Upcoming Guests to speak with Melody Burns on TALK1300 AM

Friday, January 13 – Assemblyman Jim Tedisco joins me in the studio to talk about the state of affairs in NYS, the upcoming budget, new bills being presented in 2012 and how can we save small business in New York State.

January 17, 2012 “The Iron Way: Railroads, the Civil War and the Making or Modern America” by William G. Thomas

Railroads are often cited as a major factor in the Union’s victory in the Civil War. In THE IRON WAY, William G. Thomas provides a much more complete picture of the central place of railroads for both sides in the coming, fighting, and aftermath of the war.

 January 17, 2012 “American Sniper” by Chris Kyle

The best American Sniper joins me at 11:40 to talk about his book and what it is like to be a sniper in today’s wars.

January 18, 2012 “CHURCHILL’S SECRET AGENT” By Max and Linda Ciampoli

Max Ciampoli came of age in Europe living in the shadow of Hitler.  He first met Winston Churchill when he was only a boy, but when his native France fell to Nazi Germany, Max was recruited to be a spy to serve the Allies.  Churchill personally oversaw Max’s training and grew to trust him as his personal contact behind enemy lines.  After decades of living with the secret of his past, Max Ciampoli and his wife Linda Ciampoli have written an incredible novel based on his experiences as a covert operative during World War II. 

 

January 19 – “A WALK ACROSS THE SUN” by Corban Addison

“We’re taught in history class that slavery ended with the Civil War,” says author Corban Addison, “when in reality there are more slaves alive in the world today than ever before.” In fact, today there are 27 million slaves in the world. 2 million children are exploited in the global sex trade. Trafficking in persons touches every nation on the globe and reaps $32 billion in profits worldwide each year.

A novel with a literary soul and the taut pacing of a thriller, A WALK ACROSS THE SUN delves into the underworld of human trafficking. January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

January 25, 2012, “THE BODY POLITIC: The Battle Over Science in America” By Jonathan D. Moreno

 We have entered what is called the “biological century”.  A new biopolitics has emerged to address the implications for America’s collective value system, our well-being, and ultimately, our future. THE BODY POLITIC is the first book to recognize and assess this new force in our political landscape – one that fuels today’s culture wars and has motivated politicians of all stripes to reexamine their platforms. As Moreno explains the most contentious issues, he also offers an engaging history of the intersection between science and democracy in American life, a reasoned (and often surprising) analysis of how different political ideologies view scientific controversies, and a vision for how the new biopolitics can help shape the quality of our lives.

 

January 26, 2012 “DESIGN IN NATURE: How the Constructal Law Governs Evolution in Biology, Physics, Technology and Social Organization” By Adrian Bejan and J. Peder Zane

 Adrian joins me to discuss the book and give me an opportunity to talk Physics and quantum mechanics.  DESIGN IN NATURE is a groundbreaking exploration of how a single law of physics shapes the design of everything around us. The Constructal Law suggests the following: Everything that moves, whether animate or inanimate, is a flow system. From the branching patterns in the air passages of our lungs to floating logs orienting themselves  to be perpendicular to the wind, from super highways to corporate org charts, the Constructal Law animates every aspect of the world around us. In other words, the designs we see around us are not a matter of chance.

January 31, “THE HARBINGER” By Johnathan Cahn

Before its end as a nation, there appeared in ancient Israel a series of specific omens and signs warning of destruction – these same Nine Harbingers are now manifesting in America with profound ramifications for America’s future and end-time prophecy.

 Hidden in an ancient biblical verse from the Book of Isaiah, the mysteries revealed in The Harbinger are so precise that they foretell recent American events down to the exact days. the 3,000-year-old mystery that revealed the exact date of the stock market collapse of 2008. the ancient prophecy that was proclaimed from the floor of the US Senate and then came true. and more. The revelations are so specific that even the most hardened skeptic will find it hard to put down. Though it sounds like the plot of a Hollywood thriller-it’s real.

