Flowers A Big Part Of Humans Life Marketing Essay

Flowers A Big Part Of Humans Life Marketing Essay Flowers are really a big part of humans life. Their beauty, colour and attractiveness allows us to carry our messages perfectly   get-well soon for our family and sick friends, congratulation messages to a newly promoted friend, sympathy to a grieving group, and to show our feeling to another person. Every party or any occasion is celebrated with flowers.  Or even without an occasion. Recent trends show that many of those who buy flowers buy it for themselves.   Florist shop is a comparitively easy business to stand up and rising. Florist is a kind of business where it did not required big financial  income and its a glooming industry. There are few careers that offer so many advantages. As a florist we are all surrounded with beautiful flower  every day and have a career which has lots of fun and interesting. And this business is not a seasonal business here the work is carry out for a year. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY We Bloomers and Stylers are aiming to provide Frequent Flower Gift Program which will differ from old florists by prepare personal relationships through the use of marketing, technology and innovation by giving a gift program that makes purchasing flowers easier and attractive to the consumers. MISSION The company will  use  sophisticated marketing techniques to identify and serve  an ideal target audience which will  apart from other  older retailers and on-line  florists by giving rapid Flower Gift  Programs with  extra  service (e.g., consumers can select  any precise delivery dates) and  custom floral plans (e.g., consumers can specify colour, scent, flower). Keys to Success Designs should be new and innovative, better quality fresh and nice flower decoration using a variety of  different containers, flowers and other styles. Creating a nice entrance that shows an art gallery, with new, fresh and floral arrangements displayed like art. Communicating with depending consumers through direct e-mail, print some advertisement and an easy  website. CURRENT SITUATION It is thus no wonder that flowers have become big business. The Society of American Florists estimates that the floriculture industry will sell $19 billion in flowers, plants, and floral supplies for 2001. There are about 26,200 retail florist shops  in the United States today making an average of $250,191 in annual sales.  [1]  By looking these figures a person can judge that this industry or a business has an extraordinary growth. Every month there are many occasions so this firm didnt fall down .It is increasing day by day and its a very good market nowadays. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Industry analysis has a close view on economic factors, social factors and political factors. Frequent Buyer  Program Subscriber 15-60 years of age Married, engaged or in a long-term relationship Quality conscious Decorated home makers The holidays, birthdays and anniversaries are the perfect dates  for people to take as part of a Flower Gift Program. Percentage ranking by retail: S.no Occasions Percentage 1 Valentines day 36% 2 Mothers day 27.4% 3 Christmas 15.1% 4 Thanksgiving day 7.4% 5 Sweetest day 1.2% 6 Grandparents day .09% 7 Fathers day .04% 8 Boss day .02%a Not only these occasions there uncountable days to celebrate something with flowers. To celebrate the marriage flowers are used. So it is used everywhere. All the economic factors lie in this table that what the consumers are required and they target a specific area. Same as with political factors like government is well concerned with the environment and emphasizes to grow more plants which really helps in our florist business. Social factor means the trend in which we are moving like flowers can be used for expressing something, attractiveness, nice essence and many more. So to get a single flower we should get many qualities. This will help our firm to improve and different from others business. So I think that this firm is very much comfortable to have a good competition in the market. PROJECT DISCRIPTION The first is business location, and the location must be in a high-traffic and highly visible area to increase walk-in business. The second issue is delivery. The business must provide consumers with a fast and efficient delivery service. The third important aspect of the business is national exposure. The business must join a florist association that promotes national delivery regardless of geographic location as some florist shops gain as much as 25 percent of their business from people who order  flowers  from outside the service area of the florist (www.entreprenuer.com). Store designing and layout Store design The outer part of a florist shop is estimated to account for the actual fascinate of 30% of all consumers. Very easy, innovative design with attractive and new displays A big interior design with lots of light and extra ordinary lighting to shine and look more attractive flower designs High clear view from the street, as well as looking pleasant at night A quality of distinct floral arrangements. Store policies The company will invest in consumer relationship management software (CRM) to collect consumers information, with their names, address, e-mail address and other required information ( flower likes/dislikes, birthday, colour selection, anniversary). These all information will be used with e-mail and direct mail attempt to build different marketing programs, establish consumers faithfulness. The company will offer a whole exchange policy to build some trust and dependencies with consumers and to maintain withholding, constancy and reliability. Store Location and Time scheduling Our store will be placed at Cannaught place (New Delhi) We plan to open on February 14(Valentines day) and will be providing free sample of flowers to consumers. Free parking should be available for the consumers who will visit the area. OPERATION AND PRODUCTION PLAN It will depend on the nature of our business. I am selling consumer goods, it will be important to make sure i can get those products to your clients at the time you promise. PRODUCTS OFFERED Creative Floral Designs, Using A Varied Mix of Flowers-. The floral arrangement should be natural, original work of art. The company has promise to make each preparation unique and custom-designed based on each consumers needs. Floral arrangements will feature a different range of seasonal flowers. All sample preparation in the store will be there for purchase. innovative Containers- We will select and offer distant vases for the different buyer or for a special reason, as well as reasonable options for timely purchases. .Variety