Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York & Los Angeles

Arguably the greatest leader in all of sports, Mark Messier had his #11 retired last night at Madison Square Garden. This night will go down as one of the most momentous occasions ever in New York Rangers history and quite possibly in MSG history as well.

Few know this but early childhood for me was spent in the steel city of Pittsburgh. Going to catholic school it was common for me and the gang to head to a Steelers, Pirates or Penguin's game on the weekends. I personally have not followed the Steelers in years. That is until this past weekend.

What a PR spin this has become... The Pittsburgh Steelers have made it to the Superbowl. Why hadn't anyone expected it? Why were we looking at the Colts. Is it because the town of Pittsburgh is so small? Or the coach; Bill Cowher is not PR worthy? And Colt's Peyton Manning is? A few of us in athletic PR would say yes. Peyton is handsome charming and a PR machine. Does the media and PR generated have more to do with the players and characters playing the game then how they game is played? You bet!

Their PR saving grace a quarterback named; Ben Roethlisberger. This is something Burt Lauten , Public Relations/Media Manager of the team has found as a new glory.

This video is a saving grace for them! Take a peek and as one person put it who sent it to me, you will get the chills. NFL veterans are banking that in months to come Ben will be signing several new consumer goods contracts to come. Right Guard deodorant would be a good fit!

We’ve all heard of people branching out and diversifying their goals and objectives. A clothing designer might introduce a fragrance; movies may turn into action figures, but an athlete becoming a political figure? I guess stranger things have happened, just look at Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If you’re like me, Super Bowl Sunday stirs little excitement in me, aside from the big laughs I get from the commercials. But I don’t want to waste the last day of the weekend watching million dollar ads when I can catch them later in the week during my normal TV programming. Thanks to MSN.com’s City Guide, there is a list of activities to keep me active while Americans everywhere are gorging themselves with chicken wings, beer and football.

Get the complete list of anti-super bowl activities at MSN.com now.

I recently got my March 2006 issue of Men’s Fitness, the first fitness magazine I ever bought as a much too skinny and gangly 14 year old hoping to someday be buff (btw, still working at it 15 years later). As I was flipping through the magazine picking which articles I want to go back later and read, as I always do, I was struck by the number of full page ads taken out by nutritional supplement companies. I felt bombarded by overly muscled men and unrealistic washboard abs telling me to take this pill or powder to give me additional strength, muscle mass and endurance. These nutritional supplements have been around for years with mixed reviews from athletes and consumers alike. But why are over 50% of the ad pages in Men’s Fitness being taken by these companies?

So, I’ve been exploring options for weight loss lately and a few things have jumped out at me; full body liposuction, the Lap Band, wiring my jaw shut…just kidding! I realized after much denial that the only way to get the pounds to melt is through serious diet and exercise. A lifestyle change…it’s so easy to visualize, isn’t it? The reality is that it is hard and that reality is so clear cut that I have decided to audition for Reality TV!

The Biggest Looser is the greatest show since, well ever. Talk about inspiring. But, of course being inspired isn’t always enough to get you out of the bed at 5AM for a morning run. I need a chef and a personal trainer. If I had one, I’d be unbelievably gorgeous too! Just the thought of having the opportunity to participate in that American phenomenon makes me giggle.

My supportive team at Pierce Mattie Public Relations has even gone so far as to show me just what I could look like should I make it on and emerge victorious. I love it! It’s going on my refrigerator to prevent me from overeating…maybe I won’t eat at all if I keep looking at Janet’s abs staring back at me.

Anyway, ladies and gents- keep hope alive, send the good vibes my way and hopefully my on-camera interview was impressive enough to reserve me a space on that fabulous ranch where weightless is inevitable.

Ciao, bellas!

Usually the key to losing weight is healthy diet and exercise. But involving God? What does religion have to do with losing weight? Now I like to think I’m a pretty spiritual person, but I don’t think that my religious beliefs have anything to do with how healthy I eat.

