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	<title>Merrily Orsini's</title>
	<link>http://merrilyorsini.com</link>
	<description>Homecare Marketing Tips, Resources and Strategies for Success</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:26:13 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>The Silver Bullet Exists</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Everyone is always looking for that silver bullet. That one thing they could do differently, better, faster or cheaper to gain market share. And, sometimes it does appear that the silver bullet has been found, but, more than likely, it is simply the result of some good strategy and following the basic marketing tenets that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/the-silver-bullet-exists/</link>
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		<title>Marketing AND Sales: Together is Better</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In home care the word “marketing” often means a person who performs the direct sales for the agency. And being a good sales person, is indeed, an incredible talent. Knowing how to sell, however, is vastly different from creating a strategy from which TO sell.
Marketing strategy starts with some basics, and the most basic is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/marketing-and-sales-together-is-better/</link>
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		<title>National Association for Home Care &amp; Hospice 29th Annual Meeting &amp; Exposition</title>
		<description><![CDATA[October 2-6, 2010, Grapevine, Texas
Merrily Orsini Presents “Swimming with the Current in the Social Media Tidal Wave: Strategy”
October 5, 2010 8:00-9:30 AM
Gaylord  Texan Hotel and Convention Center
Details soon at www.nahc.org
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/national-association-for-home-care-hospice-29th-annual-meeting-exposition/</link>
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		<title>Your Web Site: To Find or Not to Find</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Twice in the past two weeks I have had home care agency owners say they need a new Web site, but that their cousin/brother, etc. is doing it and they are doing a good job. Twice in the past two weeks I have looked at those familial Web sites and, they do look fine. Should [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/your-web-site-to-find-or-not-to-find/</link>
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		<title>Survival of the fittest</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Even though it is February and we are roaring into a week culminating with Valentine’s Day, I keep finding ideas that are exciting challenges to success in the future. Take these from Amy Casper who wrote them for Open Forum while she was lamenting on the woes of 2009:

Some tips for surviving and thriving in 2010:
• Lead [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/survival-of-the-fittest/</link>
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		<title>A Fundamental Shift in Communication</title>
		<description><![CDATA[More and more the statistics are pointing to a way to buy products and services that is consumer driven, not business driven. Understanding the strategy behind the glitz and glamor is the key. Understanding how to apply that strategy to your business is crucial.

Yes, there is a shift in the fundamental way we communicate. Ask [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/a-fundamental-shift-in-communication/</link>
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		<title>What Our Clients Say&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the great things about today&#8217;s technology is testimonials don&#8217;t have to be in the written word anymore.  Thanks to my handy Flip camera (which I take with me everywhere) I am able to share with you what our clients think in a much more personal way.  See what two of our clients, RemCare [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/what-our-clients-say/</link>
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		<title>Put the Potato in the Front</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Idaho Potatoes: Now how do you make that an exciting product to sell? How would you get folks energized about buying a potato? Well, perhaps social media and video are the answer. You tell me!

See how it works? You actually WATCHED it, didn&#8217;t you? That is the essence of marketing and how incredible it is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/put-the-potato-in-the-front/</link>
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		<title>Straight from PDHCA</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks to Ken Accardi, CTO of Ankota, Inc. here is some video straight from the highly successful 5th Annual PDHCA Leadership Summit this week in Phoenix, AZ.

Enjoy! And thanks, Ken!
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/straight-from-pdhca/</link>
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		<title>Choose the right metrics for ROI</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday&#8217;s Webinar was a successful one, with more than 50% of attendees who signed up actually attending, and, better than that, their attention was captured for the entire Webinar. The only way corecubed &#8220;advertised&#8221; that Webinar was through Social Media.
So, we can measure by results that our social media ROI was a success for that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/choose-the-right-metrics-for-roi/</link>
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		<title>Wondering What It Takes To Start A Non-Medical Home Care Business?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The senior care industry is on the rise, as the first wave of Baby Boomers leading the &#8220;Silver Tsunami&#8221; will hit 65 in 2011. With life expectancies longer than even a generation ago, the number of people in the US aged 65 or older is expected to be 71 million by 2030 &#8211; more than [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/wondering-what-it-takes-to-start-a-non-medical-home-care-business/</link>
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		<title>Forget ROI in regards to social media?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[“Forget ROI in regards to social media. Look instead at what your company stands to lose by not being there,”  writes Don McCauley in an article for EzineArticles.com.
