Facebook Survey-We want your input!

We interrupt this blog to bring you this Public “Survey” Announcement! LOL

My husband and I went over the marketing plans for Art of Eloquence for next quarter.  The topic of pay per click advertising on Facebook came up again and we thought we’d get your input.  If you have a minute, we’d love it if you’d answer 4 questions for us.

1. If you are on Facebook, do you notice the ads at all?

2. If you do notice Facebook ads, have you ever clicked on one?

3. If you saw an ad on Facebook for a company you knew and liked, would you be likely to click on it?

4. Do you think we should advertise on Facebook?  Why or why not?

Please leave us your responses and ANY other comments with your thoughts about our advertising on Facebook.  We’d LOVE your input!

In fact, we’d love to get as much input on this as possible so….if you have any friends who are on Facebook, would you please send this link to them and ask them to take this quick survey? As the Bartles and James commercials used to say, “Thanks again for your support!”  ;D

You may now return to your regularly scheduled blog!

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Want more free articles & gifts?

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I have a lot of fun pictures, videos and articles to share here on Communication FUNadamentals.  What you may not know, is that you can get even more free articles packed with communication tips as well as free gifts and exclusive offers if you subscribe to our What’s New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter!

We give away free gifts and products, usually for, but not limited to, the major holidays.  Two weeks ago, we gave away a free copy of my very first JoJoisms eBook on Communication to ALL of our newsletter subscribers–no strings attached!

We also provide our Art of Eloquence newsletter subscribers with exclusive offers we do not offer ANYONE else!  Last week we had a One Day Only Sale.  It was a buy one HALF OFF; get one FREE sale!  No special occasion, we just picked a date.  We know times are tough out there and we just wanted to bless our subscribers with something we had never done before.  By the way, we’d like to thank all of you who sent emails thanking us for the opportunity to purchase all the ePackages and individual eBooks you’ve been wanting at this amazing low rate.  And a special thank you for each of you who shared with us how Art of Eloquence products have blessed your life and that of your children!

Another perk of being a What’s New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter subscriber is that you get a free monthly article packed with tips for effective communication in your daily life.  We’ve had many an article series come through the newsletter that eventually was incorporated into a book we now sell on the Art of Eloquence website.  Our newsletter subscribers got the info for free ahead of time!  We just finished a series on conflict and one on email.   I just started a brand new series last month that will be about a year long on common communication myths.  Last week I shared why communication isn’t just important for making speeches, but for every day life.  Tomorrow, I am going to share an article I just finished on myth number 2:  Communication is Easy.  I’ll share how everyone is NOT born knowing how to communicate effectively and this is why so many misunderstandings occur.  PLUS I’ll give subscribers tips and links to free resources to help you study this vital skill.

Another advantage to What’s New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter is my new Ask JoJo segment that comes out the second Tuesday of each month.  That’s where YOU get to ask me ANY communication question you like and I’ll answer it complete with tips and techniques.  Since many of our subscribers face the same issues, it’s nice to be able to benefit from someone else’s questions!  I try to answer 2-4 questions each month.

Aside from these things, What’s New at Art of Eloquence eNewsletter subscribers also get first notice of new products and a chance to pre-order upcoming new products at a HUGE discount!  I’ll be releasing my brand new, expanded eCourse on Conflicts soon and ONLY our newsletter subscribers will get the opportunity to pre-order this expanded eBook on how to avoid, reduce and resolve conflicts.

If you are not already as subscriber, you can subscribe here!  If you know others who’d like to benefit from all of this creative and fun information on effective communication, post a link to this blog post on your Twitter, Facebook, blog, Yahoo group, or website.

Don’t forget that if you DO post a link to any page on our site before November 1st, email us jojo@artofeloquence.com (with “BB Links” in the subject line) to let us know and we’ll give you 8 points toward our Birthday Bash Grand Prize!  Check out the details here!

Most of what we offer is free!  Don’t miss out on all the fun!

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Are you a reluctant wahm?

