All Tennis Considered

Social media may seem like the ideal place to begin building your email list. However, as a marketing tool, social media is less effective than email marketing.

Both may be helpful, but only an email marketing campaign will give you the sales and profits you want for your business.

Building Relationships and Email Lists

People go to Twitter, Facebook and other media sites to be entertained. Most people don’t bother with ads of any kind on these pages, unless someone is offering something for free or with benefits.

To build your business on social sites, you are going to have to spend time answering questions and solving problems; this is in addition to offering a free or discounted service or product as an introduction. All this work to earn a few bucks.

Emails: Private Conversations

Sure, autoresponders will allow you to send out a thousand emails at once. However, those on your email list will feel like they are getting a personal message, especially if it is well written and your sales pitch is disguised in the contents.

Email is a personal and private thing to most people. This intimate form of communication is the reason that email marketing is the perfect way to generate sales and revenue.

Email Is Number One

Do you know that if you combine all the users on Facebook and Twitter and multiply that number by 3 you would come close to the number of email users around the globe?

While most computer owners have email accounts, not everyone enjoys places like Twitter or Facebook.

Daily email traffic even surpasses web searches: web searches equal 1/100 of email searches.

That’s like comparing the water coming out of your faucet to a waterfall! Everyone checks their email. Not everyone surfs the web looking for social entertainment.

Privacy

Most people prefer to interact with businesses through private email. Other people get in the way on social media, whereas email is a great one-on-one way to get to know you and your business.

Email is both sales oriented and personal, and gains more prospects and sales than any type of social media.

While it is true that most Twitter and Facebook uses will spend more time on these sites than looking at their emails, they never forget to check their mail each day.

You can’t always get their attention on social media sites, but you have their undivided attention when you send them a direct marketing email.

Relationships or Profits?

If you are looking to make friends, build relationships and slowly grow your email list, then social media sites are for you.

However, if your aim is to expand your business and make a profit, then forgo the sales pitches on social media sites. Email marketing is the best way to reach a wide selection of people at one time.

For every dollar you spend on your email marketing campaign, you can expect an average ROI of $43.

My obsession is helping beginners get results online. That’s because after years of frustration trying to make a steady income online, I’ve discovered a few basic, time-tested “secrets” the gurus have used for a long time, that practically guarantee success.

Learn more by visiting: http://jarwinsmarketing.com/why-your-email-list-should-be-your-number-1-priority

The 7Fs are essential parts of living a longer, better life. One of those Fs is Friendships (the others are Food, Fitness, Future, Fun, Finances, and Faith), considered to be the highest and finest of all human relationships.

Different people provide the friendship we need at different times of our lives (some friends, of course, remain for the long haul). This shift is not surprising, given that most of us change with time and experience, and all parties to a friendship are changing simultaneously. When couples divorce, for example, people might take sides with one of the divorcing pair or lose touch with both of them when they go their separate ways.

Generating and retaining modern-day friendships can be tough going. Exploring the past doesn’t seem to be of much use for us when we’re searching for models or examples. Most of the famous friendships recorded in history and legend are between men and most of those appear as a bit more than friendships (Achilles and Patroclus, for example). Contemporary models offered by film and television and the effect of social media add to the confusion. All we’re able to conclude from these models is that friendship is far more emotional than rational. While it could be argued that qualities such as shared interests, attitudes, views, tastes, style, appearance, and sense of humour are reasons for engaging, friendships tend to be natural, spontaneous, freely given, and entered into more on subliminal cues than other qualities.

Despite the confusion, we do know that we have to work at retaining friendship. Back in Aristotle’s day (350 BCE), he reckoned that one and a half bushels of salt needed to be consumed together before a friendship became solid.

Neil Flanagan has written many bestsellers. One of those is BLINK! The Speed of Life (How to add years to your life and life to your years). If you’d like a free copy, just email Neil at neil@neil.com.au and a copy will be with you, pronto.

Whether they’re hideous, hilarious, or just plan hard to stop watching, cult movies-over-the-top or quirky movies that develop an obsessively loyal fanbase over the course of generations-can provide some of the most memorable and entertaining connections with cinema that any kind of movie watching experience has to offer.

Even though many of these classics enjoy their status in the absence of box office success or critical acclaim, they offer something else-the opportunity to have a uniquely personal experience with a piece of American pop culture that is often shared with friends, family, or even strangers. How many times have you and your brother driven the family crazy at Christmas quoting favorite lines from “Office Space”, for example? Or did your now-husband decide he was in love with you when he realized that you were the only girl he had ever dated who thought that “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was just as hilarious as he does?

