The problem with the micro-blogging platform Twitter is that it is deceivingly simple, and this is partly true because each tweet is only 140 characters or less. Thus, while it appears to take very little thought to tweet, in actuality it takes a planned strategy to be effective on Twitter. But before you get deep into your strategy, you need to join Twitter if you haven\’t already. And even this relatively simple step can be fraught with peril. (Some of you may already be on Twitter and not following one or more of the tips below.) Thus these are my top Twitter tips for correctly starting... Read More

Call-to-action book author websites motivate website visitors to start a relationship with the book author and then progress to buying the author\’s book(s). In order to have an effective call-to-action website, you need: 1. A domain name that supports your book. The domain name must be memorable, spelled easily and a .com. (People try .com first if they\’re looking online for a specific website. If you get a domain name with .biz or .net, your online marketing efforts may send potential book buyers to other websites.) And, most importantly, the domain name must directly relate... Read More

“It\’s D-Lightful: Vitamin D Gets Its Moment in the Sun” announced the July 15th Wall Street Journal Health Journal by Melinda Beck. And the article went on to explain that, while Vitamin D is known for being crucial for strong bones, there\’s new research suggesting it also protects against a wide variety of diseases. Did this news upset me at my age? (Over age 51 the amount of D needed increases.) Not in the least – because only yesterday my new doctor had blood drawn to check my Vitamin D level. The week before, at my first visit to him, he had explained that he\’d... Read More

GERD (acid reflux) is something I know about – I\’ve been taking Prevacid for the last few years to control this reaction. Then I read Melinda Beck\’s July 22nd Health Journal in The Wall Street Journal titled “Baby crying? Doctors Say It May Be Acid-Reflux Disease.” Here\’s the first paragraph of this article: Oliva Manganello was 1 month old when she started screaming, usually right after she nursed. Her family tried switching to formula, then different formulas, but nothing helped. Finally a pediatric gastroenterologist diagnosed gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)... Read More

In January of 2005 my older daughter returned with a whooping cough from visiting my sister in Australia. It soon became apparent that she had whooping cough (we listened to a recording of whooping cough on the internet) and had given it to her boyfriend. But we couldn’t get doctors in Los Angeles to agree that these two 20-somethings had whooping cough. Soon afterwards two things happened. 1) My sister and her younger son were diagnosed with whooping cough, the source of my daughter’s whooping cough. 2) And there was an article in the Los Angeles Times that whooping cough had returned... Read More