Towards A Healthy Economy + Marketing World

A baby dedication is an important part of many families’ faith. It is a time to remember the calling upon parents to raise children in the Christian faith. Baby dedications make wonderful occasions to be preserved in scrapbooks with Scripture verses that commemorate this special event.

They are both joyful and solemn occasions. Some churches ask parents to read or include a special verse for their child for the ceremony, while others have slideshows in front of the congregation with photos of the children. Creating a srapbook page with these photos and verses will preserve this blessed occasion for years to come.

If you did not have a special verse for your child’s baby dedication, but want to include one for the scrapbook page, here are some ideas you might like:

Proverbs 3:1-4 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart, for they will give you a long and satisfying life. Never let loyalty and kindness get away from you! Wear them like a necklace; write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will gain a good reputation.

1 Samuel 1:27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

Psalm 127:3-5 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

When you are ready to do your layouts, you can create a pocket to hold the program or bulletin from the ceremony. If you get a certificate, make one page just for that!

The most important thing to remember with any baby dedication scrapbook page is to stay focused on the event. These probably aren’t the types of pages you will want to try out a new technique on. Stick with what you know how to do well so the page is simple and beautiful.

Susan Whitehead has been scrapbooking her children’s lives for over 7 years, but began scrapbooking in her college years. She owns a Scrapbook Ideas website and her Scrapbook Barefoot blog features a “Question of the Week” where readers can submit their own ideas and scrapbooking tips!

Truth is as liquid as the oceans that surround us.

It was once true that the world was flat, until Columbus discovered his own truth and left us an opportunity to experience his truth.

It was once true that man could not fly, until the Wright Brothers showed us their truth and it became ours.

It was once true that the sun revolved around the earth, until Copernicus showed us his truth and it became ours.

Truth is just a temporary condition until we discover something else. One truth leads to another.

There will always be wars, which is our truth now until someone shows us that there will always be peace and that it is simply a choice.

There will always be illness of some kind, which is our truth now until someone shows us that illness is simply a choice.

There will always be inequality of some kind, which is our truth now, until someone shows us that we are all connected and that separation doesn’t work.

Our own truth lies within our ability to create it and not be at the mercy of, or acceptance of someone else’s truth. The world is the way it is because of our own truth.

If we see wars, destruction, inequality, inequity, starvation, natural disasters and suffering, it is because we belief at some level that it is the way it should be.

Each and every one of us has the power to experience the world anyway that we desire. At some level it is our wish to experience wealth and abundance at the expense of others. If all of us were rich, we could not experience it. If all of us were happy and content, we could not experience that for very long either because the opposite would become unknown to us.

The world is in a constant state of flux between that which is and that which is not. Opposites exist for very practical reasons. One cannot experience one thing without the other. As one begins to realize his/her own truth it leads to another and a paradox or dead end that drives one in another direction.

The physical world is simply a place to experiment with truth. All the symbols in our life are physical creations or manifestations of our own truth. If we are driving a brand new luxury car that costs tens of thousands of dollars, that symbol says that we are rich, in debt, living past our means, egotistical, or a number of other things. The symbol is a truth about how we see ourselves and it can be judged by others, but mostly misinterpreted. The real truth lies between the judgements.

Natural disasters are truths about how we envision the world. They are also opportunities for each individual to experience their own truth. If one likes to read about such things and feel the suffering, this is an opportunity to express that inner truth. If one likes to help those that are suffering, then once again there is an opportunity to express ones truth, by helping with donations of service and abundance.

If one’s truth is that of an opportunist that sees self abundance in providing goods or services, there is another opportunity to demonstrate that truth.

A lie is an unexplored truth and one cannot deny the possibility of the lie except in the absence of one’s own truth.

In the exploration of your own truth, you must be able to recognize your lies before you can begin to experience your new truth.

The lies you have accepted about who and what your really are, is your truth until you recognize them as such. The world will always be flat until you accept the fact that it isn’t or experience it yourself as being round.

Lies and truth are neither good things nor bad things unless you believe that they are. They are simply opportunities for you express yourself physically and demonstrate your truth. It can be the truth that you are a liar in as much as you are lying about the truth. All life exists between the opposites. Truth cannot exist in the absence of the lie.