If you’re looking for ways to find more airings or public screenings of your favorite cult movies, discover “new-to-you” cult movies or add to your permanent cult collection, these 5 tips can help you successfully connect with some of the best cult movie opportunities available:

One: Get connected with your local movie houses.

If you know of movie houses in your area who sometimes do special screenings of “old” movies, sign up for their newsletter or join their loyalty program or fan club. Not only will you get updates about upcoming events delivered straight to your in-box, you’ll also be the first to find out about deals, specials, and other perks that come from having preferred guest status.

Two: Get creative with your “search” button.

Your favorite cult movie may or may not pop up on the recommendations that your cable company or streaming video services provide, so be sure and use this feature periodically to see if there is a upcoming or current showing of a movie you’ve had a hankering to see. Why? Because sometimes these kinds of more obscure titles can get “hidden” beneath the first few layers of titles that are suggested to you when you log in, or when you look at your tv service’s “guide” function.

Three: Check out your local dine-in movie theaters.

“Dine-in movie theaters” are movie houses that serve chef-driven cuisine, craft beer and creative cocktails, are growing in popularity with each passing year because they offer such an incredible movie watching experience. It’s not uncommon for these movie houses to offer special screenings featuring non-first-run selections, so be sure and follow them on social media (or sign up for email communication, see tip one) to find out when they are having a special event. You never know, the next one might just be your favorite cult movie ever, or a cult movie that’s “always been on your to-do list” but that you haven’t yet gotten around to watching.

Four: Visit your local CD/DVD store.

If you live in or near a big city, the chances are that there are a few non-big-box-retailer places where you can buy movies and music on DVD or CD (and maybe even vinyl albums). These stores are often excellent places to find cult movies both dear-to-you and new-to-you-and even if the store doesn’t have the title you’re after, one of the staff members may be able to give you a lead on where to find it.

Five: Go online.

If you love all things about cult films and want to expand your knowledge, check out the message boards and other content of movie-lover sites like Turner Classic Movies or the Internet Movie Database. There, you’ll find new titles to check out and lots of lively debate and backstory that are sure to enhance your movie viewing experience.

To find out more about cult movies that might be showing in your area, visit Flix Brewhouse today!

Psychological warfare, psyops, political propaganda, and so forth, are premeditated purposes, usually not positive in nature, to influence the thinking processes of others. Intentional misuse of various media, communication means and an array of “infotainment” are calculated to manipulate belief systems. Particularly, the effort contrives to foster emotionalism over logical deductive aspects of mindful analysis. Frequently, the efforts are directed at eventual exploitation of decision-making and actions based on emotional reactivity to superficial contentions. Power, control and dominance in one form or another are skillfully disguised.

We are arrogant, selfish and sometimes very dangerous as a species. Humans can become quite skilled in efforts to manipulate others for person advantage. We are so good at deception that we convince ourselves of the myriad fallacies inference on a daily basis. People, to feel safe at basic levels of communal security, like to have routine trouble free ways of looking at the world. In so doing, simplicity works but not so much from an intellectual level. To reach higher levels of enlightenment, and thereby advance the evolutionary prospects for the species, critical analysis is necessary.

Along with a profound analytic approach to problem solving, the facts must substantiate the theoretical construct in every instance. Proof is in the evidence, at least to the extent that claims can be verified, tested and subsequently validated. Unfortunately, this is not what happens most the time during the majority of social encounters. Instead, we act stupidly in a number of ways every day, from work to play, and all the things we do in between. Public policy, news reporting, and social commentary devolve to the lowest common dominator in which fallacies of inference are easily accepted.

At communal “tribalistic” levels, most are satisfied with a superficial perception of reality. This is a perspective that typically accepts believability in forms of mysticism, magic or mythology. Aspects of the supernatural, the occult or some dogmatic ideology is permitted various aspects of preferred persuasiveness. In a sense, this devolving inclination is reinforced by “herd thinking”, or crowd conformity. Energies are directed toward keeping things basic and uncomplicated laced with certainty.

Rationalizations run rampant based on “word of mouth”, hearsay, rumor and gossip. Magical thinking results in fuzzy nebulous conjecture that means absolutely nothing. In the process, the usual “psychobabble” offers feeble attempts with limited effort to solve serious societal problems. As a preference to ensure basic social survival needs, people oversimplify the cause-effect nature of reality. In doing this, simple templates serve the desires to make thinking more comfortable. Personal bias wants life easy to understand, even though evidence to the contrary might speak differently. In an infotainment age, with the growing reach of technology and telecommunications, frauds, schemes, and assorted swindles can reach wider audiences that are more gullible.