of prices. We will sale a different kind of arrangement sizes, and will always create a those vases which will meet anyones requirement and in their proper budget. Hand-tied Bouquets. For consumers who choose to use their own vases, we should offer hand-tied bouquets. These are the important factors from which consumers will attract. Production involves materials, tools, machines, labour cost. I would preferably buy my material in a wholesale rate and I will produce my own material and it will increase my production as well as my sales of profit .I will buy some equipment like a system which cost 20000rs. A credit card machine of rs5000. And I have decided not to spent more than Rs30000 on this equipment. Other than this an air-condition, on tills of the floor, decoration of the shop. MARKETING PLAN Marketing Objectives We need to establish and to make our reputation as an independent, easy way to buy some flowers and feeling of romance with some loved once. Why should local residents buy from us? It is Easy, handy and suitability. Consumer will experience special shopping qualities. Qualities of the flowers are very good and unique floral decoration. Very fast delivery program that is available. There is a home exchange of the opinion available. Event floral services are available to consumers. It will Support the local dealers. 4.3 Marketing strategies 1.Public Relations Spread around the stores Grand Opening and the ease of availability of services. Publicize our new releases on the local newspapers. 2.Advertisings I will advertise by printing my brochures. I will distribute my Pamphlets and posters. In Newspapers, journals, magazines. 3. Direct Mail/Postcards Develop a list of likely clients for timely communications about vacation specials and regular buyer/gift programs. Provoke more and more users to a particular website that enables them to see sample plans, 4. E-Mail Sending an e-mail to a particular society and then it will make a chain to deliver that e-mail. 5.Marketing Materials Develop a regular look and feel for all corporate security, including: Comment cards collect name, addresses, e-mail, plus feedback on services. One-page brochure describing Frequent Flower Buyer Programs. Stationery business cards, letterhead, envelopes. Gift cards. Packaging develop no-spill packaging to make it easy to transport flowers and use all packaging for branding opportunities. 6.Website Highlight some regular flower program, enable visitors to diary a free phone inquiry and advices, HUMAN RESOURCE PLAN It requires few persons to start this business. First of all owner of the company is the financer and it also have to do lots of work like estimating profits, price policies, designing all the arrangement, pay to suppliers, advertise of the business, handling some kind of complains from the consumer. Basically owner is everything and he/she has to be experienced in taking decisions. Other person that is required is delivery boy who will listen for the consumer requirement and serve the home-deliveries. Other than him a person who have to take care of the plants and flower because flowers has a very short life. And some temporary persons may be required for the important dates when there is a lot of rush in the firm. I will find my employers from the internet and they should have some knowledge of this firm. ASSESMENT OF RISK Starting a new firm we have a serious concern on the risk. A person who is doing this firm must have the experience and if there is no experience then try to gain something about this firm while starting a new business. An entrepreneur did not start any business without the opportunity first of all try to gain some idea and then start. For this research have to done and cover some portions like the place where to set up, windows of opportunity is open. First of all start a business in a small investment then grow it up. Risk came when there are many competitors in the market but what we have to do, try to give some extra facilities, a nice product and in the reasonable cost. This thing reduces the risk in doing business. FINANCIAL PLANS First check out the break even analysis. The cost which we spent is getting profitable. Then project the profit and loss on every product. It also deals with labour cost and cost on the product. Then project every data on the balance sheet. After that compare the ratios with the different year profits and get some idea that the firm in in loss or profit. COST AND PROFITABILITY Startup expenses S.no Contents Amount 1 Showroom on rent 30,000 2 Initial marketing advertising 50,000 3 Stationery 25,000 4 DSL installation service activation 4000 5 Office supplies, giftwrap,packaging 25,000 6 Furniture 50,000 7 Equipment 2,46,000 8 2 Delivery mens 12,000 + 4000(transportation) 9 2 Decorators Designers 20,000 10 Startup inventory (Flowers) 75,000 11 Freshning equipment Freshners 50,000 12 Cleanliness or sweeper 1000 13 Electricity charges 8000 Total Expenditure 6,00,000 Equipments includes: 2 line phone system 10,000 CRS Software 1,70,000 Laptop 30,000 Credit card software 16,000 1 Air conditioner 20,000 CAPITAL INVESTED Planned investment Bank loan 6,00,000 vikrant 1,50,000 Total planned investment 7,50,000 Total planned investment (A) = 7,50,000 Total expenditure (B) = 6,00,000 (A-B) Additional working capital = 1,50,000 YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 PLAN MONTH 1 2 3 CURRENT INTEREST RATE 10.00% 10.00% 10.00% LONG TERM INTEREST RATE 10.00% 10.00% 10.00% TAX RATE 25.42% 25.00% 25.42% OTHERS 0 0 0 Personnel plan YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 MANAGER 200000 250000 400000 EMPLOYEES 300000 325000 360000 TOTAL PEOPLE 5 6 6 TOTAL PAYROLL 500000 575000 760000 Profitability It depends upon contractual terms,by organizing events on special occasions. Providing flowers for decoration purposes in temples and other religious places. Especially in vrindavan. Revenue generated through sales on daily basis. Revenue generated on special occasions BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol50/florist.htm 2. http://www.bplans.com/florist_business_plan 3. http://www.entrepreneur.com/businessideas/159.html 4. http://www.powerhomebiz.com/guide/cases/christinetoby.htm 5. http://www.paloalto.com/sample_business_plans/florist_business_plan.cfm accessed on 15 Nov 2010

Succubus Heat CHAPTER 19