When your lie or truth no longer works for you and you are not experiencing what you desire, then it is time to let go. There is a clear message that you have outgrown what you believed once. It doesn’t mean that it was not real or inappropriate at the time, but you have moved past it, you have matured or evolved.

Having said this, it is not inappropriate for you to continue to live the lie or truth if it is your desire to continue to experience the ramifications of that thought process. Nothing is naturally right or wrong, good or bad unless you know that it is. These are human concepts that do not work effectively in the world of cause and effect.

To find the way to truth your must pass by the lie.

The “Great Lie,” is that you are separated from that which created you. “The Great Lie,” is that anything you think or do, affects no others. The “The Great Lie,” is that someone or something is creating your life and causing your circumstances. And the GREATEST of the “Great Lies,” is that you have no choice and you are powerless.

This is the truth; this is my truth for now.

To thy self be true.

Roy E. Klienwachter is a resident of British Columbia, Canada. A student of NLP, an ordained minister, New Age Light Worker and Teacher. Roy has written and published seven ebooks on New Age wisdom and a new book coming out in late 2005 in paper form. Roy’s books are thought provoking and designed to empower you to take responsibility for your life and what you create. His books and articles are written in the simplicity and eloquence of Zen wisdom.

You may not always agree with what he has to say. You will always come away with a new perspective and your thinking will never be the same.

Roy’s style is honest and comes straight from the heart without all the metaphorical mumble jumble and BS.

Visit Roy at: http://www.klienwachter.com

Little nine year old Tommie and his family moved to Atlanta, Georgia from the small town of Villa Rica, Georgia in 1908. Tommy was demoted a grade in school and teased by the other children. He felt alienated from his school and also the black Baptist church where his daddy was the pastor and mamma was the pianist.

He spent the afternoons and evenings watching the vaudeville performances where he saw such well known blues artists as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. At age eleven he dropped out of school and took a job at the theater selling soda pop.

He was determined to become famous like Ma Rainey so he learned to play the piano and teaching himself to read music.

At age seventeen Tom moved to Chicago and became quite successful as a blues piano player and singer in the backroom bars during the prohibition era. He took the professional name of Georgia Tom.

Tom struggled with his conscience over playing the “world’s music.” His mother was always admonishing him that he should devote himself to composing and playing for the Lord. His struggle became so intense that he had a nervous breakdown and had to take two years off and move back to Atlanta to recover.

Sufficiently rested and recovered, Georgia Tom returned to Chicago and began to play for Ma Rainey and her jazz band. However, it was only a matter of time before he once again had a nervous breakdown and had to stop singing in the the bars of Chicago.

He soon determined to devote his music totally to the Lord. He began composing and singing gospel music using the blues style of music.

To his disappointment, many of the main stream churches refused to allow him to return because his music sounded too much like the world’s music. So he returned to the Chicago bars to earn enough money to survive.

Tom married and was expecting his first child within a year. He continued to play both in churches and bars. It was while he was in St. Louis preparing for a concert in a church that he received a telegram informing him that his wife had died during childbirth. He returned to Chicago in time to hold his newborn son but the child died within a few hours.

It was at that moment that he took the vow to devote his music totally to the Lord seriously. It was also during his grief that he composed these words:

Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, help me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Thru the storm, thru the night,
Lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.

Thomas Dorsey went on to compose nearly 1000 songs, all gospel with a blues style. He died in 1993 at the age of 96. He had earned the title of “The Father of Gospel Blues.”

The instructions to play this gospel blues song on a harmonica can be found by clicking on Precious Lord

It is important to realize that your choice of a niche can have a significant influence on the success or failure of your new blog.

Deciding on a theme can be a daunting task. What exactly are you going to write about? Your niche needs to be a popular topic that many people are interested in.

If you are going to blog about yourself, then you better have a very interesting life, or you will have difficulty keeping your readers coming back for more. You should choose a topic that will make it comparatively easy to grow your readership and build a strong following.