February 1, 2012 “THE SIMPLE DIET: A Doctor’s Science-Based Plan” by Dr. James W. Anderson and Nancy J. Gustafon

 Imagine a diet that doesn’t require rigid rules, strict menus, calorie counting or expensive meal plans. This is THE SIMPLE DIET, a science-based method for weight loss that is impossibly easy to follow.

But can this possibly work? The answer is yes! In clinical trials, individuals on the Simple Diet lost 18.7 pounds in two months; compare that to 4.6 on the Zone diet, 5.3 pounds on the Ornish diet, and 9.5 pounds on the Atkins diet. The answer lies in a balanced diet, physical activity, and one potent weapon, meal replacements.

 Dr James W. Anderson is a professor of medicine and clinical nutrition at the University of Kentucky. THE SIMPLE DIET doesn’t require expensive supplements or pills. In fact, everything readers need can be bought at the supermarket for an average cost of $61 per week.

February 2, 2012 “STRENGTH TRAINING FOR WOMEN” by Joan Pagano

 A personal trainer in NYC’s Upper East Side whose clients have included Jackie O and her daughter, Caroline Kennedy, Joan Pagano has dedicated the past 16 years of her life to passing her knowledge and passion for fitness on to other women in the hopes of helping them improve their lives and prevent common diseases like osteoporosis.

 She dispels fitness myths like “lifting weights will bulk you up” and “you can spot reduce,” and talks about the risk factors, exercise guidelines and restrictions of osteoporosis. Best of all for novices, many of Pagano’s beginner exercises require no special equipment, relying instead on everyday fixtures like chairs, walls and kitchen countertops.

 February 8, 2012 “PEOPLE’S WARRIOR” By Michael R. Lemov

 It is hard to believe that there was a time, not long ago, when there was no right to obtain government information, no protection against hazards in children’s toys and other consumer products, no federal safety standards for motor vehicles, and no insurance to protect an investors’ money and securities in brokerage accounts. These and other consumer rights were created only after fierce political battles in the decade between 1966 and 1976. PEOPLE’S WARRIOR is the untold story of that era and one of its towering leaders, Congressman John Moss.

 Based on previously undisclosed materials and interviews, PEOPLE’S WARRIOR tells the story of a stormy decade in America, in which the Freedom of Information Act, the Consumer Product Safety Act and other major consumer protection laws were enacted. Moss fought against three presidents and at times his own party, for freedom of information and consumer protection laws that have stood the test of time and been copied around the world.

Blue Light Special!

Aprroaching me rather quickly is a Firetruck with lights flashing and siren blasting so I pull over and let  the emergency truck pass by. The man in the car behind me blows his horn and shakes his fist at me as he pulls around me.  Two blocks up the road, a Ford truck approaches me with his blue light spinning on his roof. Again, I pull over and give him full space to get where he needs to go.  I pull into my driveway, get out of my car and my husband comes running out the door, jumps in his truck and turns his blue light on.  I stand in our driveway and watch six cars past the driveway heading east and four cars heading west do the same as my husband sits in the driveway with the blue light on.  The blue light signifiying that he is a volunteer answering the call to risk his life by saving a home or a business from fire or to assist with a motor vehicle accident.  The blue light signifiying he will be helping someone, someone who may be driving past the driveway ignoring the blue light. The blue light signifying that someone he most likely doesn’t know needs his help.

I write this blog because I wonder when did we stop recognizing the role of volunteers who place that blue light on their cars and trucks? When did it become acceptable to ignore those blue lights? Who said it is ok to not pull over when a Firetruck approaches you from the front or back  or any emergency vehicle?  Did you ever think that maybe that emergency vehicle maybe saving someone you know or something you own? 

Not a matter which political party, how much money you make, how old you are or if you live in that community, it is a matter of common sense.  Emergency vehicles should have the right of way and you should pull over. Having said that, I am aware that common sense is lacking and we are the “all about me generation”, but sometimes, just sometimes there has to be a light blub that goes off in your brain that says, “pull over stupid, it could be a matter of life or death.” (with any luck, that light bulb will be blue!)

Women Get Ready!