The next day, Dante was off to work, and I called Cody right after breakfast. â€Å"Hey,† I said. â€Å"Are you guys still being beach bunnies?† â€Å"You bet,† he said brightly. â€Å"One of our neighbors has a sailboat and offered to let us go with him and-â€Å" â€Å"That's not quite what I had in mind,† I interrupted. An hour and a half later, Peter echoed my thoughts. â€Å"This wasn't what I had in mind.† I'd convinced them to come out with me on my beach hunt. Unfortunately, the day was cold and threatened rain. As we walked along the water at Dash Point, icy wind ripped off the waves and cut across our faces. I snuggled into my jacket, thinking of how many times I'd taken the ability to shape-shift warmer coats for granted. â€Å"Look, I know you guys think you're on spring break, but eventually, we will get another archdemon, and I'd rather it be Jerome.† â€Å"Yes, but it's not like this is exactly an airtight plan,† Peter argued. â€Å"We're pretty much going to beaches at random, in the hopes of finding white sand. Look at this stuff. It's beige†¦is that close enough to white?† I cut him a sidelong glance. â€Å"You once got in an argument with Carter about the difference between ‘Denim Days Blue' and ‘Summer Cobalt.' You tell me. Is there a difference between white and beige?† Peter kicked sand up with the toe of his boot. â€Å"It was ‘ Winter Cobalt,' and Carter was wrong. There's a huge difference between those two.† Cody and I hid our grins as we continued our trek. Dash Point State Park was near Federal Way, down on the south side of Puget Sound. It had seemed reasonable to start there and work our way around the coast, back up toward Seattle. This was our second park of the day, and so far, we'd seen nothing to match the seal's cryptic clues. On our drive to the third place, Peter was still pessimistic. â€Å"You know, this would be a lot easier if we had your dead-beat boyfriend along. We can only go off visual clues at this point. We need someone who can actually sense the power around the vessel.† â€Å"Dante's busy at work,† I explained. â€Å"Huh,† Cody mused. â€Å"I never expected to hear ‘busy' and ‘at work' used together when it came to Dante.† â€Å"Be quiet,† I said. â€Å"Leave the snark to Hugh and Peter.† â€Å"What about Erik?† asked Peter. â€Å"He's psychic.† â€Å"Yeah, I considered that, but he's getting old and his back's been bothering him. I hate to ask him to walk around and around with me†¦but well, I haven't ruled it out.† â€Å"And you don't know any more psychics?† â€Å"Nope. Not that I trust, at least.† â€Å"Me either,† admitted Peter. â€Å"But I bet Hugh does.† â€Å"Yeah, you're probably-† I stopped mid-sentence. â€Å"I might know one more†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It was crazy idea, one I wasn't sure I should put any real effort toward. â€Å"Who?† asked Cody. I shook my head and drove through the entrance of our next state park. â€Å"It's a long story, one I'm going to have to work on.† Our third stop yielded nothing either, save an inability for Peter to get sand out of his boots. It had started raining by that point, and even my mood was down by then. Sunset was still a couple of hours away, but the overcast sky was effectively killing our light. Glancing at my watch, I saw that the dance lesson was looming, so we turned north and headed back to Seattle. I dropped the vampires off at their apartment and then drove home to get ready. My closet's dress selection seemed old and tired, but I had no new fashions to magically summon. So, I opted for a sleeveless minidress with a bright pattern of orange, green, and black flowers that had been blurred together like a water-color painting. It was a bit shorter than it should have been for a dance with this much movement, but the colors seemed suitable and cheerful on a day like this. It also seemed cold, though, and on impulse, I added black thigh-high stockings to keep my legs warm. Between that, black heels, and dark lipstick, I seemed to be channeling my succubus self more than my mild-mannered bookstore manager self. Of course, considering the whore wear I'd shown up in a week or so ago, this was kind of tame. Doug naturally still teased me about it, though deep down inside, I knew he thought I looked hot. I took a smug satisfaction in knowing I'd done it without any shape-shifting. Plus, I'd practically burned my hair off trying to flat iron it tonight. I dared anyone to accuse me of frizziness. Maddie was ecstatic, and her enthusiasm spread to those among the staff who'd decided to stay after closing for the lesson. A few of their friends had shown up as well, giving us around a dozen. It was a good, manageable size. We cleared space upstairs, and I set up my portable CD player. Cody had helped me teach swing before, but I hadn't thought to enlist his assistance this time. Instead, I used Doug as my demo. Maybe it was part of being a musician, but he had a solid sense of rhythm and could pick up moves really quickly. A half-hour in, I trusted him enough to start assisting others, and we split up to work with some of our students. Despite my hesitation in agreeing to the lesson, I had fun, and most people were so nervous about touching their manager that I didn't have to worry about anyone hurting my back. Maddie, enthusiastic or not, was having a bit of trouble and complained loudly when her brother came in to help her. He swept her away, leaving me with her former dance partner: Seth. I'd known he was here, of course, but I'd been trying to avoid eye contact. There was no good way around it now, and we stood there awkwardly, eyeing each other, neither of us certain what to do. Autopilot kicked in, and I held my hands out to him. I was the teacher here, and since he was one of the worst dancers on the floor, it was only natural that he'd need my help more than others. Seth held up his hands in return, and as I took a step forward, my heel snagged on the carpet. I knelt down to check, thinking it would be pretty embarrassing to trip and fall when I was the alleged model of grace and balance here. Glancing up, I met Seth's eyes. He was looking down at me, and his face was no longer shy or confused. His expression was considering and†¦well, hungry. Looking down, I suddenly realized the view I was offering up. He was able to see right into the heart of my cleavage, which was already considerably exposed by the dress's low neckline. From kneeling, my skirt had ridden up, showing off the black lace top of one of my thigh-highs. I don't know what in particular he found the most alluring, but his gaze raked across my body, and everywhere it touched, heat swept me. I rose, suddenly feeling like the shy and awkward one. Desire was written all over him, and it was a wonder the entire room didn't notice. He extended his hands again, and when we touched, electricity shot through my body. Finding the beat, I led him into the steps. He was every bit as bad as I remembered, yet as I worked to guide him in the right moves, our bodies brushing together out of necessity, I couldn't help but think that while his dance rhythm might be lacking, there'd been nothing uncoordinated about the way he made love. Neither of us spoke for a minute or so, and I was sure he was caught up in the same physical spell as me, probably reliving our encounter from yesterday as well. My arousal was growing too, and wrong as I knew it was, I actually went out of my way to make sure we occasionally touched as I guided his body. Finally, sexually charged or not, I couldn't help but laugh. â€Å"I think this is the worst I've ever seen you dance,† I told him. â€Å"And believe me, that's saying something.