One of the most popular home upgrades today is the addition of a backyard fireplace. There’s something special about sitting around the glow of a fire that makes people feel good. That’s one reason many people go camping, for the simple joy of sitting by a crackling campfire, but an increasing number of homeowners are taking advantage of recent improvements in technology to have that same experience without having to leave home.
If that sounds appealing to you, you’ll have a number of options to choose from, depending upon your own personal taste and budget. At the high end of the scale, you could get a propane type of unit that comes in a terra cotta vase-like container. Those types of outdoor fireplaces come in a variety of styles and sizes, but a popular one is marketed by PR Imports, weighing about 75 pounds, standing at about four feet tall, and featuring a layer of fire rock at the bottom of the unit. The unit is attractive and would look good on any patio, yet has the added advantage of requiring virtually no cleanup, since you wouldn’t be burning any solid matter.
If you like the look of an indoor freestanding fireplace, a company called Tiverton markets a black steel version that’s designed to be used outside. It comes with a log rack and a poker, just like an indoor fireplace, and has an ash drawer that allows for easy cleaning. It stands about six feet tall and it’s appearance is rustic enough to make it at home with most outdoor furniture. It’s also about two and a half feet deep, so it can accommodate fairly sizable pieces of wood.
If you prefer the even more rustic appeal of a firepit, you’ll still have a number of choices, including one that features a copper cauldron. It’s like putting your campfire in a large hand-hammered copper pot, measuring about three feet across and two feet deep. It’s large enough to become the focal point of a significant gathering. You’ll have to start your fire just like you’d have to on a camping trip, but that’s part of the unit’s appeal for many folks, and cleanup is relatively simple. All you have to do is dump out the ashes by turning the bowl upside down.
There’s also a propane version of that type of firepit available, if you’re so inclined, with molded logs that appear to be burning. That version also features the same easy cleanup as the propane-powered terra cotta unit, since no solid material is actually burned.
There are a number of actual firepit rings available that can be customized any way you want, again depending only upon your imagination and budget. Generally, a custom firepit should be about 18 inches tall, to prevent sparks from escaping — and possibly ending up in your guest’s lap. A diameter of 30 inches offers plenty of room for a nice-sized fire. Stone or concrete blocks are generally used to surround the firepit, though you could dress up the pit by using a more decorative stone, such as slate.
If you like the look of an outdoor fire, you’ll be able to find a firepit to suit your taste, since it’s a growing trend among landscape designers. Then you can sit around at night and dream of romantic adventures as the shadows dance all around you.
Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
Author Jeanette Fisher teaches homeowners five ways to makeover their home for happiness. Free interior design teleclasses at http://www.joytothehome.com/designpsychology.html
Find out how to makeover your home for happinenss:
Home Decorating Interior Design Ideas
Tags: firepits, home upgrades, Jeanette Joy Fisher, landscape designfirepits, home upgrades, Jeanette Joy Fisher, landscape designShare This
Many of us in the marketing services and/or agency business are starting to see some real tangible marketing patterns emerging that businesses need to be aware of if they want to leverage their marketing dollars in this “post .com implosion economy.”
Good Web Site Design increasingly More Important
It’s imperative for a company to have a quality web site today - but many firms are still throwing up web sites that are just poorly designed or overly complex. Poor navigation (menus and overall site structure) when coupled with low quality graphics is really problematical (!) - online visitors think less of your company as a result which will hurt revenue in the long run. Many think just doing a minimal job is sufficient but they aren’t factoring in how close your competition is! On the web any potential customer is only one click away from seeing a high quality web site that is well designed and conveys a quality image
A good rule of thumb when budgeting for a web site is to assume you will pay approximately $250-300. USD per page - this should include your graphics design, content development, setting up registration forms, etc. This may sound too expensive for many companies but for better or worse perception is reality in the online world! So, don’t short change yourself, put some resources into your web site and be prepared to continue to do so - it’s now a vital component of any company’s ongoing marketing processes that needs constant upgrading like traditional marcom (PR, print, etc.) materials.
Opt-in E-Mail Trending Down but still Viable
Opt-in or permission based e-mail (meaning people give you “permission” to market to them) response rates for Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer are dropping below where they were a year ago by 30-50% on average. What’s happening? The ever-increasing deluge of Spam is negating the throughput (response rates, purchases, etc.) of quality opt-in e-mail.
Opt-in e-mail is still a viable and excellent way to market your company but expect less results, lower costs/fees (more vendors equals more competition which is good) and the need to repeat your campaigns if you want to see tangible results. And don’t get dazzled by a design firm or your in house marketing staff that wants to design a fancy HTML e-mail message for you - 65-75% of the market today still doesn’t want fancy graphics, they want a short message, delivered concisely with short paragraphs in a text format. Less is more!
Performance Based Marketing on Upswing
Publishers and advertisers are more and more willing to accept advertising which is “performance based” and/or based on a “cost per click” or even a revenue share basis. Meaning, it’s not like putting an ad in the USA Today and hoping people respond to the publication - you can now work with list brokers, online publishers and marketing organizations to setup very targeted campaigns that are based on your paying a small cost for an actual response to your message via an opt-in e-mail campaign, text link ad on a web site and/or an insert in a newsletter.