So how can you measure social media ROI? Understand that some benefits of social media will be intangible. It’s not always easy to put a dollars-and-cents figure on [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/forget-roi-in-regards-to-social-media/</link>
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		<title>2010  Visiting Angels Annual Conference</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Conference Dates June 29 – July 1, 2010   
Merrily Orsini to speak  Tuesday June 29th 11:00AM – 12:30PM
Royal Sonesta
Boston, MA
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/2010-visiting-angels-annual-conference/</link>
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		<title>Measuring marketing bang for the social media buck</title>
		<description><![CDATA[How much is a tweet worth?
It’s a legitimate question. Much has been made recently of the supposed power of social media marketing. As experts declare social media to be the new chessboard where all the best branding moves are made, marketers are rushing to their keyboards to post Facebook statuses and tweet to their hearts’ [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/measuring-marketing-bang-for-the-social-media-buck/</link>
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		<title>Indiana Association for Home and Hospice Care Annual Conference</title>
		<description><![CDATA[May 11th &#38; 12th, 2010
Indianapolis, Indiana
Merrily Orsini Presents 3 sessions on Private Duty/Private Pay:
Striving for Excellence in Home Care: An Operational Overview
External Marketing: Reaching Out to Get Clients and Referrals
Internal Marketing: Finding the Best Caregivers 
Watch for updated information:
https://m360.iahhc.org/event.aspx?eventID=11518&#38;instance=0
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/indiana-association-for-home-and-hospice-care-annual-conference/</link>
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		<title>Everything you wondered about home care marketing &amp; were afraid to ask!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Growing a home care agency is a busy, challenging task.  Many times agency owners have come from other industries or are simply focused on providing good care.  Marketing in the home care world is different. Period.  If you have questions about what it takes to succeed or are looking for expert marketing tips, I invite [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/everything-you-wondered-about-home-care-marketing-were-afraid-to-ask/</link>
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		<title>Social Media Marketing for Health Care</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s cliché to say that social media has revolutionized the way agencies reach clients-marketing. It’s more accurate to say that it quietly snuck up behind traditional old school marketers, whopped them in the head, turned their universe inside out and then sent them a tweet about it.
In fact, social media – that is, interactive networking [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/social-media-marketing-for-health-care/</link>
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		<title>Northern New England Home Care Conference</title>
		<description><![CDATA[May 6 &#38; 7  2010  South Portland, ME
Merrily Orsini Presents &#8220;Marketing 2010: Moving Forward-Staying Current-Interacting&#8221;
May 6, 2010, 10:30-12 noon
Marriott Portland Sable Oaks
http://www.homecarenh.org/events/workshops.php
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/northern-new-england-home-care-conference/</link>
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		<title>B-O-L-O-G-N-A</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Happy New Year! Hopefully you and your family enjoyed happy holidays over the past two weeks. Take some time in January to look back and evaluate both the successes and the shortcomings your company experienced in 2009. Now’s the perfect time to stop, take stock and make adjustments so that 2010 brings even greater prestige [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/b-o-l-o-g-n-a/</link>
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		<title>Christmas Eve Gift: A trip down TV ad memory lane</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Enjoy some Christmas punch on corecubed. After all, you can’t be all business all the time!
For your enjoyment are some fun examples of the all-time number-one most popular television ads to ever grace your screen. 
Where&#8217;s the Beef?

Let Hertz put you in the Driver Seat

Ernest P. Worrell and Mellow Yellow

Budweiser Frogs

On behalf of everyone here [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/christmas-eve-gift-a-trip-down-tv-ad-memory-lane/</link>
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		<title>NPDA 8th Annual Leadership Conference</title>
		<description><![CDATA[March 10-12, 2010 Philadelphia, PA
&#8220;Basic Marketing for Home Care: Understanding and Working with Social Media as a Tool for Success&#8221;
Presentating Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:45 – 3:15 PM
For more details, or to register visit the organization/conference site:
http://www.privatedutyhomecare.org/sections/consumers/conference.php
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/npda-8th-annual-leadership-conference-2/</link>
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		<title>It’s a zhu out there.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[First it was the Cabbage Patch Doll. Then Tickle-Me-Elmo and Furby. Now, hold on to your hat – and your small wood shavings – because this year the must have holiday toy that really rocks the worlds of retailers comes in the form of a tiny robotic hamster. Say hello to the Zhu Zhu Pet [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/it%e2%80%99s-a-zhu-out-there/</link>
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		<title>Real Time Comes to Google: incorporating social media in search results</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If your agency has been hesitant about plunging into the raging ocean that is social media, you’d better take a fresh look at Google.