I was watching the TODAY show yesterday and guest Gwen Shamblin, author of “The Weigh Down” seems to think that spiritual nourishment is the way to go if you want to lose weight. Shamblin claims that changing your focus off of food and onto God will help change your life and eating habits.What?!?

There are even other organizations like First Place, which incorporates Bible study, Scripture memorization, prayer and balanced eating and exercise plans to help people lose weight and live a “better” lifestyle. Or Thin Within, which teaches that food may provide some level of comfort for a little while but can’t provide a spiritual life.

All three programs focus on lifestyle changes physically, spiritually, and emotionally to lose weight. They all also seem to have the mantra, "eat only when truly hungry and stop eating before you’re full." Anyone could’ve thought of that one!

These places sound eerily like a brainwashing cult to me. Did I also mention that for these programs you have to pay to participate? Whether it’s buying the book, taking classes like Shamblin’s Weigh Down Workshops or buying Thin Within Support Group Kits, you’re putting out a lot of money for “eat only when hungry and stop eating when you’re full.”

Men’s Fitness Magazine has just named “The 5 Best Supplements for Men” in their August issue.

Living in New York now going on six years, I have really struggled with eating balanced meals every day and making sure I’m taking the right vitamins and supplements to help my muscles grow and get a better looking physic. I’m proud to say I take 4 out of 5 of these supplements consistently now and I have been seeing great results.

1. A MULTIVITAMIN- I prefer taking a green multivitamin every morning with breakfast and every night with dinner. Not only are getting all the recommended vitamins but also what you’re missing when you don’t eat your green vegetables. It’s like killing two birds with a stone. Be careful though, these vitamins can be as large as “horse” pills. Make sure you find the smallest ones.
2. PROTEIN POWDER- This is my favorite part of my workout. The End. As soon as I get home I like to either MYOPLEX or MUSCLE MILK with sugar free soy milk. Both taste great and you’ll really see a difference in a couple months after consistently drinking it every day.
3. CREATINE- This synthetic energy supplement has been around for a long time. There have been many myths about this but researchers are finding out that it’s ok to take everyday and also mix it with your protein drink. I recommend taking an energy supplement called NO-EXPLODE. I drink this right before my workout and it really keeps me focused while opening my veins to let the blood run faster and also keeps water weight off which CREATINE can tend to add.
4. GREEN TEA- I have to say it’s taken me a couple years to get in the habit of drinking this but I try to have a cup before I go to bed every night. I have to say as hot as it is now in New York, I really enjoy it over ice. Green Tea fights fat. Plain and simple. Drink it!
5. FISH OIL- I haven’t been able to bring myself yet to taking this, but I hear it’s great some good stuff. Fish Oil has been proven to fight against diseases but I myself think it smells to “fishy” and way overpriced.

All five of these are the keys to getting a better looking healthier body and piece of mind and I intend to stick to it.

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ISPA Knowledge Networks are a venue for spa professionals to openly discuss current circumstances and to create practical solutions for business. Expert speakers; Mary Bemis, Rona Berg & Pierce Mattie will address pertinent industry-related topics, while also providing time for in-depth group discussion. Regardless of your level of experience, the education offered at the ISPA Knowledge Networks will be invaluable. Each Knowledge Network includes a Marketplace on the first evening providing an opportunity to network and learn about the latest products.

The ultimate goal of the Knowledge Networks is to provide spa industry professionals with the opportunity to build relationships in a one-on-one environment with their peers. View Invite">We encourage you to join us for the final 2006 ISPA Knowledge Network & Marketplace.

