********************************

Mike provides informative, humorous and entertaining keynote presentations and seminars on:

Humor In The Workplace,  Humor and Stress Management, Maximizing Staff Potential and  Humor and Health

 Let Mike's words and upbeat, humorous style help you accomplish your goals.

Welcome to another issue of Lifeline.   I hope everyone in the Northern Hemisphere is enjoying a relaxing summer. Since summer is a rather slow period for me as a speaker I try to spend my time relaxing with my wife and family and, in my spare time create a new book, manual or CD for use in my talks and seminars in the Fall. So far this summer I have had a great time in the Canadian outdoors with friends and family and in the process  was able to work on my creative summer project.

MY SUMMER PROJECT
This summer I have been hard at work on a new, exciting idea.. The book is “ You Know You’re Stressed Out When...” and it contains 50 new cartoons plus a section on stress management techniques. The entire project is based on my own successful struggle to manage stress in my life and my  belief that humor and laughter are the best stress busters going and that the majority of us on this planet REALLY need stress busters in our lives. I was at a cottage for a few days this summer and had a flash of creativity. I wrote 50 new ideas for this book in two days. This type of muse happens rarely but when it does it is sheer gift.
If you would like to be informed when it’s finished send me an email with “informed” in the subject line. mailto:mikemoore@motivationalplus.com  It should sell for $15.00 plus S/H

It will make a great gift for yourself or the many stressed out people in your life.

If you have articles, short humor or people tips please send them to me for inclusion in Lifeline.   Also, if you have a question for me to respond to send it along as well. Send contributions to mailto:mikemoore@motivationalplus.com

Humorous one liners

*  An aging friend said that he  has given up trying to shoot his age on the golf course.  Now he'll settle for his area code.

*  My  wife told me to get in shape. I told her, " Round's a shape."

*  His favorite machine at the gym is the vending machine.

*  To get more exercise my wife just shops faster.

What's New for the workplace?

I have just completed an ebook of 17 of my workplace cartoons called " Let the Laughter Begin".

I produced it to provide speakers, managers, trainers, coaches  and Human Resource  departments with an invaluable tool to use in their work with people. A picture  really is worth a thousand words.
Cartoons can stimulate discussion, focus attention, reflect reality back to us and give us a much needed laugh.

It seems that everytime I use a cartoon in one of my talks or seminars I hear this one phrase coming from my audience, " Isn't that the truth?".  

If you would like to have a copy of "Let the Laughter Begin" for only $15.00 and have it immediately you can download  it now.  ORDER NOW!!

With each purchase  you receive a free copy of my  popular booklet " How to Cope with Difficult People at Work"  plus permission to use  any cartoon  as you see fit.( As long as you don't try to sell them.)

It is always nice to read an article that supports your own beliefs in the power of humor to increase sales and market effectively. Here is one by Roger C. Parker.

How to Use Humor to Increase Sales
By: Roger C. Parker

Using cartoons can help brand your marketing and drive home important messages. Although surprisingly inexpensive to acquire, humor can be one of your most powerful marketing tools.

Humor puts your readers at ease. Readers appreciate a touch of humor in an otherwise overly serious world.

Humor operates on an emotional level, driving home your message in a far more memorable way than words alone. Humor makes sensitive topics more approachable while summarizing and reinforcing points that would otherwise be lost.

Different types of humor work best in different contexts. Many speakers begin with a joke to put the audience at ease, or a story about ‘a funny thing that happened on the way to the meeting.’

But jokes and stories are less appropriate for written communications. Jokes can be misinterpreted and depend on delivery and timing for their effectiveness. Stories can take too long to tell.

Cartoons are perfect for print communications. Readers who typically check them out before reading the adjacent articles appreciate cartoons.

More important, cartoons communicate at a glance. A cartoon can attract your reader’s attention and drive home an important point in a memorable way.

The editorial page of any newspaper shows how effective humor can be in simplifying complex subjects and driving home a point of view.

Humor also adds a visual dimension to your marketing, differentiating your message from your competitor’s. Cartoons encourage readers to look at topics they might otherwise skip.

Where do you get cartoons? One of the best sources is the Cartoon Bank, www.cartoonbank.com. Here, you can license reproduction rights to cartoons that originally appeared in the New Yorker Magazine.

You can select from tens of thousands of cartoons. You can search by topic or keyword. After choosing an appropriate cartoon, you can find out how much it will cost to license it, and then you can download it.

Licensing fees are surprisingly reasonable for most business applications. For example, you can license New Yorker cartoons for use in presentations for just $19.95! For other purposes, the cost depends on where you’re going to use it and how many people will see it.

There are, of course, other sources of cartoons. If you see a cartoon you like in a newspaper or magazine, write the cartoonist in care of the publication and ask about availability and pricing. If there is a particular cartoonist whose style you like, contact the cartoonist about a custom cartoon.

This has worked very well for me and I owned total rights to use the cartoon any way I wanted.

Cartoons are great for the home page of your website, newsletters, training materials and presentation visuals.

In each case, the unexpectedness of a cartoon immediately captures your audience or reader’s attention and visually reinforces your message.

Here are some suggestions for marketing with cartoons:

1. When in doubt, leave it out. If the cartoon does not perfectly support your point, leave it out.

2. Always add the copyright information described in the licensing agreement.

3. Never run a cartoon without first obtaining a license to reproduce it.

4. Optimization. After downloading, resize and sharpen the cartoon in an image-editing program like Photoshop and export it in the proper file format.

Using humor in the form of cartoons is a powerful way to brand your marketing and drive home important messages to your prospects and clients.

About The Author

Roger C. Parker is the $32,000,000 author with over 1.6 million books in print. Do you make these marketing and design mistakes? Find out at http://www.gmarketing-design.com


  Mike's Laughline Cartoon

 
A good cartoon is worth 2000 words.

MY NEW CARTOON FEATURE  " Isn't That The Truth?"  

I have a new  weekly cartoon panel up and available with comicssherpa.com.  It is called " Isn't That The Truth?"

I invite you to check it  out and please grade it at the site. It will help me judge what cartoons are going over well and which are not.  Thanks so much. You  can have " Isn't That the Truth?" sent to you weekly free of charge.

Until next time stay happy and keep laughing. Mike

******************************

To book Mike Moore for a speaking engagement, contact him at 193 Balmoral Dr, Brantford, Ontario, Canada N3R 7S2. Phone (519) 753-0702. Email mailto:mikemoore@motivationalplus.com