not too hot or cold.

Take the ear wash bottle and hold it under some warm water for a minute to ensure that it is not too hot or cold.

• Next, squirt or pour some of the warmed liquid directly into your dog's ears. When squirting the liquid, do not touch your dog's ears with the tip of the bottle as this could startle the dog and cause you to injure him by jamming the bottle into his ear.

• Close your dog's ear, apply a bit of light pressure and then massage the liquid up and down to ensure that it gets into his inner ear and canal.

• Stop massaging and let your dog shake off the extra liquid.

• When he is finished, evaluate your dog's ears again to make sure that all the debris and wax has been removed. If not, you may have to repeat the procedure.

• Next, take a cotton ball and then use it to wipe the inside of his ear. Be careful to remove any excess liquid.

• Give your dog a special treat or some attention for being so cooperative during the ear washing procedure.

In conclusion, proper dog grooming techniques can help prevent dog ear infections. By taking the time to evaluate your dog for signs of infection, evaluating his ears, trimming excessive hair, and using a specialized dog ear cleaning wash, your dog will have fresh and clean ears that are infection free.

pain and discomfort.

2. For short haired dogs, you can now trim any excess ear hair. This can be done by pulling your dog's ear back over his head and laying it next to his skull. This will protect the delicate parts of his ear canal. By trimming his hair, you can prevent trapped dirt, bacteria and moisture from entering his ear canal, enabling you to take a closer look into his ear canal and give him a neater appearance.

3. For long haired dogs, you will have to gently remove each hair with your fingers, specialized dog tweezers, or a dog hair removing apparatus. Only remove one hair at a time to minimize pain and discomfort.

4. For those of you squeamish about plucking, you can utilize specialized scissors with a blunt end. Just be careful not to injury your dog when using this method and to take your time to ensure that you do a good job. If your dog seems fidgety or uncooperative, then you may wish to try later.

5. Next, you'll need to utilize a specialized dog ear cleaning wash. These specialized washes are created to clear out debris, prevent infections, and leave your dog's ears with a fresh clean scent. Here's how:

improper grooming.

In case you aren't aware, dogs that are improperly groomed are at risk for developing dog ear infections caused by bacteria and fungus. This is because your dog's ear structure is long and horizontal, which does not allow moisture to efficiently drain. In addition, many dogs have floppy ears, which do not allow air to successfully circulate. In this article, we'll teach you 5 steps you can take to ensure that your dog doesn't acquire nasty ear infections as a result of improper grooming.

1. First of all, you must check your dog for signs of illness every single day. For instance, does your dog seem happy and content? Does he have an increase in tear stains? Has he been scratching his ears more than usual? Next, you should evaluate the inside and outside of your dog’s ears to make sure that there aren’t any parasites, dirt or excessive amounts of reddish brown wax. Be extremely diligent here and evaluate all ear extremities. In addition, conduct a "whiff" test. If you notice an excessive amount of ear wax or a foul odor emanating from his ears then he may already have a dog ear yeast infection and will need to be taken to the veterinarian for a check up and possibly medication or a holistic remedy.

vet's for almost a week

"And?" The vet asked.

He couldn't believe it when Larry told him that that was the extent of Jock's diet, meat, which Larry minced himself, and cooked slightly.

What's In Your Homemade Dog Food?

The major benefit of feeding a dog commercial dog food is that the food is nutritionally balanced for dogs. Dogs need a variety of vitamins and minerals in addition to their need for protein (meat) and fat. Dog food companies spend millions on research, and as a result most of today's pets live into very ripe old age.

Jock stayed at the vet's for almost a week, while Larry visited him daily. Larry was horrified that he'd almost killed his dog. Jock's protein-only diet had leeched the calcium out of Jock's bones, making them weak and brittle.

When he took Jock home, he had a nutritionally sound diet printed out for him, with lots of extra supplements. A year later, Jock is back to his bouncing, happy self.

In conclusion, if you're thinking of cooking homemade dog food, be careful. Ask your vet for a diet for your particular dog. All dogs vary in their requirements, according to their breed, their age, and their exercise or lack of it.

