Subscribe to USA TODAY - Save 35%

Thursday, May 07, 2009

 

Paul Flood's habanero lime butter recipe

You will never find something better to butter up your corn on the
cob.

This recipe is from the Sonoran Grill by Mad Coyote Joe

½ cup sweet butter
1 habanero pepper minced
(if you've never worked with habanero peppers, be careful!)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp salt
½ tsp dark brown sugar
Pinch of fresh black pepper

Whip all ingredients together in a blender or food processor, roll
into a log in waxed paper and chill.  Best with corn on the cob but
also good with other fresh vegetables.

 

Paul Flood's BBQ sauce recipe

½ cup sugar
1 cup water
½ cup brown sugar
2 T prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp pepper
3 tsp salt
½ lemon
1 sliced medium onion
4 T apple cider vinegar
1 Stalk celery
½ cup butter
1 cup tomato catsup
4 T sauce

Combine all ingredients except catsup and Worcestershire
sauce,simmer 20 minutes

Add catsup and Worcestershire sauce, bring to boil and remove from
heat.

Baste meat on grill with sauce every 10 - 15 minutes. 

Be sure not to grill at too high a temperature or sugars in sauce
will burn.

Remove meat from grill and do final basting of meat. 

If you'd like to kick it up a notch, top your meat with a
sprinkling of Tabasco Sauce.

Friday, April 24, 2009

 

Bob Bly's schedule

Direct Marketing copywriter Bob Bly just sent out an email going over his average-day and some insights on getting things done when self employed. 
 
I thought it was pretty valuable, so I'm posting it here.
 
Ron
Follow on Twitter
Insurance, Business & Marketing- www.twitter.com/lisyinsurance
News, Events & lots of politics- www.twitter.com/ronlisy
 
 
 
 
Dear Direct Response Letter Subscriber:

Subscriber AM recently wrote me:

"Hey Bob, your guru Michael Masterson has already provided us
with a description of his daily schedule. We would also be
interested in knowing how you schedule your day."

I'm afraid my schedule is much less diverse and interesting than
Michael's, though perhaps in its own way instructive:

I work 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, from 7am to 7pm EST Monday
through Friday.

That's the ideal schedule, anyway.

Of course, there are the occasional unavoidable interruptions.

So to make up for lost time, I normally (but not always) put in
2-4 hours on Saturday.

Sundays I usually take off. And in really nice weather in the
spring, I may leave an hour or two early on Friday evening to
sit in the yard while the sun is still out and read the paper.

Of course, I do spend some weekends "working" -- giving or
taking seminars.

But those weekends are the exception, not the rule.

During the week, I devote the mornings to the tough work -
writing copy for my clients.

I continue writing client copy after lunch for a few hours,
until I lose steam.

The rest of my work day is spent on these tasks:

>> Managing my little Internet information marketing business,
CTC Publishing.

>> Editing e-books written for CTC Publishing by my freelancers.

>> Writing my own books, articles, and columns.

>> Doing some blogging, social networking, and content
syndication to promote my Internet business.

>> Routine correspondence with customers, readers, prospects,
clients, colleagues.

>> Phone interviews with subject matter experts I must talk with
to gather information for writing projects.

During my 12-hour stint in the office, I take a half hour off
for lunch.

Since I am along the entire day (we have a virtual office in
which my assistants work in their own homes), I like to get out
for lunch - for some fresh air and to see live people -- when I
can.

I usually eat lunch in a local coffee shop 3 days a week (the
other 2 days I pick up something from across the street or eat
the yogurt, oranges, and apples in my office fridge).

My office is a 20-minute drive from my house (I don't work at
home), so that adds another 40 minutes to my 12-hour work day.

I use car time to listen to audio CDs. These include my own
audio programs, which I listen to as a quality check.

They also include the many CD programs sent to me by marketers
who want me to promote their audio information products to my
list as an affiliate.

So ... what can you take away from my work habits that can help
you be more productive?

Here are 2 quick tips....

First, notice that I work a 12-hour day.

When a reporter asked the great Claude Hopkins why he earned
twice as much as any other copywriter of his day, he answered
that he worked twice as long.

One key to super-productivity is simply to put your nose to the
grindstone, dedicate yourself to work, and get things done.

Motivational speakers and coaches implore us to work smarter,
not harder.

But most of the really successful people I know work smarter and
harder than their competitors.

The other tip is to break your work day into one-hour increments
and assign a different task to each hour.

