Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

From LaMothe Services, LaMothe Surrogacy Consulting and Infertility Answers

Coaching Outside the Box by Dave Krueger, MD

We are all coaches in our own way. Below is a short article written by Dave Krueger, MD that may open doors for you and your clients.
Sharon LaMothe

Ben Fletcher at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom devised a study to get people to break their usual habits. Each day the subjects picked a different option from poles of contrasting behaviors -- lively/quiet, introvert/extrovert, reactive/proactive -- and behaved according to this assignment.

So an introverted person, for example, would act as an extrovert for an entire day. Additionally, twice weekly, they had to stretch to behave in a way outside their usual life pattern – eating or reading something they would never have done.

What do you think was the biggest change in the group?

The remarkable finding was that after four months, the subjects had lost an average of eleven pounds. And six months later, almost all had kept the weight off; some continued to lose weight. This was not a diet, but a study focusing on change and its impact.

The Underlying Principle

Requiring people to change routine behavior makes them actually think about decisions rather than habitually choosing a default mode without consideration. In having to actually process decisions actively, they exercised their choice and decision-making abilities, extending to other choices such as what to eat, and what not to. Once becoming aware of actively making choices, they could decide what’s in their best interest.

“The box” most of us are in is the result of programming and conditioning. And it is self-created in adulthood. Recognizing yourself as the author, the creator of your story challenges an assumed model and leads to the deeper question, “How do I create something else instead?” And, “What will the ‘something else’ be?” Coach outside the box and watch your clients flourish!

Maine’s Highest Court Rules that District Courts Have Authority to Make Parentage Determinations in Gestational Surrogacy

Maine’s Highest Court Rules that District Courts Have Authority to Make Parentage Determinations in Gestational Surrogacy

Last week, Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court addressed for the first time the issue of parentage in a gestational surrogate birth, finding that the District Courts have authority under existing law to determine who a child’s parents are when the child is conceived through ART and then carried and delivered by another person.

In Nolan v. LaBree, a married woman (Mrs. LaBree) agreed to carry a pregnancy for a married couple (the Nolans) resulting from transfer of an embryo created from the Nolans’ egg and sperm; all parties were in agreement that the Nolans were the parents of the resulting child.

ASRM and SART were signers on an amicus brief, along with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders and other medical and legal authorities on assisted reproduction.

The court’s decision may be read at http://statecasefiles.justia.com/documents/maine/supreme-court/2012-me-61.pdf?ts=1336158415.

Winners Announced for the NIAW book drawing of A Surrogacy Helps Make a Family Grow!

A copy of Surrogacy Helps Make a Family Grow! will be sent out to the following 5 lucky winners:


M.C. of Fresno, CA

J.H. of Redmond, WA

T.B. of Lake St. Louis, MO

N.C. of Rockport, ME

and

S.W. of Streetsboro, OH



Thank you to the 182 participants who entered this contest! I will be doing it again very soon!

Happy Easter from LaMothe Surrogacy Consulting and LaMothe Services, LLC

Wishing you a wonderful Spring and a Happy Easter weekend!

From all of us at LaMothe Services and LaMothe Surrogacy Consulting!

Sustainable Tips to Save Small Business Owners Money By Catherine Corley

There are several ways that being green positively affects your bottom line.


Creating Interest and Loyalty

Employing greener practices in your place of business creates interest and loyalty from a variety of sources, like your consumers, investors, and your own employees. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) also supports this theory: “(There is) growing interest by consumers in wanting to frequent restaurants or feeling more positive about frequenting restaurants that are instituting green practices,” said Sue Hensley, senior vice president of communications for the NRA. “I don’t see consumers’ interest waning in that area.”

Showcasing Your Sustainable Efforts

You may be surprised to find your customers and associates have been waiting on you to capitalize on their enthusiasm, creativity and loyalty. According to Merchant Circle, this is one marketing opportunity that small businesses can easily take advantage of. Adding/improving upon more socially responsible service offerings also increases public image and stakeholder engagement. A company with a positive reputation often has the competitive edge.

Offsetting Climbing Energy Costs

A restaurant’s profit is typically only 3-9 percent of its total revenue. The money saved on operating costs adds directly to the bottom line, so saving 20 percent on energy operating costs through no-cost, low-cost and investment energy improvements can increase your profit as much as one-third. Check out a full list of best management practices for your business sector here.

