Archive for February, 2012

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The Op-Yop Is Back – Retro Toy Stash Discovered

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Original Op-yop

Original 1968 Op-Yop

The original Op-yop is back! We are going to have some fun for a few weeks, maybe stretching into months. As proof that internet marketing concepts written about in this blog do work, I am going to present a product launch. In order to make the concepts easy to grasp I have chosen an actual product that can be physically touched. It has a limited market so we will be exploring niche marketing. The product is something unique, no direct competition. It is a retro toy not sold in over 40 years! It was a fad in 1968. This would put it smack in the middle of the hippie era. It comes in Day Glo colors that light up under a black light. It makes a unique sound. I uncovered a warehouse stash of these things, left over from the original production. I think I have enough stock from the original runs to sell a worthwhile amount. We will try to cover all the marketing bases until the stock runs out.
We will do a series of press releases, write a few articles and post to the article marketing sites. I’ll go through (SEO) Optimizing the keywords for Search Engines. I’ll do a screen capture of the Google search results before and after the campaign, to show our ranking on the results. We will do some quick research into niche forums and other blogs. We will set up PayPal to receive payments. We’ll also populate the social media sites like twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others like them. I may delve into advertising of different types as examples for the blog. I may use ebay for traffic. I will make every attempt to post progress and write about the methods used, time allowing. If you want to follow along, check back to see our progress. Web site is up and running as of right now. You can visit op-yop.com opyop.com or opyop.com/blog

Originally posted 2010-03-12 23:05:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Posted in Article Marketing, Internet Marketing, Selling Your Own Products, Work From Home | No Comments »

For A Very Moist Turkey …To Brine Or Not To Brine?

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

For a less traditional flavor, but very moist turkey, To Brine Or Not To Brine?

Following is my recipe for brining a turkey prior to roasting.  It definitely makes a moist turkey.  It also changes the entire taste experience.  If you have a large enough refrigerator and want to experiment, here is what you do:

Tools required:
A five-gallon stockpot or a five-gallon plastic bucket
A refrigerator large enough to hold a 5 gallon bucket for 24 hours

Ingredients:

1 gallon of hot liquid…it can be hot water, vegetable broth, or canned chicken broth
1-cup sea salt or kosher salt
1-cup of real maple syrup (or maple flavored syrup if on a budget)
1-cup sugar
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp dried sage
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp dried savory
1 gallon of iced water

Preparation

Combine all ingredients, except iced water, into a large stockpot and bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and set a side to cool.

When the mixture reaches room temperature, pour in the iced water.

Place turkey in the brine solution and place into the refrigerator for 24 hours.  This step can be as short as 12 hours or as long as 48 hours, but best results are at 24 hours.

After the required time has passed, remove from the pot, rinse well, and cook according to your normal recipe.  A brined turkey will cook about 30 to 45 minutes faster.

More Thanksgiving Day Dinner Recipes: Gravy From Scratch , Homemade Stuffing , Moist Turkey Recipe, Ambrosia, Cranberry Relish, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole,Parker House Dinner Rolls, Shopping List For Thanksgiving Dinner

 

Originally posted 2011-11-22 08:28:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Posted in Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Day Recipes | Comments Off

Maker Faire and Internet Marketing The Op-yop

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Continuing my Op-yop marketing efforts has taken me far away from my computer, but I am back again with a new post. Part of internet marketing is listening to the voice of your customer. One of ours asked us to participate in the local Clawson Farmer’s Market. Interfacing with your customers this way has proven invaluable for what we have learned. It has taken us far afield from our original concept of using internet techniques to sell the product. In addition to Clawson we have sold at the Warren Farmers Market,and the Pigeon Farmers Festival, The Eastpoint Lions Club Festival and the Makers Faire held at the Henry Ford in Dearborn. Standing in a booth while customers try out the product, seeing their reactions, listening to their observations has widened the potential market for the Op-yop toy. Having set up the web site to respond to the internet marketing efforts tried through this blog proved to be the right thing in the right order. Having a site to send customers to for more information about the product improved traffic.
The acceptance of the toy by the buying public has retraced some old steps from over 40 years ago.
Here is a link to a Time magazine article written about the toy in it’s heyday. Here is another link from last weeks Time Magazine written about the rebirth of the toy as well as about my daughter Darcy, who owns the product and your writer James Bronersky. This toy is so mesmerizing and additive that writer’s are compelled to write about it.