† He smiled ruefully, but I suspected dancing was the last thing on his mind right now. â€Å"I'm out of practice.† â€Å"Well, I'm glad you're actually here this time, instead of sitting on the sidelines.† â€Å"Things change, I guess.† I held his eyes for a few moments. â€Å"Yes. Yes, they do.† A few more moments of silence passed before he asked, â€Å"How's your immortal, um, situation going?† â€Å"Hmm?† Seth's hand had come within millimeters of brushing against my breast when we turned. Sternly, I chastised myself to forget about the way his body had felt-and looked and smelled and tasted-yesterday and remember my other problems. â€Å"Oh, well. Not so great, actually. I got some more info, except it's hard to-â€Å" When I fell silent, Seth tilted his head and gave me a puzzled look. â€Å"What?† I'd forgotten the idea that I'd briefly hinted at to the vampires. â€Å"Seth†¦I have a strange question to ask you†¦and you can feel free to say no.† The look on his face still seemed to say he wanted to rip my clothes off, but there was something else†¦something serious and concerned that made sweet, sentimental feelings mingle with my own lust. â€Å"If there's anything I can do to help, I will.† â€Å"I know,† I said. â€Å"Except this isn't exactly your help†¦it's Kayla's.† If Seth had been doing any semblance of dancing now, he might have stumbled and missed a beat. As it was, it was kind of hard to tell the difference. â€Å"Kayla?† His four-year-old niece's name was clearly not what he'd been expecting to hear. â€Å"Do you remember when I said she had psychic powers?† â€Å"Yeah†¦but I didn't really think much of it.† â€Å"Well, I told you the logistics of summoning, right? Now I've got a lead on where Jerome is but not how to find him once we're in the right spot. I could do it if I was back to normal, or a psychic might be able to do it. Unfortunately, my usual ones aren't easily accessible.† Worry was rapidly dominating over desire now. I was sad to see the arousal leave him, but this was a serious topic. â€Å"I'm not sure I like the idea of Kayla getting mixed up in any of this. In fact, I know I don't like it.† I nodded. â€Å"I know. I figured you'd feel that way-believe me, I don't like it either.† I loved all of Seth's nieces, but Kayla in particular always tugged at my heartstrings. â€Å"Just something that crossed my mind earlier.† â€Å"Well, I-ah!† Another couple slammed into my back, shoving me forward into his arms. My hands reached out to catch myself, but it didn't stop our bodies from pressing together. Every part of me tingled at that contact, and if I'd had any remaining delusions that I could forget about what we'd done yesterday, they shattered for good now. â€Å"Sorry,† said Andy. He was dancing with Casey, and like her, he was a longtime staff member. Casey groaned. â€Å"Georgina, please take him. Even Seth can't be that bad.† â€Å"Debatable,† I murmured. I didn't want to move, didn't want to break my hold with Seth. I wanted to stay there and keep touching him, and because of that very impulse, I stepped back. My breathing was heavy, and it took me a moment to gather myself. I drew in one more deep breath and grinned at Andy. â€Å"Okay. Let's see what we can do with you.† Casey led Seth away, and I managed to avoid him for the rest of the dance lesson. When it wrapped up, everyone clapped in my honor and demanded I teach a follow-up. I assured them I would, but I was too flustered and preoccupied to settle on a date right now. I promised to get back to them later. Several of them immediately jumped in to put the room back together, and seeing no further reason to stay, I hurried off to my office. My plan was to check up on some of the paperwork and hide out until everyone was gone so that I wouldn't have to see Seth again. I was half-way down the hall when I heard someone call my name. â€Å"Georgina?† I halted. It was Maddie. I turned, hoping the smile on my face looked neither fake nor panicked. Fuck. She was here to bust me for cozying up with her boyfriend on the dance floor. And honestly, it was no more than I deserved. But her face was all smiles and good cheer as she handed me a stack of papers. â€Å"I went kind of crazy,† she said sheepishly, â€Å"but these are some condo listings I printed for you. I've been searching online the last couple of days and kind of looked at everything since you still weren't one hundred percent sure of what you wanted. Got a lot of good hits by the beach.† I took the stack from her, stunned. This was the last thing I'd expected. â€Å"It's probably overkill, but it should give you a lot to look at. Then, if you get some ideas, we can go on from there.† I glanced down at the top sheet, displaying a three-bedroom condo out on Alki. â€Å"I†¦wow. Thank you, Maddie. You shouldn't have.† She beamed at my thanks. â€Å"Happy to. Let me know what you think-and thanks again for the lesson. It was so much fun! Hopefully I'll be less horrible next time. Maybe I can get Seth to practice at home.† She gave me a quick hug and then hurried off to catch a ride with Doug. I trudged to my office, papers in hand, and set them on my desk. I collapsed into the chair, feeling horrible. While I'd been out doing bad, wicked things with her boyfriend, she'd been working diligently to find me a new home. I tried hard after that to browse some spreadsheets, but my heart wasn't in it. I mostly stared at numbers without really comprehending them, and when a knock came at the door, I welcomed the distraction. I jumped up from my chair. â€Å"Come in.† I wondered if Maddie had forgotten to give me another ream. But it wasn't her. Seth stood in the doorway. I stared, hoping my mouth hadn't dropped open or anything embarrassing like that. â€Å"What†¦what are you doing here? I thought you left.† He looked as though he wanted to step inside but was afraid to. â€Å"Doug took Maddie home, and I came back to†¦to get†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stopped and shook his head, unable to continue with a lie about having forgotten something. â€Å"I came back to see you.