Luckily, there are ways to avoid Thanksgiving Day megaspend. If you strategize your meal, involve others, and entertain for free, you can host a delicious Thanksgiving Day for as little as $50. The twelve tips below will give you a Thanksgiving Day to remember–without the budgetary complications:

Plan it

Image: The Writing Loft

1) What type of feast (and people) do you want?
Will this year be a family affair? A semiformal dinner party? A gaggle of relatives? Figure out who’s coming over, what kind of food you want to serve, and how to entertain everyone.

If possible, make your event a potluck. That way, you only have to worry about the turkey, drinks, and perhaps a side dish. If you’re strapped, have your visitors bring drinks, too.

Tip: If a lot of people are coming, an easy way to organize a potluck is to create a list of items guests need to bring. Email out the list. Tell your guests to email you back as soon as they decide what item to bring. This generally leaves the slackers bringing the alcohol, which tends to cost more…but the system works.

2) What can you afford?
Look at your bank statements and figure out how much you can afford. Your Thanksgiving feast should not incur credit card debt. If you only have $5 to spare, push the potluck idea—hard. If you have $50, you can prepare a tasty, cheap meal for a family. If you have $500, you probably don’t need to read the rest of this post.

3) How much time do you have to prepare?
If you have less than an entire day, think about getting a prepared Thanksgiving meal at a grocery store. Many sell family-sized meals, including turkey, pumpkin pie, and the works, for less than $50. You pick them up on Thanksgiving Day.

Shop

Get cheaper kinds of foods.
There are several ways to do this.

1) Forego the whole turkey.
Will your guests be just as happy munching on a turkey thigh dish? Or pork? A vegetarian feast, perhaps? Substituting other food for a big turkey can save a lot of money. See what your guests are willing to eat in place of the big bird.

2) Cheap produce still makes tasty side dishes.
It costs less to make mashed potatoes than to prepare Peruvian purples stuffed with caviar and crème fraiche. Stick to sides that won’t break your wallet. Buy the produce on sale at your grocery store (called shop loss leaders). Supplement it with canned or frozen produce.

3) Buy in bulk.
There’s no better time than Thanksgiving to buy big bags of potatoes, frozen meat multipacks, and crates of juice at your local bulk retailer. See what you need a lot of, and head over to Costco or Sam’s Club to get it.

4) Clip coupons.
Start browsing your local Sunday newspaper two weeks before Thanksgiving. Stores often try to lure in customers with ultra-cheap specials. Make a meal out of the specials you find. If newspaper ads are too 1980 for you, find coupons online, at sites like Coupons.com.

If your store doubles or matches other stores’ coupons, all the better.

5) Put your freezer to work.
If you find grocery store loss leader specials a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, see if you can freeze them. Thaw before your feast, and voila, cheap fare.

6) Does anything taste just as good generic?
Some generic products, like beer, are dismal buys. Others, like canned pumpkin or cheddar cheese, might actually taste okay. See if there’s anything you can buy generic, without sacrificing taste.

7) Borrow.
If you’re lacking a turkey baster, gravy ladles, or any other Thanksgiving-specific utensil, see if you can borrow one from one of your guests. It beats buying something you’re only going to use once a year.

Entertain

1) Decorate on the cheap.
Creating your own can be cheap and fun, especially if you have kids. Here are some ideas to start you off. If you’re humble about your lack of Thanksgiving Martha Stewart-ness, ask if you can borrow decorations from someone. Or hit up your local dollar store for single-use holiday decorations.

2) Find free games.
If kids will be attending your party, print out free online games, puzzles, and coloring book pages. A Google search will lead you to a treasure trove of printables like the ones on this site. Bring out (or have guests bring) board games and DVDs if you want to keep the fun at home. If your plans include movies, see if you can schedule in a matinee.

For specific cost-effective recipes, try this website.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office sent this veto letter to San Francisco assemblyman Tom Ammiano. Read horizontally, it looks innocent enough. But when you read vertically, it says “I Fuck You.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle,

Schwarzenegger’s press secretary, Aaron McLear, insisted Tuesday it was simply a “weird coincidence.” He sent us veto messages the governor sent out in the past with linguistic lineups such as “soap” and “poet,” which he said were also unintended.

