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Are real estate recipe postcards a “delicious dish” for postcard marketing success, or are they a waste of time and money?

Only the individual marketer can answer that question with any finality. The answer will come from experimentation and testing with various postcard marketing tactics, comparing one strategy against another, etc. But I’d be happy to give my take on the subject, based on the time I spent working in the postcard marketing industry.

What’s a Real Estate Recipe Postcard?
Let’s start with a quick definition, just so we’re on the same page. A real estate recipe postcard is a marketing postcard sent from a real estate agent to their audience (usually homeowners and potential home buyers). On one side of the postcard, there’s a picture of a tasty dish with the recipe listed out. You know, chili con carne, bananas foster … that sort of thing.

On the other side of the recipe postcard, the agent will list his or her contact info with some form of “Call me when you need help” message. The basic premise is that the recipient likes the recipe so much — or finds the postcard so thoughtful — that they dial up the agent and say, “Will you help me buy / sell a home?”

I know, it’s a bit of a stretch. But that’s how real estate recipe postcards are supposed to work. The question is, do they work that way? An even better question is, how do the response rates from a real estate recipe postcard stack up against a postcard that makes a powerful offer and employs proven strategies of direct mail marketing?

To my knowledge, there has never been any study on the effectiveness of real estate recipe postcards (when compared to a different form of real estate postcard). Sure, you’ll find a handful of testimonials here and there, and perhaps some “Use real estate recipe postcards!” promotional copy on a postcard company’s website … but that’s probably it.

So here’s my take on the subject, based on my professional experience with both postcard marketing in general and real estate marketing in particular.

Me personally, I wouldn’t spend a dime on real estate recipe postcards. And do you want to know why? Because while a real estate recipe postcard might produce one response out of a thousands mailers, there are ways to get much better response rates. You know … those tried-and-true postcard marketing techniques, like making an offer of some kind.

There are also ways to combine the real estate postcard with an informational website, thereby creating a “super card” that can improve the success of both marketing channels. In short, I believe there are much stronger approaches to real estate postcard marketing than simply slapping on a recipe and waiting for the phone to ring. But that’s just me.

* You may republish this article online if you retain the author’s byline and active hyperlinks below. Copyright 2007, Brandon Cornett.

Have you ever made a big salad for lunch thinking you’ll cut down on calories for that day but then half an hour later you’re scouring your workplace for food? Have you ever grabbed a slice of bread as a snack to tide you over until dinner yet 2 – 3 slices of bread later you’re still hungry? I find the most filling foods either have a lot of protein, fiber and/or water content. Salad does not fill me up and I could eat half a loaf of bread in one sitting and I’d still be munchy. Here is a list of my favorite anti-hunger snack foods.

1. Celery with peanut butter and raisins. Peanut butter has protein to keep you satisfied and raisins add a bit of sweetness.
2. Corn on the cob. Only 155 calories an ear.
3. Fruit salad. Cut up all your favorite fruits and put them in a huge salad bowl and keep it in the fridge. Fresh fruit is full of nutrients, water and natural sweetness to satisfy you.
4. Cool whip. You won’t believe this but cool whip has only 25 calories and 1.5 g of fat per serving! I even like it better than ice cream. For dessert I usually have strawberries topped with cool whip and a little drizzle of chocolate sauce.
5. Oatmeal. I believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day so start it off with a bowl of oatmeal. It’s quick to make, comes in a variety of flavors and is very filling.
6. Apples. This fruit is great to take for lunch or as a snack after work.
7. Pickles. Perfect for when you’re craving something crunchy and refreshing.
8. Popcorn. Air-popped popcorn is only 31 calories a serving. You could have 3 cups of popcorn for under 100 calories! These types of snacks are great when you are looking for a large quantity of food for a low amount of calories that you can snack on for a while.
9. Mozzarella and tomato. Top fresh, ripe tomatoes with a little mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with olive oil. Delicious.
10. Eggs. Scrambled, poached, sunny-side up or hard-boiled; eggs are a great source of protein.

Just a reminder; do not be afraid of fat as long as you watch your portion size. This is what keeps you feeling full and satisfied.

Fitnut Forever

Type 2 Diabetes has adverse effect on the sugar levels of our body. The sugar levels need to be kept within a certain range and a condition where it is well above the permissible limit or below it can become a cause of worry. Eating healthy snacks can minimize the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

In this form of diabetes, the insulin generated in the body is either insufficient or is rejected by the cells. Insulin helps in utilizing the glucose for producing energy. Insulin helps to carry the glucose to the cells. If it does not reach the cells, then the body cannot make use of it for generating energy. In case, the cells cannot utilize the glucose, it remains in the blood. An excessive amount of glucose in the blood can cause diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes occurs as a result of insulin resistance and obesity.

The conditions, which lead to the occurrence of Type 2 Diabetes, include snacking, excessive eating, consumption of high calorie drinks, and foods high on carbohydrate content. All these shoot up the sugar levels in the body. Since the sugar cannot reach the tissues, its levels rise in the blood. Obese people are more prone to insulin resistance as the fat in the body acts as a barrier to the optimum utilization of the insulin. In the United States of America almost one-third of the total population are obese and it is expected that 30% of the children who are born after 2000 are prone to get diabetes.

When it comes to kids it is necessary to inculcate in them correct food habits. They are not aware of what is good and nutritional food for them. The onus here lies with the schools and the parents of the kids. In the past schools organized fundraising events and the selling of chocolate bars was an integral part of them. With the introduction of California SB 12 and other similar laws in other US states, chocolate fundraising was banned.

Searching for healthy fundraising solutions can solve this problem. Schools can now order healthy fundraising snacks that are low on calories. To be healthy, they would comprise less that 35% fat, 10% less saturated fats, 25% less sugar. All in all, your child can have all these sumptuous snacks and even then consume less that 250 calories. If the snacks are healthy, there will be no harmful trans-fats as these need to be completely avoided by obese people.

Healthy fundraising does not mean that the food served is bland. They are equally tasty as fries, burgers and pizzas and the kids are definitely going to love them. It is important to make decisions to look for healthy fundraising alternatives, and contribute to better health in America.

So you want to know how to level your cooking skill fast? Well, allow me to share the secrets with you. I didn’t touch cooking for a long time, thinking that it was boring and not worth the effort. Don’t wait as long as I did – start enjoying the benefits of cooking now!

Learning the cooking skill, especially from an early level, is a great way of saving yourself time and gold. You will not need to purchase food from vendors, or waste mana healing yourself. You’ll be getting most of the ingredients for what you’re able to cook from the mobs you’re killing. However, what you should do is combine cooking with the fishing skill. This is especially handy for higher level characters, who perhaps aren’t too enamoured with the idea of killing low-level mobs to get ingredients. There are many recipes which involve fish that you learn from the cooking trainer or that are easy to find. Some, like the Savory Deviate Delight, are even worth a lot of money!

However, cooking really comes into its own once you hit the higher levels of the profession. Then, the food that you cook will not only restore high amounts of health and mana, it will also give you various buffs that you will find extremely helpful in day-to-day levelling, running dungeons and raiding. In endgame raiding, food buffs are an absolute must, and as a chef, you will be able to provide them for yourself and your raiding group, and will be a valuable asset to the team!

Once you have levelling your cooking quickly and easily by following this guide, you should start getting into the Dalaran cooking dailies. You can do these from 350 onwards, and they have great rewards! For each cooking daily you get at least one Dalaran Cooking Award, which are used as currency for fantastic recipes to help you and your party with buffs. You can also get a pretty pimpin’ chef hat, which in my opinion is totally worth it!