In the past week, the online behemoth made some radical changes when it began incorporating social media into its search results. Until now, individual posts from sites like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/real-time-comes-to-google-incorporating-social-media-in-search-results/</link>
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		<title>Merrily to Speak at PDHCA</title>
		<description><![CDATA[An update for you on my presentation and participation at PDHCA in January.  I&#8217;ll keep this page updated as we draw closer to the conference with newsy items. Click here to view my PDHCA page.
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/merrily-to-speak-at-pdhca/</link>
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		<title>Count your blessings – and thank your clients</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Well Thanksgiving is a week past, but still on my mind. Imagine for a moment that it’s 1621 and you’re a member of the Plymouth, Mass. Colony. Times have been hard, and food scarce. The wheat your ships brought over from England refuses to grow in this rocky soil. You don’t know how to build [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/count-your-blessings-%e2%80%93-and-thank-your-clients/</link>
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		<title>Be loved by the In-box</title>
		<description><![CDATA[These days there’s a lot of talk about lists. Visiting grandchildren today and thinking of Santa who keeps a list, and he’s “checking it twice.”  And thinking about it, our lives come down to lists. There’s the voter’s registration list, the grocery list, the vendor list, the client list and assorted mailing lists. You might say [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/be-loved-by-the-in-box/</link>
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		<title>Not just a pretty face</title>
		<description><![CDATA[They deliver both good news and bad. You see them at murder scenes and crash sites. They stand behind the podium when a company launches a new product or announces a donation to charity. Unlike CEOs and other executives, these folks live for the media spotlight. In fact, they thrive in it, being interviewed by [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/not-just-a-pretty-face/</link>
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		<title>Trading trade show secrets</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Are tradeshows a worthwhile marketing endeavor? That depends entirely upon a) if they meet your marketing goals and b) how you manage your time on and off the tradeshow floor. For some, a trade show can provide a seemingly unending supply of new contacts – and most importantly – prospective clients, referral sources or potential [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/trading-trade-show-secrets/</link>
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		<title>This marketing message was brought to you by…</title>
		<description><![CDATA[You see their logos at baseball games and trade shows. You often receive their brochures and CD-ROMS just before you hear a celebrity deliver a motivational speech. Even little leaguers bear their messages on t-shirts as they slide into home plate for the very first time.
They’re sponsors – and they’re utilizing a unique form of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/this-marketing-message-was-brought-to-you-by%e2%80%a6/</link>
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		<title>Fortune Telling for Social Media</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We’ve been hearing for months about the role social media can play in a company’s overall marketing strategy, but the interactive technology is not the end-all, be-all for reaching your customers. As with the rise of dot-coms in the Internet’s infancy, there are those who succeed at social media usage and those who simply waste [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/fortune-telling-for-social-media/</link>
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		<title>FTC revisions impact online, social media marketing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If your business is active in Internet and social media marketing, you may have to make some significant changes by December 1st, 2009
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced revisions to its guidelines for endorsements and product reviews – guidelines, we might add, that before now hadn’t been revised in almost 30 years.
According to an [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/ftc-revisions-impact-online-social-media-marketing/</link>
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		<title>Pink Letter Dates</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Did you know that October is breast cancer awareness month?
Bright Pink does. The Chicago-based non-profit organization devoted to promoting women’s health issues has developed a mobile marketing campaign to remind women to regularly examine their breasts for signs of cancer. Yes, that is MOBILE marketing campaign. According to a report posted by Genesis Davies, a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/pink-letter-dates/</link>
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		<title>Stevie Award Finalist!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Occasionally something fantastic happens and I cannot pass up the opportunity for shameless self promotion.  Today is one of those days.  I just found out that I am a finalist in the Stevie Awards Women In Business for the Marketing Campaign of the Year.  And what campaign is that centered around? Why our MOST for [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/stevie-award-finalist/</link>
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		<title>WomenEntrepreneur.com &#8211; October 2009</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
Sales and marketing are like dance partners.  As with a pair of dancers, sales and marketing have the same ultimate objective: to work together, to play off of and enhance one another. Yet how each pursues that objective is different. Sales and marketing teams have unique strengths, weaknesses and core competencies. Yet management often lumps [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/womenentrepreneurcom-october-2009/</link>
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		<title>Gorilla or Guerrilla? Effective Marketing or What….?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[These times in marketing are different than ever before. First there is the economy and the effects it has on businesses. Then there is the new interactional component of marketing. Together they are forming a sort of perfect storm, and one where businesses are trying to figure out how to sell more. So, one question [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/gorilla-or-guerrilla-effective-marketing-or-what%e2%80%a6/</link>
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		<title>No Pay and Still Play</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When you think about getting media attention that works, you might be thinking of those LouisvilleHelpWanted.com radio ads where the irritated mother is trying to get her 34-year-old son to move out of the basement and get a job. Your internal projector might be showing the Geico gecko’s uncomfortable predicament in which he has to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/no-pay-and-still-play/</link>
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		<title>10 Rules for Success from Sam the Man Walton</title>
		<description><![CDATA[From an entrepreneurship posting that is worthy of sharing.
