The Richardson Farm Experience

22 August 2010
A Beautiful Morning on Richardson Farm

A Beautiful Morning on Richardson Farm

It was late July, Friday the 29th actually.  7:40am a lazy three quarter moon hung in the western sky as the sun kissed the morning with its brilliant warmth.  Song birds chirped from the pine trees and crickets called from the corn field.  It was a beautiful summer morning on Richardson Farm.

George Richardson and I stood talking about life, death, our children, family and friends.  He had taken time that morning to meet me with a disc of pictures for this article and to answer a few more follow up questions.  I enjoyed talking with George on a little more personal level after the interview with him and his wife Wendy that Sunday before.

Driven by a passion to create an atmosphere that helps families and friends create memories that last a lifetime, George sees the connections made between visitors to the farm.  “Moms and Dads with their kids, grandmas and grandpas, groups of kids, groups of adults, young couples who are focused on each

Wagon Ride

Wagon Ride

other, they all have a different experience.” 

The farm has been in the Richardson family since it was homesteaded in 1840 by Robert Richardson, an English immigrant.  170 years later the farm’s current owners include three husband and wife teams. George and Wendy, Robert and Carol, Ryan and Kristen, all Richardson’s.  That’s one and three quarter centuries of the Richardson family serving the families of our community.

New Richardson Farm exclusives this year include this season’s corn maze celebrating 100 years of scouting, pig races complete with track and bleachers, newly expanded kiddy area, the English Prairie Micro-Brewery and the extreme sport attraction featuring Freeballin’ USA ramp launched Zorbing balls!

English Prairie Brewery is a Richardson Farm exclusive.  Under the guidance of Master Brewer Jim Valsa, three flavors have been

English Prairie Brewery Tanks

Exclusive Brews from English Prairie Brewery

 developed; Cream Ale, Irish Red and American Brown.  Enough has been brewed to serve about 5,000 glasses this season.  However, there are about 30,000 visitors to the farm each season.  A beer from English Prairie Brewery is one exclusive drink!

Freeballin’ USA, the only ramp launched Zorbing extreme sport attraction in the U.S. is being hosted by Richardson Farm this season.  Zorbing is only available in five other states; Missouri, Colorado, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.  Click Here to check it out!

Corn Maze

Fun in the Corn Maze

Home to the world’s largest corn maze, the Richardson Farm experience is so much more.  I know because it’s the place where I conquered all of last year’s mazes with my son Luke and daughter Lexi. 

It’s the place where my son Luke and I made our first ever Zorbing run. 

It’s the place where I met incredible people who are passionate about sharing their love of a magical place; George and Wendy Richardson, Andrew Richardson (son of Robert and Carol Richardson), Sarah Pienelt (a delightful summer vacation exchange student from Naumburg Germany being hosted by George and Wendy), Jason Martinez and Nick Mulvaney (the owners of Freeballin’ USA), Melody Vroman (Wendy’s sister) and Mike Kaufman (George’s cousin) and Mike’s wife.

Richardson Farm is a place where you’ll make memories that last a life time.

By Peter Gault for Topical Content/Good News © 2010

Zorbing On Richardson Farm

22 August 2010

Sometimes, just sometimes you get to discover something incredible.  Sometimes, when you’re very lucky, you get to meet incredible people too.  For me, this was one of those times.

It was a Sunday afternoon in late July.  It was hot but cloudy so the sun wasn’t unbearable.  There was a tiny threat of rain on the air as my son and I crawled slowly over the field in my little red Fiero.  Not an off-road car in any sense.

My car bounced across the mown field, past barns, sheds, bleachers and pine trees.  There’s a lot to see on Richardson Farm, including the world’s largest corn maze.  However, this late July on a hot and cloudy Sunday afternoon, I was about to discover something very different indeed.Zorbing Ball on Richardson Farm

I pulled to a stop near a car and van parked in front of a giant ramp.  Two men in white shirts stood grinning from ear to ear.  They must have noticed the expression on my face.  Jason Martinez and Nick Mulvaney, owners of Freeballin’ USA greeted my son and I at the base of the ramp.