Take some time to read over the material and understand the power of communication via many channels at the same time. I am using the photo of Darcy’s “Editors Choice Blue Ribbon Award” and am setting up a press release campaign, again just one of the internet marketing tools combined to create link activity back to the site. The traffic to the site quadrupled over the last week. See my article about the Maker Faire held July 29,30,31 and August 1st in Detroit.  Charles Winds His Op-Yop

Originally posted 2010-08-09 20:40:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Posted in Internet Marketing, Selling Your Own Products, Work From Home | No Comments »

Perfect Parker House Rolls Using Frozen Bread Dough

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

My method for preparing Parker House Rolls produces perfect results with minimal effort.

If you want to make your own bread dough, then do so.  When I make dinner rolls from scratch, I use a Betty Crocker Cook Book recipe for sweetened bread dough.

But, for perfect Parker house rolls, I use a bag of Kroger brand frozen bread dough balls.  Your personal preference for the size of the finished rolls, the size of muffin pans you use, and how much time you allot for defrosting and baking will influence which choice you make  from the following suggestions.

My preferred choice is for a roll with three splits at the top.

I use three dough balls per roll and a large two-cup baking pan for each dinner roll. I defrost them in the pans and bake them as soon as they rise the first time. Including a baking time of 15 to 18 minutes in a 350 degree (F) oven, the total time to allow is five hours starting with frozen dough balls.

Alternately you may want to use only two dough balls and bake them in cup cake pans.  Reduce your allotted time to fours hours still baking for 15 to 18 minutes.

You can stretch out the yield of even more by just putting one ball in each cup cake sized compartment.  This is ok.  One will still make a decent sized roll and cut your required time to about 4 hours from start to finish including a 15 minute bake time.

A special variation is seasoned rolls.  Takes about two hours longer. Adding any seasoning such as parsley, sage, rosemary, oregano, or thyme adds a welcomed surprise.  Start by defrosting the dough balls in individual compartments; at the end of the first rise, add the seasoning by working it in to each ball separately, then let rise again.  Bake for 15 minutes.

If you want a darker crust, brush each roll with egg wash prior to baking. (egg wash is one egg and 1/2 of an egg shell full of cold water, beaten to blend thoroughly)

 

More Thanksgiving Day Dinner Recipes: Gravy From Scratch , Homemade Stuffing , Moist Turkey Recipe, Ambrosia, Cranberry Relish, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Shopping List For Thanksgiving Dinner

Originally posted 2011-11-22 08:55:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Posted in Christmas Day Dinner Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Day Recipes | Comments Off

Garage Storage – Shelving – Ceiling – Overhead

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Many people rent storage space and don’t realize there is a wiser alternative.  If you have a garage, you already have space you are paying for.  Storing the items you need infrequently in a well organized garage is not only safe and secure, but it is wise financial decision.

To capture wasted garage space, think long term. Assess the potential storage place, look above, beside, and in front of the parking area; make a simple pencil sketch, then make a plan.

Making a plan starts with measuring. A typical 2-car garage measures 20 feet wide by 20 feet deep, has 8-foot high walls, and has a 16-foot wide overhead door. Parked cars require about 14 feet of length and 14 feet of width total for parking and driver ingress/egress. Using one entire wall from floor to ceiling on one side of the garage provides about 320 cubic feet of storage (20 feet long by 8 feet high by 2 feet deep from the wall). That amount of space will store well over 100 average sized totes measuring 22 inches deep by 15 inches wide by 12 inches tall. If you select hinged top containers, they can be stacked one on top of another, eliminating the need for permanent garage shelving. The rear wall of the garage can accommodate approximately 250 of these type totes stacked from floor to ceiling. Installing bicycle hanger hooks from the beams

Bike Tire on Hook Image

Bicycle Hanger/Hook

above the hood of the car provides garage overhead storage for four full sized bikes. Installing the same kind of hanger/hook in between the joists up by the peak of the rafters provides garage ceiling storage for hanging large plastic ornaments popular at Halloween and Christmas.

 

A couple of helpful notes: If the space is unfinished, you may want to insulate the walls and cover several areas with 4 by 8 foot pegboard as a simple start to wall storage (use peg board hooks for hanging frequently needed hand tools, hoses, extension cords, etc.). To prevent the possibility of flood damage, keep bottom shelves or stacked totes at least 4 inches from the floor.

Originally posted 2011-02-13 17:44:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Posted in Garage Shelving, Garage Storage, Home Improvement | No Comments »

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