Rule #1
Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anything else. If you love your work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do the best you can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you &#8211; like a fever.
Rule #2
Share your profits [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/10-rules-for-success-from-sam-the-man-walton/</link>
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		<title>Defying Conventional Marketing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s one of the most important questions a business can ask: Do we know our target market?
Stay with me here while we talk video game consoles for a moment. Like the Nintendo Wii. Just for the sake of argument, I want you to close your eyes and picture what the target market of a Nintendo [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/defying-conventional-marketing/</link>
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		<title>Multiple Targets, Targeted Messages</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Anyone who’s ever been skeet shooting knows it’s hard enough to hit just one of those tiny clay targets.
Imagine the difficulties of taking out five or six skeets all fired at the same time. The task is virtually impossible. Even the most skilled marksman would balk at the challenge. You can’t expect to fire one [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/multiple-targets-targeted-messages/</link>
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		<title>State Conferences</title>
		<description><![CDATA[IL Home Care Council
http://www.ilhomecare.org
Annual Conference &#38; Expo
Chicago, IL 
March 10-12, 2010
WA Home Care Association of Washington
http://www.hcaw.org
Spring Conference
Seattle, WA
April 6-7, 2010
MO Alliance for Home Care
http://www.homecaremissouri.org
Annual Conference &#38; Home Care Exhibition
Lake of the Ozarks, MO
April 25-28, 2010
ND Association for Home Care
http://www.aptnd.com/ndahc
Annual Spring Educational Meeting
Fargo, ND
May 4-5, 2010
CA Association for Health Services At Home
http://www.cahsah.org
2010 Annual Conference
Sacramento, CA
May 4-7, 2010

PA Homecare [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/state-conferences/</link>
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		<title>2010 NAPGCM Annual Conference</title>
		<description><![CDATA[April 15–17, 2010
Albuquerque, NM
National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers
Contact for more information:
Web site: http://www.caremanager.org/cde.cfm?event=262696
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/241/</link>
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		<title>VNAA 28th Annual Meeting</title>
		<description><![CDATA[April 21–23, 2010
Orlando, FL
Visiting Nurse Association of America
Contact for more information:
Web site: http://www.vnaa.org/vnaa/g/?h=HTML/AM_2010.html
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/vnaa-28th-annual-meeting/</link>
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		<title>2010 Aging in America NCOA-ASA Annual Conference</title>
		<description><![CDATA[March 15–19, 2010
Chicago, IL
American Society on Aging/National Council on Aging
Contact for more information:
Web site: http://www.agingconference.org/AiA10/index.cfm
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/2010-aging-in-america-ncoa-asa-annual-conference/</link>
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		<title>Live from NAHC 2009!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I wanted to update you all on my presentations that I will be giving at this year&#8217;s NAHC Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.  Taking place October 10-14, I&#8217;ll be giving both a marketing seminar as well as hosting a Private Duty Open Forum.  For more details visit my NAHC page.
We will also have a booth [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/live-from-nahc-2009/</link>
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		<title>Speak Out as an Expert: One Way to Win Business</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When it comes to selling home care services, positioning yourself as the expert is one way to stand out from the crowd.
When it comes to getting that message out, one way to get the job done is with face-to-face communication. And, rather than one-on-one, you get more leverage if you are reaching more people. And [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/speak-out-as-an-expert-one-way-to-win-business/</link>
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		<title>Home Care 101: Teaching them when to need you</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Like it or hate it, the subject of health care is anything but simple. Just ask our Congressmen-and-women who are even now haggling over a 1,000-plus-page health care bill. The complex intricacies of Medicare, Medicaid, co-payments, claim forms and various treatment options could give anyone an Advil-sized headache, leaving them with nightmares of stethoscopes and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/home-care-101-teaching-them-when-to-need-you/</link>
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		<title>Do No Harm</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The problem with Bud Light’s current marketing strategy isn’t its effectiveness or its accuracy, according to the Federal Trade Commission. It’s the colors.