We already use bacteria to inject under the skin to get rid of laff-lines. Why do we love these wrinkel creating viral videos so much? "Ugly" men get "hot chicks" when they have a good sense of humor. The message, subliminal or viral, does seem to go down easyer with humor as a chaser. Viral videos are everywhere. It’s hard to escape the swarm of links I get from friends, family and colleges. These free, interesting and sometimes amusing videos spread over the Internet in almost pandemic speed. I have to admit, I've been guilty of forwarding them on to others when the clip makes me giggle (like a school girl) or those I find clever enough. Not all videos are truly viral marketing. In fact, most clips are just creative expressions, which entertain. Obviosly where ever you have an audience and peer-to-peer networks your going to find marketers trying to relate and persuade and advertise.

Here are a few videos, can you spot which one is viral and which are just entertaining?

Treadmill Fitness Equiptment Viral Or Music Video?

Last week I was out for cocktails with a few other business owners in the service industry. One was a skin care manufacturer, the second was a clothing line designer and the third was the owner of a large fitness chain of health clubs.

We got into an in depth discussion about managing client relationships

We were discussing how to repair a client relationship where things have gone wrong, for example clients whose expectations are unrealistic, clients who are abusive towards the staff and those clients who for whatever reason have become dissatisfied with their service.

The Wall Street Journal had run an article on entrepreneurs a few years back where I was quoted by saying “My New Year’s resolution as a business owner is to only work with people, places and things I really care about and that respect my team, work and over-all business ethics.”

1. Choose clients carefully

4. Live Up To Your Own Standards. Give What You Expect, Set The Example.

If you have done all your work working with your clients and have defined what you can achieve and there are still insurmountable problems, then it is time to re-evaluate whether that client is appropriate to have.

About a month ago we had a client call the office and demand that I get on a conference call. The brand was new to the market, had very little distribution (only one salon in New York) and the consumer awareness was simply not there (she refused to do salon events with us). The owner had worked with two other PR firms before us (our biggest competitors) for about two years who both did not secure the regional and national glossy press that the client was looking for. We were given about 3 months to change her entire media platform and correct the damage that the other PR firms had done during the course of two years. Naturally I slipped off my dress shoes, undid my tie, sat back in my chair practiced my breathing exercises and then took her call.

There is a "growing" trend happening in fashion right now and no it has nothing to do with hem lengths, lip color or fabric style. According to Women's Wear Daily the infamous size zero demographic is no longer limited to the silver screen or the catwalk; in fact these women walk among us every day. And their numbers are swelling (pun intended)!

But how many of us know anyone with a waist smaller than 23 inches or a bust that is no larger than 31 inches? Apparently, anyone who shops at Marc Jacobs is a likely candidate.

Yet Robert Duffy, president and vice chairman of Marc Jacobs International, recently said Marc Jacobs sells more zeros than any other size in its collection and, truth be told, he has never seen a cutting order for a size 14.

But before we jump onto the cat attack bandwagon and rail about the growing anorexia problem, consider the other sizing issues at work; vanity sizing and the disappearance of the petite section in many larger department stores may also be to blame. Designer Nicole Miller says she finds sizing to be more of a challenge everyday for herself personally and she is not a teeny tiny woman.

"I've noticed that other companies are sizing up. I used to go buy pants and would wear a 6, but they started to be too big. Now a 4 is too big," Miller said.

But even with vanity sizing and the movement of the petite set towards the size zero side, it still feels odd that the high end of the fashion spectrum should be so geared towards the minuscule. What forces are at work here? Is it perhaps just the economic bracket that these consumers find themselves in?

"Antonio was seen as more of an alpha male. The brand was more keen to have a personality which meant more to US audiences."

I cannot believe that it is almost Halloween. Fall seems to be flying by. My children announced to me today what characters they are going to be to go out trick or treating. My 2 year old wants to be Superman, my 4 year old is going to be Buzz Lightyear and my 7 year old is going to be a Power Ranger.

Power Ranger? Are they even still around? I thought that was ancient history, so I inquired further why he would want to be a Power Ranger this year. I was surprised at his answer. You see, the Blue Power Ranger has “built in” muscles in the costume. My son, fully aware that there are a few girls at school that have a crush on him, wants to have muscles.

