Lip-Sticking

The Secret To Perfecting Your Love Relationships

  Article by Chloe Spencer

Most of us would agree that love is the primary purpose of every human being on this Earth. Love is universal. But is love expressed the same by everybody?

Love is actually spoken in different languages. Dr. Gary Chapman, author of "The Five Love Languages", has identified the five universal love languages through years of study and counseling couples: Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, and Quality Time.

Do you do the dishes for your partner but never feel appreciated because he or she never offers to do them? Maybe your partner buys you gifts instead. Or perhaps your partner feels you don't kiss or hug them enough, but you say "I love you" on a regular basis? We tend to express love in the ways we like to receive it...but your partner may express and want to receive love in a different way.

Mystic Stories of the Universe: People of the Bear Mother

by TD Austin, introduction by Yvonne DiVita

You'll not be surprised to learn that books play an important part in my life. I've written posts about publishing and reading and books quite a bit lately. I did a short review of a fantastic sci-fi series just last weekend, and now I want to introduce a series of blog posts around a new book. 

The book is, People of the Bear Mother. The author is TD Austin. We emailed back and forth a bit and I asked if she would share her writing experience with us, as I read the book and prepare to write about it. 

TD Austin wrote to me, "That the story of our Stone Age ancestors and their inner/spiritual lives should be told by a woman seems to me unremarkable because these hunting cultures were the most egalitarian in human history. Scientists tell us that the women's 'gathering' activities provided up to 80% of all food calories, that most of the shamans, spiritual leaders and healers were women and that the status of women was truly equal to that of men in ways that even our modern societies have not yet attained to.

Invasion of the Torterats

by Yvonne DiVita

When W.R. Widerberg asked if I'd review his series of books about the future of the world, I have to admit I hesitated just a bit. Don't get me wrong. I love science fiction. I love futuristic stories. I love reading, as you know. But, what did I know about W.R. Widerberg? Nothing.

I took a chance because the cover of the book was compelling, and the blurb on the cover drew me in, "Far in the frozen future the fate of the Camarilla, the last civilisation on earth, rests in one girl's hands..." 

Mind you, I was prepared to be disappointed, as I had been in The Hunger Games. But, I was also game.

Turns out, my gut knew better than I did. This series of stories told in a futurist world is far more entertaining and engrossing than that other one... I need not continue to mention the name of it. The second movie is already being promoted via the web.

Friday Musings - The Story of the Book

by Yvonne DiVita, Founder of Lipsticking, Co-Founder of BlogPaws

The nook I used to sit in on cold winter afternoons, with a book propped up on my knees, was halfway up the stairs, in the old house of ours. It was a small house. A tiny house by some standards. But, I was only 12 and had nothing to compare it to, so I thought it was grand.

There I'd be, on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, curled up in the corner of that nook - the windowseat covered with a soft cushion that barely offered comfort to my skinny bottom. The door to the downstairs was closed. We kept it closed in the winter, to keep the warm air downstairs. I would pull a blanket up around my shoulders and cozy on down into it... keeping that book propped up just so... just so I could lose myself in it and be one with the story.

Time to Write that Book - Marketing in 2013

by Yvonne DiVita

2013 is on the horizon. I love this time of year. Our social media channels are overflowing with Christmas joy, everyone is vowing to eat just one more cookie and then no more!, and our businessfolk are either panicking because they aren't ready for 2013, or happy with the plans in place for this next year.

Let's talk about marketing in 2013 - some of it focused on marketing to women, and some of it focused on trends. I'm curious about the trends - will women drive these trends? Will we embrace them or ignore them? We'll see.

#1 - marketing to women is still a viable approach to all of your plans for 2013. Women not only love to buy - we love to share. If you are really in touch with your women customers (no matter what you sell, you have women customers - you know this, right?), you should be successful in bringing their voices into your marketing plans. Women are more than delighted to tell you how they want you to do things. Just ask your <wife> <sister> <mother> <aunt> .... or <girlfriend>. Better yet, get all your women 'friends' in one room and give them a whiteboard. Oh, the innovative ideas you'll get! Makes me tingle all over!