Tips to Get You Started

The key for a business owner is to still provide goods and services at a profit, while sustaining the environment. Here is a list of some of the key elements to start thinking about when first taking on sustainable practices for your small business:
* Set goals — Identify your purpose, whether your goal is to cut costs or to be environmentally responsible, or both.
*Watch the bottom line —Implementing sustainable practices that provide no return on investment are not practical or wise.
* Start small — Look at reducing energy, even if it’s as simple as unplugging charges while not in use. Switch to CFL or LED lighting—you don’t need to wait to phase these in; your overall energy reduction justifies the immediate switch—and then progress to purchasing energy-saving appliances. Realign procedures to maximize energy efficiency.
*Look upstream — Find sustainable suppliers and sourcing. Know the environmental impact all your sources have on your business.
*Look downstream —Examine your waste stream. Look for ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
*Build green — Implement green building practices. There is even an option to seek a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
*Invest in people — Investing in the community and your own employees is an essential component to sustainability.
 *Learn more – Join and support sustainable organizations and attend their education events.
*Get certified—Invest in a Life Cycle Assessment or seek an audit from a third-party certifier, if applicable.
*Tell others—Share your story with customers so they know not only where your products originate, but also why they should buy your product over others, especially if it costs more. For more, read “True Restaurant Sustainability: More Success, Better Future,” published by NetWorld Alliance.
*Avoid “Green Washing” —Part of being profitable while being green for small businesses is gaining a loyal customer base and creating interest. It is easy for consumers today to be skeptical of all of the “green” talk that is going on.
Catherine Corley is Vice President of Strategy for Sam’s Club, which published the white paper, “How to Be Green and Stay Lean: How Being Sustainable Can Save Your Business Money.”

Why Blog at ALL? Top 6 Reasons By: Sharon LaMothe

I have had several people ask me about blogging...after all, setting up blogs is one of the many services I offer on LaMothe Services, LLC http://lamotheservices.com/. I thought it would be a great idea for me to post my answers here (on MY blog) for all to read...and decide if they, too, want to join the blog craze!

Why Blog at All? Top 6 Reasons

By: Sharon LaMothe

1) Think of a Personal blog as an on-line journal that you can share with your family or friends. You can post pictures of your latest vacation, your newest family member and chat about how the garden is growning. Whatever your interest you can blog about it!

2) A Business blog is a great FREE marketing asset that is a must have in this economy. Its a wonderful way to introduce new products or services or give Kudos to your best employees. You can run polls, have contests, and ask your clients for input and comments.

3) With almost everyone in the business world having computer access, there are a large number of people reading blogs. From professionals to potential customers or clients, blogs are here to stay and are even accused of taking the place of newspapers a crossed the country!

4) A blog offers credibility to you and your business. It also shows that you are on top of technology and not the "dinosaur" that some may accuse you of...

5) Blogs are viral (in a good way!) They attract regular visitors and subscribers...your blog can be RSSed (Real Simple Syndication) into your website and social networking pages.

6) Blogs not only offer a voice for you and your company but you can think of it as a form of communication of epic proportions along with the ability to "publish" anything you want at any time you want.

If you have any questions regarding blogging and how you can set one up, just contact me at SurroMatchFL@aol.com.

Sharon LaMothe

LaMothe Services, LLC

http://lamotheservices.com/

10 Top Tips for Banner Advertising

Banner Ads are the attractive advertising medium that quickly grabs the visitors attention. Implementing an attractive banner ad is more important in order to effectively utilize the features or the power of banner ads.

The success of your online advertising purely depends on how far you are putting the right efforts in building the banner advertisements. You need to take care everything from animation, color combination, banner size and most importantly the Ads positioning. This article carries proven tips that really works to boost the performance of your banner ads. So designing an rich and attractive banner advertisement is easy if you are doing that simple.

1) Design Clear And Simple Banners.

When it comes to attractiveness, you should keep things simple. That is 100% applicable for designing the banner ads. Make your banner design simpler. That really attracts the visitors impression. The first impression is more important and that should be the best impression. Simple design helps you to make quality banner ads. Learn how to make perfect quality banner ads.

2) Focus Your Target Audience.