Many of you may remember that last year my editor and dear friend, Carla Ives, and I were co hosting a weekly podcast on TalkShoe.  Well, Carla had some family issues that required her attention so she had to leave the show and most of her online presence for a while.  Well, you can’t keep a brilliant woman down!  She’s back with a new venture to add to her repertoire!  It’s called The Reluctant Wahm.com and it is brand spankin’ new!

The site is only a few days old and it already has some wonderful articles for work at home moms who are either reluctant to have to work from home (are more used to or prefer working in a corporate environment) or , if it weren’t for the economy, would rather not have to work at all.  It’s a fabulous resource for all work at home moms and homeschooling moms who are working a bit to help dh with the family budget.  Carla is a wealth of information and she has a huge heart to help others.

Well, this morning I was indeed humbled and blessed to find a glowing post on her site about my work and Art of Eloquence.  I just colored my hair today so I don’t know which is more red, my hair or my face!  Though she is a tough and nitpicky editor, she is very generous with her praise and I am truly honored by her words.

Please visit her site and leave a comment welcoming her back to the internet after such a long absence and so many difficult situations in her life, some of which she is still contending with.

Thank you my dear, sweet friend!

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Mailbag Monday: Articles

It’s time again for Mailbag Monday!  On the last Monday of the month, I post your questions and comments.  I didn’t get any unusual questions this month, but we did get so many wonderful comments, mostly on my articles,  that  I thought I’d include links to them so you all can read them if you didn’t get a chance to when they came out.

Thanks to all of you who wrote in for your kind comments. I so enjoy hearing how much you enjoy my articles and studies!  One question I do get often applies here.  Yes, you may re-post any of my blog articles as long as you keep them in tact with my resource box with a link back to me.

I have a few blog fans out there!  Here’s what one had to say on her blog about mine:

“Here’s a link to one of my absolute all-time favorite websites/blogs.” -Becky Joie

I received an email from her as well this month with feedback about how her Co op Class is going:

“Co-op class is going well with Say What You Mean for Kids.  The students enjoy it and I am so glad that it is easy to teach and has little prep work, especially with my busy schedule. I look forward to teaching it every week.” -Becky Joie

We also had some wonderful feedback about our monthly homeschool leadership seminar this month:

“Loved your seminar!!  I just order One by One (Denise & Kristen) book, know I’m sending you my email so I can get yours. Thanks in advance!!” -Marie

I received several wonderful emails about my funny article, JoJo’s 10 Important Uses for SPAM to Enrich Your Life, I posted here on the blog last week:

“Hahaha left a comment JoJo you hit the nail on the head!! Love it Jo Jo. I’m spamming all my friends with that link. LOL!” -Heather

I received a very nice email about my article, “Should You Pay Her What She’s Worth:”

“I went and read your article and I can’t agree more. Demanding that a business person give away the things that provide their livelihood,  ‘communicates a lack of respect for her as an expert, a lack of respect for her time and a lack of respect for her right to make a living and provide for her family” -Joan

This was one of the responses I received about one of my exclusive newsletter articles “Is it Ever 4:76am in Your Conversation?”  I’m afraid I cannot give out the link to this one as these are exclusive articles JUST for my newsletter subscribers.  If you are not a subscriber and wish to be, you can subscribe here:

“I saw this in your newsletter so I went and read the whole article.  NICE!!!!  I really enjoyed it.  GREAT ARTICLE!” –Carla

Thanks for all the wonderful feedback this month. It really helps me to know what you all like and need!

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Wordless Wednesday

If you are a seasoned subscriber here on Communication FUNdamentals, you will remember that this is something I had done on a weekly basis years ago.

Much of communication is not in the words we use, but in our body language, eye contact, gestures, tone of voice, etc.  To celebrate this, I want each of you to post a picture on your own blog or Facebook wall or wherever and come back here and post a comment with a link to it.

It can be anything from a beautiful scene to a picture of your kids, a picture of you as a child, an animal or your favorite thing!  Just make sure it’s family friendly, please!

Let’s all share a little of ourselves today for Wordless Wednesday!  Here’s mine!

These are my goofy kids. Meet Kelsey (now 20) and Christopher (now 10).

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JoJo’s 10 Important Uses for SPAM to Enrich Your Life!