An article in The Wall Street Journal quotes Janet Evans, an attorney for the agency, as saying that the FTC has “grave concerns” over a campaign by Anheuser-Busch to roll out Bud Light [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/do-no-harm/</link>
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		<title>Create a Mean Lead Generation Machine</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When it comes to creating revenue and keeping your cash flow positive, one oft overlooked item is generating new leads. Keeping that sales pipeline full is one way to stay ahead of the competition. In today’s marketing environment, it is important to understand and implement how your Web site can play an important role in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/create-a-mean-lead-generation-machine/</link>
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		<title>Marketing as an Investment: The Key to Surviving The Great Recession</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Is the recession over? It’s tough to say – foresight is never 20/20 – but according to a poll of economists conducted by The Wall Street Journal in the past few days, all indications seem to be that we’re emerging from the darkness, and economists believe Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke deserves a pat on [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/marketing-as-an-investment-the-key-to-surviving-the-great-recession/</link>
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		<title>Just Call Me M. (But Please Just Call Me.)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A well-known brand is hard to come by. Why is Gatorade now just G? &#8230;..a branding hit or a branding miss&#8230;..you decide.
Just ask PepsiCo, the owner of the popular “Gatorade” line of drinks. Gatorade first hit the scene in 1965, when Ray Graves, coach of the University of Florida’s Gators football team, asked some medical researchers [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/just-call-me-m-but-please-just-call-me/</link>
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		<title>Nothing Beats Local PR</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In the increasingly competitive world of home care, most agency owners and executives are finding it more challenging to stand out from the crowd. But some agencies are finding a solution – there’s nothing like a little good local PR to help keep an agency top of mind in the community. Plus, that local press [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/nothing-beats-local-pr/</link>
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		<title>Direct, Concise and Persuasive</title>
		<description><![CDATA[You’re on the fast track to success with your home care agency, which you started in your living room a year and half ago, and now has grown to include an army of 22 caregivers that services a 50-mile coverage radius around your new office building. You’re making a decent profit and – even more [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/direct-concise-and-persuasive/</link>
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		<title>Tweeting Chapter 11 Style</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Bankruptcy: it’s the ultimate in bad public relations.
No company wants word of its financial woes to reach customers’ ears, yet that’s the situation Six Flags Inc. found itself in last month when it filed for bankruptcy in a Wilmington, Del., court. The New York-based owner of 20 theme parks throughout the United States is saddled [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/tweeting-chapter-11-style/</link>
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		<title>How many is one too many?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[e-mail: In today’s day and age, it’s the most efficient, cost-effective and salient means of reaching your clients or potential clients. Online service providers such as Constant Contact make it easy to regularly get your name in front of your prospective customers’ eyes through the distribution of eNewsletters. With the aid of some arresting graphics [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/how-many-is-one-too-many/</link>
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		<title>Your message. Their Inbox.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[How many times did you check your e-mail today?
If you’re a tech-savvy 21st century business professional (and chances are you fit that description, since you’re reading this blog), you probably open your Inbox several times a day. A dozen maybe? We all check our e-mail more than we care to admit. And some are absolutely [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/your-message-their-inbox/</link>
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		<title>A Rose is a Rose</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Naming is the very start of a marketing process. How do you come up with a company name? Base it on the business product and/or service, and on how the business expects folks to react (what actions) when they see or hear the name. Let’s take the example of a start-up home care agency. One of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/a-rose-is-a-rose/</link>
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		<title>Price Point Strategy: Risky for the Long Term</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The coffee wars are on, and according to The Boston Globe, McDonald’s is making headway.
The fast food giant launched its “McCafé” coffee chain in Melbourne, Australia with plans to offer the coffee brand in all of its 14,000 U.S.-based stores by the end of this year. Public reception of the McCafé brand has been surprisingly [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/price-point-strategy-risky-for-the-long-term/</link>
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		<title>Know thine enemy – or in this case – thine competitor</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When it’s you vs. them, it’s crucial to know who “they” are.
The business world is competitive by nature. In this economy, it’s positively cutthroat – in a professional, may-the-best-man-or-woman-win kind of way. Getting ahead of your competitors doesn’t require you to carry a dagger under you cloak, but it does mean you have to keep [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/know-thine-enemy-%e2%80%93-or-in-this-case-%e2%80%93-thine-competitor/</link>
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		<title>When it comes to crisis communications, don’t panic!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Never is an agency under more stress and strain than during a time of crisis. Unfortunately, many agencies fail to develop and follow an adequate crisis communications strategy. The results of such an oversight can be disastrous.
But why is a predetermined strategy a necessity? What constitutes a crisis?
A crisis can be anything with the potential [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/when-it-comes-to-crisis-communications-don%e2%80%99t-panic/</link>
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		<title>45 Life&#8217;s Lessons from a 90 Year Old</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio
&#8220;To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I&#8217;ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn&#8217;t fair, but it&#8217;s still good.
2. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/45-lifes-lessons-from-a-90-year-old/</link>
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		<title>Struggling With Recruiting Quality Caregivers?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So much of running a home care agency is wrapped up in the day to day minutia of working with clients, administrative tasks and, of course, all important marketing tasks to build up new client business.  However, we know that the core of any successful home care business is its caregiver team.  Without quality caregivers, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/struggling-with-recruiting-quality-caregivers/</link>
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		<title>Catch the viral marketing bug</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Viral marketing. It sounds like some kind of bad disease – something to stay away from, like the H1N1 flu. The mere mention of the words almost makes you want to go out and buy some rubber gloves and a surgical mask.
But viral marketing is good, not bad. Because of the ease of ‘spreading” the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/catch-the-viral-marketing-bug/</link>
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		<title>Home Healthcare Management &amp; Practice Journal: June 2009</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
Obtaining Referrals in the Face of Regulation &#124; By Merrily Orsini
To purchase the article, visit http://hhc.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/21/4/286
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/home-healthcare-management-practice-journal-april-2009/</link>
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		<title>Why associate with associations?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Strategic marketing is built upon the quantity and quality of names written down in that “little black book”. To coin an overused cliché, it’s all about who you know. That means it’s important to fill up your database file (Rolodex, Microsoft Outlook address book, ACT or SalesForce) with as many prospective clients, industry professionals, mentors [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/why-associate-with-associations/</link>
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		<title>One step ahead of Hitler-a child&#8217;s story of the holocost</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Experiences during WWII have been written about, filmed, avidly discussed and memorialized. But yet another perspective brings new insight into the atrocities that one set of humans thrust upon another. Fred Gross has written a newly released book One Step Ahead of Hitler, and this time, the experience is from a child’s point of view. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/one-step-ahead-of-hitler-a-childs-story-of-the-holocost/</link>
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		<title>Creativity is the mastery of simplicity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s one thing to launch a marketing campaign to sell bananas. After all, bananas have relatively straightforward selling points: they’re nutritious and delicious. That’s about it.
But what about promoting more complex products … like word-processing software, or a reengineered hybrid vehicle, or home health care? In situations like these, the complexity of the product often [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/creativity-is-the-mastery-of-simplicity/</link>
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		<title>A &#8216;diamond in the rough&#8217; is not &#8211; for a Web site &#8211; a good thing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of a good online marketing presence. A successful Web site is so much more than just a brochure site for your business, or a way to show off bells and whistles. To be found by those who seek your products or services, a Web site needs to be designed [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/a-diamond-in-the-rough-is-not-for-a-web-site-a-good-thing/</link>
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		<title>Providing Respite Care Gains in Need</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the more crucial selling points of home care is the fact that an agency can relieve some of the pressure on family members who try to administer that care on their own. According to this article written by Jayne Williams of the Port Clinton (Ohio) News Herald, and backed up by solid statistics, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/providing-respite-care-gains-in-need/</link>
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		<title>Target Marketing Helps You Hit the Bull’s-Eye</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hypothetical situation:
Ned, an overzealous darts enthusiast, buys a dartboard for a local bar. The bartender has never played a game of darts in his life and thinks it will disrupt the normal operations of his establishment. He wants Ned to remove the dartboard, but Ned convinces him to play one game, thinking he’ll be hooked [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/target-marketing-helps-you-hit-the-bull%e2%80%99s-eye/</link>
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		<title>Tweet me! Link me. Come into my space.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Does this sound inviting? It is “Social Networking”, something that is considered in today’s world a solid component for any marketing strategy.
Facebook. Twitter. MySpace. LinkedIn. They’re the online Web tools that form the framework of social networking. In the “old” days, networking required the business owner to attend gatherings such as charity auctions, professional development [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/tweet-me-link-me-come-into-my-space/</link>
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		<title>Paying the Piper for Positive Media Attention</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When good old standard media relations does not work, a way to get into the media is a sometimes powerful marketing tools called  an “advertorial.”