A Bouncing Energetic Labrador One Moment, The Next An Old Dog

Beware of homemade dog food - it can kill, as my friend Larry discovered. No, I'm not trying to scare you, just make you aware of the potential dangers.

After all, if you love your dog, you may be considering cooking him homemade dog food, because you control the ingredients, and it's healthier. However, unless you're careful, your homemade treats could be dangerous for the health of your dog.

A Bouncing Energetic Labrador One Moment, The Next An Old Dog

A few weeks ago my friend Larry's three-year-old Labrador Jock was showing all the symptoms of old age. He couldn't get up, and when he did, he tottered. Larry rushed him to the vet, who initially suspected that Jock had been poisoned.

The vet questioned Larry about Jock's diet.

Larry proudly explained that he'd never fed Jock any commercial dog food, he was determined that his canine pal would have the very best. "I buy all his meat from the supermarket myself - he eats better than the rest of our family do," he told the vet.

that he can follow.

Even though the halter is easy to use and doesn’t need much instruction, you still need to be very careful using it. You can cause serious neck injuries to your dog if you pull too hard on the leash. Giving that jerk of the leash can whip your dog’s head around toward you very quickly, causing damage. With the halter on you shouldn’t need to pull on the leash at all. Your dog will quickly learn from trial and error that his pulling results his head being turned away from the actual source of excitement. You should also not use the halter as your sole training device. You won’t teach your dog any responsibility for his own actions unless you continue teach him commands that he can follow. Use the head halter as a transitional tool only, not as a permanent walking device.

to pull on her face.

How the halter can help:
A dog with a head halter on is a dog easier to control. It’s a great equalizer for dog owners with very large dogs since the dog will not pull as much on a leash when in use. The halter can also be healthier for you dog if he’s a puller since collars can damage his windpipes with constant pulling and use. Even though the halter is not designed as a muzzle, in some dogs it can act as a deterrent for barking and aggression. With my dog, we’ve definitely noticed a difference. She’s much less vocal, and she walks much nicer because she doesn’t want to pull on her face.

d accept that it’s there.

What to expect:
Many dog owners are trying out head halters as opposed to choke or pinch collars to control their large breed dogs. It’s similar in part to what is used to lead horses, and was adapted from such a device. The halter fits around the muzzle of your dog and snaps behind his head so that it doesn’t come off. The assumption when using a halter is that where your dog’s head goes, his body will follow. It could potentially make training easier then.

Your dog’s reaction:

Before actually using the halter as a training tool, simply put it on and allow your dog to get used to the idea for a while. When we first used one on my dog, she allowed it to be put on alright, but as soon as she had her freedom her paws were all over her face trying to get the strange device off. Let your dog adjust to the collar, but don’t let him take it off if he can manage that. Correct him if he tries too hardily to use his paws to claw the thing off his face. Eventually he calm down and accept that it’s there.

the marketing technique employed.

The trick is to provide the six basic nutrients in a balanced diet, factoring in the calories that will suffice for your dog's growth, activity, and restoration. In addition, your dog's daily diet must contain vitamin and mineral supplements in balanced concentrations. Too much of one mineral may interfere with absorption of another; too little of a mineral may interfere with vitamin use or other mineral use.

If you plan to feed your pet fresh food, you want to make sure that you provide him with all the nutritional building blocks he needs to maintain a healthy body. Animal protein should be combined with vegetables, pasta, rice, cereals and other foods to provide all the protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals needed.

If you still opt for the convenience of commercial foods, it is wise to become versed in the art of decoding dog food ingredient labels so that you can be assured that the nutritional value matches (or, ideally, surpasses) the marketing technique employed.

The dog food manufacturers spend a great deal of time, energy and advertising revenue to persuade us that their products are natural and nutritionally complete. That would indicate,

1) That is what consumers would like the product to be, and
2) That is what the product should be.