Ever since the new initiative in schools to keep kids healthy and fit across the US, I’ve noticed my two older sons wanting to exercise more and eat, “Sports Candy.” For those of you who are not familiar with the fitness superhero on Nickelodeon keenly named “Sportacus,” Sports Candy is fruits and vegetables. The school no longer allows parents to send any type of junk food in with their child for snack, the lunch menu is a healthy one and all children are required to run 26 miles before the end of the school year.

With all of these new programs in place to get kids back on the right track of being healthy and fit and carrying that over into the teens years and through adulthood, one would begin to wonder why beauty and fashion magazines still continue to create flawless superficial images of fit bodies and beautiful faces in their pages. Why continue to create this image of beauty that is unattainable (and sometimes the reason behind many eating disorders)? Some companies are catching on and understanding the issue.

The new commercial being seen in Canada by Dove is a real eye opener. I surely hope that it will be seen here for all teen and pre-teens to see. I've been noticing more and more commercials by Dove with their Campaign for Real Beauty to show not just underweight beauty queens, but real normal average women. Have you noticed this, as well?

While I fully support the new school initiative in my school district to get kids healthy and fit, I hope that beauty and fashion magazines can put Photoshop to rest, showing us that a true healthy and fit person of beauty needs no airbrushing. I realize that this may never go away, but certainly it would be nice to tone it down a bit. In fact, in their October and November issue, Marie Claire has an article called Beauty Road Show. It's where they photograph women of all ages and races, cross-country, and ask them what they love about themself. The photo's are fabulous, representing real women everywhere.

What are your thoughts on body image and the media and the new healthy schools initiative?

Here are some of the issues I have that I continually have to work on everyday:

* My hair—It can dry out easily or become overly moisturized, it is always a fine line of balancing. When the balance is out of wack, it contributes to its frizziness, and frizz is always an issue with me.

* My face—During the winter my forehead and between my eyebrows tend to get dry and need extra attention, otherwise all year round I have a t-zone that won’t let up. Ever since I can remember, I have always only gotten acne on my chin and being pregnant just makes it worse.

* My skin—I have Keratosis Pilaris on my arms and legs. It is a skin problem that was passed down to me through genetics and which seems to worsen being pregnant, but also if my skin gets dry. Winter is obviously the worst months for my skin, summer is not so bad since I am always slapping on my sunscreen.

* My body—My chest is a big issue with me, both size and their appearance. Now being pregnant with baby #4, stretchmarks are another issue I have to contend with.

It sounds very cliche, but while all of these are truly issues that I have to work on everyday, I don’t let it get me down. I absolutely believe 100% that my beauty is not only on the outside, but that once people get to know me, they will see it radiates from the inside out.

On a weekly basis, I will share my reviews with you of products I have been using or have tried out to resolve some of the above issues. Hopefully you may find a solution to your problem too.

Life Clever (tips fro design & life) by Chanpory Rith: 5 Writing Tips That Don't Suck (via) Copyblogger

A PR Guru's Musings: Q&A on innovations in public relations

John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing "Longs for a good publicity stunt"

BusinessWeek.com: Wal-Mart: A "Reputation Crises" The giant retailer has been trying hard to improve its image and reignite sales

Idea Grove: Introducing Spin Thicket: Media Orchard "Easier way to keep up with the news"

Eric Eggertson:
Mutually Inclusive PR and Strumpette: Backlash Against Crayon's Second Life Launch

In a previous post, I mentioned being all for the healthy kids initiatives being launched into schools. However, I also think that sometimes good intentions can turn into scaring parents.

Take this new ad from Birdseye, for example, that I found on Adrants. The ad documents a child growing in waist size each year instead of height. Their point is taken and in the fine print they let you know what they have been doing to make their microwavable dinners more “healthy.”

Instead of more positive ads, like showing healthy kids exercising or eating healthy as a model for children to mimic, it seems to becoming more the trend to scare parents into getting their kids “healthy.”

