Continual Vigilance

Sales of HDTVs are more than doubling each year, technology
advances are announced daily, and it’s hard to keep up with this
heady pace. But it all sounds strangely familiar. Take a moment
to consider the personal computer market of 15 years ago. Back
in 1991…

* The computer you really wanted cost $3,000 or more;

* System specifications were a confusing mess of acronyms and
jargon, such as EGA and VGA, MHz and KB, IDE and DRAM, cache and
interleave;

* The technology was changing rapidly, making it hard to keep up
with the differences between the 80386 and 80386SX and the new
80486;

* If you walked into a computer store, you’d likely be confused
by the answers to your questions;

* If you went to more than one computer store, you’d find that
you’d be told conflicting answers to your questions; * Some
familiar brands such as IBM had personal computers, but you also
were confronted by a host of unfamiliar brands such as Swan and
Gateway and Sager and Packard Bell;

* Your purchase was going to have to last you at least five
years, so you wanted to make sure you bought a system that
wasn’t going to be obsolete overnight; and

* You didn’t want to make a stupid mistake, but it was hard to
get enough information to make a confident decision.

Fast-forward to 2006: this same list describes the current HDTV
and digital TV market, only the jargon and acronyms and brands
have changed.

Early adopters and high-end HD television enthusiasts either
have the time and interest to educate themselves, or have the
money to let someone else figure it out for them. These people
rely on the specialist magazines and custom HDTV installation
services.

As we climb into the fat part of the HDTV adopter curve,
however, we encounter HDTV buyers who are more concerned with
maximum results for minimum costs than with becoming experts in
high definition television on their own. They need a source of
independent, expert HDTV advice that will help them learn enough
to make a confident, informed decision about their HDTV and home
entertainment purchases, without having to invest a significant
amount of time and money in the process.

Alfred Poor’s HDTV Resource Center is designed to meet the needs
of the “fat part” of the HDTV adopter market, providing access
to information that is presented in clear and accessible terms
that will help buyers understand the important issues so that
they can make up their own minds about which factors are most
important for their needs and tastes.

Alfred Poor has spent the last 20 years helping millions of
readers cope with the confusion surrounding personal computers
and related products, and has earned an international following
in the process. He now turns his skills and two decades of
experience to the HDTV and home entertainment market, with the
goal of helping bewildered readers cut through the confusion,
and make confident HDTV buying decisions.

Can you imagine the hypocrisy of spending thousands of dollars, countless hours, and boatload of resources to create a marketing tool that actually sends prospects running for the hills? It might seem crazy, but a overwhelming majority of websites are doing just that.

By failing to (1) define the specific goals of your website and (2) understand how it fits in with your customer’s buying process, you could be loosing out on the opportunity to enable prospects to receive the value you can offer them. — Or worse, by grossly confusing, discouraging, and even annoying them, you could be pushing them into the arms of the competition.

These two incredibly common pitfalls could be costing you business.

However, used effectively, your website becomes a strategic component of a well-oiled marketing and sales funnel that effectively supports your ideal prospects and customers in making the decision to work with you.

There are three components to an effective marketing and sales funnel:

Component 1 - Enables ideal prospects to find you or your business

Component 2 - Gives a prospect an experience of you

Component 3 - Invites the prospect to become a customer

Each successive stage helps your ideal prospects — those who most need the solutions you offer — to find, connect, and build a feeling of trust with you.

Like a funnel, it is wider at one end and smaller at the other. So in order to get an abundance of customers coming out at the end of the funnel, it’s important that you supply the beginning of the funnel with a healthy number of prospects.

Each component of a fine-tuned marketing and sales funnel uses key marketing tactics and tools to guide a prospect along the path to working with you.

A website is one of those tactics and tools. Other examples include email newsletters, complimentary consultations, brochures, speaking engagements, strategically-placed advertising, grassroots marketing, publicity, and networking.

Together, the three components, and their underlying tools and tactics, can support you in reaching your business goals.

To build an effective sales and marketing funnel, first define your specific marketing and sales goals. Do this by asking yourself:

How many new customers do I want to generate per week/month/quarter/year?

How many dollars in revenue do I want to generate per week/month/quarter/year?