This is particularly useful on days when you can't seem to get
moving or motivated.

Just write out the schedule ... and do for the hour what it says
on the schedule.

AM also asked me about hobbies and travel, but there isn't much
to tell here.

That's because another key to my productivity is that, for
better or worse, I don't indulge much in either: hobbies or
travel.

I don't enjoy travel and would much rather be home.

As for hobbies, parenting a special needs child and working the
schedule I do leave little time for anything else.

What I really love to do is write. So work is my "hobby."

I like to read, and I have a few minor interests (e.g., a
92-gallon aquarium).

But I have no real major hobbies like collecting antiques or oil
painting.

I do have a big comic book collection dating back to the early
1960s, but my sons have taken it over.

And I'm taking a writing course here locally at The Writing
Center in Englewood, NJ.

A boring life?

Maybe to you.

But it suits me just fine, thanks.

Sincerely,

Bob Bly

P.S. If you want to know what I am doing currently, on a weekly
or daily basis, you can follow "Robertbly" on Twitter.

Just click on the link below and search the name Robertbly:

http://twitter.com/invitations/find_on_twitter


The Average US Credit Score is 692. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!

# posted by RonL @ 12:46 PM 0 comments

Thursday, April 23, 2009

 

A Stock Market investment checklist from Adam Mesh

www.adammesh.com

Stock Market Checklist:

1.) Make sure you are aware of how your portfolio is
performing. Even if you have put your trust into someone
else's hands, you must know how to track how you are doing.
After all, it is your money and there is nobody that cares
more about it than you do.

The following is an excerpt from Walter Updegrave's recent
CNNMoney article:

"Does your adviser provide regular updates on how you're
doing?

No strategy is going to go exactly according to plan. So your
adviser should be providing periodic reports - quarterly
seems reasonable to me - that show you how you're doing
versus an appropriate benchmark. If your portfolio's
performance is out of line - either above or below its
benchmark - then your adviser should explain why this is the
case and you should both discuss whether any changes or
tweaks are needed.

A good adviser should also know, however, that market turmoil
will naturally upset many investors and lead them to wonder
whether they're still on the right course. So aside from
scheduled updates, an adviser should make a special effort to
keep in touch during especially chaotic periods.

It's not enough at times like this for an adviser to say,
"hang in there and all will be well." An adviser should be
ready to go over the strategy again, make sure it's still
appropriate for your situation and, most important, explain
to you why the strategy still applies even if it's losing
money at the moment.

If something about your situation has changed or if it turns
out you drastically overestimated the level of volatility you
can stomach, then it could make sense to fine tune and
perhaps re-jigger your portfolio. Remember, though, if you're
constantly making changes, then you probably don't have a
real strategy anyway. You're winging it.

If, after asking yourself these questions, you decide your
adviser comes up short, then fine, go look for a new one. But
if you're going to jettison him because he can't predict the
future, good luck in your search for a replacement, because I
don't think you'll find anyone who'll measure up."

2.) Don't anticipate what is going to happen next in the
stock market, just try to be the first to react when things
do start happening. Here's the analogy: pretend you are a
goalkeeper in a soccer tournament and the other team has a
penalty kick. If you dive before the ball is kicked then you
have a fifty-fifty chance of guessing right. Those are not
good odds when it comes to making a trade in the stock
market. If you react as soon as the ball is kicked you have a
much better chance of picking the right direction and even if
you are wrong, you still will not be as wrong. The key to
stock market success is taking advantage of what the market
gives you instead of trying to predict what is going to
happen. 

At Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s annual meeting, Warren Buffett
was asked to expand on his outlook for the stock market and
he replied, "I'd like to expand but I couldn't answer. It's
just not our game."

3.) Remain Disciplined. When trading at any level, you must
have the discipline to remove emotions from your decision
making process. Trades should be executed based on
risk/reward and sound technical analysis. If the last thought
you have before buying or selling a stock contains one of
these words: hope, afraid, want, fear, need - then you are
doing something wrong. Have the discipline to do the right
thing whether it's comfortable or not.

4.) Be consistent. If you know you have the right strategy
and you are trading the correct way then don't be fazed by
small losses. Stick with the game and plan and know that over
time you will be rewarded for your consistency. If A-Rod
strikes out three times in a row, he does not change his
entire swing. He doesn't even change his bat. He knows that
if he sticks with what's proven to be successful over time
then the hits will come his way. It's okay to tweak and
constantly be looking to improve but not change everything
because of a few minor setbacks. Boring Consistency will lead
to success. If it helps, find someone to hold you accountable
to make sure you follow through.