Doesn't it make sense, then, that you select food for your dog that you know to be healthful and nutritionally sound? If you're still buying commercial dog food, you aren't feeding your dog what it needs and deserves.

increasing their frequencies.

If there’s enough money in the PR budget, be sure to use professional survey firms in the perception monitoring phases of your program. If not, you’re still fortunate because your PR people are also in the perception and behavior business and can pursue the same objective: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

It’s quite clear that setting just the right public relations goal allows you to deal effectively with the most serious problems you turned up during your key audience perception monitoring. Your new goal could call for straightening out that dangerous misconception, or correcting that inaccuracy, or neutralizing that fateful rumor.

At this point, take special care because you must now identify the right strategy, one that tells you how to move forward. Remember that there are just three strategic options available to you when it comes to handling a perception and opinion challenge. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. Since the wrong strategy pick will taste like crumbled Gorganzola cheese on your bread pudding, be certain the new strategy fits comfortably with your new public relations goal. You don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Like it or not, a strong message is needed here, one aimed at members of your target audience. There is no doubt that crafting action-forcing language to persuade an audience to your way of thinking is very hard work. Which is why you need your strongest writer. S/he must create some very special, corrective language. Words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to correct something and shift perception/opinion towards your point of view leading to the behaviors you are targeting.

How are you going to carry your message to the attention of your target audience? With the communications tactics most likely to reach that group of people, of course. After you run the draft message by your PR people for impact and persuasiveness, you can choose from among dozens that are available to you. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be sure that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

Because we know that message credibility can depend on the credibility of the means used to deliver it, you may want to try it out before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

About now, talk of progress reports may be heard, and they are a signal that it’s time for you and your PR team to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Many of the same questions used used in thebenchmark session can be asked again. Now however, you will be watching carefully for signs that the problem perception is being altered in your direction.

Don’t forget that you can always speed up program momentum by adding more communications tactics and increasing their frequencies.

This template can be effective for most public relations challenges you face. When you successfully alter the perceptions of your key external stakeholders, in most cases moving their behaviors in your direction, you should soon enjoy the satisfaction of achieving your managerial objectives.

Let’s start out with a caution

Let’s start out with a caution for business, non-profit and association managers: the premise of public relations implies that the work you do BEFORE you use PR tactics, such as press releases, brochures and broadcast interviews, will determine the success of your public relations effort.

Reason is, if you are one of those managers, the PR plan that flows from that premise will call for achieving your managerial objectives by altering perception leading to changed behaviors among those important external audiences that MOST affect your department, group, division or subsidiary.

Here, read that public relations premise for yourself. People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

Of all the things the premise tells you about public relations, the most basic may be that you need to do some serious planning early-on about the behaviors of those vital outside audiences rather than exploding right out-of-the-gate with a tactical broadside.

For example, you don’t want to move prematurely into press releases, talk show appearances, zippy publications and fun-filled special events before you get answers to questions like these: Who are you trying to reach? What do you know about them? How do they perceive your organization? If troublesome, how might we alter their perceptions? And perhaps MOST important, what behaviors do we want those perceptions to lead to?

That is a critical planning concern because the people with whom you interact every day behave like everyone else – they act upon their perceptions of the facts they hear about you and your operation. And that means you should deal effectively with those perceptions (and their follow-on behaviors) by doing what is necessary to reach and move those key external audiences to action.

Once the preliminary public relations planning is complete, you can look forward to PR results such as rising membership applications; customers making repeat purchases; new approaches by capital givers and specifying sources; community leaders beginning to seek you out; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; prospects starting to do business with you; welcome bounces in show room visits, not to mention politicians and legislators viewing you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities.

But who will do this specialized kind of work? An outside PR agency team? Folks assigned to your operation? Your own public relations people? Regardless of where they come from, they need to be committed to you and your PR plan beginning with key audience perception monitoring.

Are the folks assigned to you really serious about knowing how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services? Do they really accept the truth that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your operation?

Take the time to review with them in detail how you plan to monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. For instance, how much do you know about our chief executive? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

ou’re saying.

