TREES Company - Send Someone a Forest

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. Native American Proverb

Recognizing good people can be tough these days. With so many ideas and keepsakes, some of which have great meaning to the giver and others to the recipient. How about having a reward program that is good for the earth? And celebrates Arbor Day (April 27th in the US) . You can send a forrest of gift trees from the National Arbor Day Foundation starting at just $3.50 each. Sapling choices include redwood, pine or spruce and arrive in a recyclable plastic tube that can be customized with a oorporate logo or message. Gift sets start at just $18.95 and include a Rainforest Rescue mug. For more information visit www.arborday.org today!

HISTORY OF ARBOR DAY

The idea for Arbor Day originally came from Nebraska. Once a treeless plain, Nebraskais now a tree laden state, thanks to one man with vision.

On January 4, 1872, J. Sterling Morton first proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called “Arbor Day” at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for April 10, 1872. Prizes were offered to counties and individuals for planting properly the largest number of trees on that day. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.

To read more, visit: http://www.arborday.org/arborday/history.cfm

"It was not until we saw the picture of the earth, from the moon, that we realized how small and how helpless this planet is - something that we must hold in our arms and care for." Margaret Mead

Want to celebrate ARBOR Day in your community? Here's an idea:

Get people into action. Ask a civic or service group to promote a paper drive to gather paper to be recycled and save a tree. Use the proceeds to buy a special tree to plant in a park or other special public place. Ask a local radio station to sponsor a tree trivia contest and give away trees to winners. Conduct a tree search. Ask people to find large, unusual or historic trees in your community. Tell people to take a hike--a tree identification hike--and have girl scouts or boy scouts act as guides. For more ideas: http://www.arborday.org/arborday/celebrate.cfm

"It is always a great pleasure, and surprise, when you happen on just the perfect place in which to plant some special treasure." Margery Fish

Did you know that when you join the Arbor Day Foundation (http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/memberships.cfm) you get 10 FREE trees with your membership? You can have the trees sent to you or your favorite organization when you join.



Celebrate the earth!

Heidi Richards

"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life." Rachel Carson

"The WE Magazine for women is one of the best resources I have read in a long time. The topics covered are timely, well written and on target for any woman who is seeking valuable information on how to succeed in today's competitive market. The article on building wealth is one that any woman can benefit from. I would highly recommend this publication. Kudos to founder and publisher, Heidi Richards.” Kathleen Gage, Turning Point Presents

The Spring Issue of WE magazine for women is now online and ready to view. WE magazine for women focuses on the total women. In addition to women who want to learn more about doing business on and off the WEB, WE’s audience consists of women who want to explore great destinations, improve their outlook on life, learn quick and easy ways to get and stay healthy, fine out about the latest technology gadgets and information, become inspired as they read about women making a difference in the world and even ideas for great entertaining and socializing.

Read what some of our readers have to say:

“WOW! Your new magazine is PHENOMENAL, Absolutely beautiful and chock full of great information. Love the light blue background and simple layout. It's easy on the eyes and easy to read. So many digital publications have so much stuff all over, you don't where to look first. You've done it right.” Lynn Meyer, Public Relations Director – Small Business Trends

“Heidi... this is great! I'm already receiving inquiries, thank you so much for including me.” Dina Giolotti, Wordfeeder.com

“Thank you for creating WE – an online magazine that helps women connect…find their true passion and fulfill their potential.” Nicole Wild, CMP - Executive Director, The Women's Alliance

The difference between WE and other magazines for women are the stories of the women found in each issue. These women are not necessarily “household names” around the globe or even in the country in which they reside. WE focuses on women who are making a difference in their part of the world – in many cases unsung heroines. The professions and people these women represent crosses a multitude of industries and geographic locations.

The articles are written by women. With one exception. WE has a Column entitled ‘In His Words,’ and features contributing editors from around the globe who support and promote the work women do and in many cases work along side.

To read the Spring Issue, visit: http://www.wecai.org/WeMagazineSpring.pdf

Heidi Richards, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief http://www.wecai.org/ - “Helping Women Do Business on and off the WEB™”


In case you didn't catch the first issue, here's the link: http://www.wecai.org/we%20magazine.pdf

April's Marketing Calendar - Funny Sells

"Laughter just may be the shortest distance between the customer, you and the cash register." Heidi Richards

Did you know April is National Humor Month? Funny Sells! Just ask Sarah Lefton! Her quirky sense of humor and her Jewish pride were the impetus to a successful home based business. As the marketing director for a Jewish summer camp at Yosemite National Park, Lefton discovered that by changing the emphasis of the word Yosemite she created "Yo Semite". She silk screened the term on a few T-shirts for herself and wore the Yo Semite T-shirts around the streets of San Francisco. People started coming up to her and asking her where they could buy one. Two days later, she had taken orders for 36 shirts and her Internet based business, Jewish Fashion Conspiracy was born.

Her Yo Semite shirts took off and Lefton has now added additional designs to her product line. They include Chanukah panties, and a "Jews for Jeter" shirt to honor the New York Yankee's star Derek Jeter. She created her designs as a way to celebrate being Jewish and have fun at the same time. Her ingenuity and humor has received media attention from a variety of Jewish publications and Time Magazine.

