Sane Plastic Surgery for Men - Statistics and a Few Tips

It's probably no secret that men in increasing numbers are undergoing elective plastic surgery. Cosmetic plastic surgery is a growth industry, and men are becoming a significant factor in that increase. Just as an example, the American Academy of Facial and Plastic Surgery reports that as of March 2007 there was an "astonishing" 91% increase in men receiving non-surgical facial plastic surgery since 2000. Botox injections are the most sought after non-surgical procedure among men.

Liposuction was performed on over 53,000 men followed by over 45,000 rhinoplasty (nose) procedures and 33,000 eyelid surgeries. About 13% of all plastic surgery patients are men according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Given this trend, there would seem to be a need to introduce some sanity into the plastic and cosmetic surgery picture for men in the light of the all too frequent, obsessive quest for the knife among women reported incessantly in the media.

Here are a few tips concerning plastic surgery which are specifically applicable to the males of our species.

The Face

1. Facelifts have a tendency to produce a feminizing effect in men. However, there are several less drastic procedures that actually can yield better results, namely chin liposuction, forehead lifts and neck lifts. Since male temperaments seem to be less patient with the time frame required for recovery from plastic surgery, these smaller procedures are better accepted.

2. Chemical peels, of course, are non-invasive and can eliminate fine lines and blotches, which often make men, as well as women, look older than their years.

Liposuction

1. Try as one might, in many cases no amount of intense gym work on abs or love handles will rid the body of unwanted fat deposits. Liposuction can easily dispense with these imperfections. Not only that, liposuction can work beautifully in removing fatty breast tissue, helping to sculpt the abs to a profile not seen since the patient was a strapping youth.

2. Best results are obtained from liposuction when men discipline themselves to continue working out regularly. This minimizes the chances of reappearance of localized fat deposits. Avoidance of alcohol for at least three to five weeks following surgery is also highly recommended, and there is no better time to stop smoking. Smoking can hinder the desired outcome in any cosmetic surgery procedure.

Implants

1. Pectoral and calf implants can present problems. Among other things, they have a tendency over time to migrate.

2. Again, the preferable route is liposuction around these areas to allow pectoral and calf musculature to appear to be more distinct.

Overall, men, unlike women, seek less involved plastic surgery yielding an improved masculine look with less time spent recovering. So in terms of their bodies, temperament and objectives, men are quite different from women in the way they approach plastic surgery. The long and the short of it is that masculinity must be preserved at all costs.

Robert G. Knechtel operates several websites covering health and self care issues, including Guide to Plastic Surgery - Articles and News which highlights Plastic Surgery for Men and Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong.

Website Content for Artisans and Craftsmen

It is almost a clich to say that "content is king" when it comes to presenting your website to the public, but it rings true time after time. Even the powers-that-be at the search engines say they are most interested in content. Its time to take them seriously.

Artisans and craftsmen have both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to providing content to site visitors. Your work is fascinating, unique and frequently based in historical tradition. Articles and information about a specific craft, trends, techniques, design, and materials can provide great content for the artisan website, but the articles on your should target your buyer rather than others in your field. We have seen craftsmen and artisans who set up links, articles, tips, and white papers and even tutorials to appeal to others in their field. Obviously, this doesn't make any sense if you are trying to provide content that attracts buyers for your pieces.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and linking campaigns are necessary and fairly simple but time consuming, but it is not all that a site needs to get better positions in the search engines. Your content needs to be well written, current, relevant to your product, unique and accurate. Your unique content can include some of the following:

• Trends in your field
• How to care for the work
• History of your particular type of work
• How to use your pieces with their own wardrobe (if it is wearable art) or in their own homes (if it is a decor or furniture item)
• Legends about historical pieces similar to your work
• Information about materials you use
• Myths about the raw materials
• Historical information about the origins of your techniques
• Do's and Don'ts associated with your pieces (this can about care, use or storage of your pieces)
• Plans for future pieces
• A journal showing what is currently on your workbench
• An article describing your design process from idea to completion.
• Quizzes about some phase of your work from technique to tools or materials.
• Games such as crossword puzzles or word searches that feature the vocabulary of your type of work
• A planner or worksheet so your customer can plan how the piece will fit into his or her wardrobe or home
• Calendar of your show schedule
• Screen savers featuring your pieces

The style of writing used on a Web site is different from that used in print media. People seem to scan pages rather than reading them. Reading from the monitor is tiring for the eyes and is about 25% slower than reading printed material. The Internet is so full of information that the reader will may move on to another site quickly, so information needs to be easily accessible. These basic techniques will help make your content readable and accessible to your visitors.