Case in point, companies like Virtumundo, Inc. (they are a pioneer in the performance based market) are now willing to charge nothing upfront in many cases for an advertising campaign and to just do a revenue share with you on the back end; this is typically 20-40% of your SRP, will vary depending upon your goods and/or services. And, they will do a test campaign prior to a full-bore campaign to make sure that the response rates will be worth their investment.
Another key benefit to any business that wants to leverage the shifts occurring in performance-based marketing is its inherent ability to be highly targeted. You can tie a marketing process (campaign) to web site, newsletter or pay per click search engine (Overture and now via Google’s Ad Words Program) with specific demographics that are highly qualified and targeted. Contrast this again with the traditional print medium where you can target to a certain extent; but not like performance-based marketing. Consider an add again (for example) in the sports section of the USA Today - it will clearly deliver a sports enthusiast, but not a male who plays tennis that lives in the Western US, etc. And, better targeting will always deliver better results, assuming all other issues are on a level playing field.
Search Engine Marketing still a Mystery to Many
I hate to say it but most of the web sites we analyze still don’t have the basic HTML fundamentals (Title, Keywords, Description) in-place so their sites can/will be indexed (reviewed by an automated bot/software agent) properly. Their title is wrong (don’t repeat your company name), there are too many keywords (you want 8-12) or the wrong keywords and the description of the company is either poorly written or reads like yet another “mission statement” that has been developed by the CEO/CFO and three Senior VPs. This is basic block and tackling marketing and should be setup properly when a web site is designed.
Be prepared to deploy some marketing resources for quality Search Engine Marketing - it’s fiercely competitive for web site rankings; you’ve got 3-5K web sites coming online every single day of the week and many are trying to drive market awareness via S/Engine ranking. What’s a rule of thumb of what to pay for standard S/Engine Marketing Services: i.e. Title/Description Development, Keyword Analysis, Content Rewrites, etc.? Costs can vary tremendously, depending on your market segment, web site size, what type of services you outsource, competitive issues, etc. Generally expect to pay $3-6K for a basic 3-4 month campaign and then some modest fee for ongoing maintenance (say $200-500.per month). There are alternative sophisticated S/Engine processes that cost much more than this, but these are typically suited for companies that have a good sized marketing budget and or a large web site that necessitates a different approach.
About The Author
Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of business development and marketing experience - he is the founder of Intelective Communications, Inc., http://www.intelective.com a results-driven marketing services company providing proprietary services to clients encompassing startups to public companies.
Lee@intelective.com
Tags: advertising, business, email marketing, internet marketingadvertising, business, email marketing, internet marketingShare This
Nobody is really sure how much time we spend mowing our lawns, but on the average it is about 40 hours per season. With that much time spent pushing these machines along keeping our lawns well manicured you think we would know more about them. In actual fact the mower you are using right now might not be the right machine for the job. Lawn mowers come in two types, rotary and reel and each type has its strengths and weaknesses.
REEL MOWERS:
Reel mowers have been around for a very long time and in recent years have for the most part been replaced by the rotary type mowers. The reel mower is better suited for a small lawn, generally in the 1,000 to 2,000 square foot ranges. Some of the advantages to a reel type mower are that they are quiet, non-polluting machines that provide a better quality cut from the scissoring action they produce. Today’s reel mowers are considerably lighter in weight, generally in the 16 to 20 pound range. Improvements in the gears ball bearings, and axles translate into a rolling action that is smoother. These mowers come in a variety of blade patterns but for general lawn cutting a 5-blade pattern is your best bet.
ROTARY MOWERS:
This type of mower was developed in the 1950’s and for the most part replaced most reel type mower for a homeowners lawn. Several of the advantages of a rotary mower include a faster cut, adjustments to height are less difficult, and are better at cutting grass at higher heights. All rotary mowers use power to make them operate whether it is electricity or gasoline. They come in a variety of designs such as push, self-propelled, walk-behind or riding mowers. The cutting decks can vary in size from 18″ to 24″ for most push mowers and up to 36″ for a riding mower. The advantage of a riding mower is simple; they mow considerably faster than a push or self-propelled model. Because of their size I would recommend this type of mower for a lot 1/2 or more in size. Any smaller and lack of maneuverability will cause you to go over areas with a smaller mower which the ride-on missed.
A mulching mower is designed specially to re-cut the grass clipping several times to reduce its size, which in turn decompose quickly eliminating the need to bag or rake. There are many after market blades you can purchase to convert your conventional blade to a mulcher. These blades do a fair job but are not as effective as a true mulching mower as it has specially designed baffles underneath the deck which keeps the grass clippings suspended until they are cut several times.
PURCHASING A MOWER:
By doing a little research you will purchase a mower which best suits your lawn. Is the equipment powerful enough and has a wide enough cutting deck to match your lawn? By saving money and buying something smaller and cheaper you run the risk of additional time spent cutting your lawn. One example of this is purchasing an 18-inch push behind mower to cut a 1-acre (42,000-sq.ft.) lot. Using this machine it will take an average person 2 1/2 hours to complete the job. On the other hand a riding mower with a 36-inch cutting deck can usually finish the job in 30 minutes. Buy the highest quality mower you can afford.
Paul is a Certified Pesticide Applicator in the province of Alberta, Canada. He has over 15 years experience in the lawn care industry.
For more lawn care information, please visit http://fairyring.ca
Tags: caring for your lawn, landscape tools, landscaping, lawn care, lawn mower, lawn mower carecaring for your lawn, landscape tools, landscaping, lawn care, lawn mower, lawn mower careShare This
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