In a few short months we’ll be bombarded with political ads, candidates, requests for contributions  and more lies.  Isn’t it time you stood up and said, “I’ve had enough, I am not being represented, I have no rights as a tax payer, and I’m sick of the lies and blame game…I want to run for office!”  I hope that is the song many women across the US will be singing soon.  For too long we have sat back and let men jump into politics as we stood back and supported them, raised money for them, walked our neighborhoods and encouraged our friends to vote for them only to get them elected and watch them forget who helped them get into office. We have become the used old sock that gets lost in the laundry. 

I’m not asking every women to run for President but encourage every women to start at your local level, find out who is “representing” you and how they have voted since they were elected.  If you like what they stand for and they are doing a good job, then find a way to get involved and make a difference.  Chances are you will not find too many current elected officials who are doing what they promised and are representing you!  No matter what your party affiliation, you need to get involved.  Women have power, we just have to start using it.  Why do you think advertisers spend so much money each year trying to get our attention?  Why do you think politicians always have their photos taken with women and children?  Why do you think when it comes to talking about cutting any programs the first mentioned by politicians are senior and children programming?

If you have ever attended any political function, have you noticed the number of men in dark suites in the room – where are the four or five women, (if there are that many in attendance?)?

We have serious issues facing us – in each state!  Congress and Senate are playing games and forgetting they work for us.  As our employees, we need to conduct their annual performance review and determine if they are still prepared to do the job, the job we hired them to do!  I doubt many of them will pass their evaluation.

So today’s blog is all about getting involved as a woman and making a difference.  Not by purchasing the new shoes, or makeup or the shirt that helps to focus on your cleavage and not your brains but on entering the ring of politics and being a part of the new wave – women in office!

Join the wave – follow my tweets, www.twitter.com/melodyburns

connect on facebook – melodyburns

Wine not Whine – selling by word of mouth

I’m tired of hearing about how bad the economy is…”my business isn’t doing well, things are so bad!”  I ask the same questions, “are you connecting with people who can help sing your praises, are you attending networking events, do you have a strategic partnership with anyone?  In every instance, they are not connecting, they are not attending and they have no partnerships – don’t want to share the wealth.  No wonder business is so bad!   Last week I went to a wine tasting at The Wine Reserve and met Joseph Carr, Proprietor of Joseph Carr Wine.  Before I sampled his great selection I asked him how he markets his wine. (Joseph Carr is a fine wine producer from Napa Valley California, I was talking to him in New York State (hint hint)) He shared that he does most of his business from word of mouth—someone tried his wine and told the next person. He took his wine to fine restaurants and introduced it to people he knew who would sing his praises and then, tell all of their friends. He got out from behind the “barrel” and went to fine wine stores and met the “client”. He didn’t rely on the client coming to him – he brought the product - a real nice wine- to the client.  Along the way, he made some great choices which partnered his wine with some well known restaurants.  Magazines picked up on the story, tv covered the product and now – he is branching out to the overseas market.  Not because he sat back and waited for success to come to him, but because he went out and made connections, networked and developed partnerships.  Sure the economy is bad if you are always selling to the same people, never leaving your business and doing the same old thing! It’s like wearing the same old sock, day after day – eventually it is going to wear old, look dingy and rot! Your choice—-make connections with current clients actively ask them about referrals, is anything new with them, what organizations do they belong to, how do they feel about your business; go out and network, attend a chamber event, an organization meeting, a town board meeting, a not-for-profit event; find other businesses who have the same type of client you have and get to know them, ask if you can cross promote and refer them to your clients.  Get out from behind the “whoa is me” and participate in your own success.  Think Wine not Whine! 

Joesph Carr makes a fabulous Chardonnay. Not too “oakie” or too fruity.  For more information go to www.josephcarrwine.com   He also have a few reds and another line – Josh.  Very reasonable bottle of wine and a great gift to bring when you visit someone.

Talk to the Hand or Is it something else now….