1. Use short sentences and paragraphs.
2. Use headlines and sub heads so your reader can scan the page.
3. Check your grammar and spelling.
4. Use lists and bullets for easy accessibility.
5. The font used in your web page needs to be large enough to read - 12. pt. is standard.

Once your site is online, the time spent on the site is either spent on marketing or keeping your content current. Attention to current and relevant content will pay you back in site visitors.

Kingfisher Designs

Louise Coulson creates hand woven knotted jewelry from sterling silver and gold filled wire. Louise has a fiber arts background and her work reflects the best of creativity, craftsmanship and materials. She is webmaster for Kingfisher Designs at http://www.wireweavers.com and Jewelry Spectrum at http://www.jewelryspectrum.com. Website ShowCase: Artisan's Guide to Website Development and Marketing is her new eBook, which is available at http://www.jewelryspectrum.com/showcase.htm

Increasing Sales and Customer Satisfaction

Most of us have hobbies or skills that give us that "feel good" moment. Some do handcrafts, creative arts, cooking, gardening or reading. My "feel good" time is with a client in retail or wholesale product sales. I react to the pleasure a customer has when they realize (through gentle selling techniques) that they are benefiting from their purchase. Whether it's for a gift or their own use, I have learned to read their body language and respond accordingly.

Let's consider a couple of ways to achieve the goal of a sale. You are at the shop and a customer enters and walks around looking at your displays. Initiate a greeting to them and wait for a response. Some will connect immediately and some will say "just looking." Observe without being obvious. Walk within a few aisles and arrange and dust a display. When they pay extra attention to an item then it's time to re-engage them. An example could be that the item "is very good quality" or "that is the last of that sale item" etc. Sometimes people need guidance and then you can ask who it may be for, or is it for a special occasion, or does it need to be a certain color or size. Learning how to ask a few key questions in a conversational manner can make the difference between a customer making a suitable purchase or leaving empty handed.

In outside sales I have approached businesses to market personalized items like pens, hats, T-shirts, mugs and wood framed tiles. One client ordered some of these items and then spent an additional $325 on framed photo tile trivets. The personalized trivets were offered to them at a discount as a new client special. You need to know ahead of time how much a cut in price you can live with on discounting items. You will often end up with a very happy client who then becomes your free advertising tool. They love to talk about the great deal they just made!

One time I was really tested as a store manager in an upscale boutique. We had beautiful one-of-a-kind hand painted batik comforters and linens, among other lines. A very particular woman, after one hour of discussion, selected a king size comforter and shams. She took them home and everything seemed fine. One month later she returned while I was on duty and was furious. The yellow painted portion of the design on the comforter and shams had totally disappeared! I could not believe it but it was true. Holes everywhere the yellow paint had been! What to do? I accepted the merchandise back and told her I would call her within 24 hours with a solution. First, I had to make her happy. Second, I had to resolve the problem. Third, I had to make her a repeat customer for the shop. I found out that her bedroom window was a perfect conduit for the sun. It seems the yellow pigment and the hot sun do not make a happy combination. Curiously, the red didn't even fade! The heat literally ate the yellow fabric sections. Solution: she would choose another design without any yellow. Next, I discounted a sheet set that coordinated with the second comforter. We made even more of a sale! She became a believer and supporter of the shop and sent us 3 new customers.

In outside sales when going into a store I will observe all that I can before I greet anyone. Is it relatively clean and well displayed and nice to look at? This relates to pride of products and careful display work. Make that a possible opening comment. "It's so well designed and displayed" or "It's nice to come into a shop that feels and looks so good." Establish the pleasure of being in their shop. Get their business card by the register. Have yours with your flyer or brochure handy to give to the owner/manager/associate. If no decision maker is there then ask for the day and time the owner sees vendors.

Consider offering the shop owner geographic exclusivity on some products. This keeps any other stores within a mutually established radius from carrying the same products. The store needs to be a significant buyer of the products to warrant that exclusive agreement. Some owners value this idea and it establishes a great rapport between store personnel and the vendor.

Sell Happy!

Sheri Orloff grew up in the much-maligned San Fernando Valley before it became forever associated in people's minds with airhead "Vals." Since fleeing "The Valley" in the early eighties, she has been somewhat of a gypsy with stopovers in California, Hawaii, and Florida before settling on the southern Oregon coast. Since 2001 she has operated WicksWorks Candle Emporium, a successful online candle boutique. The following year she became an independent distributor of Mia Bella's Gourmet Candles and discovered a new passion for helping her network marketing business partners achieve the financial freedom and personal goals they desire.

What is "GuerrillaPR" Anyway?