† I remembered the way his eyes had watched my body, the smoke in them when the skirt had ridden up my leg. That same smokiness was there now, and I felt my own body's desire flare up in response. Really, though, after the way we'd touched while dancing, the desire had never really left me. Nonetheless, I tried to be reasonable. â€Å"Seth, we can't†¦not again†¦it's†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I know,† he said. At last, he crossed the threshold. â€Å"And I told myself†¦told myself I'd let it go†¦but I haven't stopped thinking about you since yesterday. And after tonight.† Hesitantly, as though afraid someone might be lurking, he shut the door behind him. â€Å"Just the way you looked out there. It was†¦amazing. Believe me, I didn't screw up dancing because I'm bad at it-which I am. It's because I wasn't thinking about it at all. I was thinking about you. God, I couldn't stop. And it's not just how sexy you are tonight. It was more. It was the way you lit up the room, the way you charmed everyone and made them happy. You don't need any special powers to do that, Georgina. It's just in you, part of who you are. How funny you are, how smart. It's what made me fall in love you back then, and it's what†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't finish, and I was glad. If he had said â€Å"†¦makes me love you now,† I wouldn't have been able to handl e it. I noticed that he'd moved a lot closer. I took a deep breath. â€Å"It would have been easier on me if you said you just thought I was sexy.† Shallowness I could handle. Not this emotional depth. He gave a rueful smile and stepped even closer so that we were only a couple feet apart. â€Å"Oh, believe me, I do. And it would be a lot easier on me if you weren't.† I could scarcely breathe. We were so close now, and every atom in the room felt charged. I felt charged. There was no mistaking the look on his face. He wanted me too-badly. Lust and desire spilled off him, and I knew my own face mirrored those feelings. He was careful, though, standing as close as he dared, waiting for my signal. There was a tension to him, like it would only take one small sign from me for him to explode. Desperately, I tried to grasp a hold of everything reasonable that I knew. I remembered how miserable I'd felt when he left to go see Maddie yesterday. Hell, I tried to think of Maddie herself-that cheerful, guileless face that trusted me so much. I tried to think of Dante. None of that worked, though, because all that was in my head was Seth, how perfect it had felt being with him. How perfect it felt being with him even now. Reaching out, I took his hand and brought it up to my collarbone. It was all he needed. He stepped closer and traced the lines of my neck, then moved down to my shoulder. He pushed the dress's strap so that it slid down my arm. His fingers followed it, pulling it farther so that the top of my dress fell forward, revealing most of my breast. My nipple was already hard and ready when his hand moved over and pulled the rest of that side of the dress down, completely exposing my breast. He cupped it, squeezing its fullness and running his fingers along the curve. His other hand moved to my other side, cupping that breast and teasing its nipple underneath the dress's silk. My body pressed closer to his, and our mouths met, hot and intense. Yesterday had been sweet and full of emotion. There was emotion here today, but it was intermingled with raw passion, with an animal instinct that made me wish he'd ravage my body right now. And honestly, that wasn't too far from what happened. I stumbled from the press of our bodies and found my back pressed-gently-against the wall as he continued caressing my breasts. My hands wrapped around his neck, moving up to half-tangle and half-pull his hair. He finally released my breasts and ran his hands over the length of my body, down my hips and thighs, across the sheer, silky fabric covering my legs. Sliding his hands back up, he pushed my skirt up and slipped one hand under my thigh, so that it wrapped around his waist and kept the dress up. His other hand moved down under my black lace thong panties, probing to see if I was ready. I was. I was warm and wet and slick, and the finger he slipped into me went in so easily that he then tried two, then three. I groaned and arched my back as he moved his fingers in and out of me and his mouth left hard, bruising kisses on my neck. My own hands fumbled down, trying to unfasten his pants. When I'd tugged them and his boxers down, he gripped my hips and turned me around so that I faced the wall. He shoved my skirt back up and tugged my panties halfway down my thighs. I bent over and extended my arms, using my hands to brace myself against the wall. He entered me, forceful and deep, with no buildup or teasing. He was just as hard and long as I remembered, just as wonderful. Steadying his hands on my hips, he thrust roughly into me, desperately trying to sate the need I'd seen in him earlier, the need I shared. I cried out each time he shoved into me, knowing I should be quiet in case someone else had come back to the store. But I couldn't be. I was too caught up in the out-of-control passion of this moment, in the sinuous, primal lust that had consumed us both. And underscoring all of it was the realization that it was Seth. Seth, Seth, Seth†¦whom I loved more than anyone else. You are the world . He moved his hands up from my hips to cup my breasts, forcing me to readjust my position. All the time, he never broke his rhythm, staying fast and urgent. His fingers pinched my nipples hard, and I cried out louder. I think that turned him on even more, spurring him to thrust harder into me. Hoping to excite him further, I completely gave myself over and let go of any restraint with my voice. The louder I moaned, the more his body pounded into mine. It was all I could do to keep myself from getting pressed against the wall, and as I moaned over and over, it had nothing to do with arousing him and everything to do with the ecstatic and exquisite force of what we were doing. And when I finally came, the heat between my thighs building to an unbearable high, it was his name I screamed. A surge of new wetness came with my orgasm, and then I heard him groan and give a thrust so hard that it did shove me against the wall. His hands still clenched my breasts, his nails digging into my tender flesh, as he shuddered and took his release. He came for a long time, his low cry slowly fading. When he pulled out, the loss of him in my body made me feel incomplete. Nonetheless, I straightened up and leaned against the wall, gasping to catch my breath. My voice was hoarse. â€Å"Jesus,† I said. â€Å"That was bad.† Seth looked startled-and then hurt. â€Å"Bad?† â€Å"No, not performance bad-more like dirty, wicked bad. The kind of stuff that gets an R rating.† â€Å"What, we can't do that?