March has been a busy month with meetings, events, networking, friends and family.  In the 90′s it was all about “talk to the hand”, but I firmly believe that the 2000′s will be all about talk to the cleavage!  Could it be that I am no longer “hip” and missed the message about cleavage?  Did my cool card expire and I was not notified? Or could it be that I grew up in a different century and a cold climate where we kept our clothes on to stay warm.  Whatever it is, I am at a loss for all the cleavage surrounding me.   When I was in the 7th grade, I had a Latin teacher who threw a classmate out of class because he had a what is now called “a wife beater shirt” on instead of a  real shirt.  She demanded he leave and not come back until he was dressed.  At the time, I was impressed with his courage to come to her class so scantly dress. Yes, to be honest, those bare sleeves sent a spark of desire right to my loins.  If I had to look at that all class, I would not have conjucated any of my verbs correctly! She was right demanding he leave the room. (just thinking about it today I feel that little spark)  I feel like my Latin teacher, I want to tell all the cleavage to go home and change, put on some clothes, come back dressed respectively. Is it because I am female that I don’t find the cleavage attractive or is it because I spent summers on my grandfather’s farm looking at the milk cows with their “cleavage” hanging out for all to see.  Whatever the reason, I am sick of cleavage. The sad part is, it is not just young girls who are thrilled to show off their growth hormome bodies, grown women are hanging out of their clothes!  I’m sure you know the difference between the inside and outside voice – well it’s the same with cleavage – it’s an inside package!  Tuck them in, buy a bgger shirt, a better bra, a sweater, a coat, duct tape – I don’t care what you use but put those things away!!  Women have been fighting for years to gain respect in the business community. Now we find that bringing the “girls” to a meeting or event and showing them off  is  considered normal.  If you need to put the “girls” on exhibit to spark conversation or be interesting then you need to learn networking skills not cleavage-working skills. You can take the “girls” out when you are home or with close friends but don’t bring them to a meeting.  If they were meant to be seen, they would be on top of our heads – even there you could cover them with a hat!    I’m starting my own trend – when the “girls” come out to see the world, I’m asking them to go home.  Maybe if we all passed out coffee cups when someone brings their “girls” to a meeting and asked them to please put the “girls” in the cups until the meeting is over, we would be talking to the hand again instead of the cleavage!

If business is so bad, why aren’t you doing something about it?

At least once a day someone will say how terrible business is, no one is calling them, stopping in, or ordering anything . I wait until they are done crying and ask, “what are you doing to bring business to you?”  More often than not, I am told, “nothing.”  Nothing?  Really, no wonder your business is not growing.  Now is the time to get out there, do something different, find a new market, become involved, DO SOMETHING!! If you sit back and wait for business to come to you, you might as well shut your doors. It is not going to come. How about looking through all the business cards you collected last year and send out a few emails.  Invite some “friends” out to coffee and find out what they have been doing.  Ask them how you can help them. You would be surprised what may come back to you.  If you invite five people out for coffee, discover what is going on with those five people, chances are those five people will want to know what is gong on with your business.  After coffee, they’ll leave and think about your business and tell a few more people about you and then you quicky become the hot topic for the day.  A few years ago everyone was using the term, “creating a buzz”.  That’s what you want.  You want all those bees who had coffee with you to go out and spread the honey about your business. Chances are they’ll learn something new about your business!  How hard is it to look at the colleciton of cards you have in a box and pull out five every other week and ask them to coffee.  Maybe coffee doesn’t work, so you do a phone conference just to catch up.  If you spent the time networking to capture those cards – you should spend the time reaching out to follow though.  How about contacting a local not-for-profit and letting them know you want to help.  Maybe you can donate an item or your time. You would be surprised how quickly the word gets out that you did something.  Granted, you may get a few more requests but you can always tell people that you only make one donation a quarter and will keep their contact information on file. Ask them to put your name on their newlsetter list so you can stay informed about all the great work they do.  You never know where your next customer/client may come from!  If you run a retail store, why not find another owner in your neighborhood and ask if they will split the cost of advertising with you.  Maybe you can host an event – it doesn’t have to be huge, just an opportunity to have a few people in to remind them what you have.  Go to your local chamber and ask them if you can have a membership directory to find someone who you could partner with.  If you are not a chamber member, join a chamber- you can always ask about payment plans for membership – you don’t know if you don’t ask!  Look online for other groups, activities and community events in your neighborhood. Get involved. You can’t sit back and wait for business to come to you – you have to go to business.   I call it “active marketing”.  Need more suggestions, email me and I’ll see what I can generate for you. melody@melodyburns.com

How do you decide?