5.) Form a plan. You need to have a base, a core strategy that
you can rely on and work off of. Success starts with a plan.
Take a system that works, now customize it for you and your
lifestyle. Set goals that you have to stretch to reach and
make sure the plan you have will give you the best possible
chance to achieve those goals.

If you need help with #'s 4 & 5 then click on the link below.
My team and I will make sure you are held accountable. We
will also customize a stock market plan that is based on you
- your personality, your availability and your goals.

http://www.adammesh.com/evaluation.html



Big savings on Dell XPS Laptops and Desktops!

# posted by RonL @ 6:46 PM 0 comments

Monday, July 21, 2008

 

Networking By Newsletter: Make Your Professional Organization Work Overtime

By: Cathy Goodwin

Your professional organization decides to send out a newsletter to the membership.
They need an editor. Should you volunteer? After all, nobody reads these things, do they?

That is what I thought when I was asked to edit a newsletter for the very first time. My group consisted of consumer psychology researchers and marketing managers.

"Just one thing," I said to the group's president. "Can I have a humor column?"

"You can have anything. We've had 3 editors in one year. We are desperate."

"Okay, but just for a year or so."

Six years later, I looked back on this experience as one of the most fun and most rewarding of my career.

Running a newsletter offers unique opportunities for self-promotion, networking and contributing uniquely to your organization. You create a vehicle for members to brag about themselves and each other. Along the way, you gain valuable exposure as a professional and as a writer.

Since then I've written newsletters and newsletter columns for others, including a neighborhood association and a fitness center.

Solo-preneur professionals often are surprised to discover the power of newsletters to help their organizations attract and retain members, as well as explode networking potential for themselves and their members. Here are 7 tips I like to share with my own clients.

(1) For the best newsletter content, spotlight your members.

Call them and ask, "May I interview you for a story?" People enjoy reading about the superstars, but they relate closely to stories of members like themselves.

Don't be surprised if "ordinary" members resist being interviewed, especially if they're also clients. They'll say, "I'm too shy," or, "Nobody wants to hear my story."

But once they're featured, they are loyal for life. While living in New Mexico, I wrote a newsletter for the fitness center where I worked out. They always asked for extra copies to take home. "Your name in print" still carries power even in a jaded society.

When your members are self-employed professionals, you don't even have to write the story. Just invite randomly chosen members to be "spotlight of the month." They'll come up with a promotional message that everyone will enjoy reading. I was on the fence about renewing a membership myself -- until I was invited to be in the spotlight one month. That group gets my dues next year.

(2) Double your coverage by assigning volunteers to interview each other.

Now you get 2 people to feel involved -- the interviewer and the interviewee. New members welcome the opportunity to make connections and maybe find a future mentor. You'll get senior members who normally would be too busy, because they realize they're making a direct contribution.

(3) Stir up as much controversy as possible.

No need to be dull.

My professional newsletter featured a humor column. Many readers were college professors (and I was too, at the time)so we created a satiric view of academic life, featuring heroine Maybelle Marketing, her cat Fluffy whose claws were registered as lethal weapons, and hints of midnight meetings with the mob. My column may not have done much for my academic career, but I honed my writing skills and got a lot of attention for the group and the paper.

This format may not be appropriate to your own organization. But maybe you can ask some senior members to write editorials. Some newsletters feature debates with pro vs. con statements on controversial issues.

(4)Celebrate every member's achievement you can find.

You don't have to wait for someone to win a national award. Your members will win marathon runs and coach winning soccer teams. They'll acquire promotions, houses, children and dogs....readers love this stuff.

You get the winners involved -- and you remind everyone that they're participating with a smart group of achievers.

(5) Recognize the power of networking with newsletters.

Everybody knows the newsletter editor and (if you do a good job) everybody wants to talk to you. After a surprisingly short time, you realize your newsletter practically writes itself. You are getting known faster than if you attended 22 networking luncheons.

It's the ultimate win-win: you get to brag about others and you display your own skills in a low-key, creative way.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., coaches and writes copy for service professionals who want to increase the marketing potential of their websites to attract clients and increase revenue. Visit www.copy-cat-copywriting.com Get a free download of 7 Things Your Website Needs to Attract Clients www.copy-cat-copywriting.com/subscribe.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.ronlisy.com
 





Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today.

