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I decided I want to start sharing blog post ideas for a variety of businesses. Something about just keeping these ideas in my head is starting to make me feel as though I could explode. I often will see a business owner, and hear him/her complain about how to engage with potential customers. What immediately starts happening is my mind begins racing with all kinds of ideas that they could use to blog about and share in their newsletters, on their website, possible even transform into an eBook or eCourse….this is just how my creative mind works. James Altucher said that ideas are like a muscle that needs to be worked out. If you don’t use it you lose it, so he recommends writing a list of 10 ideas a day.

With that in mind, I’m going to flex my idea muscles even more. Who knows? This could turn into a fun and exciting eBook or pamphlet for my ghostwriting clients! Without further ado…here is my first set of ideas- Blog Post ideas for Salons

1. About your salon – when did you open, where did you open, why did you open, and who do you run it with?
2. Spotlight on your staff, or even one spotlight per staff member. What a great way to encourage your staff members sharing your website on their own social media pages! Many people love to have their moment in the spotlight. And, most folks enjoy recognition from their employers.
3. The services you offer. Often times, I see a mundane list of services offered on a salon’s website. What I mean by mundane is it just lists the name of the service and the price. I want to know more. What will I enjoy during the service? For example, don’t say wash, cut and style. Instead, tell me about how my service will begin with a luxurious shampooing and a consultation with my stylist about the right cut for my face. Then, after my hair is nice and clean, I’ll be whisked away to my chair where my hair will be magically transformed and finished off with a wonderful blow dry and styling. Example two – if your salon gives pedicures, explain how important pampering is for our tootsies. Tell me about the foot massage I’ll enjoy, and why proper foot care is so important.
4. Milestone events. Tell your readers about your anniversaries! Share lessons learned after 500 haircuts. Explain how grateful you are for serving your 100th customer in your new location. Share the joyous news of your new spouse of baby on the way. People crave relationships and love working with those they feel they have a connection with.
5. What sets you apart from your competitors? Why should someone visit you instead of the guy down the road? What special extras do you offer that would make someone feel appreciated as a customer?
6. Share your specials! Is it your salon’s anniversary? Celebrate with a sale on all of your products. Or, perhaps you could have an open house party and write about that. Then, after the party do a follow-up post and share the images from the night.
7. Top 10 cuts for a round face, or top 12 styles for your wedding. There is a reason lists are so popular on blogs – the public eats them up!
8. Quick styles for date night. You could even do a video tutorial on your blog for easy styles people can do at home. Now, I know what you might be thinking – I want them to come IN to my salon. That’s great, but building a relationship with your readers is what will make them loyal customers. Show you’re the expert on hair care!
9. Hair care tips. I love this one because personally, after I get a hair cut, I love learning how to keep my hair looking as healthy as it did when I got it done. I want to know how to make it shinier and more vibrant. Your customers might want the same!
10. My final idea that I’ll post today is a round up post of your favorite styling tools. What are your must haves? A flat iron? A curling iron? Combs or brushes? Bonus idea – mention styling tools that you are selling in your shop. Or, if you aren’t selling tools in your shop, get an Amazon Affiliate account and link to the tools there to earn a commission.

There you have it folks – my first post of blog post ideas. I enjoyed doing this post so much that I’m definitely going to be doing a LOT more of them. Do you have an industry you want me to post about? Leave me a comment below and tell me about it!

It’s for people who:

• love to write
• want to start their own business
• have at least some writing experience (blogging, newspaper, magazines, etc…)

It’s not for people who:

• hate writing more than anything
• can’t string two sentences together to save their life
• don’t want to start a business
• lack discipline and organization

Learn more and enroll HERE!

I am insanely excited to announce my first course HAS LAUNCHED! I’ve been talking about creating this course for nearly two years now. It started as a discussion with several writers I know that kept asking me about how I’m making full time income from writing. Yes, I get paid to write in my pajamas! Instead of staying on the 9 to 5 path, I took a chance nine years ago and decided to become a freelance writer. Then, the economy tanked and the freelancers were the first to go at every publication I was writing for.

Fast forward to 2014 and an opportunity landed in my lap to start ghostwriting for a small business. A light bulb went off! I realized I wouldn’t get the credit, but I was ready to take the cash! So, I started ghostwriting for this small business owner’s blogs and slowly, but surely, began getting offers to write for other people’s blogs. In the midst of building my business I had to take on another 9 to 5 to make ends meet, but just six months later I was able to quit for good. I haven’t looked back since!

