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I've been busy this week preparing content for my brand new Marketing Newsletter. The first issue is going to be released right after the holidays, and it's going to be great!

The focus of issue #1 will be how to boost your profits using direct mail. Why would I be writing about direct mail in the middle of the wet, cold winter? I have a very good reason....which I'll explain in the newsletter!

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To learn more about my professional copywriting services, visit my web site at www.ryanparton.ca.

Executive Coaching Gaining Popularity in Comox Valley

Local professionals are starting to discover what the world’s top executives already know – that they can achieve their goals faster, raise their profits higher and take their careers further through executive coaching.

It wasn’t long ago that hiring a coach to improve business performance was regarded as a sign of failure – if you needed a coach, you must be in some sort of trouble. Today, however, executive coaching is a billion dollar industry, and corporations are increasingly making routine coaching a core component of executive development.

“Large corporations have realized that working with an executive coach is one of the simplest ways to improve productivity from their key personnel and achieve their organizational goals,” says Lori Hurst, a Certified Executive Coach based in the Comox Valley. “IBM had more than 60 coaches on staff as far back as 2005, and they’re not a company known for throwing away their money!”

Here in the Comox Valley and throughout Vancouver Island, says Hurst, more and more professionals are starting to use coaching to find creative solutions to new challenges, more effectively manage their time and increase their profits.

“Coaching is all about overcoming obstacles and achieving your goals while maintaining a healthy life/work balance,” says Hurst. “If you feel like you’ve reached a plateau, or you’re already successful but want to take that success to the next level, then an executive coach can help you get there.”

Lynne Brown, Chief Operating Officer of the United Way’s Central and Northern Vancouver Island division, hired Hurst last spring to help her through a turbulent transition period, and she’s been working with the Valley-based coach ever since.

“Our agency was in the process of expanding and it was difficult to focus our priorities and figure out where to put our energies,” says Brown. “There was so much coming at us from so many different directions that I was just a little bit frantic! The time with Lori really made me focus and forced me to think about my goals and priorities, and that was incredibly useful.

“Sometimes you need that outside person to hold you accountable,” says Brown. “Personally, I think it’s an excellent process that most people could benefit from. It’s a way of bringing yourself to where you want to be, and it’s worth every penny!”

To learn more about executive coaching and how it may benefit you or your company, call 250-898-5674 or visit www.LoriHurstCoaching.com.



To learn more about my professional copywriting services, visit my web site at www.ryanparton.ca.

This Vancouver Island-born product will make our oceans greener!

I recently had the pleasure of working with Bob Elliott, co-creator of the FORS Bilge Oil Collector. This device is going to keep thousands of gallons of oil out of our oceans. Very cool stuff, and if you're a boat operator, you need to check this out.

By the way, I also wrote the copy for their new web site (designed by Havers Design). Check it out at www.ForsOilRecovery.com.


Island company launches world’s first eco-friendly bilge oil collector


A small Vancouver Island company has pioneered an innovative device that proponents say could prevent millions of litres of oil from entering the world’s oceans.

Fast Oil Recovery Systems (FORS), based in Qualicum Beach, will officially launch sales of its Bilge Oil Collector at this month’s Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle. The unassuming device, which is no larger than a box of mandarin oranges, is being hailed as the first truly eco-friendly solution to one of the world’s most damaging marine pollutants.

“Bilge oil has been killing marine wildlife and polluting our oceans for far too long,” says Bob Elliott, vice-president of FORS and the visionary behind the Bilge Oil Collector. “Our goal is to stop bilge oil pollution entirely by making it more convenient and cost effective for boat operators to protect the environment than to damage it.”

Bilge oil is generally a mixture of heavy fuel and lubricant oil that leaks out of a ship’s inboard engine and collects in the bilge, where it mixes with run-off water that must be somehow decontaminated before being pumped overboard.

Regulations have long been in place to prevent the discharge of oily water into the environment, including strict new U.S. Coast Guard standards for bilge oil/water separators that take effect November 12. Still, illegally dumped bilge oil accounts for four times the pollution of all the world’s oil spills and kills an estimated 300,000 seabirds every year off the eastern coast of Canada alone, according to the World Wildlife Federation.

“If one single drop of bilge oil enters our oceans, that’s too much,” says Elliott, noting that a spill the size of a quarter is enough to kill a bird.

Traditional methods for removing oil from bilge water, including absorbent pads and special filters, can cost boat operators more than $2,000 every year. While these systems do remove oil effectively, says Elliott, they’re expensive, and the oil-soaked pads and filters generally end up in a landfill where they continue to degrade the environment for years.

The FORS Bilge Oil Collector removes 99.9 per cent of the oil in a ship’s bilge and is the first system that actually collects the oil for recycling as a valuable resource. The device, which runs on solar power, can be programmed to automatically remove up to about eight litres of oil a day and requires no maintenance other than periodically emptying the reservoir.

“What’s unbelievable is that no one thought of this sooner,” says Elliott. “The Bilge Oil Collector generally pays for itself in just six months, and each unit is going to keep thousands of litres of oil out of our oceans and landfills over the course of its lifetime.

“The Coast Guard continually upgrades its environmental regulations to reflect advances in technology,” he adds. “I wouldn’t be surprised if, a few years from now, it’s illegal to throw oil-soaked pads into a landfill rather than recycle them.”

To learn more about the FORS Bilge Oil Collector, visit www.ForsOilRecovery.com or call 250-616-7817.




To learn more about my professional copywriting services, visit my web site at www.ryanparton.ca.

Check Out My Latest Web Sites

Check out the latest web sites I built, one for Lori Hurst Professional Coaching and the other for Cumberland Veterinary Clinic.

I started offering "SEO Web Design" as a value-added service a couple of months ago and so far it's been going really well. My goal isn't to compete with professional web developers and designers, but to give my clients a more affordable option if they don't have a large budget for a web site and they just need something simple that works.

Basically what I tell them is that if they want a fancy, beautiful web site then I'd be happy to recommend a designer. But if they just need something that looks professional, is user-friendly, speaks directly to their target market and will get good results from the search engines, then I can help them out. By bundling professional writing, Search Engine Optimization and site design, they're able to get a good deal on a web site that works!

Anyways, check out Cumberland Veterinary Clinic and Lori Hurst Professional Coaching.
I wrote all of the copy and designed and built the sites themselves:

www.LoriHurstCoaching.com

www.cumberlandvet.ca



To learn more about my professional copywriting services, visit my web site at www.ryanparton.ca.

This is one enthusiastic copywriter!

Here's a brief video of a young copywriter from Colorado talking about what you need to be a good writer. You're not going to learn all the ins and outs, or even just the ins, but this guy's entertaining and you might pick something up.

If nothing else, his enthusiasm might help you through your Monday.





To learn more about my professional copywriting services, visit my web site at www.ryanparton.ca.