Since many bloggers write about their favorite subjects, it’s not a bad idea to start brainstorming by writing down a list of your hobbies, interests, and any areas of professional expertise. Now try to determine a niche you can target within one of those areas.

Should you blog about automobiles in general, or the latest sports cars? If you choose too narrow a theme then you may struggle to come up with regular, fresh content. And if you choose a topic that’s too general your readers may be confused by a jumble of seemingly unrelated posts.

You might consider niches within the following general topic areas which have proven to be popular for blogging:

• Automobiles
• Computers & Information Technology
• Digital Cameras
• Gadgets
• Music
• News
• Photography
• Politics
• Shopping

If you plan to use Pay-Per-Click advertising to get traffic to your blog, then remember also that the hottest topics might have the highest pay-per-click fees.

You can sometimes get great niche ideas by browsing at Blog directories and sites like Google Blog Search: http://blogsearch.google.com

Since it is so time-consuming trying to com up with the ‘perfect’ niche idea, many bloggers and webmasters have turned to specialized niche discovery tools. I particularly recommend Online Gold Finder and NicheTopics.

With Online Gold Finder you can uncover profitable, undiscovered online markets with just a couple of clicks. Read more about Online Gold Finder at: http://www.moneyforblogging.com/goldfinder.htm

NicheTopics is quite handy in a different way. You get to use some great research that’s already been completed by an expert. It is a ready-to-use report on 109 unique, untapped niches. Read more about NicheTopics: http://www.moneyforblogging.com/nichetopics.htm

The tools above are not free but consider for a moment. If you are planning – or would even like - to make some money from your blog, then it will be worthwhile to start off with a well-researched niche.

If a particular tool uncovers a good niche that pays an additional $5 a day, it will pay for itself inside the first month!

Don’t forget, it will be very difficult to change the theme and niche of your blog later. So invest some time wisely during your planning stage.

You will be off to a strong start in building a successful blog.

Mike Seddon is a writer, entrepreneur, and webmaster. He is the author of the popular e-book, ‘How to Build a Money Making Blog’, available from www.MoneyForBlogging.com

March 8-9, 2004

The case: Plaintiff sues Defendant for negligence in that her 11 year old son shot neighbor plaintiff’s 10 year old daughter with a BB gun. The BB lodged in the girl’s neck. This happened three years ago and the decision was made not to remove the BB, that leaving it there would be harmless.

The Jury: 8 people; three men five women.

Men:

Me-72 years old, former school teacher, liberal democrat.

Laughing fireman, age about 25-makes a joke about everything, always laughing.

Ex-military, reading a Christian bestseller for his church group, age 70’s-pompous and smirking, self-righteous, wants to bring back corporal punishment.

Women:

Artist, in her 20’s, bright, gender not clear, tattoos burned off arms. Conservative, punitive.

Foreperson by assumption- said she was 22 - very overweight math teacher-to-be, takes over, pushes others around, acts coy, talks incessantly.

Well-to-do, married, in her 70’s, very conservative, intelligent.

PE coach and nurse - in her 60’s, tough, coarse, conservative

Married woman, sensible, caring, in her 50’s, conservative.

The suit charged negligence. I felt that was not true. The mother had taught her son to be careful; the gun was kept in her room until she felt she could trust him, that he was not to use it without her being present. Someone else got the gun from the house, an older boy, and the son picked it up, called to the girl who was playing on the fence between the yards and said he was going to shoot, thinking it was empty. The girl turned, the boy shot, the BB hit.

Doctors agree that BB need not be removed and no future problems should arise.

The other 7 jurors were willing to listen to my argument, then ignored it, did not discuss, did not ponder. They had decided she was negligent, even though each one of them recounted a story or two about their own indiscretions as youngsters, and none was willing to say that their mothers were negligent; it’s just the sort of thing that can happen to kids.

The group felt that there was no reason to award a large amount. We (I had been marginalized since I was not a signer, but I was able to participate) calculated the medical bills and added on $10,000 for pain and suffering and possible future surgery; even though three doctors said there would never be any need for it.

We all thought that the attorneys for the plaintiff were obnoxious, ill-prepared and sarcastic. The judge seemed uncomfortable.