While we waited for George and Wendy Richardson to join us, I talked with Jason and Nick.  Freeballin’ USA is an extreme sport attraction.  The sport?  Zorbing.  Zorbing has been around a handful of years in Europe.  It’s still very rare in the U.S.  Jason and Nick’s attraction, hosted by Richardson Farm, is one of only five places in the country where you can Zorb.

What is Zorbing?  Well…  Did you ever wonder what it would be like to ride inside of a clothes-dryer when you were a kid?  OK… maybe I was a little more adventurous than other kids.  Well, it’s sort of like that.

Jason and Nick, who spent 2 ½ years of research along with months of safety training, are going to help you climb into a giant 11’ inflated ball with a hollow center, help you strap in and then launch you down the ramp!  Zorbing is AWESOME!  Just Watch!

Yours truly is in the Zorb ball on the first run in the video.  It was a blast!  Andrew Richardson and Sarah Peinelt from Naumburg Germany are second in the video followed by George Richardson and his cousin Mike Kaufman.  Luke Gault, Senior Youth Consultant at Topical Content also took a run down the ramp.  Click here to watch raw footage of Luke’s Zorbing Experience.

Not only home to the world’s largest corn maze, Richardson Farm is now host to one of the newest extreme sports to the U.S.  For more details on Zorbing visit FreeballinUSA.com or RichardsonFarm.com. 

By Peter Gault for Topical Content/Good News © 2010

Four Time Saving Tips To Manage Your Social Media Activity

18 August 2010

“There just isn’t time to do all this stuff!”  A current client of mine exclaimed very loudly as we were talking about the schedule for their corporate blog, Twitter, Facebook Fan Page, YouTube and LinkedIn profiles.   “I know we need this, our customers are already commenting on all of our posts and we have more interaction on our blog and twitter than we do on email!”

Time.  Too little of it.  It’s the #1 problem I help my clients solve.

Most of my clients are good writers.  Some are even superb.  Creating quality content isn’t a challenge for them.  Finding time to… research topics, conduct interviews, take notes, sit down and write it all out, edit it, make it SEO and reader friendly, then post it, …is a problem.  A BIG problem.

There are some time saving tips I can offer…  And, I will.  But the bottom line is, you or someone is still going to have to take the time to make your social media profiles work for you.  They’re called Social for a reason.  They all require action and interaction.

Tips I promised…

  1.  Schedule Time.  Even if it’s only short 10 or 15 minute blocks, schedule time to research topics, talk to people and take notes.  Then schedule time to write out a short article, edit and post.
  2. Interlink Your Social Media.  Twitter can be linked to blogs, FaceBook Fan Pages, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc…  By linking those all together you can post one time and it goes where your audience is actively participating.  You can even do all that via your mobile connection!
  3. Use Profile Application Tools.  Did you know you can use HootSuite to broadcast pre-scheduled posts to all your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts?
  4. Practice!  Practice! Practice!  Even I have to constantly practice my writing to continually build my techniques and skills.  It’s not always easy to keep blog posts to 400 words or profile posts to 140 characters.  When you’re sitting during the evening watching T.V., NetFlix, what-ever, take out a pen and pad and just write.  Try conveying a thought in less than 140 characters.

Hey, I know it’s not easy.  When you’re running a business, it’s hard to find time to do everything you need to do.  From small business owners to corporate CEO’s, your time is spread so incredibly thin, you sometimes need someone to remind you to take a breath! 

And by the way, this is the 414th word.

By Peter Gault for Topical Content © 2010 A.R.R.

Joy Of Fear

19 July 2010

Joy of Fear  <— Click this link to download the .pdf file for this article.

“I turned the wheel to the left and guided the car through the open gate.  At least two of three things were about to happen.”

Fear, as it turns out, can be a very joyful emotion.  I recently met a man who’s passion in life is to elicite as much fear as possible from his patrons.  Yes, patrons.  People actually pay him in order to experience fear. 