Maybe. But the veto message came after Ammiano called the governor a liar and shouted from the audience to “kiss my gay ass” when Schwarzenegger unexpectedly showed up at a Democratic Party dinner in San Francisco on Oct. 7.

Looks like the Governator still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Impressive.

Last month, social media network Facebook hit 300 million users. If you think a few of those people could use your company’s widget, then it’s time to fire up your business’s presence.

When used correctly, Facebook drives traffic to your website, gains you valuable customer input, and lets you market and advertise for free (via your profile). If you use your account to its full potential, even more is possible. This step-by-step guide will show you how to create a business Facebook account that really works.

1. Create an interesting profile

Include lots of photos in your profile. Photos help fans make an emotional connection to your company. The bare minimum would be a logo and a couple of executive profile pictures. Depending on your situation, you can also add pictures of your bestselling products, company events, ads, employees, company events, and even company pets.

Make your business descriptions compelling. For example, let’s say I run a strawberry jam company called Strawmelade. A dull description would be “Strawmelade, makers of strawberry jam.” True, but rather dull. Instead, I might want to spice it up: “Squished strawberries never tasted so good.” “So yummy, you’ll lick the jar clean.”

Add links, events, video, and notes pages as appropriate. Make sure that you give each page high-quality content. It’s better to start with fewer pages and make them good, then add as you go.

Start posting Wall comments and links while you proceed to Step 2.

2. Grow your fan base

Note: This only applies if you use your personal account for business. Business accounts can’t friend people.

Start by friending people you know. Because this is your business’s site, keep your friends professional. If they are your personal friends, make sure they’re clear on the fact that you’ll be posting business updates on the site—and that they should react accordingly. You don’t want your best buddy to reminisce about your weekend bender on your business site.

Use Facebook’s search engine to find more friends. Facebook can help you search your existing contacts through email, AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Live Contact, and college alumni, to name a few. Hit up old acquaintances. Then make new friends. Searches by keyword (eg. “strawberries” might be a good keyword for my strawberry jam company) will also generate potential friends. Find people you’re interested in. Approach and friend them.

Join groups. Do a Facebook search by industry, location, or company name. Select “Groups” on the lefthand menu. For example, my strawberry company might want to conduct the following searches:

Industry: “fruit preserves,” “fruit spread,” “fruit jam,” “strawberries,” “food manufacturer”
Location: My hometown, my home state, my region (eg. Midwest)
Company name: “Smuckers,” “Knott’s,” any other competitors or people along my supply chain

If there’s no group in your industry, start one. Do this by selecting “Create a New Group,” a button located to the right of the Groups search field. Find people to invite.

3. Cultivate your presence

Join Wall or forum discussions. They can help you establish a Facebook identity and visibility. Comment on others’ Walls when you have something to say.

Make your own Wall interesting. Update frequently and regularly. Good things to post:

-Promotions. Eg. contests, gift cards, raffles, giveaways, season ticket raffles, etc.
-Events. Eg. weekly specials
-Polls and feedback. Link to online polls, or just ask people for feedback on a product, service, or idea.
-Customer service. Encourage people to contact you through Facebook. Resolve customer service issues through messages or on your Wall.

Arrange discussion themes on your Wall. For example, you (or your moderator) can ask a question relevant to your industry or product. For example, a Denver-based sports bar moderator might ask who fans think will win the next Broncos game. Get people to talk.

Set up fan photo participation campaigns. For example, have fans send in their favorite photos, then you put them in a special album. Or announce a themed photo contest, such as “best Halloween costumes.” Have fans post images of themselves wearing their Halloween costumes on your Wall.

Follow your competition through their status updates. Continue to friend people in your industry as you find them–then keep an eye on them.

4. Syndicate

Link to your website. Drive traffic back to your site wherever possible. Some companies find that their Facebook profiles receive more visitors than their websites. To avoid this trend, send fans back to where the action is–your website.