Victor Borge said "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."

Humor, when used properly is one of the most powerful tools in business today. Think about the last time you made a purchase. What was the experience for you? Was there a bit of humor in the sales process? Was humor used to get you "through the door?" If not, think about a time when humor did captivate you. Chances are not only did you make a purchase, you probably spent more than you originally intended to spend.

That's because humor improves business communications, builds rapport, builds trusts, increases morale, increases sales and productivity and improves relationships overall.

Andrew Carnegie said, “There is little success where there is little laughter."

When you are fun to do business with, more people want to do business with you. Laughter and a good sense of humor build loyalty. Creates raving fans and ensures a company will be around for a while.

it is no wonder that the most successful businesses are those with a healthy attitude, and a healthy bottom line. A happy firm with a good, positive attitude will have happy employees producing good products and services and have a loyal following of satisfied customers.

So how can you make your company or organization more fun? Well, for starters think about your advertising. Are you taking yourself too seriously. Of course, if you sell a serious product, or provide a serious service (like brain surgery) it is possible that some humor won't be appropriate. However, even people wiht life-threatening illnesses need humor in their lives. Laughter has a way of helping us cope with even the most tragic life events.

Here are some ideas to instill more humor and laughter in your work day:

Hang funny posters around. There is no wonder that humorous posters are in such high demand. Think Dilbert, or Peanuts, or Ziggy or Cathy. People buy them to bring a bit of levity to what could otherwise be a dull job.

Use humor in your company newsletter. You could add jokes or cartoons or even have a "joke contest" for your readers to submit to. I use humor in my newsletters. For example in my floral newsletter "Ramblin Rose" I include a section called "just for fun" and share one liners and stories with customers - Here's one:

"Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved." Unknown

According to Professor Jeffery Goldstein, of Temple University, "people who use more humor tend to wield more influence over group decisions. Good, effective leaders combine communications and persuasion skills with an appropriate touch of humor to get their message across and to win support for their ideas."

Dwight D. Eisenhower said it best: “A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."

If you want to be a leader in business, use more humor!


For more April Marketing ideas, visit:
http://www.speakingwithspirit.com/AprilMarketingCalendar.asp.

Some great humor sites include:

Small Business Humor - http://smbtn.com/smallbusinesshumor/

The Humor Project - http://www.humorproject.com/

World Laughter Tour - http://www.worldlaughtertour.com/


To your continued success... and then some.

Heidi Richards

My Daughter's Journey to Freedom

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake..." Marie Beyon Ray

Please forgive my silence these past two months. On February 6th my daughter Alexis Lee Richards lost her battle with drug addiction. It is something I constantly prayed would never happen and even though she was in and out of rehabs and at death’s door on three separate occasions over the past 10 years, we really never thought she would die. To us she was the cat with NINE LIVES. She used every one of them … and then some.

For several weeks prior to her death I had dreamt she was going to loose her battle with this horrible disease. It was difficult to sleep at night just knowing that the phone would ring in the middle of the night (as it often did when she had been either admitted to a hospital or another rehab). The only time she and I found peace was when she was in a program. And then she would get out into the "real world" and life took over - she did not know how to cope in a "normal" society. She never felt like she fit in. Many times she would tell me she was tired - and I would beg her not to give up - I prayed and prayed and prayed.

When the police called to tell me they found her body, I was numb. And I have been for the past two months. The death of a child is something no parent should have to experience. It is something I doubt I will ever get over.The bright side of this story is that Alexis was truly a beautiful woman. Even in her own suffering she reached out to other addicts to encourage them to get clean - we had dozens of her friends at her funeral sharing stories of how she would call them to just make sure they were okay.

Alexis was 27 years old and is survived by four sisters. Two of which are mine - Jennifer (30 - and the mother of my two beautiful grandchildren) and Suzannah (23 and my business partner).The death of a child is something I hope no parent experiences. My family and I are very thankful for all the wonderful people who have reached out to us. Every day I get at least one phone call from friends of Alexis' just to see how I am doing. And dozens of cards and emails from family and friends around the world.

My heart is very full right now - all I can say is THANK YOU! To all those who have reached out with love, support, cards and kindness during this time. It has helped a lot.

This virtual world we have all created has been a comfort to me and so I find great pleasure in using it in any way that can help others and myself in the process.

You will be hearing more about Alexis’ life in future postings. It is my intention to write her life story. The first program she attended was Here's Help (she was there on 2 separate occasions). Each time she stayed clean for the longest. The last program she attended was back in October 2006 - it was Journey to Freedom Life Ministries for Women - the place she found GOD. Her story is tentatively going to be called Journey to Freedom, because Alexis is now free - free from her torment and all the demons she had inside her. For that we are grateful.

My family and I greatly appreciate the many people who made contributions to Here's Help and Journey to Freedom. The monies will go to good use to help these young adults in their own recovery. These two organizations (and many others around the world) are in this fight against drug and alcohol addiction until the war on drugs is won.

Please say a special prayer for Alexis. And if you have children please give them an extra hug from "Aunt Heidi." Children can never have too many hugs or too much love.

Love, peace, and good health to you all.

Heidi Richards