Still warming up to Second Life? I am asked about it almost daily and wanted to get some basic info posted for those friends who read our blog consistently. Backstory is here. Follow the links.

New World Notes

From April 2003 to February 2006, I was a contract writer for Linden Lab, creators of Second Life, primarily hired by the company to cover SL as an embedded journalist in an emerging society-- its controversies, its personalities, its innovations and ambitions, along with larger themes of identity, social norms and organization, and cultural expression important to online worlds in general.

That contractual relationship has ended, but the story continues here. -Wagner James Au

Second Thoughts Do's and Dont's for Big Business.

"Every human being is interested in two kinds of worlds: the Primary, everyday world which he knows through his senses, and a Secondary world or worlds which he not only can create in his imagination, but which he cannot stop himself creating." W.H. Auden

Second Life Herald The Second Life Herald was founded on October 23, 2003, by philosophy professor Peter Ludlow. Its mission, as described the next day, was to observe, record and study "the legal, social, and economic implications" of life in the virtual world. Originally established as the Alphaville Herald and reporting for the most part on life on the Alphaville server of The Sims Online, the Herald soon branched out into coverage of other massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds -- helped along by the murder of Herald publisher Urizenus (Ludlow's avatar) after Electronic Arts got wind of the stories the newspaper was printing about the scams and cyber-prostitution that were taking place within its game, and the company's indifference to reports of real-world violence.

Todays photo is from Patrick Marella. It's both cravable and breathtaking, reminds of growing up in Oregon, (Coos Bay) our high school track team would meet at 5AM to get a run in before first bell. Oregonians are big on running, Steve Prefontaine was from Coos Bay and of course Nike Global headquarters is located in the neighboring town of Beverton. Everything looks better in twilight. Think about it, all the coffee commercials that you've seen, they bask in twilight. Paris gets more twilight then any US city and It has been said lovers prefer twilight to daylight. Twilight represents hope, or if your a New Yorker you may think of the nightclub. But, I digress. New York is beautiful this time of year, thanks Patrick, for capturing so well a "feeling" I'm fond of. You can see more of his work on Flickr or JPG - The magazine of brave new photography.

I know this isn't exactly breaking news for everyone. However, for those who have lives and don't live and shop online exclusively, this may be news to you, it was to me. Many "recommendation" sites are popping up all over the Internet, yesterday a Fashion blogger referred me to one that is getting kudos in the New York Times; ThisNext.com. I was impressed just how organized this site was and even more impressed to find fashion and beauty bloggers I know doing Shopcasts there, such as Kristopher Dukes, The Jewelry Weblog, and Lola is Beauty.

What's a Shopcast? It's basically shopping and broadcasting combined. It's a playlist of products you recommend and you run them on a badge on your site and they also run on the ThisNext site, as well. You can create wishlists and also make recommendations by downloading a few buttons for your browser.

There are some really great recommendations just waiting for you to discover them, or if you feel so inclined, for you to make them at ThisNext.com

Do you seem to be losing customers lately? Is your customer base and sales simply not increasing? Consumers are telling you all of the time what they want, but are you paying attention? Do you genuinely listen to what they want? Or do you feel comfortable with the way things are?

Here are five things that consumers want from a business both online and offline:

Any woman can tell you the color and scent of a Victoria’s Secret store. Branding a business by color has been around forever, branding a business by scent deliberately is a rather new practice.

We have become inundated with never ending commercials, advertisements, pop-ups and infomercials, smart, progressive businesses realize that the use of scent is another way to make their business or brand not only stand out, but be remembered and associated with a certain positive experience or product.