The term – a combination of the words “advertisement” and “editorial” – refers to a print or online advertisement that promotes a company’s products or services while at the same time [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/when-good-old-standard-media-relations-does-not-work/</link>
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		<title>Diamonds, Alzheimer&#8217;s and Taking Breath Away</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Three recommendations for reading came out of the recent Private Duty Homecare Association’s Leadership Summit in Phoenix:
With a focus on making joyful moments for those who are caring for a person with Alzheimer’s Disease, Dr. Jane Thibault a noted Gerontologist recommends Caring Moments of Joy by Jolene Brackey Read a news excert about this book [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/three-recommendations-for-reading/</link>
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		<title>Right Brain Left Brain and Harry Pickens</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Popular psychology says that longitudinal fissures separate the human brain into two distinct cerebral hemispheres - the left brain and the right brain. These sides each have different functions and cause two different modes of thinking to occur. The left brain hemisphere functions are analytical, logical, focus on exact calculations, object and look at individual parts of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/right-brain-left-brain-and-harry-pickens/</link>
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		<title>Learning Something When Need Requires It</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Many of corecubed’s clients provide services that we call “at-need services”. These are services (sometimes products) that the general public does not usually know or think about, consider or retain knowledge about until they have a specific need that arises and that requires a solution. A prime example of this is home health care—a service [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/learning-something-every-day/</link>
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		<title>3 Steps to Brandaide</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This past week, at a conference in Las Vegas, I heard a fabulous speaker, Ellen Looyen. Ellen is a personal branding expert and a motivational speaker. She has coined the signature phrase “charismatic branding” which she describes as a brand that “energetically communicates uniqueness, value and integrity and causes your market to feel emotionally connected [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/3-steps-to-brandaide/</link>
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		<title>Pappi Van Winkle</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Bourbon Ball is a Louisville tradition. For some reason, I never realized how much bourbon is an item that Louisville uses to market itself. There is a Bourbon Trail, an Urban bourbon Trail, and bumper stickers with “BRBN” in black block letters in a while oval like a European license plate with a” Just [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/two-marketing-insights-this-week/</link>
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		<title>I Eats Me Spinach</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Targeting a Specific Demographic Group Means Getting Inside What Resonates With That Group
Someone sent me this simple test this week, and it is perfect for targeting folks born between 1935 and 1955.
Questions: (Answers are at end. Don&#8217;t peek!)
1. What builds strong bodies 12 ways?
A. Flintstones vitamins
B. The Buttmaster
C. Spaghetti
D. Wonder Bread
E. Orange Juice
F. Milk
G. Cod [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/targeting-a-specific-demographic-group-means-getting-inside-what-resonates-with-that-group/</link>
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		<title>The Early Bird Special: As American as Frogs’ Legs</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Everyone knows the restaurant business is competitive and challenging. New eateries are always opening (and closing) and trying out new cuisines packaged with different gimmicks. Every now and then, one comes across a solid eatery that has smartly determined its ideal demographic…and then serves them well and royally. The Houston Inn in Cincinnati, Ohio is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/the-early-bird-special-as-american-as-frogs%e2%80%99-legs/</link>
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		<title>Stranger Within Our Gates</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Cumberland Inn, in Williamsburg, Kentucky is about a 3 hour drive from Louisville and a 3 hour drive to Asheville, NC, a trip that I take pretty frequently. A few weeks ago I stayed there having left Louisville late in the evening. On my bed was this message, “In ancient times, there was a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/the-cumberland-inn/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Home Healthcare Management &amp; Practice Journal: February 2009</title>
		<description><![CDATA[



Leveling the Field: How Freestanding Agencies Compete with Hospital-Based Home Health Agencies &#124; By Merrily Orsini
Freestanding Agencies need not be intimidated when hospital-based home health agencies emerge in their service area. This informative article describes how freestanding agencies may just have the upper hand, and notates information for developing relationships with key types of referral [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/home-healthcare-management-practice-journal-february-2009/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Home care expert Merrily Orsini&#8217;s monthly articles in CARING Magazine</title>
		<description><![CDATA[January 2010: Social Media Meets Home Care? Take a Look at Social Media Marketing
By now, most people are familiar with what a blog is. But have you wondered what people are talking about when they mention words like &#8220;social media,&#8221; &#8220;Facebook,&#8221; and &#8220;Twitter?&#8221; If you don&#8217;t already know what they are, as a home care, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/home-care-expert-merrily-orsinis-monthly-articles-in-caring-magazine/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>WomanEntrepreneur: January 2009</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
For businesses that provide products or services people only seek when the unexpected happens, marketing to potential users before the need arises can be a challenge. The solution is to implement a marketing strategy that networks for the worst.
&#60;Read the complete article here&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/january-2009-womanentrepreneur/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>About Merrily</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Merrily Orsini, MSSW, is a multiple award-winning business leader and serial entrepreneur based in Louisville, Kentucky, who was a pioneer in the home care industry, creating a geriatric care managed model of care in 1981. After selling that business in 1996, Orsini started building corecubed, an integrated marketing communications company, providing marketing, design, PR and new [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/about-merrily-orsini/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>About corecubed</title>
		<description><![CDATA[corecubed knows that your company will go through many phases as it grows. We felt it was important to offer several programs that will fit your changing needs. Designed to allow for seamless transition between programs, corecubed encourages you to learn more about each, listed below.