† He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist, nuzzling my neck. â€Å"Well, yeah†¦er, well, damn it. We're not supposed to be. Not at all. It's just that last time, it was like†¦I don't know. It was making love. This time it was†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Fucking?† he supplied. â€Å"Oh God,† I groaned. â€Å"Seth Mortensen just said ‘fucking' out loud. The end times are near.† He laughed and placed tiny kisses over my cheek. â€Å"I'm not some innocent. You should know that from my books.† â€Å"Yeah, but still. You aren't O'Neill. Unless you're getting into fistfights that I don't know about.† â€Å"Mmm†¦not lately.† We stood there in each other's arms, both warm in the afterglow of what we'd done. Then, just like last time, a strange awkwardness began to grow. We didn't even need Maddie calling now. I carefully pulled away. â€Å"You should probably go, huh?† I didn't say it, but I was certain he'd be seeing her later. â€Å"Yeah, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He sighed and rubbed his forehead. â€Å"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.† â€Å"What, having an illicit and cheap affair?† He grimaced. â€Å"No. But I mean, I've spent ages imagining what it'd be like to be with you and wishing you weren't a succubus. I was always down on myself†¦I felt so shallow to be consumed by sex like that. And now that it's finally happened-now that you aren't a succubus-it's not superficial or shallow at all. It's so†¦I don't know. It's powerful. I wish this was an illicit, cheap affair. I wish I didn't feel this so deeply. Otherwise, when we said yesterday was it, it really would have been it.† I wished then, more than anything, that he'd say he was going to leave Maddie and we could be together again. He didn't, though, and I certainly wasn't going to bring it up. Besides, what good would it do? In only a few more days, I'd be back to normal, and our relationship would be as dysfunctional as before. What I wanted was pointless. â€Å"Can I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He took a deep breath. â€Å"Can I see you again? I know we said no more†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I knew that by â€Å"see you again† he meant â€Å"have sex with you again.† And somehow, I realized we were on a precipice here. The first time had been†¦well, not accidental†¦but certainly unexpected. This time had been an out-of-control animal lust. But now? An open declaration of this affair-premeditated sex-it took things to a whole new level. There was no going back. I studied those eyes I loved, the warm and gentle lips. I assessed my body, how it ached yet still burned with pleasure. Then I glanced over at Maddie's painstakingly researched real estate packet. That should have been my mood killer, my warning. It was a reminder of who we were both betraying here. Seth had given in, but though I was on the verge, I could still pull back and save us from this. I had the power to say no. â€Å"Yes,† I said at last. â€Å"You can see me again.†

Facebook Puts Other Companies Underneath Its Wings

IntroductionFacebook is considered these days as a leader for the social networking websites, Facebook is such a great success story which officially came out in 2004 created by Mark Zuckerberg and his classmates at Harvard University. On October 28, 2003, when they were in the second year, Zuckerberg and his team started the idea by launching a website called â€Å"Facemashâ€Å", after that, for many reasons the website was shut down by the school. On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg started again with his team a new website called â€Å"Thefacebook†, they worked hard to develop the website and they divided the tasks professionally; Eduardo Saverin is responsible for the business side, Dustin Moskovitz for programming issues, Andrew McCollum for the graphic design, and Chris Hughes. Facebook has been written and developed using C++ and PHP language.They worked together such as a great talent team until the website was expanded to many schools (Who Invented Facebook, ND). In my point of view, Facebook made a difference in the social media world by making the website so attractive to the users, right now Facebook has over than one billion active users, in addition, Facebook has a second global rank and a second US rank according to the Alexa traffic rank, and the visitors of the site are viewed as an average of 18.1 pages per day (Facebook Rank, ND). So we are going in this paper to discuss all aspects and terms of my thesis statement and verify it as well. Moreover, we are going to review one of the strategy that Facebook has and do SWOT analysis as well. My thesis statement summarized as the following â€Å"Facebook puts other companies underneath its wings by imposing Ads network strategies, marketing strategies and as well as social media strategies†.The Five Porters ForcesRisk of entry by potential competitors: The barriers of entry to other  competitors of Facebook is very high, since Facebook has the criteria of the users satisfaction which makes the users more loyal to Facebook, for instance, I would say Google is a potential competitor to Facebook, hence, the risk of entry is low. Intensity of rivalry among established firms: Twitter is one of the most competitors to Facebook, since Twitter has Five Hundred million users on its social network as well as has the tenth rank on Alexa traffic rank; furthermore, Facebook and Twitter are fighting to make the users more attractive by coming up with new ideas in the network social networks to make it more easier to the end users.Bargaining power of buyers: Since Facebook offers social networking services to the end users, Facebook does know the importance of the user’s power to make them successful by offering unique and flexible tools for the social networking, moreover, Facebook team should take into considerations the feedbacks and reviews of the end users. Bargaining power of suppliers: In Facebook case, there’s no specific supplier because they are offeri ng online services, they could be the suppliers themselves, and we would consider the government is a supplier for Facebook; since the government monitor and control the social networks. Threat of substitutes: The threat of substitutes for Facebook is represented by any social networking website like Twitter or Myspace which they are really rivals, so Facebook team should update the website from time to time to make the users satisfied and to face the user’s daily demands on the social network.Facebook SWOT AnalysisStrengths: Facebook has the second rank at Alexa as a global rank and second rank in the US (Facebook Rank,ND). In addition, Facebook now has over than one billion active