to yourself. If you work freelance you might even just try to remember who your clients are by simply remembering. After all, if your customer base is small enough, why not just keep track of it in your head'No matter what the size of your company is and no matter how big or large your clientele base is you should always be prepared to use a database to keep track of all of the information.I can’t stress enough how important this will become for any kind of business. I’ve been in the position before of thinking I was only going to need a very informal method of keeping track of sales and customers, only to quickly realize I was mistaken. More and more my databases became a lot more extensive, until I was mad at myself for not having enough information from my earlier sales all because I wasn’t doing things right.The kind of stuff you keep track of isn’t always going to be about only the basics like sales. Of course, you’ll definitely want to have that information. After all, if you plan on doing anything like direct marketing, it is going to be important to know exactly how much color printing to get done by knowing how many people to send to.But you can go beyond the basics to more detailed information. Do certain clients have personal preferences on times of day to meet up, or maybe other little habits that make them different' Do they have a family, a business of their own, or certain hobbies they really like'When you’re dealing with a lot of customers it isn’t going to be as easy to keep all of this information straight in your head unless you just happen to have picture perfect memory. Why not put these tidbits of info into your database as well'Now you have the ability to send personalized advertisements to them. Get the most from your color printing by sending them something that will have a better chance of appealing to them. If you know you’re going to be getting a product in that fits well with a particular person’s hobby, why not send them something telling them about it'The mere fact that they can see you remember that much about them is going to improve your standing with them. People like to feel special, and being remembered certainly makes them feel special. These days there are so many effective database programs on the market there’s no reason not to make use of them. If you haven’t already, start up a database of your own and start putting everything you can into it.  You never know when the information is going to come in handy.

Article Tags: Keep Track



Do you like to work for someone else, or would you rather work for yourself.  Many people these days wish they could work for themselves, but they don’t know what the best process is to doing that.  When you work for yourself, you don’t have someone telling you what to do and monitoring your every move. 

 

If you are thinking of working for yourself on the Internet, affiliate marketing is the way to go.  There isn’t a load of work to do, you don’t have to meet deadlines, and you can make your financial dreams come true.  Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular Internet businesses because of this.

 

It is important to realize that you can’t just jump into affiliate marketing without knowing what qualities you must bear to do this type of business.  That’s right.  It isn’t for everyone, but if you have these qualities, you are likely to succeed.  Let’s take a look at what attributes are good to have in affiliate marketing.

 

Learns easily and wants to be trained.

 

If you go into something blindfolded, you won’t get very far.  Affiliate marketing may very well be a new thing to you, and if you aren’t willing to learn and be trained, you certainly don’t have a good chance at success.

 

Invest your time and effort even when things don’t work.

 

Think about it, if you give in and give up every time something doesn’t go well, you will never get anywhere.  As with any business, there are mountains to climb and obstacles to get around.  If you give up every time you come to one, your business will not take off.

 

Self-Determination.

 

If you aren’t motivated to push yourself despite the circumstances, your business will fall.  Any business takes determination.

 

Discipline

 

This should almost go without saying, but if you don’t have discipline in your work, it won’t get done.  Just because you are now working for yourself, it doesn’t mean that you can only work a few days a week, especially when you first get started.  You must be willing to learn how to work hard every day to get where you want.

 

Be positive.

 

If you have the least bit of negativism in your work, you won’t succeed.  Negative qualities fight against any type of success.  Of course, everyone may find him or herself feeling negative, but you must resist that and be optimistic.

 

With affiliate marketing, you are putting the fate of your business in your own hands.  If you don’t have these qualities, you may have a very long road ahead of you.  If you do have these qualities, go for the gold. 

Article Tags: Affiliate Marketing, Don’t Have

Environmentally Friendly Print Design - How To Save The Planet And Look Good



Think about pdfs or html e-mails instead of JunkmailThe next time somebody suggests carpet bombing a town with a deluge of trifold a4 brochures, think about the money you would save getting a web designer or family friend with some design skill to put together a targeted html e-mail campaign or a visual pdf that can be sent out to people by e-mail. At the end of the day its all destined for the wastebin so you might as well try and save a tree along the wayRepair, Reuse, Recycle those designsIn the esteemed words of Bob the Builder, why chuck away something when it can be reused or recycled' The same dictum applies to graphic design. Instead of carelessly discarding a logo design you submitted for a client a couple of years ago, simply add a little blend in adobe photoshop or illustrator and re submit it for another customer.

How big are your design carbon footprints'Within a short few years, the government will be insisting all companies and businesses track their individual carbon footprints in a token effort to reach out to green voters. What this means is essentially every time you flush the toilet, chuck away a scrap of paper or set fire to a mattress in your back garden, you are going to have to be accountable for your actions and plant a tree for your sins. Why not get ahead of the game now and buy up a large swath of prime rain forest in brazil and sell carbon credits to less responsible businesses'Sustainable print materialsThese days there is no reason to use pulped rain forest paper to produce your brochure designs and elegant business folders. Most printers will be able to source FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) approved paper for printing. Also vegetable based inks are now common place and not as bad as that might sound providing you are only looking for brown and green based design. Although yellow peppers and tomatoes could be used for more warmer coloursSo there you have it, you could carry on throwing litter on the floor, burning your used car tyres and pouring poisonous printing chemicals into local ponds but think of the children, won't somebody think of the children. Wouldn't the world be that litter bit better if you didn't'