What would you like your product and service mix to be? In other words, of your total sales, what percent would you like to have allocated to which product and service?

How many total prospects would you like to have in you customer database? How many people would you like to have on your mailing list?

How many people would you like to add to your mailing list per week/month/year?

Once you have defined the specific goals and objectives of your marketing and sales funnel, consider how you would like your website to support those goals.

Looking at your Marketing and Sales Funnel, do you want your website to support Component 1, Component 2, Component 3, or some combination of these?

If you want your website to support Component 1 of your marketing and sales funnel — it must serve as a channel for high-volumes of people to find out that you and your company exist.

In order for your website to support Component 1 of your marketing and sales funnel, it must produce a consistent heavy flow of prospects to your business. Without this, the rest of your marketing funnel will suffer dramatically. If only a few people can find your business, then even fewer will be interested in sticking around to get an experience of you.

To make sure you have consistent, heavy flow of prospects coming to your website, consider specifically how a prospect might find you.

Did they search for you on a search engine, like Google? If so, what specifically did they search for?

And when the list of options came up on Google, where was your listing located? Was it in the top 10 listings, or was it on page 102?

Did they find you on another website? Like an affiliate partner website?

Did they find you on another website featuring an article you wrote? If so, what kind of article would have brought them to you?

Were they visiting a popular, high-traffic website that attracts a similar market as yours, when they found a banner add linking to your website?

In order to effectively help prospects find you, it’s essential that you understand the specific needs that they are trying to solve. This will help you craft effective search engine listings, feature relevant articles, and target the best key words.

By doing this, you can align with and help along the decision-making process of prospects.

If your website is NOT meant to function as a vehicle for Component 1, then make sure that some other marketing channel is — speaking, networking, article-writing, publicity, advertising, or some other tactic.

Remember that without a healthy Component 1 — leveraging a website or some other marketing tool or tactic — it’s almost impossible to meet your sales and marketing goals.

If your website is meant to support Component 2 of the marketing and sales funnel, the focus shifts towards giving visitors an experience of you that leaves them wanting more.

Examples of using your website for Component 2 - to give visitors an experience of you include:

Offering a host of free downloadable tools - reports, assessments, community-building tools, etc.

Having a blog

Making available articles

Having high-quality, high-intrigue web copy

How ever you deliver this experience is less important than the reaction it evokes. –It’s should create a want and desire by the visitor to want more from you and your business.

If it just gives them a bunch of free stuff and they leave, then you have not met the real objective of Component 2.

During Component 2 of the marketing and sales funnel, a prospect is answering the question, “Is this product/service right for me?” To answer this question, the prospect looks at two very important factors: benefits and objections. Your job is to make sure that the benefits outweigh the objections.

If your website is meant to support Component 3 of the marketing and sales funnel — and you really want people to actually type in the numbers of their credit card to pay for your services online — it’s important that you really understand what you’re expecting.

Here’s the thing — it generally takes at least seven times of being exposed to a particular product or service before an online customer will be willing to make a purchase.

Hence, if you are expecting that the average web visitor will find you today and be willing to pay for your product after only being exposed to you through your website in 10 minutes or less - you’re probably not being realistic.

True, impulse buys do happen, but they are more the exception rather than the rule. So if you want your website to effectively invite prospects for an order, it’s important that elsewhere in your marketing and sales funnel you have given them the opportunity to really, truly get to know you.

Examples of this would be by providing a free multi-part eCourse, delivering a free evening seminar, or through a referral from someone they already know and respect earlier in the marketing and sales funnel process.

If Components 1 and 2 have been effectively delivered, then Component 3 is easy.

However, it is quite common for internet marketers to make the mistake of assuming that large numbers of web visitors will magically say yes to products and programs they know little about.

Don’t make that mistake.

Bottom line - The key to building an effective Component 3 on your website is to have strong, consistent and effective tactics build into Components 1 and 2 of your marketing and sales funnel.

To avoid wasting time, money, and energy on websites that not only don’t work — but actually scare prospects away — be sure to incorporate the Three Component System to building an effective marketing and sales funnel.