Politics, the press, the pulpit and the pundits can use the susceptibility of the poorly equipped “thinker” to foster an array of “psyops” in every aspect of society. In addition, for that matter, across the globe the propaganda can spread quicker than ever. Naturally, “Psywar” is not new and spans the ages of the human species on the planet. Yet today, with the advent of the internet, information of all kinds travels rapidly. Along with it, there is the incessant “warfare” of psychological competitiveness. Scientific methodology to bolster critical thinking with healthy skepticism is not always applied.

People in general practice their slothful stupidity by easy acceptance of unsubstantiated speculations. Skillful practiced and experienced energies are required to become a serious thinker, whereby one applies the rigors of investigative inquiry. Regardless, many do not apply their capabilities of thoughtful analysis. Instead, most find it more comfortable to escape responsibility, as well as subsequent accountability, by acting in uninformed, silly and foolish ways. Consequently, they give “psyops” operatives, as in advertising and marketing, multiple targets of opportunity.

Efficiency of deceptive operations is now on a grand scale of relentless propagandizing. The massive entertainment venues can exploit every hour of the day, with willing complicity from all lifestyles. With greedy conspicuous consumption, any appetite can be satiated by hedonistic exploitation. Glitz, glamour and gore are sold convincingly across the networks every hour of every day. Each clever contrivance comes carefully packaged and laced with highly opinionated pontifications. Anything can be commercialized for political, corporate or militant purposes, from house ware to warfare. Managing perceptions has become a sinister process.

Publicity, marketing and advertising, enjoy a receptive and malleable “mindset”. Why think for yourself when others can do that for you? Why appreciate a good movie, when you can be inundated with seemingly endless number of commercials? Why attempt to analyze news stories, when you can be distracted by overly opinionated “experts”? Those seeking to manage perceptions reach out to the gullibility of the believer. Without the application of critical thinking skills, one willingly assists in fallacy propagation. Hasty generalization, absent the facts, encourage the faith necessary to make “magical thinking” more relevant than skeptical inquiry. Fantasy trumps factuality.

Without credible confirmation from relevant and competent sources, as well as substantial evidence, or physical proof, no amount of clever “storytelling” proves anything. Regardless of opinions, anecdotes, appeals to “authority”, all such notions devolve to the same level. They represent a viewpoint. Sometimes, people make appeals toward the pseudosciences, such as the philosophical frameworks of psychology, religious studies, sociology and other so-called “behavioral sciences”. Proof, not speculation, is essential to the reliability of any issue in question.

To gain an advantage over another person, a group, a culture, or the majority of a country, perpetrators contrive very clever forms of trickery. From the criminality of corporate collusions, to the pandering of political processes, those with influence and power can have a significant impact on the desired outcomes. As one chooses his or her own complicity of manipulation, so does the one who allows their manipulation. Somewhere along the psychodynamic spectrum of thinking, each is getting something out of the ruse. Whether selling a product, a politician, public policy, immigration invasions, or warfare, a person’s senses are under “attack” every day.

As people choose their devolution toward regressive states of “anti-thinking”, their seduction susceptibility, and thereby compounded by the level of stupidity, becomes more conducive to the sinister ploys of others. Across the social spectrum hypocrisy, much of it driven by ideological dogmatism, with the pretext of civility, also helps further regress the species. No doubt, at any given moment, there are predators waiting for the next target of opportunity to con, swindle and deceive others. In lieu of insightful deductive reasoning, it is simpler to embrace a less rigorous inclination toward slothful embracement of simplistic mediocrity. Dumb became the rule of thumb.

We find in recent studies that post-modern intentional proclivities desire a more ignorant lifestyle. Unsubstantiated opinion, acceptance of uninformed conjecture and magical causations are more readily agreeable than well-documented proofs. The twenty-four seven media feeds, infotainment conglomerations and substandard investigative inquiry, signal a devolving culture steeped in sinister psywars.

Contemporary society is rife with oversimplified diatribes of foolishly uninformed opinionating. Rational fact driven efforts are seldom directed toward serious analytical energies to distinguish falsehood from factuality. Affinities for the paranormal, cultic affiliations, superstitions and the extraterrestrial, typically underscore the easiness by which significant numbers of people define their child-like worldview.

In one study for instance, Americans were generally seen as ignorant of important global current events, as well as the geographic locales of significant international conflicts. In addition, further suggested was the lack of understanding about how the national government actually functions and who occupies key elected positions. Along with a dwindling state of political astuteness, most people are willing to accept important public policy issues without viable efforts of critical analysis.