Targeting the audience in advertising is the prior goal. So you have to understand the audience first. Do you have that understanding ? If not, try to understand in the sense know at least, what they expecting from you and your business ? This helps you to design Ads with correct and accurate facts or information.
3) Keep The Brand In Banners.

It is advisable to show your branding over the banner ads. In general, branding helps the visitors to remember you web site. So put your logo and URL over the banner ads at least in the lowest corner or in the top. Branding helps your ads to stand out from the other banner ads placed nearer.
4) Ask questions on Banners.

Asking questions on the banner ads is the intelligent way of calling the visitors. In general, a question strikes the people to look for the answer. So ask some attractive or catchy question to the viewers. Thats the ever known best Call-To-Action.

5) Banner Ads Placement.

Even though you have designed a poor banner Ad but when placed in a hot position (top, top-left, top-right, middle) of the web page it wins. At the same time, placing a well designed ad at the worst place (lower-left, lower-right, bottom) of the web page fails. So it all depends on where you are placing the banner ads. Find out the best position, by experimenting with different banner Ads placements. That makes sense.

6) Test Drive The Banners.

As I told, experimenting is more important. Both the banner design and the placement you have to test. Do more test, do even more test and measure the impact. Do the corrective action and finally, your banner ads will be in the right place.

7) Use The Right Design Tools.

If you are looking for selecting the right designing tool, better go for great tools like Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft’s design and publisher tools etc. That really works well and helps you to make attractive designs. Try to become the expert with these tools. Learn the banner design tips.

8) Using Gimmick Attracts The Eyes.

Gimmicks really works well. Try to put some catchy and flashy objects or text over the banner ads. That grabs the visitors eye on the first look. Attracting on the first site is more important with banner ads. Using colorful gimmicks adds more value and adds that rich look to your Ads. But don’t overlaod the graphics, that will become uglier.

9) Keep It Professional.

A professionally design banner ads drives the visitor to explore more. It builds the trust over the advertisements and gives the good confidence to the visitor. Like “this advertisement looks professional so the information it offers should also be professional”. So flow your professionalism through out the banner design.

10) Give Importance To Text In Ads.

Texts are not only important in Text Ads but also in banner ads. It not like banner ads should only have the graphical and animations. You should have the right text. Your slogan or a question or even an offer. Use the selected keywords over the banner ads that directly relates your web site or business. There should be a balance between text and animation. Better to go for the 50-50 approach. That helps to make better looking Ads. You should know the tips to write text ads and apply that for banner ads usage.

Always keep in mind, an attractive banner ad should have Simple Graphics & Right Text which leads to higher Click Through Rate.

Mr Ven

Happy New Year!!

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

Content is KING!

Now that your website is looking good, design wise, what about your content? What are you going to have on your website for your potential clients to read and learn about? You know what the most important part of the content is don't you? Good Writing! And to keep people coming back for more, updating your content often. Now when we are talking about a website for a service like surrogacy I don't believe that visitors are expecting to have something new on your site every time they visit. If you actually have a gallery of available surrogates and egg donors then, yes, that needs to be updated each time you have an approved candidate come on board. IP's especially will continue to check in and see if there is anyone new that they may be interested in. However, if you are running your program in a way where Intended Parents and Surrogates have to call for information on available matches then you need to have another way to keep your site fresh. Some suggestions are to have an events calendar and list all related conferences and seminars whether you are planning to attend or not. You can list birth announcements or even birthday announcements with the permission of your surrogates and IP's. You can have a surrogacy or ART in the news where you have hot links to articles that may be of interest to your visitors. Will your agency hold luncheons? Holiday parties? Meet and Greets? Have a place on the site, with photos, for these events. Why not add a blog? Fresh content is always available if you know where to look.

What about the pages that will not change as often? Your About Us page, Contact Us Page, your Home Page with your Mission Statement? Are you going to have a page that lists your services? Will that page also have your price list? Are you going to have separate pages for Intended Parents and Surrogates? Keep in mind that they WILL read each other's pages. Are you going to have a page to list professional links? (This will be good to have so that you can have a link exchange for your continued marketing) Are you going to list medical requirements for your surrogates? And legal aspects for your IP's? There is a lot to think about and your website can have several pages before it's all said and done.

Yes, there will be more to come, but your homework now is to list out what content you are planning on sharing with the rest of the world! Happy writing!

Sharon
http://lamotheservices.com/