Copyright 2005 Coco Fossland

About Coco Fossland
The author of the forthcoming book, The Power of Trust: Trust Yourself, Transform Your World, Coco Fossland is a nationally recognized expert in personal transformation, self-empowerment and self-healing. Blending a decade of technology and strategy consulting with her expertise in self-trust transformation, Coco’s business is focused on supporting people passionate about creating businesses that make a difference in the world. She helps her clients fuse their higher path with their businesses, creating institutions and organizations that profoundly impact the world one person at a time. http://www.cocofossland.com

We expect our lives to go smoothly all the time but that very rarely happens. A need can come up any time it can be a personal need or a financial need. Solution to the personal need may depend on person to person but if you are looking for financial help from outside sources for a short period then an ideal solution are bridging loans UK.

Bridging loans are loans which are offered to people who are looking for quick solutions to their financial requirements.

Instances where the borrowers may need to go in for bridging loans are:
Where you want to buy a property and there is a gap where you have not sold your current property.
Temporary funding for the purchase of a defective property.
For an entrepreneur who sells to the goods on credit may use it as working capital before the payment is made by the buyers.
To purchase a property in a hurry i.e. from an auction.

Bridging loans are short term loans which can be acquired by providing collateral to the borrower. Collateral can be provided in any of the two forms available to the borrower. They are:

A closed ended bridge is one in which the repayment source is already in place, but because of the timing the funds is such that they will not meet the requirements.

Another option is an open ended bridge in this the intended repayment source is known, but it is not guaranteed.

Some examples of the items that can be provided as collaterals are. Residential properties, auction properties, retail shops, buy to let properties or any development sites.

Bridging loans are available to every body not only to people with good credit history but also people with bad credit history. All the people need to know is their credit score which represents their credit worthiness and they can also avail the bridging loans.

Some of the features that the potential buyers must know about bridging loans are:
Bridging loans come for a short period of time ranging from days to a year.
Bridging loans are available at comparably higher rate of interest.
Amount sanctioned usually ranges from £5000o to £500000.
The loan is sanctioned very quickly usually within 5 working days.
You can also get a loan amount up to 100% of the collateral.

These features make bridging loans a much sought after thing in the market if you are looking for a loan for a short period.

If life goes according to the plan then everything happens in a merry way but that always does not happen. A need can come from anywhere if only for a short period of time it has to be looked after that is where bridging loans can help us immensely.

Eva Baldwyn aims to inform common men and women of the several issues involved in personal loans and mortgages through her articles.To find Easy Bridging Loan, Short Term Bridging Loan, Commercial Bridging Loan visit http://www.easybridgingloansuk.co.uk.

Our family has recently made the switch from ground beef to
ground turkey. With ground beef more than $2 a pound, we had
basically quit eating hamburger for quite some time. On a recent
trip to the grocery store I noticed that ground turkey was HALF
the price of ground beef, about $1 a pound. I decided to give it
a try, and our family loved the ground turkey. Honestly, you
can’t even tell the difference in taste, and it is very low fat.
There is almost no fat to remove from your pan. Here are some
recipes our family adapted to our tastes:

Turkey Chili

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 lb. ground turkey
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tbsp. chili powder
1 28-oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz. can of black beans, drained
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 can corn (optional)

In a large soup pan, cook onion, pepper, celery, and turkey in
oil until turkey is cooked through. Add garlic and cook 1
minute. Add tomatoes, beans, and oregano, and stir well. Bring
to a boil, reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 20
minutes, stirring occasionally. Add corn and simmer for 10 more
minutes. Serves 6.

Turkey Lasagna

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. ground turkey
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup onions, chopped
1 (14 1/2-oz.) can tomatoes, chopped, reserve liquid
1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
2 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
8 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 (12-oz.) carton cottage or Ricotta cheese
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

In a large skillet, cook onion, garlic, and turkey in oil until
turkey is cooked through. Add tomatoes with liquid, tomato
paste, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and
simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cook lasagna noodles according to directions on package.

Lightly grease 13×9x2-inch baking dish. Spoon 1/3 sauce in the
bottom of the baking dish. Top with 4 lasagna noodles. Spoon
cottage or Ricotta cheese over noodles. Sprinkle 2 cups
mozzarella cheese on top of cottage cheese. Spoon 1/3 sauce over
cheese, top with remaining noodles, and then spoon remaining
sauce over noodles. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake
at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Serves 8.