While color may be an easy branding tool and will surely distinguish you from your competitors, such as that yummy, chocolate brown trademarked as "UPS Brown", scent can be a little touchier. Scent can either turn someone away or reel them in. It's a scientific fact that women are attracted to an ever so slight smell of skunk. Too much, and they are repulsed. Repulsion can be a good thing if your an international airport and you need to clear a building fast. Scents of danger need no interpretation. The scent of coffee can calm people, the new car smell increases sales of vehicles, Victoria’s Secret puts you in the mood the minute you walk into their store with the scent of a woman (or a man in drag) that remind you of romance and desire. Pierce Mattie's Media Oasis has a branded scent, complete with a high tech scent delivery system. Scents that relax you and put you in the mood to shop can increase a businesses bottom line.

Three summers ago, the New York City Ballet returned to St. Petersburg, Russia, 20 years after the death of the troupe's visionary co-founder, George Balanchine, who was born there.

Director Richard Blanshard's film of the trip, the company's first to St. Petersburg since 1972, airs Sunday (Nov. 12) on 131 PBS stations across the United States.

On one level, the title "Bringing Balanchine Back" is a straightforward description of NYCB's return to Russia, which is captured in the film through a mix of interviews, performance excerpts and always-entertaining backstage footage. On another, not-so-subtle level, the title echoes the subtext driven home throughout the documentary: how well NYCB is thriving two decades after Balanchine died, leaving his company with an incredible wealth of ballets and an enormous pair of shoes to fill.

A well planned exit without the use of a publicist? Atoosa Rubenstein, Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen magazine announced last week that she’ll be leaving the publication. Her next move is to launch several teen-centered projects including a web business, a book and a consulting firm.

She told the New York Post, “I’m a risk taker. I don’t play the game in a safe way. I’ve never been driven by power or money. I’ve always had a very strong relationship with our audience, and I hope to develop that in a more immediate and visceral way.”

Before her announcement to leave Seventeen, Rubenstein already started branching out of her Editor-in-Chief post positioning herself as an advocate for teens by appearing on MTV’s Miss Seventeen reality show and also as a guest judge on America’s Next Top Model, a favorite show among Seventeen readers.

Is Rubenstein leaving Seventeen another sign in the decline of teen publications? In the last two years, YM, Teen People, and Elle Girl have been shut down. Teen People and Elle Girl are still online – a good move since most teens are tech-savvy. At least we’ve still got COSMOgirl! and Teen Vogue! We’ll have to wait and see who will take over the EIC post at Seventeen.

Read more about her decision to leave Seventeen on her MySpace page and some speculations from Jossip.

Most Americans think Europeans, especially the Italians "dress up." The way Italians dress is getting more and more relaxed as the years progress, but they definitely look better dressed than most of us stateside. If you've traveled abroad you have noticed how business casual is not in vogue, in fact it's been said that westerners dress like cowboys. Do fashion labels in Italy know how to fit their people better then Americans? Is there a worse feeling in the world than slipping into a new garment in a fitting room and finding it just slightly off? Nothing kills the buzz of finding a fantastic item of clothing that you are just dying to own more than realizing that you are not just any "body" but have unique bumps, curves, and "fiddly" bits!

You see as much as we live in a world of "ready to wear" clothing, few of us have ready to wear bodies. Thus, I have to ask, why is it that we are so reticent to simply have clothing tailored?

We have no problem acknowledging that our personalities are unique, but when it comes to admitting that our bodies don't fit one given standard we get a little upset.

"Why it must be a fault in me that I can't fit into this blouse I picked up off the rack" we tell ourselves. But in truth few of us are ever going to have bodies that fit exactly into a given garment. I faced just that reality today when I realized it was better to spend a little bit more on a few quality pieces of clothing and have them refitted to my own body than to hopelessly buy tons of disposable fashion that only just "kinda" fits.

With the help of the Superfuture forums I found myself an incredible tailor on Mott Street named Ramone who not only helped me fit two dresses and a coat but he helped me refit my attitude as well. And you know what? Those clothes are going to fit me to a "T," making them actually "ready to wear."

Joanna Roche is the Senior Managing VP of Pierce Mattie Public Relations. She has a proven track record of success and corporate experience. She is high energy and passionate about her work, which makes her direct, up front, realistic approach with Pierce Mattie PR clients what makes her a true asset.