Although I still believe there is a place for advertising as a brand maintenance or brand affirmation tool, I am convinced that to build a brand today, you need PR. At one time advertising did build brands. But this was in a simpler America. That America, sadly, is no more.

I’ve been re-reading The Fall Of Advertising & The Rise Of PR, by Al and Laura Ries, and it is their book that has moved me from suspicion of advertising’s demise as a brand-builder to conviction.

As the Ries’ say, “Publicity is the nail, advertising is the hammer.” What does this mean? It means that your PR effort helps make your message believable so that your advertising will have credibility when it hits.

Typically, companies want to hit the market hard and make a lot of noise. Advertising allows you to launch quickly, control the message, and have your message in as many media as you have the money for. However, that does not mean your message will be believed. The louder advertisers yell, the less likely I am to believe them. How about you?

PR takes time and does not necessarily work on your schedule. Planting new ideas or changing minds is a slow process. When your PR program rolls out over a longer period of time, prospects have time to adjust their attitudes. Brands that take this approach are longer lasting, too.

Chevrolet, for years the number one auto brand, was still number one in ad spending in 2001. It spent $819 million dollars – 39 percent more than Ford spent. That year, Ford outsoldevrolet by 33 percent. Since 1997, Chevrolet has outspent and undersold Ford. Chevrolet spends $314 per vehicle and Ford spends $170 per vehicle. Do you think advertising is working for Chevrolet?

Kmart, embroiled in financial difficulty for years, had revenues of $37 billion and spent $542 million on US advertising in 2001. Wal-Mart spent $498 million and garnered four times the revenue: $159 billion split between its Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores. The average Wal-Mart store does $46 million in sales each year while its Sam’s Club average store sells $56 million. Sam’s Club does almost no advertising.

Those are old brands, you’re saying. What about some newer brands, Harry?

OK, let’s look at Pets.com. Remember the dog sock puppet that starred in their commercials? It won awards, but not sales. In six months Pets.com had $22 million in revenues and spent four times that much on advertising. Off-base advertising creativity at work.

The Body Shop was built totally by publicity. No advertising at all. Starbucks, until recently, did virtually no advertising. It has built a brand through good PR efforts. Starbucks’ annual sales are around $1.3 billion, while advertising expenditures over 10 years, have totaled less than $10 million.

Finally, what advertising agency do you know that has built its brand with ads? Things that make you go “hmm.”

Although our

This in-group/out-group distinction provides us with the basis for ethnocentrism, which is the tendency to interpret and to judge all other groups, their environment, and their communication according to the categories and values of our own culture. We are guilty of ethnocentrism when we hold that our view of the world is the right one, the correct one, and the only one.

We are all familiar with stereotyping, which is one of the most serious problems in intercultural communication. Our tendency to hold beliefs about groups of individuals based on previously formed opinions, perceptions, and attitudes is often a defense mechanism, a way of reducing anxiety.

There are many other causes of cross-cultural misunderstanding: lack of trust, lack of empathy, and the misuse of power. All of us know what they are about and the turmoil that they cause. But, how can we do a better job at communicating among cultures?

The same skills that we need to communicate in general apply to cross-cultural communication. Lets look at some of those skills:

Know yourself: Identify your attitudes, your opinions, and the biases that we all carry around. Identify your likes, your dislikes, your prejudices, and your degree of personal ethnocentrism.

Take time: Listen to the other person and allow him or her to accomplish their purpose. Don't jump to conclusions. Some times we finish the thoughts and ideas of the other person before he or she has finished talking. Some cultures non-verbal styles call for periods of silence and long pauses.

Encourage feedback: Feedback allows communicators to correct and adjust messages. Without feedback we cannot have agreement. First we must create an atmosphere where others are encouraged to give us feedback. Again, don't be afraid of silence. It could be the appropriate feedback at times.

Develop empathy: The grater the difference between us and others, the harder it is to empathize. To develop empathy we must put ourselves in the other person's place. By becoming more sensitive to the needs, values, and goals of the other person, we overcome our ethnocentric tendencies.