Link to Twitter. If you plan on sharing similar news through your Twitter account, then link your Facebook account to your Twitter account. You will see this option during the setup process.

Add a Facebook Fan Box to your website. When people click on the Fan Box, they’ll become your Facebook fans–without having to log into Facebook and find you.

Syndicate your Facebook feed with your blog–if appropriate.

5. Advertise

Run ads on Facebook. Many businesses have found this to be a successful way to drive traffic.

Open a “Shop” section in your profile. Populate it with company products. If you’re a service, sell branded T-shirts, caps, etc.

Allow fans to sign up for your online newsletter via Facebook. Open a signup page for online offers, your newsletter, or regular updates.

October is domestic violence awareness month and Verizon Wireless has teamed up with NFL to bring coverage to the issue, as well as provide resources to women and children in danger. At various pro-football games this fall, no-longer-used wireless phones will be collected to benefit survivors of domestic violence.

Does Football Really Result in Battered Women?

Popular myth holds that Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day of the year for violence against women. This snopes article shows how these type of urban legends can be perpetuated. While certainly motivated by PR and marketing concerns at least in part, it’s impressive that the NFL has chosen to partner with Verizon’s initiative against domestic violence.

Through Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine® program, the phones will be refurbished and recycled or sold. Proceeds will be used to purchase wireless phones for use by domestic violence survivors in emergency or life-threatening situations.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Verizon Wireless has partnered with the NFL to fight domestic violence in our communities.

“These donations of wireless phones have made a tremendous difference for victims of domestic violence,” said Mario Turco, President of Verizon Wireless’ Philadelphia Tri-State Region. “The Philadelphia Eagles and the fans have been committed to this cause every year, and we are proud of this partnership.”

Other community outreach programs, include:

• Eagles participation in Verizon Wireless’ annual “Packs for Pride” project, an initiative coordinated by local Verizon Wireless employees in the company’s Philadelphia Region that provides backpacks filled with clothing, toys and other items to children living in domestic violence shelters and safe houses
• Eagles home-game ticket donations to families throughout the region living in domestic violence shelters and safe houses

Since 2001, HopeLine has collected more than 5.6 million phones and more than one million phones have been recycled. Verizon Wireless has also awarded nearly $6.3 million in cash grants to domestic violence prevention and awareness programs across the country.

For store locations and additional information, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline. For more information on the 2009 Philadelphia Eagles, visit the Eagles official Web site at www.PhiladelphiaEagles.com.

Image Credit: texas_mustang

When your ego is bruised, remember: no matter what, it’s almost never personal.

This is the last in the series 8 Mistakes Men Don’t Make, inspired by a presentation from Carol Spieckerman and Lisa Carver. Taking things personally is a weakness that confuses issues and, if you’re not careful, results in an uncooperative attitude hinders accomplishing business goals.

Recognize Patterns

If we’re taking things personally, we assume an abrasive (or blunt, direct, manipulative, mean) person has something against us in particular. While that’s certainly possible, the truth is more likely that if someone behaves this way toward you, he or she is the same with others. The trouble with making it about you is that you start to second guess yourself or worse – fall into vindictive mode.  

And so what if it is? What if someone you’re trying to work with really can’t stand you? Who cares? That shouldn’t change the way you behave. If anything it should be a challenge to rise above the situation. If you’re going to assume anything, assume that nothing is personal. Easier said than done? Maybe, but it can be done.

Enlist Perspective

Once you suspect (or assume) that someone’s got it in for you, every word and gesture takes on new meaning . Your judgment is clouded, making it impossible to see things objectively. Talking the situation over with a trusted friend or colleague (depending on the situation) provides alternative ideas for what’s behind another’s behavior. This is perspective you may be too close to the situation to recognize.

Depersonalize Everything

One way to protect against taking things personally is to separate the relationships from business goals, problems, and outcomes. The irony is that the more you shift the focus off of you–your skills, your feelings, whatever–the more successful you are. It’s because your energy is focused on accomplishing the objectives at hand instead of wasted on solving personal issues that may or may not actually exist.