users; Facebook has announced its revenue by gaining more than $150 million from the mobile advertising (Turcan, 2012). Furthermore, Facebook supports more than 70 languages for the users across the world which makes Facebook attractive for many users their mother language is not English. Now Face book has a popular brand name and it has been used as a reference in many movies or even in the business cards (FACEBOOK SWOT, ND). Weaknesses: There are many faked accounts and duplicated accounts that cannot be identified easily. Also, people say Facebook is secretly gathering information about them which may leave an impression to remove their accounts.Moreover, Facebook posted a loss in last two quarters which will  impact its stocks (Turcan, 2012). Opportunities: Researchers can take advantage of using Facebook by gathering data for surveys purposes. Moreover, Ads prices are still going up as Facebook recently announced which will have the investors buy new stocks. Also, Facebook can be used as a market place; people can sell and buy items through Facebook (FACEBOOK SWOT, ND). Threats: China government doesn't allow Facebook to operate out there in China; since china has a huge population. In addition, it is probably that users may switch to any other services like Google+ (F acebook Investment, 2012). Also, Twitter has a strong competition with Facebook in the market place and they are making unique features Faecbook doesn’t. Furthermore, there are many viruses have attacked Facbook as we have heard recently from news, and it might be a threat of ongoing hacking in the future. Facebook Marketing StrategyMarketing strategy is one of the interesting strategies that Facebook has; Facebook demonstrates its strategy by defining the target audience which means Facebook has grouping packages for all accounts by age, gender, profession and location which help the other companies to post their Ads on Facebook for specific class of people and as well as specific region, furthermore, Facebook helps other corporations to increase the traffic on their websites by creating an official page contains their official website link and contact information which truly helps the corporations to share their information, run certain events, post any kind of advertisemen ts and get more likes.I would say the more likes you get, the more success you are. In another hand, the non-profit organizations can take the advantage by creating a page on Facebook to get donations and find volunteers across all the world, moreover, Facebook provides the page owners with all kind of statistics tools and reports, those kind of reports are weekly and daily updated and included with the post quality, how many likes, page views and photo views.ConclusionIn my point of view, the marketing strategy makes Facebook an attractive destination for all kind of businesses to post Ads, upload photos, create events and communicate with people which leads rapidly to grow revenue of  Facebook. In my opinion, Facebook developers should work on the privacy settings to make sure that the users will stick with them for a long period of time. Moreover, the developer team should do something to prevent the existence of the duplicated accounts and the faked accounts by monitoring the IP addresses of the user’s computer. Finally, Facebook is still in the fore beating up Twitter, My Space and other social networking websites, as I mentioned before, Facebook has been a leader for the other online social networking services, I would say Facebook made a difference in the information revolution these days and created a competitive environment in the market place. Facebook Puts Other Companies Underneath Its Wings IntroductionFacebook is considered these days as a leader for the social networking websites, Facebook is such a great success story which officially came out in 2004 created by Mark Zuckerberg and his classmates at Harvard University. On October 28, 2003, when they were in the second year, Zuckerberg and his team started the idea by launching a website called â€Å"Facemashâ€Å", after that, for many reasons the website was shut down by the school.On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg started again with his team a new website called â€Å"Thefacebook†, they worked hard to develop the website and they divided the tasks professionally; Eduardo Saverin is responsible for the business side, Dustin Moskovitz for programming issues, Andrew McCollum for the graphic design, and Chris Hughes. Facebook has been written and developed using C++ and PHP language. They worked together such as a great talent team until the website was expanded to many schools (Who Invented Facebook, ND).In my point of view, Facebook made a difference in the social media world by making the website so attractive to the users, right now Facebook has over than one billion active users, in addition, Facebook has a second global rank and a second US rank according to the Alexa traffic rank, and the visitors of the site are viewed as an average of 18. 1 pages per day (Facebook Rank, ND). So we are going in this paper to discuss all aspects and terms of my thesis statement and verify it as well. Moreover, we are going to review one of the strategy that Facebook has and do SWOT analysis as well.My thesis statement summarized as the following â€Å"Facebook puts other companies underneath its wings by imposing Ads network strategies, marketing strategies and as well as social media strategies†. The Five Porters Forces Risk of entry by potential competitors: The barriers of entry to other competitors of Facebook is very high, since Facebook has the criteria of the users satisfaction which m akes the users more loyal to Facebook, for instance, I would say Google is a potential competitor to Facebook, hence, the risk of entry is low.Intensity of rivalry among established firms: Twitter is one of the most competitors to Facebook, since Twitter has Five Hundred million users on its social network as well as has the tenth rank on Alexa traffic rank; furthermore, Facebook and Twitter are fighting to make the users more attractive by coming up with new ideas in the network social networks to make it more easier to the end users.Bargaining power of buyers: Since Facebook offers social networking services to the end users, Facebook does know the importance of the user’s power to make them successful by offering unique and flexible tools for the social networking, moreover, Facebook team should take into considerations the feedbacks and reviews of the end users. Bargaining power of suppliers: In Facebook case, there’s no specific supplier because they are offering online services, they could be the suppliers themselves, and we would consider