Seek the commonalities among diverse cultures: Despite our cultural differences we are all alike in many ways. We need to seek that common ground to establish a bond between ourselves and the rest of humanity.

Although our own ethnocentrism might have hindered us from getting to know people from other cultures, let us be more than ever committed to help ourselves and others overcome the barrier that culture creates. Let us endeavor to minimize the occurrences of cross-cultural misunderstandings as we develop the attitudes and the skills that are needed to communicate cross-culturally.

and patterns

Each of us is exposed to people from other cultures on a regular basis, in the workplace, in our social activities, at school, or even within our families. Our culture hinders us from getting our message across as well receiving the full message that others want to convey to us. This article expound on three aspects: what culture is, the main causes for cross-cultural misunderstandings, and the attitudes and skills that we need to communicate cross-culturally.

When we think about culture we first think about a country, and particularly about its food, art, customs, and patterns of behavior. These are the outward manifestations of a system of values, assumptions, and deeply rooted beliefs. Culture emerges as a group of people face and then react to the challenges of life. The responses to those challenges that are successful are taught and shared among members of the group and are passed on from the older to the younger members. Culture is then learned through experience.

You can think of culture as having three levels:

• The top level is the outward manifestations, the artifacts: visible behavior, art, clothing and so on.

• In the middle level are the values. These are invisible rules that cause the artifacts

• The most powerful dimension of culture is the implicit cultural assumptions. These assumptions lie so deep that they are never questioned, stated or defended

Culture also exists among Americans, but what are the implicit cultural assumptions of Americans? Some of the most distinctive characteristics of the American culture are: individualism, equality, competition, personal control of the environment, self-help concept, action orientation, informality, directness, practicality, materialism, and problem-solving orientation.

These American values and deeply rooted beliefs are very different from other country's values and beliefs. The implicit cultural assumptions of Americans are often opposed to those of other cultures. When individuals from different cultures run into each other's values and beliefs, cross-cultural misunderstandings take place.

People constantly interact with people who have similar views and who reinforce their beliefs. To be able to distinguish between the in-group and the out-group is of central importance for individuals because it allows them to find an identity as to who they are and who they are not.

In the book entitled Cross Cultural Encounters , Brislim states: “If individuals have out-groups whom they can blame for troubles, the in-group is then solidified since there is a common goal around which to rally.” Later on he says: “Individuals become accustomed to reacting in terms of in-group and out-groups. They continue to use such distinctions when interacting with people from other cultures whom they do not know.”

react but do respond.

A PR product or service launching is a perfect way to build momentum slowly. It handles the first and most important hurdle to overcome in building a brand -- credibility.

Step 1: Be a leak-er. The media adores describing events that are "going" to occur. Use it and use it to its longest capacity. Don't jump out too soon.

Step 2: The Slow Buildup. Like a rose, slow gets more beautiful to people the more it unfolds. It is the way people expect and are comfortable with, respect it.

Step 3: Recruit natural allies to support your launch and buildup. Especially, the enemy of your competitors.

Step 4: Bottom-up rollout. You don't want to jump up to the roof and yell, people just think you're crazy. Begin at the lowest rung on the ladder first. Consider each rung a media outlet. Each media creates its own momentum, its own attraction.

Step 5: Listen and Adjust. Be very aware of credible comments and adjust accordingly. Don't react but do respond.

Step 6: Make message modifications. What attributes are working and build on them. Observe media feedback and watch for media nosebleeds.

Step 7: Patience. Launch occurs after PR has run its course, not before. Have a big D-day planned with a massive approach.

After PR comes advertising and not before. The advertising handles the conventional hurdle -- being popular enough so people buy. Conventional, people buying because other people are buying, never comes before credibility. Credibility is why the most effective brand launching starts with PR.

(c) 2004, Catherine Franz.

you attend t

With a dismal failure rate of more than 75 percent among restaurants, you must be sure you do everything you possibly can do to promote your restaurant through free publicity. Here are 16 tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed--even if you don't have a big advertising budget.

