Sunday, May 8, 2011
Internet Marketing Training, a service provided by Norm with GetCalhoun.com, can be found near the top of page one for the search term, "internet marketing training." Check out the screen shot below. Note that I am in position #2 and #4 out of 71,000,000 results.
So what does it prove? It proves that I do for myself what I can help you do for yourself. No brag, all fact. The results speak for themselves. Click the screenshot below to check out my training offer for yourself!
So what does it prove? It proves that I do for myself what I can help you do for yourself. No brag, all fact. The results speak for themselves. Click the screenshot below to check out my training offer for yourself!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Does Anniston Alabama have a tornado safety plan other than going to the lowest floor in your house?
I have lived here all of my life and I don't know of one. This is a fairly strange thing, considering that nearby Jacksonville, AL serves as the hub of the local Emergency Management Agency.
It is a fact that everything changed after the Palm Sunday Tornado of 1994. I was there. Well, I wasn't at Goshen, thank God, but I was at the center of the information tornado, as I was in the control room of the local television station.
I had been looking at a lone little red blob of color that had been moving steadily northeast all morning on radar. I had a really bad feeling that morning. No reason really. There wasn't a single clue that the little red blob would decide to drop a tornado and kill a bunch of people above Piedmont. But something just didn't feel right.
When it happened, all hell broke loose. You see, it was such an oddball event that nobody who was supposed to be prepared...was prepared. In and out, down and up. Many dead.
After that, everything changed. That's when warning sirens popped up everywhere. Spann ascended at ABC3340, changing how weather was reported across all television stations in Alabama. The weather service turned their weather sensitivity knobs up so high that forevermore, they were seeing tornadoes in innocuous summer showers. You know how it is.
The one thing that didn't change was just what to do when a tornado sets its sights on you. You see, and will agree that it does absolutely no good to have a full day of warning if you have nowhere to go when a twister descends on you.
When even an EF1 tornado or strong straight line winds can and will kill you very dead, you have very little chance of survival when an F4 tears through where you are. The difference between an F4 and an F5 tornado is that an F4 leaves piles of rubble where homes were. An F5 leaves nothing...just a shadow or an empty cement pad.
The only way to successfully survive an F4 or and F5 tornado is to be several feet underneath the ground. Funny that. If you don't get underground when a large tornado hits, you will get underground after. One way, you will continue to breathe and enjoy life, and the other way you will not.
The problem for most of us is that "shelter in place" is not a good option during a tornado. The Cullman tornado demolished even strong, old, brick buildings.
We, or at least I, have always expected our city leaders, who are paid to do such things, to come up with places that we can go shelter when the weather turns bad. Then, the bad weather moves on along and the sun comes out, and nothing is ever done.
I believe there should be more options than "shelter and die in place."
I believe that if the people we pay to come up with alternate plans (as in whether we live or die) won't take care of business, then we, the Anniston and Oxford "street" should take care of it ourselves.
But first, we should finally, and once and for all ask the people who are in charge of public safety to step up to the challenge to identify and make available places for us to go when we know we're going to die if we don't.
I can personally think of two places that offer the chance for life that were padlocked on that recent and historical tornado day.
I'm not asking for the gubment to guarantee survival and sunny days. That is foolish. But what they could do is to put together a list of places that are survivable during a tornado and see to it that these places are made available...as in neighbor helping neighbor. A cooperation. A plan.
Identifying existing sites that can be used for storm shelters, making sure that they are open, and getting the plan in front of the citizens will cost little or nothing to implement, other than a little time.
The whole thing could be done by volunteers for that matter, if officially empowered.
I say, "Let's get to work."
I have lived here all of my life and I don't know of one. This is a fairly strange thing, considering that nearby Jacksonville, AL serves as the hub of the local Emergency Management Agency.
It is a fact that everything changed after the Palm Sunday Tornado of 1994. I was there. Well, I wasn't at Goshen, thank God, but I was at the center of the information tornado, as I was in the control room of the local television station.