I posted this article as a linked .pdf file in order to give unwary readers a choice.  The article contains very graphic images that may be disturbing to sensitive viewers.  If you decide to click and read, do so at your own risk… and with all the lights on.

Consider yourself warned…

SEO Best Practice Blog Posting Guidelines

14 July 2010

One of the questions my clients most often ask is: “How do I make sure my blog is SEO friendly and still interesting for my readers”?

To make things easier for you I’ve compiled this guide.  Below are a few tips and tricks that will help you nab the attention of SE’s and Optimize your blog posts.  Good luck!

Posting Schedule

Post regularly at least one blog per week. Maximum frequency should be based on the amount of traffic your blog/website generates. Keep your readers, subscribers interested with new content. Unique and frequently updated blogs are important. Frequency and unique content gives search engines a reason to come back to your site. Publishing blog posts two to  times per week is optimal for attracting search engine attention.

Blog Post Article Structure

 

Title

One to seven words with a maximum of 50 characters or seven words.

The title should use one but no more than two primary keywords with one keyword being the first word of the title.

Using more than three or more key words in a title may result in your post being ignored/penalized by search engines for ‘keyword stuffing’ or ‘blog spam’.

Description

The description is a one or two sentence statement that tells the reader what your blog post is about.

The description is written just below the title and should be a maximum of 140 characters (think Twitter) and contain at a maximum of two keywords.

 

Length

The content or main body of your post should be 200 to 400 words. A post less than 150 words in length may not be recognized by search engines. Unless specifically targeted to a subscribing audience, a blog post should never be more than 400 words.

 

Keyword Ratio

Blog post should have a keyword ratio of 2% to 4% and never more than 5%.

The keyword ratio is the number of keywords to total number of words in the main body of your post. If your blog post is 400 words and you want a 4% ratio, your post should contain 16 keywords or a variation of keywords used 16 times.

Remember a ratio over 5% can result in your copy being penalized by search engines for ‘keyword stuffing’ which is considered to be a form of spam or ‘blog spam’.

 

Hyperlink

Keeping your blog posts interactive is important. Not only will it give your readers something to do, but links will be picked up by search engines.

The general rule for number of links in a post is one per every 120 words within the post.

A 400 word post should contain a maximum of 3 links.

It’s a great idea to link to resources that share similar and supportive information to your post. Linking to other resources (reciprocal links) can also help drive traffic back to your blog.

If your blog site is separated from your website, always give 1 link back to your website, preferably to a page that is relevant to the post.  An example would be maintaining a blog via a free blog hosting service like http://www.blogspot.com/ that is separate from your own URL. 

Sort of like… http://www.topicalcontent.blogspot.com/ (still up but no longer used by Topical Content) vs http://www.yourtopicalcontent.com/ (our landing page is essentially our ‘blog’ part of which you’re reading now).  This article is at the top because it’s the most recently posted but it’s also listed under the searchable sub-heading ‘From Pete’s Desk’.  Check out the Search Button on the side bar over there —>

Linking back to previous posts within the blog content will also drive up overall blog exposure.  Linking back to articles like this… What is Social Media & Why Does It Matter To Small Business Owners & Entrepreneurs? will help readers navigate to related topics on your blog.  It’s a cool and valuable way to keep visitors to your blog engaged.

I hope this has helped answer the question about how to make your blog posts SEO Friendly as well as interesting for your readers.  If you have more questions about blogging or other social media forums, shoot me a note.  I’ll be happy to help!  peter@yourtopicalcontent.com

Coming Soon:  Watch for this post to appear in an Mpeg4 video format converted from a fully animated PowerPoint .pptx presentation!  Converting PowerPoint presentations to video and embedding video in your blog is another great way to strengthen your blogs SEO (Search Engine Optimization) power!

What is Social Media & Why Does It Matter To Small Business Owners & Entrepreneurs?

8 July 2010

Today I met Rich Garling, Senior Partner of Yellow Bird Marketing Solutions.  After a networking meeting presentation I had to good fortune to talk with him about this very question.   Rich and I both agreed that this is a question that is often asked by our clients but has yet to be answered properly. 

That is, until today.