When the clerk read the verdict, she had to ask the judge to verify for her that the figure was correct, seemed to find it unbelievably low.

No emotion was registered by anyone in the court, no smile no frown.

Only one of the jurors who signed the verdict was willing to stay and answer questions. She was the caring married woman and she gave a good summary to the lawyers and litigants. I stayed also and told my point of view.

This was the second jury I served on. The first one was an armed robbery case. The verdict was guilty, and I concurred, but the process was hurried and careless. I had to get them to go over the evidence again so we could have a reasonable discussion. Some jurors expressed thanks that we spent more time on it.

It is not fair or reasonable for me to draw any vast conclusion from these two experiences, but it certainly makes me wonder about the jury system.

Post Script: The day after I prepared this article for eZineArticles I received a notice that I have been called up for jury duty, again.

Ostinato means “repeating pattern” and is used frequently in all types of music. For New Age piano players, it provides a great way to lay down the background of the piece while the right-hand improvises a melody!

For example, in the lesson “Winter Scene,” we have a repeating pattern going on in the left-hand using 2 chords. And 2 chords are all that is needed to create a few minutes of music!

Interest is maintained by the right-hand melody. How long you could actually play this ostinato and maintain interest is a whole new topic but the secret to really keeping the improvisation going is to stay in the present and trust your intuition.

The music will naturally wind down when you start becoming bored or indifferent and/or no new material wants to come. Then the improvisation is over and the music has played itself out.

The good thing about using an ostinato to create with is that it’s quite easy to develop a harmonic background over which you can improvise your melodies. The bad thing is that it tends to stagnate over time. That’s when you either stop playing, or introduce new material - something that adds contrast.

If you wanted, you could introduce another ostinato pattern, or go for something completely different, but you’d probably want to let your intuition guide you in this. You shouldn’t try to come up with material but instead, just improvise and see what comes up. A completely different, and much more effective approach!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

If you’re like me, you probably hate packing and shipping the things you sell on eBay.

Don’t get me wrong, I love selling on eBay. I just don’t like the shipping part. I find it monotonous to hunt for boxes, wrap the items, drive back and forth from the post office, and all the other steps involved in shipping.

Then there’s the waiting for the buyer to receive the item. Has it arrived yet? Did it get damaged in shipping?

It took me a lot of trial and error to figure them out, but the following 7 steps will help make your job easier when it comes to shipping, as well as get rid of the stress of waiting for the item to be delivered to the buyer.

1. Professional Wrapping

When you wrap your item(s), wrap it professionally in nice, clean tissue paper. If breakable, be sure the item is wrapped with bubble wrap as well. Include a business card with your website information, name, address, or a printed statement showing the item(s) name, item(s) number, price paid, and a small hand-written note thanking the buyer for their purchase.

2. Insurance

Insurance is usually a good idea but in general, it should be an optional feature, with the decision left to the buyer. Remember two important things about insurance. First, insurance is VERY inexpensive. Therefore, in your description, you should state how much insurance would cost and recommend it. Second, you should also state in the description that if insurance is not purchased, you are not responsible for lost or damaged items.

3. Weighing

In order to provide accurate details and help in determining shipping costs, you need to know exact weights. The best option, which will save you many unnecessary trips to the post office, is to purchase a inexpensive quality scale for weighing your packages.

4. Postage

Instead of always running out of stamps or having to run to the post office to ship a smaller item, fill out the information located at stamps.com where you can print stamps directly from your home computer.

5. Post Office Freebies

If you use the Priority Mail option through your post office, they will provide all your supplies for free. This includes boxes, labels, and tape. Best of all, they deliver all these supplies directly to your door. Get them at your local post office or go to USPS.com request mailing supplies.

6. Ship-To Locations

Be sure to consider where you will ship to carefully. You will have buyers from around the world but you can limit where you will ship. Some people prefer to ship to the US, Canada, and European countries while others ship anywhere. The option is completely yours but keep in mind that there are some differences in how you wrap the package, the currency exchanges, and communication barriers between you and the buyer.