1. Call the advertising department of every newspaper and magazine you want to get into and ask for a copy of their editorial calendar. It’s a free listing of all the special topics and special sections coming up during the calendar year. It will tip you off to sections where your story idea would be a good fit, so you can query the editor weeks and even months ahead.

2. Call the food editor or columnist from your local newspaper and invite her to lunch or coffee—or to your restaurant. Offer yourself as a resource. Ask “how can I help you?” Feed her tips and story ideas. Become such a valuable source that she keeps coming back to you for more information and eventually writes about you.

3. Produce your own television show on your cable TV company's community access channel. The station will rent you the camera equipment for about $20. You can produce either one show or an entire series of programs, from how to cook with fresh garden produce to a show on how to buy fine wines. Air time is free. Call your cable company for details.

4. Build a network of other restaurant and food industry professionals—even if they are your competitors. Agree informally that you will refer reporters to each other whenever the media calls. Often, reporters want more than one source for a story. It’s a chance for all of you to get additional publicity.

5. Whenever someone asks you to write for their electronic newsletter or online magazine, visit their web site first and see if they have a resource section where you would be a good fit. Ask to be listed for free, in exchange for providing an article.

6. If you publish an interesting print newsletter with information about new trends in your industry, helpful tips for your employees or interesting stories about things that happen in your restaurant, send complimentary issues to local and national food columnists, food reporters, restaurant industry trade publications and other publications whose audiences you want to get in front of. You’ll be amazed at how many reporters start calling you for interviews.

7. Don’t forget newspaper and magazine columnists. They’re always hungry for fresh ideas. Keep in touch with them and feed them ideas regularly. Tell them about trends you are seeing in your industry.

8. Call local radio talk show hosts and invite them to call on you when other guests cancel. They will be thankful you offered. Write articles for industry newsletters. My favorite resource is the Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters, which lists more than 18,000 newsletters by topic and includes detailed information on the type of audience and subjects covered. Most larger libraries have this resource directory.

9. Contact your trade association and ask them to refer reporters to you. Many reporters who don’t know where to find sources start by calling trade associations.

10. Always refer to yourself as an “expert” in your marketing materials, at your web site, in your email signature file, and in your media kit. The media always seek out experts and interview them.

11. If you receive a favorable restaurant review, reprint it on placemats, or frame it and post it in your restaurant wall. Quote from it in your paid ads. Post it at your website.

12. If you have found innovative ways to attract and retain employees, let the media know. The labor shortage in the restaurant industry is a hot topic.

13. Suggest profile stories of employees who have interesting hobbies or participate in outstanding community service projects. The reporter will ask them where they work—and that’s more publicity for you.

14. If your restaurant is a tourist attraction, pitch a story idea to in-flight magazines.

15. If you attend trade shows for the restaurant industry, hook up with reporters who are covering the show and pitch story ideas about trends in your industry, or an idea about your restaurant.

Word-of-Mouth.

Public relations is all about credibility and trustworthiness. If you don't practice PR, then you are likely to be incredible.

Some of the elements of a PR program include research, media relations, publicity, special events, employee relations, client relationship management, crisis communication, trade shows/conferences, community and government relations, and corporate identity. PR helps you shape internal and external opinion about your organization with an eye toward building support among your key "publics."

What can you expect from PR if it is done correctly?

- Boost Credibility. Media coverage or word-of-mouth from the right people heightens your credibility much more than an ad ever could.

- Build Trust. People trust what they are familiar with. A proactive PR program that gets and keeps your name in front of people can be the first step in building that trust.

- Generate Leads. Positive publicity for your products and services can generate sales leads for you to follow up.

- Word-of-Mouth. By increasing awareness of your company, people and products, media coverage provides fodder for the word-of-mouth machine.

- Shape Attitudes. From employee communication to publicity, PR tactics can be used to tell your story convincingly to key publics.