Rich expressed that the way of doing business; quick growth through mass advertising/marketing and high volume, is going away.  Since the 50’s and 60’s of the 20th century, business owners have been taught to turn and churn to earn.  It’s the end game for that scenario.

I agreed with Rich.  I commented that most of my clients and in turn their clients and customers, are looking for transparency.  Customers want to know who they’re dealing with and in return want to be known, recognized and valued. 

Rich stated that the way of business growth is returning to the model that requires a relationship with customers and clients.  He hit the nail on the head!  That’s what Social Media is and why it matters.

Because you’re an entrepreneur, a small, medium or even large business owner, you need to connect with your customers.  Social Media enables you to make a very personal, very real connection on a mass level. 

The new business model enabling you to flourish and grow is the original model used by your grandparents and great-grandparents.  Social Media gives you the unique opportunity to be ‘The Corner Shop’ within your community, no matter how big or small your company is.

Social Media matters because your relationships with your customers matter. 

Rich, thank you for a GREAT conversation and for dropping that fantastic seed of knowledge!  I’m so glad we met!

Peter Gault for Topical Content © July 2010

Facebook’s Future May Be With Adults, Professionals And Corporate Users

5 July 2010

One of my clients recently asked if I had experienced ‘Facebook Fatigue’.  Ummmm… No, I don’t think so.  At least I’m not taking any prescriptions for it.

Turns out their question was a reference to an article posted by Mashable about a study done by Roiworld.  Mashable posted the study.   

Roiworld surveyed 600 teenagers and as it turned out, a surprising percentage said they were tired of Facebook.  Teens – tired of Facebook?  So tired that they’ve dubbed this growing disinterest ‘Facebook Fatigue’?  Ummmm…. Is this bad news?  Good news?  Or… just news…?

Maybe this news is not so hot for Facebook.  It could mean that as those teens become adults they’ll find somewhere else to do their on-line networking.  It may also mean that Facebook’s growth may simply spin off in another direction. 

For adults, professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate folks, this is pretty good news.  Why?  Roiworld’s survey lends to the suggestion that slowly and ever so slightly, Facebook is evolving into a mature social media networking resource.  Because more and more of you, adults, parents, the 30’s and beyond set, are making use of Facebook. 

From Baby Boomers to Gen X’ers, Facebook is becoming a venue to connect in a very real way.  Social Media is a new and growing phenomenon that is teaching us to communicate in a new way.  It’s even teaching us to use a new language … but that’s another story altogether.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, … all forms and forums of social media give us instant access to immediate mass communication.   The catch is; all of it is still bound by one simple old adage.  “Garbage In/Garbage out ~ Quality In/Quality Out”.  Social media in any form is only as good as we make it.

The Roiworld survey was based on responses from 600 teens between ages 13 and 17.  Per the PowerPoint study presentation, they included responses from 300 boys and 300 girls.

Roiworld boasts over 840,000 members so this survey sampling represents 0.07% of its user base.  Roiworld is a web based gaming site that focuses on fashion and avatar dress-up games.

By the way, as of June 30th, 2010 Facebook is host to over 400 Million registered users.  Roiworld’s sampling of 600 teens… well… almost makes this survey paramount to a grain of sand in the desert. 

However, the hint still remains that Facebook is becoming a widely recognized networking tool.  Those of us old enough to remember that social networking meant face to face contact, shaking hands and smiling, person to person, are embracing new methods.  We’re connecting with each other faster than ever before … before there ever was a Facebook or any other sort of Social Media!

Peter Gault for Topical Content © July 2010

Communication That Generates Income

21 June 2010

Use the ‘Correct Words’ when communicating with potential employers and prospective clients to generate the income you want!

Do My Words Really Matter?

  • Complete communication includes the words we use as well as how we say them.  If body language, tone, inference, attitude = 93% of what I say, do the words really matter?
  • Your words only matter as much as the importance you place on the first impression you intend to make. 

You get only ONE opportunity to make a first impression. 

Do my words really matter?  Yes.