Now, I want to help YOU! If you are a writer already and want to know how to break into a ghost blogging business, this is the course for you. I’m going to give you all the tools and ideas you need to start your ghostblogging business in a weekend. Yep, 48 hours is all you need if you have the hustle and drive it takes to launch your work from anywhere with WiFi ghostblogging business!

Click the Buy Now button below, and let’s get you registered! Then, you will receive all the details you need to make your ghostblogging business dream a reality.

Imagine starting your own business! Imagine having complete control over your hourly rate, not to mention the hours you will work. Picture being able to work anywhere with WiFi! Buy the course today, and I’ll teach you exactly how I did it. If I can do it, you can too!

Who is this course for? Learn more here!

Today’s drink is a spin on the traditional sidecar. It was created by an awesome bartender at the now closed Tampa Palm Restaurant a couple of years ago.  Learn how to make this drink below.

Ingredients

– 1 tablespoon quick dissolve sugar
– 2 oz Apricot Brandy
– 1 oz Grand Marnier
– 1 tablespoon brown sugar
– orange slice and crystallized ginger for garnish
– 1 tablespoon regular sugar and a pinch of nutmeg blended together

Contact me HERE! I’m PR friendly ?

To Prepare:
1. Rim a martini glass with the nutmeg sugar blend
2. Pour everything but the garnish into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
3. Shake and strain into the martini glass
4. Garnish with the orange slice and crystallized ginger
Makes approximately 1 drink!

This post may contain a link to an affiliate. See my disclosure policy for more information.

Also check out how to make yesterday’s Thanksgiving Cocktail – The Harvest Moon Martini!

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Welcome to day four of my Thanksgiving Cocktails series. Today’s yummy drink is called the Harvest Moon Martini. It’s served cold, but it sure does go down warm. Learn how to make it below!

Not only does this Thanksgiving cocktail bubble, it smokes! The drink is a delicious blend of bourbon and vodka and citrus – oh my!

Ingredients:
– 2 oz. Bulleit Bourbon
– 2 oz. Vanilla Vodka
– 1 oz of Monin Pumpkin Spice Syrup
– squeeze of half a lemon
– squeeze of an orange
– orange peel and cinnamon stick for garnish
– a small cube of dry ice for the smoke effect (optional – the drink is still yummy without it!)

To Prepare:
1. Place a small cube of dry ice into a martini glass
2. Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
3. Shake and strain into the martini glass
4. Garnish with the orange peel and cinnamon stick
Makes approximately 1 drink!

Also check out how to make yesterday’s Thanksgiving Cocktail – This one’s CALLED Thanksgiving!!!!

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I was first introduced to today’s cocktail at Council Oak’s Bar inside Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa. When I say this drink TASTES like Thanksgiving, it’s only fitting that it’s even CALLED Thanksgiving! Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients:
– 2 oz. Dry Gin
– 2 oz. Apricot Brandy
– 2 oz. Dry Vermouth
– 6 drops of Lemon Juice (or less depending on your preference of taste)

Contact me HERE! I’m PR friendly ?

To Prepare:
1. Rim a martini glass with a cinnamon sugar blend
2. Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
3. Shake and strain into the martini glass, and garnish with a cherry.
Makes approximately 1 drink!

This post may contain a link to an affiliate. See my disclosure policy for more information.

Also check out how to make yesterday’s Thanksgiving Cocktail – Snooki’s Thanksgiving Martini!

A few years ago, I met a bartender who had a lot of similar features and personality quirks that put me in the mind of Snooki from Jersey Shore. That night, I was looking for a Thanksgiving cocktail to get my holiday spirits up and she made one up on the spot. She aptly named it Snooki’s Thanksgiving Martini. Seemed fitting and it was pretty tasty! Albiet it quite cinnamon flavored and not a drink you could chug. This one’s a sipper! Here’s how to make it!

Ingredients:
– 2 oz Goldschlager
– 1 oz brown sugar syrup 
– 4 oz pineapple juice
– Brown sugar to rim the glass

Contact me HERE! I’m PR friendly ?

To Prepare:
1. Rim a martini glass with brown sugar
2. Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
3. Shake and strain into the martini glass.
Makes approximately 1 cinnamon flavored drink!

This post may contain a link to an affiliate. See my disclosure policy for more information.

Also check out how to make yesterday’s Thanksgiving Cocktail – The Apple Cider Martini!

Looking for some yummy Thanksgiving drinks? If so, you’re in luck because over the next several days I’m going  to be sharing some of my favorite Thanksgiving Cocktails! First up? The Apple Cider Martini!

