Peter Finch asked:




Everybody enjoys holidays, as it is great opportunity to recharge your batteries after long workdays. Here is a list of Romanian holidays, when people feel relaxed because they can take their time to do anything they want.

These holidays are legally declared free and they are different from the days of the weekend. However, there are public institutions, which have to work on these days too. They are sanitary institutions, alimentation units, organizations where production process cannot be interrupted, or police stations.

The employees of these institutions have the right to compensate with corresponding free time, provided during the following 30 days. Nowadays according to the Work Code, public holidays in Romania are as follows: 1st and 2nd January on the occasion of the New Year; Easter days are in April or May and people of different religions can enjoy two free days according to the time of their Easter days.

Furthermore 1st day of May is the International Work Day and 1st December is Romania’s National Day. On that date, they celebrate the union between Transylvania and the Romanian Kingdom, which led to the foundation of modern Romania. This event took place in 1918. To continue, Christmas days are on 25th and 26th December, when everybody gets together with beloved members of the family and celebrate these special days.

Moreover, Romania has as well other important holidays in the list. Thus, on the 24th January they celebrate the union between Moldavia and Walachia when Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of both counties. This event took place in 1859.

A special day in the list of Romanian holidays is March 8, when it is celebrated women’s day. It is a day when kids in schools express their love for their mothers and female teachers, when husbands offer flowers and presents to their wives and women usually celebrate their day having a girls’ party somewhere.

In Romania, heroes who fought in different armed conflicts are celebrated on Ascension Day and on June 1 it is celebrated Children’s day. On this occasion children take part in different competitions, like drawing contests or sport competitions corresponding to their ages. The national flag’s day is celebrated on the 26 of June. By the way, the colours of the Romanian flag are red, yellow and blue. Red stands for the blood spilled by heroes, yellow stands for the rich summer crops and blue stands for hope in a better destiny.

June 29 is Romanian national anthem day. This solemn song is sung on the lyrics written by a Romanian poet and its title “Desteapta-te, romane!” can be translated as “Romanians, fight for your rights!” On December 8, they celebrate Constitution Day, in the memory of the day when the current constitution was adopted in 1991.

Finally, two special holidays for young people are celebrated on 24 February and on 1 March. The first one is the equivalent of Valentine’s Day and it is called Dragobetele, and the second one is a special day when children and men offer “martisoare”, some tiny talismans, to the people they love, but especially to women and girls.

Jeff Herring asked:




“The seeds of depression cannot take root in a grateful heart.” – Andy Andrews

Is this a grateful time of year for you or a depressed time of year?

As a therapist and coach, I hear the following statement often at this time of year:

“I bet you see a lot of depressed people this time of year.”

Well, yes and no.

The depressed time of year?

Somehow it has seeped into our culture as common wisdom that there are a whole lot of depressed people during the holidays. To some extent, this is true. It can be a tough time of year for those that have suffered recent losses or changes, or people that are apart from their loved ones.

The interesting thing is that I tend to see more people struggling with sadness and depression after the holidays than I do during the holidays.

It makes sense when you think about it – all the hoopla and excitement of the holidays is now over and it’s back to real life. It’s cold and now you have to pay holiday bills.

Gratitude beats depression

I believe that gratitude beats depression every time. It’s like the childhood game Rock-Paper-Scissors – Rock always bests Scissors, Scissors always beats Paper, and Paper always beats Rock.

And so it is – Gratitude always beats Sadness and Depression.

Liam Gerken asked:




If your idea of a holidays is the up most of luxury and seclusion then a villa holiday is likely to appeal. There are hundreds of thousands of villas across the globe, each with their own appeal from relaxing on private beaches to exploring the depths of the outback on your own personal safari.

The following outlines some of the worlds most popular destinations and what villas in these areas have to offer.

Africa

World renowned for its magnificent contrasting scenery, Africa is a majestic mixture of lush jungles, endless deserts and bustling cities filled with diverse races and religions each with their own way of life. One of the major pulls of African holidays is the opportunity visitors have to get close to the some of the world’s most wild animals in their natural habitat.

Indian Ocean

Boasting some of the worlds most beautiful coast lines, the islands situated within the Indian Ocean are often cited as the “picture perfect island castaway”. If the clear warm water that peacefully laps on the talcum powder soft white sands isn’t enough, many of the islands resorts are renowned for providing world class pampering.

Caribbean

Once reserved for the rich and famous, the 7,000 islands that make up the Caribbean have become a popular resort from travellers from all walks of life. From the laid back beauty of Anguilla to the busting island of Bermuda and Jamaica the Caribbean has something for everyone. Water sports and on-land sports such as Golf and Tennis are particularly popular on some of the islands.

