Tenth Anniversary Celebration-Don’t Drop The Dream

It is difficult being young, single and pregnant. Now imagine being young, single, pregnant and homeless. Unfortunately, that’s the plight of over 1000 women and children each year in Greater Cleveland who find their way to Continue Life Inc., a homeless shelter and transitional housing program for pregnant and parenting women.

To celebrate its 10^th anniversary, Visibility Marketing Inc. will hold   Don’t Drop the Dream, a fundraiser for Continue Life, Inc.  “These women need so much. We want to alert Greater Clevelanders that there are young women and children who need their help. Even a little goes a long way…from diapers to mattresses to carpeting and home repairs to tickets to an event,” said Montrie Rucker Adams, chief visibility officer for Visibility Marketing Inc. “Most of us are fortunate to have a safe place we can call home. If it’s just for a moment during a time of crisis, these ladies can call Continue Life home,” added Adams.

Don’t Drop the Dream begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, October 7 at Massimo da Milano, 1400 W. 25^th Street.  Entertainment includes Cecil Rucker and Good Vibes, and singers Nancy Redd Shelton and Kelly Chapman.

After working several years in the public relations industry, Adams founded Visibility Marketing Inc., a marketing communications and public relations firm focused on making their clients “more visible.”  “This is a very significant occasion for us,” said Adams. “I was ten years old when, after visiting my father’s chemical plant in Puerto Rico, I decided to own a business. I didn’t know what kind, I only knew that eventually I would make it happen. That little girl’s dream never left me.”

Don’t Drop the Dream is a celebration of perseverance and hope. “So often along this entrepreneurial journey I’ve thought about giving up and ‘dropping the dream,’ but then I think about the sacrifices my father and other entrepreneurs in my family made. I also think about those who encouraged me. The women of Continue Life have to persevere – never losing sight of their dreams and goals for their families. They must be encouraged to not drop their dreams.”

Balinda Cavor, Continue Life’s executive director explains that the teens and women who come to them have had their dreams crushed by others as well as themselves. “They report feeling like nobody cares and are often shocked when they learn that we genuinely want the best for them.  They sometimes give up before the miracle happens,” she said.  “It is a wonderful day when they bring a new baby home and then stick it out and watch their dream of housing, employment, a GED and for some college, come true.  We get so excited when they allow us to help them make their dreams real,” offers Cavor.

Don’t Drop the Dream is a free event, however a $10 or more donation to Continue Life Inc. is encouraged. Reservations are required. For more information, visit visibilitymarketing.com, continuelife.org or call 440-684-9920.

260 Ways to Be More Visible

For the tenth anniversary of Visibility Marketing Inc., we’ve compiled a list of 365 260 ways to “be more visible.” They are quick and easy.  Nothing hard.  Nothing new.  It’s only a matter of incorporating the old Nike tagline philosophy “just do it.”

We started out with 365 but then realized, why work them on the weekends?  We’ll just give them enough for Monday through Friday and let them rest and play the other two days.  Now, if you’re really ambitious we can have that conversation.

So, if you want to be “more visible” just do one of these a day.  Or, you can do one of these for 5 days, or 25 days.  If you get bored with one, choose another. It’s all a matter of working it until it works.

Now sign on to Twitter and follow @BeMoreVisible to get your visibility for today.

Get Clicky Wit It!

Title: Get Clicky Wit It!
Location: Corporate College East
Link: Click here
Description:

Have you ever wondered about those “MAKE MONEY ON THE INTERNET” programs? Well, there are a lot of ways.  How legit they are is the REAL question.  Make money with Google.  Make fast money with this plan, that plan, etc.  When you get to their website, you are directed to read a bunch of stuff and then you CLICK HERE and what happens… you get to a page that says, YOU GOTTA PAY FOR THE KNOWLEDGE.  And they charge you $39.99, $49.99, $59.99.  Well, that’s one way they are GETTING PAID! Charging you to TELL YOU! LOL.  Well, I am charging $5.00 NOW FREE and showing you hands on and $5.00 won’t make me a lot!