If you liked this post, I hope you’ll check out the rest of the eight mistakes series.

Other Posts in This Series:

1. Seeking Validation

2. Hoping for the Best

3. Avoiding Confrontation

4. Resisting Duality (this one’s very interesting….)

5. Blending In

6. Diminishing

7. Making It Personal

Image Credit: lelia thomas, Flickr

If you have a business, and are thinking about tweeting, try the steps below.

1) Open an account.

Simply open an account under your business’s real name. Upload your logo to use as an icon. If your personal identity is tied into your business, use your real, full name and a headshot. Start tweeting.

2) Find people to follow.

Image: CC Chapman/Flickr

Once you’ve tweeted a few times, start finding people to follow. Follow people in your industry, competitors, friends, colleagues, and people you admire (for business purposes). You can use one of many Twitter apps to find people by topic. Twellow—the Yellow Pages for Twitter—is an example. With time, people will start following you, too.

Note: Some followers are spammers. Whenever someone unfamiliar signs up to follow you, flag them for further investigation. Are they using a real name? What do their tweets look like? Avoid them if they only tweet spam.

3) Tweet away.

As a business, your tweets will look slightly different from the life updates that most individuals share. Although life updates keep your tweets interesting, keep them business-related. For example, thank individuals for their help. Recommend people. Ask questions.

In addition, follow the tweet subjects below to maximize Twitter’s business utility:

–Link to news about your industry, sports, etc.

–Link to new deals and promos. Be sure to include the occasional Twitter-only promo. An easy way to do this is to offer free drinks to Twitter followers. Name the drink something unique that only your Twitter followers will be able to read. Then, when they come in, they can request the special drink by name—and get it free. You can also tweet contests—guess the winning team and get a free beer—or special codes that people can show on their cell phones.

–Ask your followers for feedback on their experience with your product, new ideas you have for events/ promos, etc.

–Job postings. Post short descriptions and a link to where followers can learn more.

–Live event feeds. For example, if you host a contest at the bar/restaurant, have someone tweet it live.

–Customer service. Encourage customers to tweet with questions, feedback, etc.

–PR firefighting. If something happens that could damage your reputation, post your defense on Twitter. Big companies do this all the time when faced with something potentially damaging.

–Reply to people’s tweets. Get in touch with them personally.

–Retweet. Show others whose tweets you’re interested in.

4) Monitor your reputation.

Image: DollAddiction

Periodically search for who’s talking about you using #hashtag searches. For example, search #yourbusinessname to see who is talking about you. Use other hashtag searches to follow industry news.

5) Promote yourself.

Image: BlogsDNA

Make sure people know you’re on Twitter. Promote your Twitter profile on your website, email (footer), in your store, on your business cards, ads, and other social networking sites. Make your Twitter profile visible and clickable. The easier you are to find on Twitter, the more people will find you.

After Nike endorsed–no, wait, didn’t endorse–Michael Vick again this year, I can’t help but wonder whether Vick has even more star power than he did before spending 23 months in prison for his participation in a dogfighting ring.

John Kelly of Minyanville has the following to say about Vick and notoriety:

The questions on everyone’s minds are: Can Michael Vick return at the same level of play after spending 18 months in jail? Will the fans forgive him for his cruelty to dogs and allow him to refurbish his tarnished image? Gareb Shamus, CEO of New York-based Wizard Entertainment, which covers the gaming industry, says the answer is yes. “If anything, it’s his notoriety, more than his athletic ability, that will contribute to a spike in his popularity,” he says. “This is a period in our history where infamy makes you famous. And desirable.”

On the other hand, there’s some positive news for Vick. A day after signing his contract with the Eagles, the video-game company EA Sports added Vick to this years edition of Madden NFL, its bestselling multi-platform video game. Even more telling, Vick’s number-seven Eagles jersey is the fourth-best selling jersey on NFLShop.com. The stats are based on sales at the site from April 1 to August 28; Vick signed with the Eagles on August 13, which means that his jersey broke the top five in sales in less than two weeks. And while Dick’s Sporting Goods, whose headquarters are in Pennsylvania, is refusing to stock the jersey, the sporting goods chain Modell’s reports that demand for the jersey is high.