Mass marketing schemes of one nature or another offer babbling opportunities to relish in sustained self-absorption. Make no mistake, the schemes are many, go by various disguises and vary by medium across a wide spectrum of willfully gullible people. Seemingly so, one often feel better knowing that his or her unevolved beliefs can remain woefully devoid of insightful and enlightened transformation.

Irrational acceptance of fallacies of inference submerges into the confusion of faulty generalizations. Simpleminded thinking allows reliance on stereotyping and scapegoating to over-ride the essentiality of proving issues with reliable evidence. Frequently, ignorance escalates in substantially depressing ways among those thought to be well educated. When lazy, unimaginative or magical thinking is allowed to contravene serious analytical assessment, stupidity is the result. Foolishness replaces facts.

In any discourse, in which ignorance is combined with ideological subjectivity, selfishness will push limits of comparing similarities of two or more dissimilar issues or situations. Telling a story by trying to prove one situation is like another, when the two are completely unrelated, is a serious problem often proves nothing.

Nonetheless, it is a social intercourse process by which we daily attempt to discuss the realities of life in unevolving and misguided ways. Self-interests often get in the way of making changes to the basic “self” residing on the inside. In the slothful effort, we let ourselves get confused, distracted and increasingly immature.

Stories we tell do not necessarily make assertions factual, unless there is valid evidence that positively supports the claims. Unfortunately, ideological perspectives, which are basically opinions, especially in the supernatural realm of religions, do not outweigh the validity of gathering the facts. Reason must trump emotion.

In retaliation against the rampant foolhardiness of anti-thinking, or devolving stupidity, one must strive to strengthen cerebral processes. The brain must be trained rigorously, and fortified with profound levels of inquiry. As one ascends to more mature and higher levels of thought, there will be resistance from others. The quest takes had work every day to become a more self-evolved differentiated person.

This suggests a truly transforming individual, who is selfless, persistent, studious and inquisitive. A free thinking person, who is not afraid of this adventure, is one who pursues personal liberation that is distinctly different from the “herded” masses. Healthy skepticism underscores critical thinking in purposeful desire to thoroughly investigate everything. Nothing is accepted at face value without thoughtful inquiry.

In a world obsessed with power, control and domination, in constant want of material gain and emotional validation, wisdom’s journey requires valiant determination. It is a curiosity of courageous persistence to consistently uncover the truth, and not be bullied by the con artists in every lifestyle. Daily, there is the constant bombardment of nonsensical distractions. The pontifications of psywars never end.

And, three key questions ought to be initially considered, among others, whenever any claim is perpetrated from any source. Queries may include such invitations as, what do you mean, how do you know, and what if you are wrong? Insightfully, one might further ponder can the allegations be proved by the facts presented in support of the assertion. Frequently, people just say silly things, mimic others, and appeal to the pretext of “authority”. This can be observed in so called news reporting, advertising and political speeches that are usually laced with inappropriate and emotional metaphors. Many are hopeful that their prejudices are overlooked, along with their ignorance.

Given the current state of affairs, as related to contemporary social issues, from educational institutions, to governmental and political processes, western society does not appear to be advancing the ascendancy of the human species. On the contrary, people as a whole act mournfully deficient in the application of critical thinking skills. Repeatedly, there are numerous examples of what some call acts of stupidity.

By acquiescence to a distorted sense of “equality”, widespread acceptance of social correctness has been allowed to drive the devolution of the human condition. We have permitted a dumbing down of the information flow, so that simplistic thinking trumps profound rational inquiry. Foolish behaviors at all societal levels have instigated immature thinking processes that foster counterproductive social consequences.

Stupidity goes unchallenged, as those who are dangerously more savvy move in for maximum advantage. With consensual collusion in various bureaucratic frameworks, commercialized interests and info-media obsessiveness, most have given up any pretense to critical thinking and investigative analysis. Conformity to the mainstream is highly industrialized, well controlled, simple mindedly contrived and heavily consumption oriented. For maximization of profit, everything is potentially corruptible.

We are surrounded by massive superficial information bombardment for the sake of commercialized enrichment, and societal exploitation. Relentlessly, such things appeal to the gluttonous material aspects of communal conformism, and not the psychodynamic expansion of mental enlightenment and wise maturity. Thoughtlessness in selfish satiations has become more important than thoughtful enrichment for the advancement of the human race. Meanwhile, wars, famines, horrendous poverty, human slavery and ravenous hatred continue a never-ending cycle of human destruction.