I had been looking at a lone little red blob of color that had been moving steadily northeast all morning on radar. I had a really bad feeling that morning. No reason really. There wasn't a single clue that the little red blob would decide to drop a tornado and kill a bunch of people above Piedmont. But something just didn't feel right.
When it happened, all hell broke loose. You see, it was such an oddball event that nobody who was supposed to be prepared...was prepared. In and out, down and up. Many dead.
After that, everything changed. That's when warning sirens popped up everywhere. Spann ascended at ABC3340, changing how weather was reported across all television stations in Alabama. The weather service turned their weather sensitivity knobs up so high that forevermore, they were seeing tornadoes in innocuous summer showers. You know how it is.
The one thing that didn't change was just what to do when a tornado sets its sights on you. You see, and will agree that it does absolutely no good to have a full day of warning if you have nowhere to go when a twister descends on you.
When even an EF1 tornado or strong straight line winds can and will kill you very dead, you have very little chance of survival when an F4 tears through where you are. The difference between an F4 and an F5 tornado is that an F4 leaves piles of rubble where homes were. An F5 leaves nothing...just a shadow or an empty cement pad.
The only way to successfully survive an F4 or and F5 tornado is to be several feet underneath the ground. Funny that. If you don't get underground when a large tornado hits, you will get underground after. One way, you will continue to breathe and enjoy life, and the other way you will not.
The problem for most of us is that "shelter in place" is not a good option during a tornado. The Cullman tornado demolished even strong, old, brick buildings.
We, or at least I, have always expected our city leaders, who are paid to do such things, to come up with places that we can go shelter when the weather turns bad. Then, the bad weather moves on along and the sun comes out, and nothing is ever done.
I believe there should be more options than "shelter and die in place."
I believe that if the people we pay to come up with alternate plans (as in whether we live or die) won't take care of business, then we, the Anniston and Oxford "street" should take care of it ourselves.
But first, we should finally, and once and for all ask the people who are in charge of public safety to step up to the challenge to identify and make available places for us to go when we know we're going to die if we don't.
I can personally think of two places that offer the chance for life that were padlocked on that recent and historical tornado day.
I'm not asking for the gubment to guarantee survival and sunny days. That is foolish. But what they could do is to put together a list of places that are survivable during a tornado and see to it that these places are made available...as in neighbor helping neighbor. A cooperation. A plan.
Identifying existing sites that can be used for storm shelters, making sure that they are open, and getting the plan in front of the citizens will cost little or nothing to implement, other than a little time.
The whole thing could be done by volunteers for that matter, if officially empowered.
I say, "Let's get to work."
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Calhoun County Alabama Local NewsThere is no immediate local news in Calhoun County Alabama, and has not been since WJSU became part of the greater ABC 33-40 co-prosperity sphere in 1996.
I don't mean any slight to our local news reporting sources in radio and cable TV, but what they are able deliver is not the same as having a home owned full time home owned news oriented tv or radio station.
The closest thing to real news is and always has been the Anniston Star. Though they have veered into video, it's still not as dynamic as real time reports from a dedicated source.
GetCalhoun.com had daily weekday news for a few years when we maintained a business relationship with Alabama 810, and nobody was more tickled than me. Our news archives from that period are still VERY popular. Still, nothing immediate about that.
Worse, most of our local AM radio stations either go to low power, or close down when the sun goes down. And while FM stations do have news reportage, that isn't their first mission.
I always had a dream that one day GetCalhoun.com could get into the local news business. The fact is that a forward thinking local website could do a passable job of immediate news with an exceedingly low overhead for the service.
Alas, there is only me. As much as I would like to be a news reporter, which I have been off and on all my life, I had to make a decision. Time away gathering news is time lost here on production work.
GetCalhoun.com up to the minute news would need two things to become a reality. That being, a reporter, and revenue. Everything else is already on hand or could be procured cheaply.
Local news has always been about revenue. The business community has to be willing to support the news provider. Online news can be done FAR more cheaply than in a regular brick and mortar business. But it does take funds.
