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Its an oldie but a goodie, the Vision Board exercise. Sometimes called a Vision Collage, Treasure Map, Vision Map, etc. A wonderful, graphic way to define and align with what you really want.

In the underground hit movie The Secret (introductory movie on Law of Attraction principles), there is a scene where a man unpacks and shows his Vision Board to his young son, only to realize that they are now living in the very house that was pictured on his board (created several years prior). And, during one of Oprahs recent shows on The Secret, guest Lisa Nichols showed her Vision Board in it were the words Lisa Reveals All on Oprah she definitely manifested that one!

Vision boards help you define and clarify what your desire. They help make your dreams and goals more tangible and solid. Through them you form an energetic bond with what you want. They act as guiding lights or north stars helping you realize and commit to your Personal Vision. Yes, they are fun and creative to do; however dont let their simplicity fool you they are also very powerful magnetization and manifestation tools. Acting as little energy vortexes if you will that tell your sub-conscious mind what to focus on and create.

How do you create a Vision Board? Its simple. Collect together a pile of magazines, scissors, a glue stick (or tape), and some markers. Youll also need some sort of sturdy backing (like a poster board, large sheet of paper even a few paper bags cut open and taped together will work).

Give yourself 30-45 minutes, in a quiet comfortable space. With all your materials gathered around you. Set the intention that you are going to create a vision collage for yourself. That you will flip quickly through the magazines and find images and words that really jump out at you - ones you will have an emotional connection with. You may or may not want to create a time frame for your vision (i.e. 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5-10 years whatever feels right for you). Or, if it doesnt feel good to put on a timeframe, then just call it your ASAP vision.

After setting your intention dive into the magazines. Use your intuition youre your rational mind) to find images that resonate with you. Just rip out whatever jumps out at you, piling them off to the side. Dont think just rip! Do for about 15 minutes or so, or whenever the energy kind of slows down. Once youve got a nice stack of images turn next to assembling them onto your poster board (or whatever backing you are using). There is no right or wrong way to create a Vision Board. Just do what feels right for you. You might want to arrange your images and play around with them a bit then finally tape or glue it all down.

After creating your Vision Board, debrief the experience and harvest out what you have learned about your desired future. I call this Extracting the Essence. Pull out your main themes. You can do this yourself, or present your Vision Board to a trusted friend, colleague or loved one and have them help you decipher the essence of what it is you want. Great for understanding one another and seeing what each other wants in life.

Try a Vision Board for yourself. Have fun with it. And be sure to write me with your manifestation stories these things really work!

Christina Merkley, MA is the SHIFT-IT Graphic Coach. A skilled graphic facilitator, coach and trainer, she helps organizations, individuals and couples define and get what they really want. For more information see Christinas blog.

Creating a commercial that sizzles and creating a commercial that is vaguely viewed as profitable is not separated by that much. In reality, the commercial that is remembered and the commercial that creates a few calls or sales and in the end kind of worked, but should we repeat the next add cycle is not that far apart. Lets look at some concepts that will turn your next radio and TV spot into a commercial that really brings in the sales with significant visibility and credibility with your buyers.

Consider how many commercials are out there and that youve viewed through the years. Now try to remember as many of them as possible. How many did you come up with? 20, 30 or 50 or more? Many of them might have been mainstream companies like McDonalds, Burger King, and a host of others, and you probably remembered some rather funny and creative commercials, but Ill bet you remembered some local, smaller mom and pop spots as well. Whats the catch?

Most long remembered and at the time very successful commercials are and were created with the intent of being sticky One of the problems that smaller companies face today is trying to figure out how to stretch their ad dollars. And one of the big mistakes that companies make today is going with the radio station in-house voice over and music production guy because its cheaper. Is it? In the end is it really cheaper. If you look at your ROI in terms of ad dollars spent and revenue gained what are you going to find? Chances are, you will find that when you spend a little bit more money working with a seasoned music production house and/or smaller affordable ad agency, that your results will be significantly different I mean really different.

The problem isnt is the radio station voice over or music production guy talented, its do they know your market, what makes your customers tick, and then how do they produce an overwhelming and visible marketing strategy geared towards success And the answer, most of the time is they dont. You want cheap in-house, then go with it and youll pay for it as well. Your commercial will no more stand out than the other commercials coming out of that radio station or cable companies in-house facilities.

If I were to bet on the odds, Id bet that a commercial with an incredible jingle and video to go along with it that costs a few dollars more, is sure to gain the hearts of your customers and their wallets at the same time as opposed to the in-house version. People do still like great jingles. Not the cheesy jingle written by many of the eweed companies strewn along the internet highway promoting their great writing services, but a jingle that is creative, built upon who you and your company are and with the intent of being sticky and remembered with a quality sound that sounds credible Ultimately increasing your credibility and sales Its that simple.

You want to increase your sales and advertising dollar, then go to the folks who know the market, who get to know and appreciate your business and where you want to go and who will take the time and have taken the time to be seasoned professionals to know how and what to say in your commercial.

Mr Gauger is an accomplished TV and radio writer with too many credits to list here. You may contact the author at tgauger@reelmusicianpro.com or 615-300-5030. You may visit the author's website at http://www.reelmusicianpro.com This author works with small business to national brand names.