Ok…the old girl has gone off her rocker!  She’s nutz!  Elvis has left the noggin!  Call the little men in white coats to come and take her away ha ha, hee hee, hoo hoo!

I know I’ve complained about SPAM before…ENDLESSLY… but let me share with you some insights I have had that will increase your quality of life!  Why?  Because SPAM is here to stay.  It’s not going anywhere and no matter how big your SPAM folder is or how many virtual padlocks you put on your email address, you will have to deal with SPAM.  So allow me to give you a different perspective that will enable you and your SPAM to live in relative peace with each other.  How?  Here are 10 important uses for SPAM:

1. Giggles!

Yes we all need giggles and most SPAM provides an endless supply of comedic value!  At times, life can be difficult, dull and even lifeless, so get all the giggles you can!  SPAM is generally written by people with little or no communication training or sometimes by those for whom English is a second language.  Sometimes SPAM itself is a whole ‘nuther language but, with the proper perspective, you can learn to find your daily giggles in your endless supply of SPAM.

Giggling at SPAM will reduce your blood pressure, add years to your life and make life seem more FUN!  So rather than looking at “Hallo, JoJo!  You get 80% off too day!” in frustration as you pound your index finger on the delete button, look upon it as an opportunity to get your daily giggles!  When life gives you SPAM; make SPAM-aide!

2. Sharing Giggles!

Everyone needs a giggle so don’t keep them to yourself!  Spread a little SPAM giggle where you can!  Post your funny spam on Facebook and Twitter.  Share it with friends!  You might even want to pass around the link to this article!  (wink) Spread a little SPAMshine around.

3. Keep Your SPAM Giggles for a Rainy Day!

I suggest you keep a SPAM folder in your computer!  Oh not the SPAM folder where you delete all your unwanted emails.  I mean a folder where you keep all your funny SPAM giggles from all those illiterate marketers out there!  Visit it often when you’re having a bad day and watch your frown turn upside down!

4.  To Build Self-Esteem

There are some people who don’t feel they do things well.  These people often get caught up in a cycle of depression because they don’t see their true contribution to society. Some don’t feel they are very smart.  Perhaps they compared themselves to an older sibling who got straight A’s.  You, too, can feel smarter and more accomplished simply by comparing your communication to that of the average spammer!  Take note of their grammar, spelling and word choice; how their subject lines have nothing whatever to do with the topic at hand!  Bask in the glow of your capabilities as you send an email to Aunt Sally and don’t start the salutation with, “Hey, Mom.  I tell you about my new buzness!”  Soon you will begin to realize your vast array of abilities and harness your self-esteem!

5. Great Conversation Starters

Give the weather a break and use some fresh, new content to begin your conversations as you mix and mingle at that business function!  You’ll be the life of the party and an asset to any host when you learn to hone your skills in bringing out the lively discussion at boring family gatherings and board meetings!  Learn to work a room using relevant and timely SPAM stories everyone is usually familiar with and has their own opinion about!

6. Bragging Rights

The amount of email I receive in general has increased exponentially as Art of Eloquence reaches more and more readers/subscribers.  With that comes more SPAM as well.   While this has been a matter of serious irritation to me, I can now see the benefit in announcing the increasing numbers of irritating, unwanted email communiques I receive from seemingly illiterate and illogical individuals!  “Hey, I receive 1000 SPAM emails a day!” Aren’t you impressed?  LOL

7. Great sermon jokes!

SPAM makes great stories for sermons or lectures because they can lighten the mood of your audience and break up your material with humor.  They are also much more readily available than are speech jokes!

8. Homeschool Lessons

Homeschoolers have an almost inexhaustible supply of material with which they may educate their children on any number of subjects ranging from grammar and spelling to logic!  Mini communication lessons and critical thinking exercises are just some of the uses homeschoolers can take advantage of by using free unsolicited emails.  Increase your child’s education without spending a DIME!  (Disclaimer: you will need to weed out any SPAM that requires an X rating!)