Let me, the Weblady, show you how to MAKE MONEY ON THE INTERNET by CLICKING.  WAIT, HOLD IT! I didn’t say you’d be a MILLIONAIRE - but if that’s what you want to shoot for, then YOU CAN become a MILLIONAIRE.

Take what I show you for $5.00 FREE and make a $500, $1,000 or whatever you want.  I won’t show you some bogus checks to prove it, I will demonstrate it right before your eyes.

Hey, bring a laptop and follow along (free WiFi).  I’ll show you how to set up a blog and give you the other tools you need to know to make money on the Internet.

Trust the Weblady, I won’t steer you wrong.  Tahitian Noni, Ardyss and those other programs all cost money to get started and there’s nothing wrong with them if you have money to invest.  Money some folks just don’t have to spend in our economic times.

Why is the Weblady doing this? Sharing this knowledge? Because there are folks out here who need money. people who need a job, People who need to talk and vent.  People who need a little hope.

Click here to sign up today because seating will be limited.  First Come, First Serve. DON’T MISS IT!

Sponsored by: Visibility Marketing Inc.

No More Black Beans and Rice (It’s Gumbo Now)

The deep psychological wounds of slavery cannot  easily be measured, but the evidence of the superior race mind-set is ever present.

As America’s pot becomes gumbo rather than black beans and rice, everyone has to learn to accept and welcome the positive changes diversity brings. Not only do we now have an African American running our nation, but minorities are at the helm of some of our great businesses and institutions. Many minorites and some in the majority accept what is, because from generation to generation we have not known otherwise.

A recent incident brought the necessity of diversity education home. For nearly one year I attended job-related meetings at which I was the only African American. One meeting I could not attend, so I asked a co-worker to stand in for me.

Imagine my surprise when she returned, exclaiming how nice and accomodating everyone was. She was beckoned to sit with the hosts and made to feel like a “sorority” sister – gestures of acceptance, acknowledgement and appreciation I had never experienced.

At first I could not quite understand why my emotions were on a roller coaster. Then, it dawned on me. My color prevented me from being in their “club.” I could not join because I did not look like them.  Maybe  even deeper than that – they were uncomfortable with me. In their world I don’t exist. I am invisible.

The days of  “black beans and rice” are over. The numbers of Latinos, Asians, Native and Arab Americans and other ethnic groups are growing. Therefore, diversity education is necessary. By making entire races invisible, we are shortchanging our schoolrooms and boardrooms of their talents, time and treasures. We have to try to learn and understand the history, cultures and souls of those who are different.

There were two lessons learned from this incident. One, I was used to being invisible and ignored. I didn’t recognize it until it was blatantly brought to my attention. Alienating others was their way of life – their actions went unrecognizable to them.

Two, I now have a better understanding of what Jesus meant when He said, “…love your enemies. Do good to them…Then your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35 NIV).

The attitudes and actions that have brought the need for diversity education to took hundreds of years to create and may take just as long to eradicate. We must be patient and continue to seek change with love. We may not see it’s full manifestation in our lifetime. Maybe our great-grandchildren will.

Touched By a RAK

The year was 1998 - I was touched by a RAK. I even wrote about it in Kaleidoscope magazine. It was in the early days of the Internet when we didn’t have to worry about Spam or phishing. Not many people were on the Internet back then. Since I had an AOL account, the only people I connected with were on AOL.

One day on April 9th I received an email from a stranger. Which was quite rare in those days. It simply said, “You don’t know me. I want to wish you a Happy Birthday. You’ve been hit by a RAK… “Random Act of Kindness.”

The email threw me. Since he was also on AOL, it wasn’t hard to figure out how he got my email address. I emailed him back to thank him. He said that’s what he does…thinks of various ways to perform random acts of kindness.

(more…)