7. Delivery Confirmation

Unfortunately, some buyers will try to say they paid for an item but never received the auction item(s). When shipping, you should consider using delivery confirmation. This service is generally inexpensive and can end up saving you a ton, especially if the item(s) is higher priced.

Do yourself a favor and put these tips into action - you’ll save yourself both time and hassles. Use the time you save to get more listings up, and watch your eBay income grow.

John Lenaghan offers success tips for making money on eBay, dropshippers and many other topics on the Online Auction Advisor website. Visit http://www.online-auction-advisor.com for more ways to improve your buying and selling on eBay.

When I started my business career, I started in sales and marketing. I found that after trying to teach school and coach baseball, I was a good teacher and a great baseball coach. But I could not stand dealing with the parents. I loved working with the kids. The one thing I was always able to do was sell people on my ideas. It was either belief or sales ability or a combination of both, but I always got my ideas accepted.

I then figured sales was my avenue to success. Actually, I was right. I have been a top producer for a yellow page company, an advertising company and the top annuity producer for an insurance company. I have taught people to be better sales people and make more money. I have turned sales organizations from bottom feeders to kings of the hill. How did I do this? Read on.

I began to study long ago the art of using NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming. It is the art of speaking using embedded commands, voice inflection, and reading your prospect. When you master the art of using NLP, you will master the art of selling and get VERY FEW objections. I have studied under the masters of using NLP. Tony Robbins, yes that Tony Robbins, was my first introduction to NLP. I have studied, Marshall Sylver, a hypnotist and success trainer that uses what he calls “Hypnotic Selling”, Duane Lakin, PhD, a master at NLP training for management, salespeople and telemarketing, and Bill Twyford, a real estate investor that is an expert at writing scripts and using embedded commands. These people have taken me to a new level of sales and sales training.

Goals for growth is actually an acronym. Everyone needs goals.

G stands for greater power. I dont know who you are or what you believe, but I feel there is a greater power in the world. To me it is God, to you it may be Buddha, Allah, or even “The Force” if you are a Star Wars fan. Whatever it is there is a greater force out there. Are you close with that greater power, are you searching for it. If and when you find it, you will be unstoppable.

R stands for realtionships. What relationships mean the most to you. Is it your realtionship with the greater power, your spouse, your family? I personally believe you should have a ranking system to this. Are you interested in building relationships?

O stands for outlook. What is your outlook to life? Are you a positive thinker? Is the glass half full or half empty? Negative thougths cloud our vision, judgement, and outlook. I want postive people around me. I dont know about you, but I dont have time in my life for negativity. I make a lot of money because I follow a process. If you were financially free, what you you be doing right now?

W stands for wealth. How are you going to become wealthy? What is your process going to be? I have a wealth strategy that is time tested. I can show you. Just follow my lead.

T stands for time. Some people can get more done in 24 hours than some in 24 days. Using your time effectively is paramount. If you are to be successful you have to deligate your time, and treat it as an asset.

H stands for health. You have heard the saying “if you have your health you have everything” Actually they are right. you need to be in good condition to lead yourself to success. How are you going to enjoy the fruits of your labor six feet under?

Take advantage of Goals for Growth and see your way to the top

Copyright 2006 James Mack

Jim Mack is an author, sales trainer and mentor to people that are making millions. He is a sports junkie who loves helping others.
Visit his websites at http://www.passivecashcow.com
http://www.whoisjimmack.com
http://www.coldcallingstinks.com

The goal of every Internet business is to provide great service to their customers. A satisfied customer is a happy customer. A happy customer is a returning customer. A happy customer is a promoter of your products or services. This could potentially generate more revenue for your business.

As more people visit your website, you should not let the opportunity of getting them to subscribe to your mailing list slip by. This list is also called an opt-in list whereby subscribers agreed to receive periodic mailings like newsletters to update them of your business or promotional offers of your products or services. This is important to the longevity of your Internet business.

Relying solely on drop-in sales is not a good option. You need to build a loyal customer base from your opt-in list.