Designed for clients in any industry with any marketing, public [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/about-corecubed/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Current corecubed Newsletters</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Gold Metal Marketing Strategy: Social Media
February 2010
What a Difference a Year Makes
January 2010
Past Newsletters
Marketing  Is Talking Turkey
November 2009
Horror Stories From the Land of Do-It-Yourself Marketing
October 2009
Marketing Is a Two-Way Street
September 2009
The Dog Days of Summer: Reflect and Revive Your Marketing Effort
August 2009
Get in Queue for this Summer’s Blockbuster 
July 2009
Say &#8220;I do&#8221; for everlasting business [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/corecubed-newsletters-2009/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>corecubed Newsletters &#8211; 2007</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Happy Holidays from corecubed
December 2007
Time to Run a Radio or Television Commerical?
November 2007
What More Business? Become the missing piece to your customer&#8217;s puzzle
October 2007
When &#8220;Get the Hook&#8221; is a Positive
September 2007
Making Sure Your Web Site isn&#8217;t MIA
August 2007
Let Me Introduce Myself; I&#8217;m the Customer
July 2007
Using E-mail to Boost Sales &#8211; How did we survive in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/corecubed-newsletters-2007/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>corecubed Newsletters &#8211; 2006</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Creating Success in 2007
December 2006
Keeping Score Helps Reach Success?
November 2006
Where&#8217;s Your Marketing Going?
October 2006
Buzz for your Biz
September 2006
Using Expert Sources to Channel Your Message Through the Media
August 2006
Image Insurance for your Business
July 2006
Public Relations; Who Needs It? Everyone!
June 2006
&#8220;New Media&#8221;: How to Go To Market In An Age of Options
May 2006
Patty PR Solves the Case [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/corecubed-newsletters-2006/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Glass Art Society Journal: 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Small Steps Make Giant Strides With Self-Promotion &#124; By Merrily Orsini
&#60;&#60; read complete article &#62;&#62;

]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/glass-art-society-journal-2008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Entrepreneur: October 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
7 Hot Business Ideas &#8211; Senior-care industry is booming.
&#60;read more&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/october-2008-entrepreneur/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Business First: October 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
Orsini named to home care, hospice board.
&#60;read more&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/business-first-102008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Louisville Magazine: August 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Merrily Orsini wins the Digital Age Entrepreneur award.
&#60;read more&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/louisville-magazine-august-2008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>WomanEntrepreneur: August 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
Forget Slick Sales Copy &#8211; Instead, position  your company as a helpful resource and watch clients come calling.
&#60;&#60;read more&#62;&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/womanentrepreneur-august-2008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Private Duty Homecare Association: May 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[corecubed named one of the 25 best women-owned companies.
&#60;&#60;read more&#62;&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/private-duty-homecare-association-may-2008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Lane Report: April 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
corecubed ranks among top women-owned companies in U.S. &#8211; A Louisville marketing, public relations and design agency has been recognized by Working Mother magazine as one of the nation’s 25 best women-owned companies.
&#60;&#60;read more&#62;&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/lane-report-april-2008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Working Mother Magazine: March 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Working Mother names corecubed one of the 25 Best Women-Owned Companies for 2008!
&#60;&#60; read more &#62;&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/working-mother-magazine-march-2008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Business First: March 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[corecubed Honored by Working Mother Magazine.
&#60;&#60; read more &#62;&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/business-first-march-2008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>AOL Careers: January 2008</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Secrets to Their Success &#8211; Three true work at home tales.
&#60;&#60;read more&#62;&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/aol-careers-january-2008/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>SeniorNews.net: November 2007</title>
		<description><![CDATA[System Helps Home Care Agencies Boost Referrals &#8211; Until recently, many home care agencies didn&#8217;t have to think much about marketing&#8230; But times have changed.
&#60;&#60;read more&#62;&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/seniornewsnet-november-2007/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>MSNBC: September 2007</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Turning to Plan B &#8211; Sometimes even the best business ideas need some adjustments &#8211; or a complete overhaul. corecubed client Benito&#8217;s as well as corecubed Managing Director Merrily Orsini are included in this article on business growth.
&#60;read more&#62;
]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/msnbc-september-2007/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>BNET: September 2007</title>
		<description><![CDATA[How to Manage Employees in Remote Locations &#8211; corecubed&#8217;s Merrily Orsini is quoted, and several employees were interviewed in this resourceful and informative article. Thanks to technology and globalization, more and more business teams are working together across state lines and international borders. Many corporations employ “dispersed teams,” where a manager in New York may [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://merrilyorsini.com/bnet-september-2007/</link>
			</item>
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