Turkey Burgers

1 lb. fresh ground turkey
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup onion finely chopped
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 lemon, juice of
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. soy sauce

Combine turkey, bread crumbs, and onion in a large mixing bowl.
In another bowl, stir together remaining ingredients. Using
hands, work sauce into turkey mixture. Form into 6 patties and
fry or grill. Serves 6.

About the Author

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of
What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick
easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips, home
decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative
Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.

BBC Green is the show stopping and sustainable living url from the BBC Worldwide. The BBC World wide is fully owned through the BBC. The organization makes its capital from a large range of jobs and firms that are linked purely to the BBC’s main output. BBC Greens big time objective is to cut through the confusion that these days surrounds environmental and climate subjects.

The name green is meant to advance folk to think about taking a responsible method to using the natural resources that are situated in & around you. Some astonishing examples would be generating and having solar power. This could make a big contribution to a sustainable environment. Both solar panels use energy that is received from the sun to supply electricity to run free view boxes and lighting. Solar PV additionally known as photovoltaic only requires day light in order to make all of this work; all this is tremendous as it nonetheless means that it will probably generate a little power still on a cloudy day. There are loads benefits to using solar panel systems. You might often save up to 190 pounds off your electricity bill also grid connected systems require very little maintenance. Your PV systems produce absolutely no greenhouse gases and each particular kWp could save in the region of 495g of carbon dioxide gas per annum. This calculates up to nearly 12 tonnes over a solar panels lifetime.

The domain is amazing at explaining things and incorporates each and every one of the issues from around Household & Gardening Food, Travel, Lifestyle and Family and Money. What makes BBC Green spectacular is that the global warming organisation like to think of themselves as dissimilar from every other resource combat climate change site people can often have used. the organisation attempt to make available extra relevant results not simply from BBC Greens very own website, but additionally from other green issue sites that look and search on green living. When you run a search you yourself will be taken to a results web page. This web page will have the top 3 hyper links for BBC Greens results and for recommended sites results. Solar Panels are great at reducing your carbon footprint, check out how to do this at BBC Green.

The UK in recent years has seen a massive growth in the levels of personal debt and thanks to increases in secured loans corresponding to a strengthening of the housing market; it does not appear to be slowing down. Recent figures from Creditaction show that since the end of 1993, when debt levels were around the £400bn level, they have now risen to an astounding £1148bn, and it is growing at a rate of 10.2% per annum, or £100bn over the last year alone.

Mortgage loans currently make up about 83% of the total personal debt level following a 10.3% (£956.3bn) increase over the past year. Both the Bank of England and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have reported a pick up in the property market compared with the previous 12 months. The RICS have seen increases in mortgage approval figures, as well as the number of prospective buyers making enquiries. A spokesman for RICS, commenting on the housing market, stated they believed, “2006 will see the first annual rise in activity since 2002, after three consecutive years of decline”. International property consultant, KingSturge (http://www.kingsturge.co.uk/) is more cautious however, predicting a modest 3% UK residential growth in 2006, while chief economist for the Halifax, Martin Ellis, stated, “Another year of below trend economic growth and the continuing high level of house prices in relation to earnings… should curb housing demand and prevent a renewed bout of high house price increases in 2006″. This will come as good news for the many first time buyers who are struggling to get onto the first rung of the property ladder.

Consumer unsecured lending over the past 12 months has risen by 9.8%, which is less than the rate of secured loans. According to Bank of England figures, this represents a slight drop in monthly credit card spending levels from October to November. Growing fears about abilities to repay the debts are seen to have been a major contributing factor in the slowdown. According to Experian three in four Britons worry about financial pressures during the festive season with 20% still paying off the debts accrued over Christmas six months later.

The Creditaction report has however indicated that overall average consumer borrowing through credit cards, motor and retail finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured personal loans, rose to £4,121 per UK adult by the end of November 2005. The average UK household debt was approximately £7,776 (excluding mortgages) and £46,491 including mortgages, with the average sum owed by each UK adult at approximately £24,636 each (including secured loans).