Public relations is the art, as one of my colleagues put it, of "offering people reasons to persuade themselves." In other words, we are not Madison Avenue; we don't tell people what we want them to think. Rather, we give them evidence, facts, and opinions that help them reach a conclusion. If we're good at what we do, they will reach the conclusion we've been hired to promote.

The differences between traditional public relations and Guerrilla P.R. are relatively simple. First of all, public relations firms like mine are available to people with a lot of money, because we charge what we consider to be reasonable fees, which are out of reach of many small or one-person businesses. So entrepreneurs and small business owners need to learn and apply the same skills I use every day in service of their larger, more well- heeled rivals. But these skills can't be used the same way, since they require more money than most small businesses can afford. Not everyone can buy a minute of time on network TV to get the message across.

That's where Guerrilla P.R. comes in. This down-and-dirty offspring of the traditional method is based on an idea I developed called the Tiffany Theory. The Tiffany Theory is an idea that sounds simple but, like most such theories, is so basic it contains numerous truths.

My Tiffany Theory states that a gift delivered in a box from Tiffany's will have a higher perceived value than one in no box or a plain box. That's not because the recipient is a fool; it's because in our society, we gift-wrap everything: our politicians, our corporate heads, our movie and TV stars, and even our toilet paper. Tiffany paper places a higher perceived value on things.

In effect, what I do each day is gift-wrapping. I take a message and wrap it in the finest paper from Tiffany's. No matter what the message may be, I try to make it sound more appealing, more interesting, and more useful. If I do my job correctly, the consumer (who gets the message through television, newspapers, radio, or the Inter net) will get the message. But first, that message has to go through editors, producers, reporters, and website managers. The Tiffany paper adds perceived value and cachet.

Notice, now, I said, perceived value. In public relations and publicity, perception is truth. It isn't what happened that counts, it's what people think happened. This is the absolute day-to-day currency of politics, entertainment, and most other industries. In our case, we're looking at how the public-that is, the segment of the public you believe is your customer base-perceives your company. Not what your company actually might be.

Does that mean you should lie? Never. Lying, besides being morally wrong, is quite literally indefensible. That means, at some point, you're going to be found out. And even if you weren't, you would have to start living the lie- remembering what you told the people interested in your business, and hearing people call you what you said you are. It's too hard, and it's not worth it. Besides, it's plain bad business.

When I say that the perception of the truth-rather than the truth itself-is the stuff of great publicity campaigns, I mean that the truth will take care of itself. But you have to make sure that the image you project, the perception you offer to potential customers, is what you want it to be.

For example, a man named Dave Schwartz decided he'd start a car rental company that would lower rates to the consumer by featuring cars that weren't 100 percent new off the showroom floor. He had a choice to make in terms of the perception of his new company, and he chose to beat critics to the punch with a strong sense of humor and a catchy company name: Rent-A-Wreck. Now, Dave didn't lie (his cars weren't wrecks, they drove just fine, so maybe he exaggerated a little), and he didn't fall into the trap of emphasizing price. After all, his competitors already had names like Thrifty and Budget. He hit you in the funny-bone, made his impression of a fun car rental company-with the implied promise that the cars would cost less because they weren't brand new- and launched a very successful business.

It's all in the perception. But is this a contradiction of the Tiffany Theory? Did Dave actually wrap his cars in Kmart paper to make his point?

Not really. Dave still wrapped his message in Tiffany paper. He made sure local news outlets, publications, and media companies knew about his company, and he emphasized exactly how reliable and economical the rental cars at Rent-A-Wreck would be. By downplaying the appearance of the cars-calling them "wrecks" he allowed the media to expect dented, scratched, beat-up cars. When they toured his facility and saw cars that were only slightly used, Dave didn't have to say a word. The message got out that the "wrecks" in question were very reliable, attractive cars that would be available for a lower rental rate because they were used. A brilliant, subtle piece of Tiffany wrapping.

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The Tiffany Theory applies to the Internet in ways it never could with traditional media. Keep in mind that more information is available on the World Wide Web than you can possibly track, let alone control. So it's always important to keep your information true. But unlike information in newspapers or magazines, the data you provide on a website is yours, and you provide the Tiffany paper. Use photographs, charts, quizzes, and prizes, if you can, to keep surfers' interest alive on your site. And remember to wrap every fact in a nice neat piece of Tiffany wrap.

GuerrillaPR Insights is a, weekly newsletter that does 2 things: First, it provides readers with a weekly, actionable "insights" on how you can work more effectively with the media.

Secondly, it provides NAPES: Names, Addresses, and Phone numbers of key media producers and editors. For example, in a recent issue, we gave specific contact information on how to contact the producers of the Oprah Winfrey Show.

To check out the archives, go to: http://www.guerrillapr.net/Guerrilla_PR_Insights-backissues.html