the government is a supplier for Facebook; since the government monitor and control the social networks.Threat of substitutes: The threat of substitutes for Facebook is represented by any social networking website like Twitter or Myspace which they are really rivals, so Facebook team should update the website from time to time to make the users satisfied and to face the user’s daily demands on the social network. Facebook SWOT Analysis Strengths: Facebook has the second rank at Alexa as a global rank and second rank in the US (Facebook Rank,ND).In addition, Facebook now has over than one billion active users; Facebook has announced its revenue by gaining more than $150 million from the mobile advertising (Turcan, 2012). Furthermore, Facebook supports more than 70 languages for the users across the world which makes Facebook attractive for many users their mother language is not English. Now Faceboo k has a popular brand name and it has been used as a reference in many movies or even in the business cards (FACEBOOK SWOT, ND). Weaknesses: There are many faked accounts and duplicated accounts that cannot be identified easily.Also, people say Facebook is secretly gathering information about them which may leave an impression to remove their accounts. Moreover, Facebook posted a loss in last two quarters which will impact its stocks (Turcan, 2012). Opportunities: Researchers can take advantage of using Facebook by gathering data for surveys purposes. Moreover, Ads prices are still going up as Facebook recently announced which will have the investors buy new stocks. Also, Facebook can be used as a market place; people can sell and buy items through Facebook (FACEBOOK SWOT, ND).Threats: China government doesn't allow Facebook to operate out there in China; since china has a huge population. In addition, it is probably that users may switch to any other services like Google+ (Facebook Investment, 2012). Also, Twitter has a strong competition with Facebook in the market place and they are making unique features Faecbook doesn’t. Furthermore, there are many viruses have attacked Facbook as we have heard recently from news, and it might be a threat of ongoing hacking in the future. Facebook Marketing StrategyMarketing strategy is one of the interesting strategies that Facebook has; Facebook demonstrates its strategy by defining the target audience which means Facebook has grouping packages for all accounts by age, gender, profession and location which help the other companies to post their Ads on Facebook for specific class of people and as well as specific region, furthermore, Facebook helps other corporations to increase the traffic on their websites by creating an official page contains their official website link and contact information which truly helps the corporations to share their information, run certain events, post any kind of advertisements and get more likes.I would say the more likes you get, the more success you are. In another hand, the non-profit organizations can take the advantage by creating a page on Facebook to get donations and find volunteers across all the world, moreover, Facebook provides the page owners with all kind of statistics tools and reports, those kind of reports are weekly and daily updated and included with the post quality, how many likes, page views and photo views. Conclusion In my point of view, the marketing strategy makes Facebook an attractive destination for all kind of businesses to post Ads, upload photos, create events and communicate with people which leads rapidly to grow revenue of Facebook.In my opinion, Facebook developers should work on the privacy settings to make sure that the users will stick with them for a long period of time. Moreover, the developer team should do something to prevent the existence of the duplicated accounts and the faked accounts by monitoring the IP addres ses of the user’s computer. Finally, Facebook is still in the fore beating up Twitter, My Space and other social networking websites, as I mentioned before, Facebook has been a leader for the other online social networking services, I would say Facebook made a difference in the information revolution these days and created a competitive environment in the market place.

The Educational Achievement Gap Between Minorities And Non...

Race in America is and has always been an enormous deal and a focal point in America and of many educational studies. Many studies have researched the educational achievement gap between minorities and non-minorities. I rather refer to it as the educational debt we as educators owe those students, this study looks at the idea of having more teachers of color in hopes to pay our debt of education back to these minority students. I surveyed over 100 minority students to gauge their attitudes concerning learning, motivation, confidence and much more to see how it differs from their minority teacher class and their non-minority teacher class. I also looked at grades of 20 students and was able to view a survey done about my class compared to†¦show more content†¦Therefore, the only thing I could think of is my race. I am one of very few African Americans on the campus and one of few African American male teachers in the school district. Although most schools in the district have over 90% minority students, which is not the case when it comes to the numbers of minority educators in the classroom. This is not just a problem in my school district or just in California but one seen across the nation. Today in the United States minority students have actually become the majority in the classroom. With this change, there has not been any uptick of teachers of color. One place where there is a great disparity is Boston, for every 52 Latino students there is only one Hispanic teacher, and one black teacher for every 22 African American students (Rich, 2015). This is not a new problem or one that can be fixed with just money, a stroke of a pen or with this study but will take a number of things to happen. Many studies have cited for years the importance of role models for minority students but for some reason, they still do not have these role models and it is not concrete that these role models will help produce a positive effect on the learning abilities of minority students. The idea that a stroke of a pen or in other words policy, could add more teachers of color and instantly close the â€Å"gap†. This idea has led to call for mass recruitment of minority teachers (see, for example,Show MoreRelatedThe Achievement Gap Between Minority And Nonminority Children974 Words   |  4 PagesHowever, minority students tend to struggle more than nonminority students. 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