With an opt-in list of subscribers, you can be sure that your mailings are received, opened and read. However, you should be fully aware that a subscriber could choose to opt out at anytime when they feel that they are not getting what they wanted or expected. The link to unsubscribe from your opt-in list is only a click away. You have to be on the alert to keep your subscribers happy and satisfied.

Here are some helpful tips that can keep your subscribers subscribed to your opt-in list…

1. Use creativity in your promotional materials. Build around your product or service. For example, if you are selling home furnishings, insert some pictures of what is new in the house furnishing industry in your promotional mailings.

2. Keep one step ahead of your subscribers. Research what current new things people are looking for. This way, you stay one step ahead of your subscribers. They will look forward to receive your mailings as you always have fresh, new things and ideas to share with them.

3. Write informational and easily digestible articles. Ok, you don’t like writing. Don’t fret. There are professional writers that will do the job for you for a minimal fee. The initial investment may be worthwhile. For it could lead to more sign-ups and potential sales.

4. Write an ebook that is related to your niche and give it away free to your subscribers. Use your experience and expertise to help other people. Reports, how to do it manuals and guides are hot. Encourage your subscribers to give away your ebook as long as they don’t change the original content and keep all links intact. This will attract more people to your website and possibly more sign-ups.

Again, if you don’t like to write, you can always hire someone to do the job of writing for you. Or you could buy ebooks with rebranding and reselling rights. With this arrangement, it gives you the rights to brand and sell the ebooks as your own without having to pay the author for every ebook sold. This initial investment of hiring someone to write your ebook or buying rebranding and reselling rights will go a long way to yield dividends.

5. Offer special discounts for your product. Add e-coupons in your newsletters that entitle your subscribers to special discounts for your products. Insert a control number on every e-coupon so that it can only be used once. When your subscribers get special discounts that can be found in your newsletters, they will be eager to receive your mailing in anticipation of what you will be promoting next.

6. Hold special contest and lucky dips. Reward winners with bonus gifts. Don’t stinge. Give your subscribers incentive to stay on your mailing list.

7. Offer freebies once in a while. Free is the buzzword. Offer freebies to your subscribers. However, don’t overdo it. When people get used to receiving freebies too often, it would become difficult to get them to fork out money for your products or services.

Many email marketers make the fatal mistake of flooding their mailing list with nothing of value but thinly disguised sales pitch. If your subscribers can get benefits from your newsletters, they will look forward to your mailings.

You got to feed the goose that lays the golden eggs. Maintain your opt-in list, and you’ll have a list of happy and eager subscribers. This translates to potential sales.

So, keep your subscribers happy and eager.

Gerrick W
mailto:gw@1stinternetmarketingsolution.com
Information and Software Tools You Need
to Effectively Promote Your Online Business.

Visit: http://www.1stinternetmarketingsolution.com

One of the most exciting things new parents get to do before the arrival of their child is choose the baby’s name. Will it be something popular or unusual? A family name or something original? We will explore the top baby names as well as some of the more unique possibilities to help you choose the perfect name.

Top Baby Names

In the 90s, the most popular name for a boy was Michael. For the past five years, the most common name has been Jacob. Other popular names include Joshua, Matthew, Ethan, Andrew, Daniel, William, Joseph, Gregory, Jonathan, Benjamin, and Christopher. If you are looking for a classic, these baby names have been popular for years.

The most popular name for a girl has not changed in the past fifteen years. It continues to be Emily, and is currently followed by Emma, Madison, Olivia, Hannah, Abigail, Isabella, Ashley, Samantha, and Elizabeth. Except for Ashley and Elizabeth, the popularity of the others is recent and affected by pop culture, especially television shows.

Other sources of popular names are best-selling novels and celebrities. After Gweneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple, many people have done the same. The Harry Potter books and the Lord of the Rings movies have also added many names to the list of the most popular.

Unusual Baby Names

One way today’s parents have created unusual names for their children is by changing the spelling of a popular name. Variations that are becoming less unusual include Emilie, Elisabeth, Karin, and Erika. Names like Stacy can be spelled in three different ways (Stacy, Stacie, Staci).

Another way to personalize a baby name is to use a nickname as the child’s full name. For instance, Ben instead of Benjamin, Jon instead of Jonathan, and Matt instead of Matthew are becoming more common.