Ingredients:
– 1 oz of  Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
– 1/2 oz of triple sec
– 1 oz of brandy
– 6 oz of apple cider
– splash of lemon juice
– Slice of apple to garnish

To Prepare:
1. Rim a martini glass with sugar
2. Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
3. Shake and strain into a martini glass.
4. Garnish with a slice of apple

Makes approximately 1 really tasty drink!

When people ask me why it costs so much for me to write an article for them, I think I should start sending them this parable I found:

The Graybeard engineer retired and a few weeks later the Big Machine broke down, which was essential to the company’s revenue.  The Manager couldn’t get the machine to work again so the company called in Graybeard as an independent consultant.

Graybeard agrees. He walks into the factory, takes a look at the Big Machine, grabs a sledge hammer, and whacks the machine once whereupon the machine starts right up. Graybeard leaves and the company is making money again.

The next day Manager receives a bill from Graybeard for $5,000. Manager is furious at the price and refuses to pay. Graybeard assures him that it’s a fair price. Manager retorts that if it’s a fair price Graybeard won’t mind itemizing the bill. Graybeard agrees that this is a fair request and complies.

The new, itemized bill reads….

Hammer:  $5

Knowing where to hit the machine with hammer: $4995

yea…it’s kind of like that only my itemized bill would read something more like this…

Article delivery…. $5

Time, energy, sweat, blood, ugly crying, research, so much brain power (including thinking about your article while I’m watching Blue Bloods and cooking dinner), not being able to sleep because I’m thinking of a better way to write paragraph two, finally typing it up then scrapping it because it could’ve been better, rewriting and then finally submitting since it’s deadline and I have no more time and must simply give you this masterpiece I could have poured my heart and soul over longer…… $245 (or some other number depending on the project you hired me for, but you get the idea LOL!)

Today, for the first time, I took an aqua fit class. I joined a gym this week with the full intention of getting healthier and taking better care of my body. After three attempts at Zumba in one week, however, it hit me that I might have been trying to over do things. So, I decided to try what I was told would be an intense workout that wouldn’t hurt my joints as much – Aqua Fit.

The idea of the class seemed simple enough. Get into a pool, workout for 50 minutes, have less impact, but get a full body workout and never be able to feel whether or not I was sweating.

I arrived about 15 minutes early and there were already people in the pool. One of the gals in the pool, Diane, is an avid fan of Aqua Fit, but she was there early to complete her workout before the class would begin because she had to be somewhere. Still, Diane took a few minutes to school me in what to expect from the class. She ran me through the exercises that the instructor would be calling out. Thank goodness she did because it helped me know how to do each of the moves in advance without looking so much like a bumbling newbie. Don’t get me wrong, it was still VERY clear I was a newbie, but it wasn’t “as clear” as it would have been.

The class began just a few minutes after 9 a.m. The instructor got everyone’s attention and we began. Simple movements at first for about 20 minutes. We ran through jumping jacks, scissor kicks, frog leaps, etc… Then, the part that got my attention – water weights. Now, out of water these things barely weigh a pound together, but under water they felt like 5-10 pound dumbbells, and the faster we moved them, the heavier they felt. Nonetheless, I was bound and determined to get through the entire 50 minute class.

The thing that shocked me the most is how warm I was getting in the frigid water. I was moving my body more than I anticipated and doing my best to keep up with these Aqua Fit Class regulars. Ultimately, I made it the entire 50 minutes, but when as I stepped out of the water I was shocked out how heavy I felt. I’ve been in pools before, but somehow working out in one made me feel more weightless than just swimming and splashing around. Stepping out made me fully aware of my body’s mass.

I walked into the locker room, changed into my clothes for the day and headed home with the full intention of getting some serious writing work done. My adrenaline was pumping. I felt high energy. I grabbed breakfast for my husband and me and then drove the 10 minutes home to eat and start my day. Suddenly after eating though, the exhaustion came over me. This was another result I hadn’t expected. How hard I had worked without even realizing it in the pool hit me hard. Before I knew it I could feel it was nap time. I barely made it to the bed and promptly passed the hell out.

Planning to only sleep two hours and then get to work proved troublesome. Amazingly, when my alarm went off I simply did NOT want to move. Yep, my whole body could feel all the work I had put it through. I managed to get out of bed and fix lunch and now I’m sitting at my computer writing this. My arms and legs are sore. I’m still pretty tired. But, I feel good. I am happy knowing that I made it through the 50 minutes and honestly can’t wait to try this workout again.

Perhaps after a few more of these classes I can start doing Zumba again. But, for now I can at least rest assured that in the water, though I’m not hurting my joints that have been in pain, I’m getting a thorough and intense workout.

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