You may have heard of Toastmasters International and wondered what it was. You might have read that it’s an organization that helps you become better at public speaking. Or, maybe you’re like my creative friend Daryl who writes copy for Grabowski & Co., an award-winning marketing communications firm. I can always count on his whimsical comments about burnt toast and jelly in response to my Facebook posts about Toastmasters — he cracks me up.

As a Toastmasters Club member you’ll not only learn to speak in front of a group but also about listening, motivation, planning, building confidence and leadership. I’ve been a member of Medina Toastmasters Club 941 for four years. As a new member I once watched a visitor at her first meeting, shy, fearful, and even afraid to make eye contact just walking through the door and I knew she would never be back. Imagine my surprise when she became a member and within a year blossomed into a confident, well-spoken leader. This happens countless times at Toastmasters clubs around the world.

I would like to recommend Toastmasters to everyone of course, but especially to those who have lost jobs to this economy. Losing a job can be a demoralizing, confidence shattering experience. It’s a negative, life altering event that Toastmasters can help to turn around. If you know someone who has lost their job, please encourage them to join Toastmasters. As a Toastmasters member they’ll learn to think quickly on their feet and be able to ace even the toughest of job interviews with confidence.

I received a telephone call yesterday informing me that I have the ghosts of two women living in my home and that one was there with me at that very moment! The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I said “Yes, yes, tell me more…..”

Last year a friend recommended that my husband, Tim, and I read the book “When Ghosts Speak“. It’s written by Mary Ann Winkowski, consultant to the CBS hit television show “Ghost Whisperer”. We bought the book and enjoyed reading it. Imagine our surprise when we learned that Mary Ann lives in nearby Cleveland and that she was appearing on Halloween at Carrie Cerino’s Restaurant. I quickly made our reservations for the event.

Months later, we began attending Mary Ann’s monthly book club meetings at Borders Books in Strongsville. It’s always an interesting evening with Mary Ann and attracts lots of unique people with great stories. It was about this time that we learned that if you called Mary Ann from your home on a land line, she could tell you if  there are any ghosts in your home. We found this especially intriguing since we often joked about sharing our home with the paranormal.

Our ghost, we thought, could only be seen by our black and white cat, Cookie. Cookie has freaked us out for several years with her imitation of a mime. She can be walking across the room and walk directly into an invisible wall. She will actually push against it a couple of times and then step back and walk around it. Yes, very creepy.

Another time there seemed to be some type of alien force field between me and Cookie that kept her from coming to me. She tried to push past it but couldn’t get any closer than three feet! Finally turning and hugging the wall, she was able to reach me from a different direction.

Now here’s my dilemma….one of Mary Ann’s assistants has offered to come to our home to contact and remove our ghosts, for a fee, of course. Tim, who encouraged me to call her in the first place, thinks I’m being silly for wanting to have her visit. I feel that since I’ve gone this far, I should see it through and even view it as some Halloween fun. What do you think?

She’s fresh —

fresh – exciting…

she’s so exciting to me!

She’s fresh —

fresh – exciting…

she’s so inviting to me.

These pop lyrics from the hit song Fresh helped Kool and the Gang top the music charts in the ’80s. Apply the Fresh concept to your advertising and marketing campaigns today and watch your sales soar.

Fresh and exciting advertising attracts new customers and helps to retain the old. When was the last time you took a good, hard, unbiased look at your company’s promotional materials? What worked four years ago may look old and out-dated today. The world is moving fast and your customers need to feel that they are doing business with a company that is on the cutting edge. Show them you are — keep your materials updated using the latest colors, design techniques and fonts or create a social media campaign.

Nothing new to promote? That’s no reason to be dull and boring which in today’s economy could be translated into a company in trouble. Use new photos, liven up the text and change the size of your company brochure. Keep in step with the times by keeping your company image current and something new will begin to happen. Employees will have renewed energy and enthusiasm for their work, sales people will have something Fresh to show their prospects and your business will grow and thrive.

Everyone knows the importance of red to Coca-cola, brown to UPS and pink to Mary Kay, but color is important for more than logos – color is an emotional tool that effects us both mentally and physically.  Red can actually make the heart beat faster, raise the blood pressure and stimulate the pituitary gland. A recent study proves what advertising experts have known for years about red –  that it makes men feel more amorous toward women and willing to spend more money on us.

Some companies give little thought to color selection. Some select colors for their advertising based on the CEO’s personal preferences or let printing costs drive their selection. In the example shown here they probably saved money by using the company’s two logo colors and black. Unfortunately the logo colors are green and blue which create very disturbing skin tones. When you read the text you’ll discover that the photos represent patients that have used the company’s line of skin cleansers and moisturizers. Hmm. Wouldn’t you prefer to see healthy, glowing skin?

Never use green, blue or red for skin tones unless using them for their psychological impact. Use green skin tones for illness, blue for death and red for embarrassment or pain. With studies showing that nearly 80% of consumer purchasing decisions being based on color and packaging alone, shouldn’t we give color selection the respect it deserves?

TIP: Expect brilliant, sunny-yellow Mimosa to be popping up. The Pantone Color Institute has forecast it as the 2009 color of the year!