What Your Audience Hears

  • Job seekers:  Who is reading your resume, your C.V., your letters of reference?  What do you know about the company you’ve applied to?  Have you done your homework?
  • Entrepreneurs:  Who is reading your marketing materials?  What do you know about your perfect prospect?  Have you done your homework?

Where Your Words Go

After leaving your mouth, who reads the words you have to say? It’s all about Social Media.  Ask yourself ~ Do I Have a Social Profile?

You don’t have to be everywhere, but you do have to be somewhere!

In The End…

  • ?  Your Words Matter
  • ?  Your Audience is Who Hears You
  • ?  Your Message is Out There

If when talking to each other the words we use account for only 7% of the communication received, that 7% becomes EXTREMELY important!

Be prepared by having your message written and practiced for natural delivery.  And… here’s my plug… for help with script writing, story boarding, social profile building or other copywriting needs… just ask! 

peter@yourtopicalcontent.com

 Topical Content/Peter Gault © 2010

Stopped Dead in My Tracks by Country Music

10 June 2010

Every now and then something comes along that stops you in your tracks.  This time it was a single line in a country music concert poster.  I was holding it in my hands, reading it over.  I turned and took a few steps and literally stopped.

Every year in for a long weekend in July the two tiny towns of Twin Lakes Wisconsin and Richmond Illinois turn into a parking lot.  In Richmond even the simplest trip to the store for bread and milk has to be carefully planned to avoid the gridlock on the two roads in and out of town.  Why the sudden population increase and what does this have to do with a concert poster you ask…

Two Words.  Country Thunder

Country Thunder is a four day nonstop country music festival.  Each year the event builds and builds until it climaxes with the headlining performer.  Spoiler alert… This year, of the 23 featured bands and performers, Kenny Chesney tops the list.  Good for you Kenny.  Good for you.

Now as it happens, I’m no country music fan.  In fact there are very few names I recognize from that genre.  And I do admit that I had to Google and YouTube Kenny Chesney to find out who this list topper was.  On the way I learned about a few others featured on the poster.

The one name I did recognize…  The one name that took me by complete surprise… The one that stopped me in my tracks wasn’t Kenny Chesney.  It wasn’t Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Billy Currington or Jason Aldean.  Sorry country music fans, I had to look every one of those up too.

The name… Tell us the name already…

OK… Ok…  Here it is…

Kevin Costner and Modern West

Kevin Costner.  He’s a country music singer now?  Why yes.  Yes he is. 

Not buyin’ it?  See for yourself. 

* 

Now I’m sure some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking, ‘where has this guy been, under a rock?’  As I said, I’m not a country music fan.  Sorry, I had no clue.  Apparently Kevin has been singin’ and stompin’ across country music stages for a while now.  Mr. Costner simply seems to be an unstoppable unlimited talent machine. 

Kenny Chesney, you’d better enjoy the top of that list while you can.

Peter Gault for Topical Content (c) June 2010

*October 06, 2009 — Music video by Kevin Costner & Modern West performing Backyard. (C) 2008 Kevin’s Music, LLC.

Health And Wellness: Take Care of Yourself

20 March 2010

In greeting or when parting company we say things like, ‘how are you’, and ‘take care’.   For the most part they are only pleasantries of conversation but, those words do carry importance.  Very recently, I learned just how important those words are.

About five Saturdays ago from the day I’m writing this, I had a little accident.  While scrapping the ice off of my car, I slipped on the ice under my feet.  I slammed down hard on my left side, driving my upper arm and elbow into my ribs.  My ribs made a rather odd popping sound.  Not a sound you want to hear coming from inside your body.

I realized the wind had been knocked out of my lungs, I couldn’t take a breath.  I also realized I couldn’t get up.  There I was sprawled out on my driveway, unable to breath and flopping around like a fish out of water.  The only thing that came to mind was that infamous line… “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” … Have you ever tried to laugh when you can’t breathe?  Ouch!

The humor in it all calmed me down enough to gather my wits, force a deep breath, roll to my right side and push myself up to my knees.  I was sore, but figured my pride took the worst of the bruising and that I was none the worse for wear.  I finished scraping off my car and even shoveled a bit of the snow from my driveway until my ribs protested a little too much.