Just like every other small business this time of year brings with it invoices to renew. Instead of January/February maybe we should change the name of the month to Renewalary.  How do you decide what is worth your time and money?  I look at my receipts for each event, meeting, seminar, focus group, discussion group, mixer, meet and greet.  How much did I pay to attend - over and above the annual “dues”.  Then I look at the business cards and determine did I meet anyone I could do business with, did I do any business, could I do any business, do they know someone I could do business with and would they be a good connection to put in the bank.  This takes a little bit of work.  When I attend “something” I collect business cards from people I meet. On each card I make a notation about date, event, and then rate that person using “did”, “do”, “could”, “know”,and “bank”.  That way when I file them in my binder, which is compiled by month with most recent in the front, I can look back at them and make an educated determination about the “renewal.” Let me explain.  I joined a group/organization, paid a little more than I wanted to and only attended two events all year. I quickly discovered the events were too pricey and always happening at the same time as something else – something that had proven to cover all of my five requirements.  When I looked back at the cards from those two events, I discovered they were “bank” only cards.  So when the renewal came during “Renewalary”, I declined.  Now I have those dollars to invest in another tool for my business tool box. 

 Here’s another tip! When I attend an event I ask if I could have a list of everyone who attended.  Sometimes it works – sometimes it doesn’t.  There may be someone in the mix you didn’t get to meet as they were monopolized by a big talker.  You can’t always break through the big talkers, you have to walk away and let those go.  If you have a list of everyone there you can reach out and introduce yourself. Then you can determine was it worth it.  Don’t just renew because you have always “belonged” – maybe there is another option. Maybe you should reach out to the contact person and say, “hey I am considering not renewing this year – I didn’t find it worthwhile for me.”  If they are doing their job, they’ll say, “hmm, I’m sorry to hear that but maybe you can get involved with this committee, or I can introduce you to this person.”  Sometimes it only takes that connection to make it worth renewing.  You should look at all the cards you collected last year and start reaching back to people to let them know what is new and exciting with your business in 2009.  Reaching back because you already met them and now need to catch up. I’m sure they have news.  Instead of starting out with all the great things you are doing, ask them what is new and exciting about their business and how can you help them.  If you don’t ask, you won’t know!  So if you belong to an organization, club, committee, group, community – look at your connections and put them to work. Don’t cancel all your memberships until you have exhausted every option with the group.  If you don’t ask – you won’t know!

Have you noticed how tv is using “stars” on thier shows?

Last night I stopped what I was doing for a few minutes and watched “Lie to Me” on the Fox Network.  Not a bad show but they are really using “star power” to promote the show.  If you haven’t watched it yet, check it out.  The premise behind the show is a consultant is hired by people to prove or disprove something.  Last night they were working on a case that involved a woman in the Army who claimed she was raped by her Commanding Officer.  They determined she was not telling the truth but showed you a few “stars” and politicans to get their point across.  They also spoke to the woman who had been voilently abused and showed how she was scared.  When explained how you can tell, they used more stars.  I found it funny they used Bill Clinton for lieing and Sarah Palin for being afraid when she spoke to the press.  Throughout the show you saw celebrities and politicians as they explained how you can tell with facial expressions and body language.  I recall during the election(s) that body language was all the rage. Now this show takes it to another level and educates us all about facial expressions.  I wonder if this will start a trend and people who watch the show will be using what they learned the night before when watching the newscasts.  Perhaps someone should alert all the politicians to watch the show so they will know the signs and learn how to cover when they lie or are afraid.  Maybe more of them will go back to radio … so the public doesn’t know.  Thanks Fox for bringing this show to life. I’ll watch again just so I can discover who is telling lies and who is afraid.  I wonder…….

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