Australasia

The term Australasia is used to describe New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and the surrounding islands. Australia is a huge country, and its sheer size can be quite daunting, for this reason it is recommended that you choose to fly instead of driving if you wish to cover long distances. Either way, the country manages to combine the ultimate in luxury within its bustling cosmopolitan cities with nail biting adventures when you take to the outback.

Since the Lord of the Rings, interest in New Zealand has sawed, and it’s no surprise. The country is home to some of the worlds most outstanding natural wonders, from snowy peaks to golden beaches. The contrast in culture and environment between the north and south island also makes for a very interesting holiday.

Darrell Causey asked:




Christmas time is a wonderful time to create memories with family traditions and a great tradition is to host an annual Christmas bake off.

At our house everyone looks forward to the first week of Christmas vacation, when we go into baking mode and spend 3-4 days baking our favorite Christmas cookies and candies! This tradition began for us back when I was first married and my father would invite all of us over to the house for a weekend of marathon baking.

We spent hours talking and laughing as we baked and decorated dozens of different kinds of Christmas cookies while Dad made loaves of his famous holiday fruitcake. Dad’s fruitcake was unlike any fruitcake you had ever eaten and everyone liked it. Not only was Dad’s fruitcake totally different from others the secret to its success was that Dad soaked it in rum. There was a plethora of jokes about Dad’s fruitcake and how well our pastor enjoyed it.

Besides cookies and fruitcake someone would try their hand at making chocolates, caramel and suckers. Homemade candy is always a big hit with everyone. I always hold out for someone to make chocolate covered peanut butter balls, one of my favorites.

When we were all done we’d divide up the goodies and take them home to enjoy or hand out as gifts.

Since those bygone days Dad has passed away and all of the kids have scattered to the four corners of the U.S. but the tradition he started is carried on by each of us in our own families every holiday season. It’s a great time for us to have fun together and share Christmas memories.

Ginger Marks asked:




Marketing has hit an all time high. The shopping frenzy has begun. With less than three months until the gift giving season is here every day wasted counts heavily towards your income potential for the year.

I cannot think of a better time to make use of your marketing dollars than to put your money where their mouths are. That is why when your customers insatiable appetite for a deal has been raised to an all time high, I ask you, why not take advantage of their desire by offering a taste of things to come.

You might assume that what I am suggesting only applies to you if you have a food oriented business. This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Businesses of all venues can make use of this “teaspoon” marketing style.

If you have been in business for any length of time at all I am sure you have received the card friendly catalogue with the sample card enclosed. So how do you turn this buying frenzy to your advantage? How about following the trend of the retail stores that offer you buy one get one free deals? Then there is always the free shipping offer that you could make. You might set it up as a minimum purchase required to make it worth your investment. I would classify those as samples too. I have even heard of service oriented businesses offering the first hour free. Now there’s one I can sink my teeth into. How about you?

If neither of those appeal to you why not try offering a before you buy choice? This is a win-win offer; better known as Risk Reversal in the marketing world. Are their people who have raised their hand in interest throughout the year? Maybe they contacted you, or even purchased a product or service, in the past; they might be good sources of new or repeat business? It has been proven that people who buy once are more likely to buy from you a second and third time if you merely market to them. The Boston’s Consultant Group states in their article Retailing Online: Coming of Age, “Retailers, on average, generated $7 in revenue for every dollar invested in acquisition and $25 for every dollar spent on retention, each nearly double the previous year’s averages of $4 and $13, respectively.” Now how can you not like those stats?

We all love contests and prizes. Do you know of an event that is accepting prize donations? Be the first to step up and give a little taste of your wares as a prize. Not only will the winner enjoy your gift but think of the free publicity! Haven’t heard of any? Start your own. If you need or want help, partner with another like-minded business owner and make it a joint venture. You have just doubled your exposure by marketing to each other’s lists.

There are many marketing techniques that fit into this category. No one marketing technique will work for everybody. Find the ones that fit your business and personality and utilize them again and again to ensure your business success. Every once in a while stretch your taste buds and try something just a bit different. Hey, you might just find something that works even better than a system you have used in the past.

These are just a sampling of how you can increase your bottom line with a few simple solutions. So before it’s too late get your holiday marketing plan set and in motion. Consider your customer; if you were trying to decide which product or service to use and one offered a sample or trial and the other didn’t what would you do? Think like your customers and your marketing results are sure to fill your plate.