9. Use as Blog Fodder!

SPAM also makes great blog fodder for speech communication authors, writing instructors and those with editing services!  It’s a fun way to advertise your services and products!  Incidentally, if you notice your son or daughter’s communication skills are beginning to resemble that of an average spammer, take a peek at the Art of Eloquence website for the various ways in which he or she can have fun learning effective communication! [grin]

10. To test your delete button and make sure it’s in good working order!

Finally, here is my favorite use for SPAM.  Did you know that the delete key gets rusty if you don’t use it often?  Think of all the emails you need to delete and what would happen if they piled up because your delete button wasn’t in good working order!!

So there you have it!  JoJo’s 10 Important Uses for SPAM that will enrich your life!

Have any of your own?  Post them here!!

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Words Matter Week: Contest!

This week is National Words Matter Week!  To celebrate, I’m having a blog contest and you could win a prize package of your choice!  Since this is Communication FUNdamentals, I want us to celebrate Words Matter Week by having some fun with words and our communication!  So let’s get to the rules of the contest:

Each weekday March 1-5th, here on the blog, I’m going to issue a simple challenge for you to enter as many times as you can.  The one who has the most entries at midnight on Friday, March 5th will win the grand prize!

How to Enter Each Day March 1-5:

To enter the contest, post a link to this blogpost or any of the other Words Matter Week blogposts (March 1-5) sharing about Words Matter Week anytime between now and midnight on Friday, March 5th!  Each post will count as an entry in the contest.

You may post this link on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, your website, your Yahoo group, social network/media, a chat, or email your friends and family!  Anywhere you post our link counts as one entry in the contest. To enter you simply email jojo@artofeloquence.com with “WMW Contest” in the subject line and tell me where you posted and what Communication FUNdamentals blog post you linked to.

Enter early and often!

The one with the most entries at midnight on Friday, March 5th will win an Art of Eloquence Value Package of his/her choice!

Check back tomorrow for another way to get more entries and have more fun with Words Matter Week!

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December’s Mailbag Monday

It’s Mailbag Monday!  The last Monday of the month here at Communication FUNdamentals is always devoted to your comments and questions.  So it’s time again for the mail.  Actually, I answer all emails as they come in, but each month I like to take a few and post them here because the answers to some of the issues and questions are beneficial to so many more.

First I want to thank all of you who took the time to write in or to post here on my blog.  I get so much SPAM through here that it’s nice to read comments from real people!  Keeps me going to know you appreciate what I write and that it is helping you or made you smile!

I received MANY comments and thank yous from our newsletter subscribers and Art of Eloquence Facebook Fans about this year’s Christmas gift, God Is Everywhere.  I even had a subscriber who said she was in charge of the projection system at her church service and asked permission to post it up as a slide show before service started one week!   I was humbled and honored to grant permission and I pray it blessed many in the congregation that week!

If you didn’t know about our Christmas gift, it’s probably because you are not one of our newsletter subscribers or a Facebook fan.  You can subscribe to our newsletter, What’s New at Art of Eloquence or become a member of the Art of Eloquence Fan Club if you are on Facebook.  Art of Eloquence gives free gifts away and makes special offers available throughout the year!

We also received some emails from some The Old Schoolhouse Magazine subscribers who saw my articles this year.  I’m happy to work with The Old Schoolhouse any time I can. They are a great company and so wonderful to work with!  I’m so happy the articles blessed you!   Someone called and asked if I had any others coming out in TOS and the answer is yes.  I have an article coming out in their January issue that will talk about the Three Flavors of Communication which is the theme of this year’s Say What You Mean Convention coming up February 3rd!

Someone else wrote in asking why the convention details for 5th Annual SWMC is not yet up on the site.  We usually don’t change the information until January so stay tuned to the website and this blog for more information.  I promise even more fun, free gifts, contests with prizes and great teaching this year!

Lastly this month I received a great deal of email from folks asking why I chose to stop podcasting in 2010.  Many said the Communication Comedy Network was fun and informative and they asked that I keep it going.  I wanted to take a little more time to explain.

It’s been a wonderfully creative outlet for me actually, but very, VERY time consuming.  Several folks didn’t understand why.  I’m a very creative soul and I tend to go over the top.  The show wasn’t just me reporting on issues and giving communication advice.  I did a great deal of research for each show, but that wasn’t even half of the work that went into the show.