The means of making payments in shops has also seen changes, with debit cards now overtaking credit cards as the most favored card method to account for two thirds of all plastic payments. The switch to debit cards means that shoppers gain tighter control of their spending without wracking up greater debts. There is still more that can be done to reduce unnecessary expenses however, with the average credit card APR at 15.75%. This is about 11% higher than the base rate, and much higher than many widely available cards as shown on the financial comparison site Moneynet (http://www.moneynet.co.uk/credit-card/index.shtml ).

Following on from a history of increasing personal insolvency rates in the UK, with the period from July to September being the worst on record, the recent figures make for welcome reading. However whilst the current trend seems to be progressing towards a more responsible attitude to personal debt from both lenders and borrowers, there is still much work and education that needs to be done.

Disclaimer:

All information contained in this article, is for general information purposes only and should not be construed as advice under the Financial Services Act 1986.
You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.

Michael Hanna

About Michael

Michael is a keen writer, and internet marketer living in Scotland:

Contact details:

E-mail: samqam@googlemail.com
Phone: 0131 561 2251

Michael’s Website: Belfast

Acne forms near the opening of the sebaceous glands that have hair follicle in them. In normal circumstances, the cells that form the wall of the gland should exfoliate from the pore opening. In certain circumstances these cells become dysfunctional and instead of exfoliating normally, block the pore opening.

In the meantime, the glands keep producing sebum and if hormonal disturbance is present the glands produce sebum at a higher rate. This sebum keeps filling the gland sack and the bacteria called Proprionobacterium acnes (P. acnes) thrive in the atmosphere that is full of sebum and no air. As the bacteria flourishes, the gland gets infected.

At this stage when the bacteria are flourishing and causing inflammation, the gland is producing more sebum and the pore is blocked, the gland becomes very infective and full of dead cells, bacteria, pus and dead skin. This is what we call as a papule or a cyst. The acne grows through different stages and this is the last stage after which the gland ruptures.

Thus acne is not a single stage disease but many causes join together to progressively increase the intensity of acne formation. Teenagers get more acne because the hormonal balance of their body changes during that period. The hormone androgen is normally responsible for accelerating the production of sebum.

Doctors try to intervene during the process of formation of acne and its growth and try to prevent formation of cyst that may scar the skin forever. The same hormonal disturbance is responsible for acne outbreak in some women during their menstrual cycles.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

The author C.D. Mohatta writes articles on skin problems, skin treatments and skin care. You can visit http://www.doctorgoodskin.com/ for more information about how to have good skin.
You can also quiz your personality, relationships and carrer on http://www.funquizcards.com/
For sending free ecards, you can visit http://www.ecarduniverse.com/ This site has free ecards on holidays, birthday, love, friendship, family, expressions, celebrations and all events and occasions.

There are a few things you should consider when you are looking for an online lender. These tips are things you should look for carefully and completely prior to making any decision to work with a specific online lender. By following these tips, you will help ensure that you are working with a reputable company for all of your lending needs, as well as a company that will work well with your entire situation.

First look at the web design of their entire webpage. This should be just as important to you as it would be if you were to say, walking directly into a store. Things you should look for in their website should include the ability to obtain the needed information without hassle; you should not have to click fifty times to gain the information you need about their company. Additionally, you will want to look at the way the page loads for you fast or slow and take notice of errors. A fast loading website, with no errors, will indicate they have a server that is reliable, therefore showing they are concerned enough about their customers ability to access their site that they have obtained someone reliable.

You will also want to make sure they have a solid, reasonable, easy to read, and easy to access privacy policy. This is extremely important, any website that is trustworthy will have a privacy policy clearly posted that explains what they will do with the information gathered from your online application.

Look for a business with a solid history, each website should contain an about us page. If they do not have one, it is in your best interest to immediately discredit that particular online lender from your list. You will want to look at various thing such as, how many years have they been in operations, what area of the world do they do business from, make sure they have an easy to spot telephone number, address, and emails for the various departments you may need to contact.