Five days later I visited the emergency room and learned that I’d done a little more than bruise my pride.   I also learned that I really, really didn’t like the way the pain meds prescribed made me feel.  Thankfully, I had another resource.  A book.

OK – A book.  A book?  Yes, a book.  (This guy is nuts, he’s trying to tell us a book did more for his pain than prescription meds?)   Hang on a minute and let me tell my story…

On January 26th of this year I met Alex Ong.  He’s a self described accidental author of the book, Mind Your Own Wellness.  As a nationally recognized speaker, he’s known as ‘The Bruce Lee of Wellness’.  What drew me to Alex was his high level of energy and his openness about his passion for wellness, not only for himself and his family, but for all of humanity.  Alex truly possesses a sincere desire to help.

We’d met at a LinkedIn networking event.  It was there that Alex had signed my copy of his book, Mind Your Own Wellness.  On the cover under the title it also reads: Lose Weight, Improve Health, Have More Energy, Boost Confidence, Reduce Pain… Naturally.

Reduce Pain.  That’s exactly what I needed to do!

I had already started reading the book.  And, in fact, my wife had nabbed and read the entire book in one sitting.  However, laid up with banged up ribs, I had plenty of time to read on.  Initially the book talks a lot about what we eat and how different foods affect our body.  Good information, but I really wanted to read about reducing pain. 

As I read on the information was so astounding, I wound up reading through all the content without skipping a head.  Finally, after what seemed to be only a handful of pages arrived at Chapter 12: Breathing and Physical Exercise – What do they have to do with Staying Healthy? 

Jackpot!  It turned out that this was the chapter I needed.

During my ridiculously expensive visit to the emergency room (that’s another story altogether), two nurses, one attending assistant physician, two x-ray techs, one respiratory specialist and one on duty doctor each told me I must make a conscious effort to breathe deeply to reduce the risk of pneumonia.  As it turns out, having a great deal of pain in your ribs creates the tendency to take shallow breaths.  Taking shallow breaths allows fluid to build up in the bottom of the lungs.  That build up of fluid can very quickly lead to pneumonia.

Any way…

In his book, which by the way has a much lower price tag than a visit to the E.R., Alex offered almost the same advice as all those people at the hospital.  Additionally his book provided information about the quality of sleep and how that also aids in the healing process.  I followed a few of the simple breathing exercises from the book and adopted a minimum eight hour sleep routine also suggested in the book.  Within 48 hours the pain in my ribs was reduced enough that I was able to stop using the pain meds!

Now I’m no doctor so if you bang up your ribs do what you want to deal with the healing process.  I’m not tossing out advice here.  I’m just telling you what worked for me.  And, for me, that book was worth way more than a two hour stay in the E.R. that included x-rays and consultations from no less than seven health care professionals.

Most of my regular readers know I don’t do the ‘recommended reading’ thing too often.  Books, to me, are like artistic works such as paintings and sculptures.  Their value is usually created only by individual perception.  However, Mind Your Own Wellness by Alex Ong is worth reading.  At 176 pages (excluding the intro and afterword), it’s a quick read and easy to understand.  Alex doesn’t bog us down with a lot of medical jargon.

Alex’s book talks a lot about the chemicals that big business is putting in our off-the-shelf food products.  This struck me as interesting because it relates so closely to the message from the documentary, Food, Inc. that was recently featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.  Matching messages from unrelated sources seems to strengthen the message that becoming more health conscious is a necessary movement for our current societal sate.  … Whoa… that was a heavy moment of broadened clarity, huh?!

In addition to being full of valuable information, it’s a very affordable book.  At the time this writing I noticed the book was on sale at Amazon for just a little over $10 bucks.  $10 bucks for two hours of reading vs. nearly $2,000 for two hours at the E.R. … I should have followed my wife’s example and read it in one sitting!  Oy-vey!

Please…, take care of yourself and as Alex Ong suggests, remember to ‘Mind Your Own Wellness’.

Peter Gault for Topical Content © 2010 ARR