Other unusual sources for baby names come from the world around us. The popularity of names such as April and May continues to come and go, while names such as Winter, and Hazel are still unusual. Consider choosing a baby name reminiscient of the time of year when your child will be born or the time of year they were conceived. Fruit, vegetables, colors, and the adjectives that describe them are a good starting point (Pear, Lemon, Azure). Other uncommon names are those of plants and flowers, such as Hyacinth, Daisy, and Fern.

Other ideas to get you thinking:
Africa
Autumn
Butterfly
Calla
Kansas
Peach

Names that describe an ideal or a personality, such as Hope, Grace, Prudence, Patience, Temperance, or Chastity, are still unusual although not entirely unique. Other descriptive baby names include Cadence and Candid.

Other unusual names come from sources that are not commonly used today. While Biblical names are popular, Greek mythology is only rarely used. Your child may be the only one in their class to have the name Athena, Minerva, or Pan. Or you could give them a name from another culture, such as the Swedish Carina or the Polish Aleksy.

Baby names from other cultures include:
Anuket - Egyptian mythology
Augustyn - Polish
Crina - Romanian
Dimitriy (Dima) - Russian
Freya - Norse mythology
Hestia - Greek mythology
Kirill - Russian

The possibilities are endless! But as mentioned above, remember that if the source of your baby’s name is a television show, novel, or celebrity, the name may not be that unusual when they begin school several years down the road. This is especially true for girls. Look for Apple, Reese, and Uma to be popular over the next five years.

Perhaps you’d like something even more original.

Unique Baby Names

If you don’t want your child’s name to be the same as anyone else’s, you can create a unique baby name. These names can have many sources. The more common methods of creating something original are by the combination of family names or the addition of a syllable or letter to a popular name. An example of the latter is Kylen, a unique girl’s name which stems from the boy’s name Kyle. Unique baby names which may come from a family name include Stafford, Prestoff, and Kilin. While some people may find these better suited for a middle name, others may prefer their unique nature.

A sampling of unique names:
Baton
Jaico
Kermin
Lorelai
Mady

The Meaning of a Name

For some people, it doesn’t matter whether a baby name is popular or unique, it just has to mean a certain thing. Rather than choose a baby name with an obvious connotation such as Spring, Grace, or Rose, they want a name that will bring goodwill to their child through its ancient origin.

Some popular as well as unusual baby names include:
Adelaide (Adelia, Alyssa, Allison) - noble
Albert - bright
Alethea - truth
Beatrice - traveller
Cara - beloved
Colbert - bright
Darwin - friend
Elfleda - beauty
Gertrude - stength
Hannah (Anna) - favor, grace
Henry (Henrietta) - power
Isolde - beauty
Keisha - favorite
Letitia - joy
Manfred - strength
Osmund - protector
Robert (Bob) - fame
Vivian - alive

Tips For Choosing

There are many things to consider when you finally select a baby name. Will this be a name your child can use for life, or will it sound silly when it refers to an adult? Will this name cause your child to be picked on? Will they have to constantly correct people in its pronunciation or spelling, and does this concern you? Are there any stereotypes (good or bad) associated with it?

One last concern is: does it fit with your last name? Generally it sounds better if there are a different number of syllables in the first and last names. Only rarely should the first letter of the first and last names be the same. This is of course more of a concern for boys, as they will keep their name for life. Of course, any decisions about hyphenation in the last name should be made before the first name is chosen.

Try not to get overwhelmed by the possibilities. After all, you have nine months to make this decision! Leave yourself open to the myriad sources of ideas, and you will find the baby name for you. And of course, if you let people know you’re looking, friends, family members, and even coworkers might add their own suggestions!

Keep these things in mind, and you will choose a popular, or unusual, or unique baby name that your child will be proud of for life.

Julie Parker is a successful writer and publisher providing valuable tips and advice on finding the top baby names, unusual baby names, and baby name meanings. Her numerous articles offer thoughtful tips and valuable insight into baby naming. Check out the “Top 100 Baby Names” list from the last 6 years.