# posted by RonL @ 3:43 AM 0 comments

Sunday, July 20, 2008

 
How to Campaign at Parades, Festivals and Fairs
by Matt Lewis


It's that time of year. Candidates of all stripes and sizes are receiving invitations to attend lots of parades, festivals, and fairs. I've attended hundreds of these small town events -- and I know what works (and what doesn't). Following are my tips for success: 1. Have Balloons. While I usually discourage candidates from wasting money on too many kitschy items, balloons are the exception. The most liberal mom or dad may hate your candidate -- but they won't be able to say "no" to a kid who wants a balloon. (Of course, the ultimate goal is to have hundreds of balloons floating around the event with your candidate's name on it.) So how do you use balloons effectively? - First, make sure your candidate's name is printed in LARGE letters. (Small writing is a waste.) - Arrive at the event early (it takes more time to inflate balloons with helium than you think). - Throughout the event, have one person continuously responsible for inflating balloons, while other volunteers distribute them. - If the event is a parade, have volunteers distribute balloons up and down the parade route -- before the parade starts. (Remember, observers begin lining up their lawn chairs along the parade route long before the parade actually starts.) 2. Candy. At a parade, they will usually allow you to throw candy to the crowd. Kids love it, and adults do too. And at a fair or a festival, it is a good idea to have candy at your recruitment table (along with your bumper stickers, yard signs, etc.). 3. Lapel Stickers. Forget those metal campaign pins that they used to give out in the old days. Instead, invest in rolls and rolls of lapel stickers. - Again, make sure your candidate's name is in large letters. - If the event is a parade, arrive early and have volunteers go up and down the parade route, giving them out before the parade starts. - Ideally, your volunteers will personally (and respectfully) place the sticker on a person's shirt. This insures the person actually wears it. (Stickers do you no good if they aren't worn). Never tear off the sticker (with the back still attached). If you must hand someone a sticker, pull the back off (so that it is sticky when you hand it to them). - You should be wearing several stickers. Psychologically, if you are wearing a few stickers, others won't object to wearing just one. - Like balloons, kids love stickers. GENERAL TIPS ... - Be aggressive. As Morton Blackwell says, "Nothing moves in politics unless it's pushed." Whether you're handing out lapel stickers or palm cards, you've got to be willing to be outgoing and approach folks (without crossing the line). - Get there early. Advance work pays off. Whether you are attending a parade or a fair, arrive early and set up the logistics. - Staff and volunteers should be wearing campaign t-shirts. The candidate's name should be printed large on BOTH sides of the shirt. - Have a "travel aide." At a parade, always have one person whose entire job is simply to stay with the candidate (at all times). This person is charged with walking next to the candidate and holding a sign with the candidate's name on it. If someone spends too much time talking with the candidate, the travel aide must play "the bad guy," and politely find a way to get the candidate out of there (the candidate is always the "good guy"). The travel aide should also collect business cards, remember names, etc. ... If you do these things, you will run circles around your opponent at parades, festivals, and fairs. Note: You may not feel that parades and fairs are the most exciting part of campaigning, but remember: The best run campaigns make sure to outmaneuver their opponents in all facets. So let's get out there and get to work!

Matthew K. Lewis,
President, Campaign Leadership Company, LLC

# posted by RonL @ 3:19 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

 

Championship Series Schedule

 
Although apparently the Yankees may be pinch hitting for the tribe in ALCS game 4...:)




See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.

# posted by RonL @ 12:25 PM 0 comments

Friday, September 21, 2007

 

2005 Chairmanship Election

This is from the "archives" department.  This was the official press release issued by Cuyahoga County GOP headquarters, following my defeat for the party chairmanship in January 2005.  --Ron Lisy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2005

CONTACT: Rob Frost (440) 503-4475

 

 

NEWS FROM THE CUYAHOGA GOP:

FROST ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE PARTY

 

(CLEVELAND) The Republican party of Cuyahoga County is honored to announce the election of Robert S. Frost as Chairman of the county party Central Committee.Chairman Frost was elected today after a rigorous campaign.Chairman Frost is also the current Councilman for Rocky River Ward 1.

 

Councilman Ron Lisy of Bedford challenged Frost for the seat.Councilman Lisy ran a spirited campaign, although Frost pulled off the victory.

 

Frost replaces Rep. Jim Trakas who is stepping down and will shortly announce intentions to run for higher office.Trakas has been Chairman since May 10, 1996.

 





See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.

# posted by RonL @ 4:48 PM 0 comments

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?