Share of Mind & Heart - An Interview

by Yvonne DiVita

I miss my Smart Woman Online and Smart Man Online interviews. I did them regularly back in the early days of blogging. I reached out to some amazing social media professionals, some awesome authors, and just generally found interesting people doing fab things online that were worth an interview. I should revise that... 

Thinking about that led me to this interview, today. Upfront, I'm the publisher of this book. I love promoting my authors. But, in the end, the reality is that the book is worth reading by everyone in business today - because we're all marketers and we all bring a share of our hearts and our minds, to our work. The book is Share of Mind, Share of Heart: Marketing Tools of Engagement for Nonprofits by Sybil Stershic

Enjoy!

Yvonne: Why are you focused on nonprofits – isn’t all marketing the same?

Book Review: Are You Kidding Me...

Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

I was recently sent a copy of the book, "Are You Kidding Me? A Journal of First Dates, Flings, and Finding Love" by author Elizabeth Glasband. I was intrigued by the title and the cover and because I have always been a fan of Sex And The City (well, not the second movie so much -- but the television series and the first movie) I was looking forward to the read. 

While I am obviously not the audience for this book (I have a child that is the age the author was when she penned the book so I am a touch older than the audience, I imagine) I enjoyed the author's recollections and recounting of her sexual exploits. I'd never been quite as adventurous as the author in her dates, flings and finding of love I had many friends that were and those friends love to share stories of love found, lost and found again. 

I will admit that there were parts of the book that could have benefitted from tighter edits and deletion of some of the exclamation points, I also admit that some of the stories were laugh out loud funny. I will also admit that during the reading I wondered, "when my daughter moves out and starts dating, how many of these type of dates and flings will she have to go through before she finds love?" 

I liked that the book was broken into short chapters each detailing the date of the day and I also enjoyed the updates at the end of the book -- a kind of "where are they now" wrap up. If you're looking for a quick, light beach read this book might be one to slip into your beach bag! 

Friday Musings: Hungry?

by Yvonne DiVita

In reference to the title today, have you read The Hunger Games books? Have you seen the first movie?

Well, I have. Read all three books and seen the movie. And, I'm left... unimpressed. Actually, I'm left feeling sad. THIS is what passes for good reading today? THIS is how low our expectations of novel and movie greatness have fallen?

Let's look at the big picture - first of all, the plot is absurd. The first job of any fiction story is to overcome the reader's disbelief. In other words, the reader needs to believe in the story. The deeper I got into the hunger games, the less I believed. 

Is innovation dead or just dying?

by Yvonne DiVita

The word is out that innovation is dead. A September article in Forbes quotes none other than Max Levchin of PayPal, saying, "Innovation in this country is somewhere between dire straits and dead." Whoa! Harsh words!

It harkens back to the day when consumers were told, "Everything that can be invented, has been invented," by Charles Holland Duell. [truth is - this is what he said, "In my opinion, all previous advances in the various lines of invention will appear totally insignificant when compared with those which the present century will witness. I almost wish that I might live my life over again to see the wonders which are at the threshold.^{[4]" ]}

Regardless of how you feel (how do you feel?), innovation is not dead. Innovation may be on a slow boat to... somewhere, let's not say China, but it's clearly not dead. If you are part of life on the Internet, you know it's not dead. Smart people are creating innovative businesses, products, and services every day. We saw a truly innovative new business just the other day as we drove to a friend's for turkey - on the side of the road there was a small sign that said, "Wehangchristmaslights.com". Some folks might not think that's innovative, but I do.

Dear *insert name of bank* Who Needs Ya?

by Yvonne DiVita

Banks have money to loan - for small businesses. That's what I hear on the news and read in the paper and have even been told by my bank. "We want to help America get back on its feet," my banker said. "We have money to lend... especially if you'll be hiring."

We showed how eager we are to hire - and how we're making a profit, almost unheard of for a company as new as we are, and still... we were turned away.The only money banks have to lend is money they're hiding under the table and expect a solid 500% return on. I guess. They've proven they aren't lending to "start-ups" or businesses that "need" money. We're not the only ones being turned away. Or, they're offering an SBA Loan - as long as you can invest a ton of your own money, first.

If you're established and you don't need a loan, they have LOTS of money to lend. Ain't that great?