Another particular piece of advice that any person looking for an online lender should follow is to find a little bit about their reputation. There are several different ways you can go about this, the first way is by speaking to your family, associates, and friends. Word of mouth is possibly one of the best types of recommendation any type of business can get, particularly online lenders. This will allow you to become confident in their abilities and their services. Another excellent way, is to check with the BBB (Better Business Bureau. Check with the BBB and find out if they are a member as well as if they have ever had any complaints filed on their company.

The BBB can give you an accurate report on a variety of aspects regarding the particular lender you are investigating or considering. They can give you various information about their business, for example, the name, telephone number, and the address. The report will also contain, the membership status, if they participate in their online programs, any complaints ever filed, as well as the resolution of the complaints.

Jeff Lakie runs a website on
Debt consolidation
loans uk Visit our site today for additional secured
loans articles.

For some reason, a lot of beginning net entrepreneurs think that
just because their business is Internet-based that all their
advertising must be as well. However, with the recent explosion
of dot-com commercials (just look at the Superbowl!), it has
become apparent that television is a great medium for
advertising your e-business.

Don’t let the horror stories about the expense of TV commercials
deter you. With a little creativity, even a small business with
a limited budget can afford to run an effective TV ad campaign.

PRODUCING YOUR AD

One of the most expensive parts of advertising on TV is getting
your commercial produced. That average 30 second TV spot costs
around $200,000 to produce. Of course, you can find far, far
cheaper ways to get an affordable spot.

Your commercial should look professional. Any touch of
amateurism will sink your spot from the beginning (unless the
junk look is part of a gimmick that makes sense to viewers).

TV production equipment used to cost tens of thousands of
dollars. Now anyone can own a digital video camera that gives a
professional film look. The cost of these cameras is $1,500 or
less making it possible for one person production houses to do
work up to Hollywood standards.

Find out who does small-time, inexpensive TV production by
checking your yellow pages, calling the creative director at a
local ad agency, or contacting the production departments of TV
stations in your area. Everyone in media knows everyone else and
will be happy to give you the name of a friend that does
low-cost work.

Forget expensive actors. Run video of your product or service in
action and have a professional announcer read your copy. Check
local radio stations for a DJ who has a pleasing voice and good
delivery. Offer them $50 to read your 30 second copy.

PLACING YOUR AD

TV prices have been coming down for over a decade. There used to
be just three network TV stations in your town. Now you likely
have FOX, WB, UPN, several other independents, and a bevy of low
power TV stations. You may have 100 more channels available on
cable. You have a neighborhood video store stacked with
choices…and digital video delivery is just around the corner.

With all those choices, audiences are split in much smaller
groups. TV outlets can’t charge near as much for commercials as
they did back in the old days. In lots of markets TV ad prices
are lower than radio’s and far lower than the daily newspaper’s.

One place to get very effective and low-cost TV commercials is
through your local public television station. It’s an option
that most of us overlook, but some savvy marketers are using
with great results.

Public television is dealing with big cuts in their funding.
Federal funds, which have always formed a small part of their
budget, are drying up and stations are having to look elsewhere
for money to buy programs.

It used to be that a program sponsor only got a very short,
basic promotional line at the beginning and end of the program.
It had to go something like “This program made possible through
a grant from Jim Bakery, where bread is always fresh.” Now the
FCC has relaxed those requirements allowing pubic TV sponsorship
lines look more like full-featured commercials.

Call your local public TV station and ask about their
sponsorship policies and opportunities. Because the cost of your
“ad” is seen as a donation, your promotional expense is tax
deductible.

You also build awareness and goodwill in the community when you
support public broadcasting. You can bet the movers and shakers
in your town will notice. Public broadcasting’s audiences are
well education and high income.

As a final piece of advice, remember that a TV station’s lowest
prices probably aren’t published. You will have to call the
sales manager at the station to get them. Expect far lower
prices when your ads run outside prime time or in packages of
multiple commercials.

I went to a restaurant one day with some friends and there was Ruth, another friend who is a lovely Christian lady who worries about her Christianity. This precious soul is a bundle of virtue and she and her good husband have raised four sons who have done well. The entire family is a credit to this once-small community. Ruth, who was with yet another friend (all right, I admit this is still a small-enough community that we run into friends — how fortunate we are!) confided that she wasn’t feeling well. Later on that afternoon, after we had all enjoyed our lunches and gone our ways, Ruth called and shared that her daily prayer, along with the usual requests that we all have, is that she is doing enough for God.