I believe there are enough people in Calhoun County Alabama who yearn for news, particularly during times of peril, that GetCalhoun.com up to the minute news could become a reality. While not perfect, because of the relatively low costs, it is something that could be done for not much more than a livable salary for the reporters. There are people who are drawn to news that would be ecstatic to do a GREAT job, if they only had the chance, and be perfectly willing to be paid in peanuts for the opportunity.
I'd love to hear your opinion about this, especially if you have money, resources, or the ability to generate revenue. The operational end is already in place.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
I have been making the rounds with local businesses, offering my Anniston Business Directory pages.
It has been both heartening and heartbreaking.
First, I have yet to run into an ungracious business owner. 99.9% have been very generous, at least, in their conversations with me. One fellow said, "no" and that sort of ended the chat, but every other business I have spoken with has been first rate. This was very nice, because as you know I am very shy.
But secondly. Many business owners I spoke to were frank about their immediate prospects.
Beyond precluding a chance for me to make a sale, the general sorry state of the economy here is disheartening. And I'm talking about some very old and very well known businesses too.
I have always felt that the time to advertise is when you don't have to. In other words, when the cash register is flush. The next best time is when you see the time coming when you can't.
By the time you are so far in the hole that you can't afford any advertising, even mine, which is ridiculously low cost compared to what others charge for similar services, then you're in a jam for sure.
I know and can show that a page with GetCalhoun.com, or a full website, for that matter has value and worth. But some local business are beyond that now. With some, when you call, all you get is a fast busy signal. That means nobody is ever going to be there again.
I feel like we're standing, looking over edge of a cliff with a gentle but firm push from behind. Something has got to give.
In the meantime, if there are yet customers with money for what your business offers, and they look for you on the Internet, they WILL find you on GetCalhoun.com...if you are able to advertise.
If it's still possible for you to spend money for your future, I urge you to take a look at how I can help with a page on my website. It's not much more than a portion of your butter and egg money each month. If a page with me brings in only one more dollar than you spend, then you're ahead of the game. Better, results are cumulative...
When John Q. is finally able to afford what you do, he will come back to GetCalhoun.com to look you up.
GetCalhoun.com advertisers belong to a very special community. Each advertiser reinforces every other advertiser. It's to all of our benefit to have as many folks as possible joining forces on GetCalhoun.com for the common cause of surviving for now, and prospering when allowed.
It has been both heartening and heartbreaking.
First, I have yet to run into an ungracious business owner. 99.9% have been very generous, at least, in their conversations with me. One fellow said, "no" and that sort of ended the chat, but every other business I have spoken with has been first rate. This was very nice, because as you know I am very shy.But secondly. Many business owners I spoke to were frank about their immediate prospects.
Beyond precluding a chance for me to make a sale, the general sorry state of the economy here is disheartening. And I'm talking about some very old and very well known businesses too.
I have always felt that the time to advertise is when you don't have to. In other words, when the cash register is flush. The next best time is when you see the time coming when you can't.
By the time you are so far in the hole that you can't afford any advertising, even mine, which is ridiculously low cost compared to what others charge for similar services, then you're in a jam for sure.
I know and can show that a page with GetCalhoun.com, or a full website, for that matter has value and worth. But some local business are beyond that now. With some, when you call, all you get is a fast busy signal. That means nobody is ever going to be there again.
I feel like we're standing, looking over edge of a cliff with a gentle but firm push from behind. Something has got to give.
In the meantime, if there are yet customers with money for what your business offers, and they look for you on the Internet, they WILL find you on GetCalhoun.com...if you are able to advertise.
If it's still possible for you to spend money for your future, I urge you to take a look at how I can help with a page on my website. It's not much more than a portion of your butter and egg money each month. If a page with me brings in only one more dollar than you spend, then you're ahead of the game. Better, results are cumulative...
When John Q. is finally able to afford what you do, he will come back to GetCalhoun.com to look you up.
GetCalhoun.com advertisers belong to a very special community. Each advertiser reinforces every other advertiser. It's to all of our benefit to have as many folks as possible joining forces on GetCalhoun.com for the common cause of surviving for now, and prospering when allowed.
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