Joanna is a married mother of a 2-year-old son, who loves to run, cook and travel. The best way to describe her is balanced. She loves to dive into her work, yet still maintain the proper balance of her hobbies and family life. Joanna is goal oriented and believes that nothing is impossible.

Tell readers about a typical day as VP of Pierce Mattie.

There is nothing typical about being a VP at Pierce Mattie PR! Every day is different and it is one of the things I love about my job. Most days include working on new business, coming up with creative ideas to promote our brands, meeting with clients, nurturing the staff and helping them develop pitches and reach editors, and keeping abreast of trends and happenings in the PR world.

I’ve honestly never paid much attention to products that were celebrity endorsed, in high school, maybe a little, however there have been plenty of my friends who live by what products “Celebrity A List” says are the best. There was a time, back when I was very young, that I did follow what my favorite celebrities endorsed. One such product was Pepsi, simply because I was a very big Michael Jackson fan. Luckily, I wised up.

So when I saw one of my favorite fashion designers, Isaac Mizrahi, pitching StriVectin-SD in a commercial the other day I felt such utter disappointment. Strivectin-SD, which claims to be an anti-stretchmark cream turned anti-wrinkle cream, is trying to pitch their product to men through Mizrahi's popularity. Isaac is a talk show host and thus a "lifestyle advocate" however, as a person who admires Mr. Mizrahi for his outstanding fashion, I wonder why he had to go this route. Seeing him in a commercial promoting an anti-wrinkle cream made me lose a little bit of respect for him and I didn't want too. I'm sure I am not alone.

I believe there was a time when celebrity endorsements held clout, but the times have been changing, most especially as blogs have become more and more popular. There are so many blogs out there that review products and I am more apt to listen to the average Joe tell me their likes and dislikes over a product than to run out to buy a product because Mischa Barton has been using it. According to a survey done by Allure and Essence, the same holds true for many of their readers.

Although Blogging has been around for years, approaching Bloggers to review or pitch your products is fairly new and growing in momentum. If you are thinking of approaching a Blogger to review your products, there is a protocol that sometimes many companies do not invest their time to understand and follow.

As a beauty Blogger, I receive many emails on a weekly basis from companies and PR firms big and small to find out if I am interested in reviewing their products on my two beauty blogs. There are some that exude professionalism both in the way they approach me through their emails, through the way the package is sent and in their follow up. Then there are the mass emails, lack of PR materials with the product, presentation of the product and lack of follow up. The difference between the two potentially means your emails go in my trash folder.

Things you should not do when you approach a Blogger:

Send out a mass email, most notably saying “Dear Bloggers” or having no greeting at all. While some newer Bloggers may respond to this, many seasoned Bloggers won’t. It is the sign of a company simply harvesting your contact information and not taking the time to personally contact you, as they want you to personally review their product. It is a two way street.

Have the expectation that the Blogger will want to review your product simply because you offered it for free. Bloggers know their readers and most will only review products that are 1. Related to their blog and 2. Something that would be of interest to their readers.

Insincerely attempt to flatter them. So many companies do it and many times I receive the same email to each of my accounts for my blogs when the company doesn’t even realize they are sending it to the same person. Bloggers can read between the lines.

"I'm talking about good vibrations," an emerging trend in the fitness industry is whole body vibration. Many trying to launch this trend have said that whole body vibrations can improve muscle strength, increase bone density, burn fat, increase metabolism and improve circulation.

Most Whole Body Vibration Machines on the market state that for only 10 minutes a day, 3-7 times a week, it can make a huge difference in your body’s health and fitness. If this is true, then that means all those excuses of not having time to go to the gym will no longer be valid. The verdict is still out on whether this type of fitness is beneficial or harmful.

How whole body vibration machines work:

* Scientifically calibrated machines deliver vibrations through oscillating plates from the feet up distributing vibral energy to your ent