I think this dear gal may live with the fear that she never does enough, not only for God, but for her family, friends and strangers as well. It’s a Christian and female syndrome. Put that together for a peculiarly Christian female syndrome and we have a problem — which just about every Christian gentlewoman I know harbors in her tired heart and mind and body.

The more I thought about Ruth the more I wondered if we ladies haven’t been sold an imperial (read that “repressive”) bit of goods that we gals can have the whole taco and the store with it. After all, how many of the virile macho breed have we heard of late lamenting that they just haven’t quite done enough today. Ladies, when was the last time you heard “Honey, is there anything I can do for you? Put the kids to bed? Do the dishes? The five loads of laundry?” Are you kidding? It’s more like, “I’m tired. I’ve worked hard today, and I’m cashing it in.” And this is before the kids go to bed! As I thought of Ruth and all of us distaff side who staff (read that “unendingly supply”) life, I recalled a verse that helps me when I am so tired I want to climb under the covers and take a 24-hour reprieve from life, of course worrying that I am wasting God’s time and not doing enough for humankind: “She did what she could” (Mark 14:8). I have a habit, whether good or bad I know not, of taking Bible verses out of context and applying them to personal needs and this one met an immediate need one tired day of accepting God’s message that we gals can only do so much.

Years ago I read the following story in a very old book: There was a poor acrobat who turned monk but who was so ignorant and unlearned that he could not even say his “Pater-noster” or “Credo” properly. Greatly disheartened at his failure, he used to go before a picture of Christ hanging on the cross and perform his old acrobatic feats, until he sank to the ground, exhausted. And while he lay there, it is said, Christ Himself came down from the cross and wiped the perspiration from his brow. This beautiful act surely expresses the very heart of the divine understanding and sympathy. God does not expect from us what we cannot render, but even the seeming unspiritual things, the common duties of life, if done in His spirit, are beautiful to Him, for if He accepts the cup of cold water given to others, He will not refuse the smallest thing offered in love to Himself. He will come down to receive it with His divine grace and, in accepting it, will bless the giver.

This is such a magnificent message to us who wonder if we have put in enough time or money or strength today. I mentioned to Ruth that I wondered if we exhibit a lack of trust when we feel we haven’t done enough for God. Perhaps we need to get back to meditating on what God has done for us and not worry about whether we have filled today’s cup; just be enormously grateful for our own full cup of blessings from God who knows our dust and simply do what we can this day, believing wholeheartedly that our dear Father supplies our many lacks.

God realizes more than we do how much emotional and spiritual and physical strength we have or don’t have, and we can trust Him to accept what we can do — and what we can’t do, which is perhaps even more important. When we feel like collapsing, we can hear Jesus saying to us, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31,32). Jesus said this to His friends, His beloved disciples, after a heavy-duty day, “for there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.” How many wives and mothers fit in that category! We had five sons and I well remember missing meals and running to and fro, and also wishing I could find a deserted place to rest a bit. The kids always found me, even when I hid in the closet, taking literally that grand verse in Matthew 6:6 to enter into your closet, only I had the ulterior motive of saving my sanity, which is now questionable — just ask the boys!

J.K. Mackenzie advised years ago, “Don’t be unwise enough to think that we are serving God best by constant activity at the cost of headaches and broken rest. I am getting to be of the opinion that we may be doing too much.” This crazy world we must live in has convinced us ladies especially that we can bring home the groceries and cook them, too; that we can be supermoms and superCEOs, too. Impossible! How can one person live two lives at the same time? I’m old enough to have lived in the era when it was taken for granted that men and women were different, they each had their special gifts and when these were combined, they made the whole of life, and together they produced a stable and loving family. How sad that this formula is now considered extinct.

Ladies, God doesn’t expect us to kill ourselves doing so much. Indeed, He bids us to “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). If ever there is a verse for our killing days, it is this precious promise. Now if we could just find the time and quiet to read it over and over!