Critical thought, insightful investigative inquiry and creative problem-solving action, require continuous interactivity with the real nature of things. That is, an intellectually enlightened mobility of mindful activities toward higher ascendancy of earth’s civilization. Such would be opposed to the “hunt” for the next “buffet line”, or holiday sale, so that bloated obese consumerism can devolve ever more greedily. Social decline, for which we hasten human devolution, is shown repeatedly by the various daily actions that demonstrate human regression. Psywars abound at every turn, around each corner and into the alleyways of human encounters. We deceive ourselves willingly.

Human deception for the exploitation of others is a two way process of expression and acceptance that works for each participant. While one acts stupidly for the inner carnality of personal proclivity, the other does likewise to achieve amative gain over the other. Politicians, and pompous pontificators of every sort, pundits and the public, are sort of like the multi-murder murderer, (or the more socially exciting term – serial killer). By glitz, glamour and gore, acquiescence to the things that quench desire, each enjoys the fable of their own mythology. Deception is all too human.

With an exaggerated perception of “self”, although fragmented and unevolved, regressing in arrogance, there is a superficiality of charm and beneficence that hides hidden malevolence. Everything can be rationalized by application of clever interpersonal communication skills. Ruthlessly cunning, relishing in hypocrisy, and tempered by limited remorse, the manipulation of others is a psywar of games. Stepping to the edge of social civility for the pretext of altruistic intentions, selfishness for personal enrichment, at the expense of others, remains a significant aspects of human interactions.

While some run for public office, others run to escape criminal apprehension, regardless though, each manifests the traits to foment a range of plots and schemes. Willful premeditations contrive the purposes of eventual reward. At one extreme, you might eat the flesh of another person, after you have murdered him or her in tortuous ways. Alternatively, at another part of the spectrum, you might send men and women to their deaths for exploitive intervention in foreign tribal cultures. In between, or around the curvature of this human array, you might be invisible, behind the scenes, selling, consulting and capitalizing from the misery of either of those motivations.

Nonetheless, the maze of psywar ramifications creeps in serpentine ways to circumvent the rationality of realistic analysis for wiser enlightenment. In the end, it is better to act stupidly that wisely, as simplicity is more comfortable and less cumbersome. For all are potentially malevolent and fall short of any pretense to the glorification of their presumed deification. Justified at every pretext, each finds his or her own rationalized versions of reality for the over simplification of person justification. By layers of fabrication, inventive disguises, and special sounding verbiage, others want to believe the sleight of hand that feels good, in spite of its trickery. With willful acceptance of myth, magic and metaphor, the psywar is human saga evermore.

Social media. Isn’t that a terrible distraction today? It’s a very powerful tool to connect with people, to really have conversations with our friends, family members, and even strangers from across the globe in real time, but it is a tremendous time sucker. This is also one of the greatest distractions we face today. Don’t we all have this feeling in our hearts or even hands that whenever we have a free five minutes with our time we tend to check our phone and check for status updates, right? It might be Facebook. It might be Twitter for anybody. For everybody it’s different, but in general we tend to check our phones and sort of the social networks very, very often.

If this is something you’re struggling with, just turn off notifications on your phone. Turn it off completely. Make your phone notification free, and believe me nothing will change, nothing will really happen if you limit your social media activities. Especially those activities when you’re just looking, and liking, and commenting, and sharing things that other people have created. Remember I’m not talking about doing social media activities or limiting social media activities when you’re doing something creatively.

For example, writing a blog post on Facebook, or inspiring idea on Twitter. No. If this is the path you have chosen to take, Facebook and Twitter, this is your business, and you are creating something. What I mean is the opposite, when you react. When you like, mindlessly scroll through other people’s profile feeds. You just mindlessly like the pictures mostly, sometimes videos. This is not creative activity. You’re not creating value at all surfing the social media, so I suggest we limit this Facebook, and Twitter, and other social media distractions. You will not believe how much time we will save during the day, really.

Believe me, people, you will not feel neglected when you do this. Actually you will feel the opposite. You will feel very calm when you limit social media activities, distractions, because we usually engage in social media when we have this fear of missing out, FOMO. Fear of missing out. Something is happening, what is very, very exciting, and I’m sitting here and missing it out. So I have to check my phone if it’s okay, if I’m on top of things, if my friends like me, things like that. Or, how my posts on Facebook are doing. Do they receive many likes, or shares, or comments? I check, right?

This is distraction because it doesn’t really create value at all. When you are creating and posting on social media this is different. You’re working on your business, on your blogging projects, and that might contribute to the success of your blogging activities, but when you’re just checking things, reacting to things in fear of missing out, this is a simple distraction. Simple distraction which we could easily eliminate if we choose to. It’s nothing really too sophisticated to turn off the notifications, and make our phone cleaner this way.

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