The show was run like an actual TV or radio network with various “shows” having different hosts (each with a different personality, speech pattern and accent).  Further each show had its own theme and weekly topics and all done each week by me…voices, accents and all!   Each show had to be planned, researched, scripted and rehearsed each and every week.  It was a blast and, if I were getting paid even one salary for it, I would continue.  However, as with many of the other things I took on in 2009, it was far too time consuming and didn’t allow me to work on the things that would have brought in an income and finish many of the projects our customers were asking for.

However, as is my nature, I couldn’t leave busy enough alone.  I just had to finish off the podcast this month in the creative and fun JoJo way.  And so I recorded an audio and posted a blog entry with what I thought would be a fun way to end the entire experience both for me and for my listeners.  You can see the blog post here.  It has a picture of all of the hosts of the CCN (me myself and I) with a link to the audio where Announcer Guy (also me) explains what each one of us will be doing in 2010.  It’s only a few minutes long, but I thought it was pretty funny.  Apparently many of you agreed as I received a ton of comments both on the blog and off!

Thanks so much for all the great feedback this month!  I pray you had  a blessed Christmas and that God continue to bless you in 2010.  If you have a question or a comment, please feel free to either post it here or email me jojo @ artofeloquence.com

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Have you ever seen a FIMMpersonator?

Monday Q of the Wk. Here’s how it works:
Each Monday I ask a thought provoking question about life.  Pose the same question to your blog readers on your own blog along with your answer to the question.  Then come back here and post a comment with a link to your blog post so we can all read everyone’s answers!  It’s been a lot of fun getting to know my readers and their readers and so on and so on…

This week’s question:

FIMM 400x4001Have you ever seen/been a FIMMpersonator?

FIMM (Foot in Mouth Man) is the Art of Eloquence mascot and resident MIScommunicator.  He sticks his foot in his mouth so often he has Athlete’s Tongue!  He is a cartoon character who started off on my blog.  People loved to read  FIMM’s wacky misadventures so much that he quickly became very popular.  It’s so much more fun to learn communication skills by pointing miscommunication out in OTHERS, especially when it’s so funny.

Very soon FIMM’s Fame grew and we moved him to our website where he now has his own video.  FIMM has been a guest on Grace Talk Soup, a speaker at the Say What You Mean Convention, a tShirt line over at CafePress called FIMM Wear, a fan club on Facebook, and now his own eBook, FIMMology 101: The Study of the Humorous Sins of Our Mouths which includs the best of Foot in Mouth Man’s misadventures!

While nobody communicates as badly as FIMM, everyone is a FIMMpersonator at times in their lives.  Even Ronald Reagan, The Great Communicator must have had times when he stuck his foot in mouth.  We all do.  I take those times, exaggerate them to the fullest extent of the funny bone and post it once a month.

After more than two years of writing for FIMM (and for the first two he had WEEKLY episodes!) I was running out of ideas so I had FIMM get married and have quintuplettes: Timm, Jimm, Slimm, Kimm and Enrique.  Thankfully in blog years, kids grow up pretty quick so now I am beginning to FIMMerize his children so I have introduced some FIMM Faux Pas that involve his now 4 year old’s.  But, I’m always on the look out for a good FIMM storyline.

That’s where you come in this week!  Most of the FIMM episodes are taken from real life, things I’ve done or seen.  So this week, I thought I’d ask for ideas from your life.  If I use your suggestion, I’ll give you credit when I post it too.  Have you ever seen or been a FIMMpersonator?  Share your story here!

JoJo’s Answer:
There are several FIMM episodes that come from real life, things I saw and one thing I actually typed!  Due to a typo, I said something like…”Unfortunately, so and so and his wife are no longer speaking…” making it sound as if they were getting a divorce or something.  What I had meant was that they were no longer on the speaking circuit.

What about you?  Ever see or been a FIMMpersonator?  Happens to the best of us!  Share your story!

Have you ever seen/been a FIMMpersonator?
Please post your answers here as a blog comment. Then post this question on YOUR blog and come back here to link your blog post so all of us can read about YOUR readers!

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