- Refine Customer Service. Those who believe PR is about one-way, top-down spin doctoring - I hope - are relics of the past. Two-way PR, in which the company actually solicits and listens to customer feedback, can provide the kind of edge companies need today in this age of commoditization.

So, don't be incredible. Make PR an integral part of your business strategy.

Contact your

If you're trying to promote your store, but you don't have a big advertising budget, relax. There are lots of ways to get in front of the audience you want to reach by using free publicity. Here are tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed.

1. Tie your story ideas to the holidays. Here are some examples: Gourmet gift baskets that make the best Christmas gifts. Bookstores that are doing special programs that tie into Mother’s Day. Health food stores that can explain how to create a vegetarian meal for Thanksgiving.

2. Call the advertising department of every newspaper and magazine you want to get into and ask for a copy of their editorial calendar. It’s a free listing of all the special topics and special sections coming up during the calendar year. It will tip you off to sections where your story idea would be a good fit, so you can query the editor weeks and even months ahead.

3. Invite a reporter from your local newspaper or magazine for coffee or lunch. Instead of asking, “Will you write about me?” a better question is “How can I help you?” Offer yourself as a resource in your area of expertise. Talk about trends you are seeing in your store.

4. Consider starting your own television show on your cable TV station’s community access channel. A floral shop can do a program on how to create dried flower arrangements. The station can rent you the camera equipment for a nominal fee. Air time is free. Produce one show or an entire series of programs. Call your cable company for details.

5. Build a network of other retailers in your area. Agree informally that you will refer reporters to each other whenever they call and want your views on a topic on which you all could comment, such as a new sales tax increase.

6. Write how-to articles such as this one for newsletters published by groups in your community, or for newsletters read by audiences who buy your products or services. Be sure the last paragraph tells readers how to contact you.

7. Don’t forget newspaper and magazine columnists. They’re always hungry for fresh ideas. Keep in touch with them and feed them ideas regularly.

8. Get on your local TV news and the morning TV news feature shows. Tie your product, service, cause or issue to a breaking news event. Pitch yourself as the local angle to a national story. Or suggest a feature story with great visuals.

9. Write articles for electronic magazines and include a paragraph of information at the end that leads readers to your web site.

10. Contact your trade association and ask them to refer reporters to you. Many reporters who don’t know where to find sources on a particular topic start by calling trade associations.

11. Always refer to yourself as an “expert” in your marketing materials, at your web site, in information that explains your workshops, in your introductions during public speaking engagements, and in your media kit. The media always seek out experts and interview them.

12. Pitch stories about your product, service, cause or issue that tie into the weather. Weather stories are mandatory at most media outlets, and newspapers and TV stations, in particular, are always looking for fresh angles that tie into today's and tomorrow's forecast.

13. Pitch story ideas about your business to the reporter who covers the retail beat for your local business journal or business magazine.

Shoot a couple

Shoot a couple of games of pool on it. How does the action feel? Is the ball trajectory hampered by inconstancies in the felt, either on the surface or in the cushions? How well preserved are the cushions? Do they have any tender spots? Are they sagging anywhere?

Furthermore, ask whether the bed comprised of one solid sheet of slate, or divided into three sections that can crease the playing surface along two lines? You can test this yourself but running a hand over the felt where the table is divided crosswise into three sections. If you feel a bump, perhaps this used pool table is not right for you.

A good used pool table is a great find that can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

sales, yard sales, estate sales,

Used pool tables are frequently available. Keep an eye on your local classified section for moving sales, yard sales, estate sales, and so on. You’re sure to run across something eventually.

When shopping for used pool tables, ask all the same questions you would if you were buying a new pool table. What size is it: 7, 8, or 9 feet? What are the body, bed, and cloth made out of?

If the body is made out of more than one piece of solid wood or other material, check the connections for wear and tear. How sturdy is the table? Crawl underneath the table and have a look, as if you were a car mechanic. Stand next to the table and give a shake or two, back and forth, and side to side. Bring a carpentry level with you. Set the table on even ground (as gauged with the level) and test the bed with the level.