There are two ways to interpret Vick’s story:

a) Vick should be permanently shunned for his involvement in dogfighting. Contributing to the deaths of animals is inexcusable.

b) Vick messed up. He declared bankruptcy and did time in prison. Now, he’s getting a second chance. Who doesn’t deserve a second chance?

Through his actions, Vick has become symbolic for his audience. He gives them a chance to express agreement, disagreement, disgust, and a range of other emotions. In that sense, Michael Vick is more than a football player–he is a trigger for value expression.

Because of that, Vick continues to draw a lot of attention. Companies like Nike and jersey sellers can capitalize on that attention, either by selling product or by making their own statement, as Nike just did. Maybe his moral value went down after the dogfighting incident, but his marketing value has gone up.

What do you think of the Vick incident? Is it affecting your perception of his sponsors or the Philadelphia Eagles?

Okay, so maybe you don’t want to wear Technicolor socks, but if you’ve ever walked into a business meeting without a smile and a handshake, this post is for you.

This post is the fifth in the series 8 Mistakes Men Don’t Make. Blending in at the outset can ensure that no one takes you seriously when you’re ready to be heard. But I’ll let you in on a secret: men make them too, especially this one.

Banish Passive Introductions

 A powerful introduction is audible, direct, and confident. It includes not only your name, but your title or role in the organization. This is the first clue to others in the room that you know who you are and that you’re there for a purpose. Entering a room quietly does nothing to establish your authority.

Physical Positioning

A big mistake is sitting, literally, on the sidelines of the room. I see this one all the time. In an effort to be polite, or to avoid being perceived as a threat or challenge, women will take the side chairs in a meeting room. Another power sucking move is to take the spot in the middle of the table every time.

When I was in school accounting students with good grades were aggressively recruited by the big accounting and consulting firms, as well as Fortune 500 corporations. Recruiting events were pseudo-social events where our softer skills could be observed. One of the first things we learned was to choose your company before you sit. In important meetings, pay attention to where you are, physically.

Speaking of—stand up! The more space you take up, and the more of your body that is visible during communication, the more of your message gets across. My enemy is the podium. At 5’1” if I stand behind one, all you see is my head—and that can be all but obscured by a large microphone. When I speak to a group the first thing I do is take that bad boy out and start moving around the front of the room. 

To the Host Goes the Power

I love this idea. Other people naturally defer to you on your turf. While you may not be able to host every interaction, a lot of times you can ‘play host’. The more people you know in the room, the easier this is to do. Get people talking about themselves just as you would if you were sharing cider in your home and you will create instant rapport.

Like these ideas? Check out Carol Spieckerman and Lisa Carver, who came up with the original list of mistakes men don’t make.

Image Credit: Pink Sherbet, Flickr

Today is National Coffee Day, one of many annual food-related celebrations of unspecified origin. If you’re among the 54% of Americans who enjoy a daily brew, you might want to celebrate National Coffee Day by acquiring your juice for free. Below, we’ve listed some of the coffee shops offering special National Coffee Day deals:

Texas/Midwest: Dunn Bros. is offering one free 12 oz. cup with this coupon.

Los Angeles: Panera is offering a second cup of coffee, free, when you order one cup and say “pay it forward.”

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire: McDonald’s is giving away free cups of Newman’s Own coffee today and tomorrow.

Coral Gables, Fla: Buttercream Cupcakes & Coffee is giving away a cup of free joe.

All over the country, Starbucks will be giving away a free cup of its new VIA instant coffee on October 2-4. The catch: It’s instant.

Filterfresh, a coffee supplier, is offering a home brewer and coffee for your office if you write a winning story about “why coffee is the greatest beverage of all time.”

Ohio and Kentucky: Busken Bakery is offering free coffee and a cookie.

If you don’t see any offerings in your region, walk up to your favorite brewer and ask nicely whether they have anything to give you on National Coffee Day. If they say no, throw a fit, start crying, and blame lack of caffeine for your temper tantrum. You stand a chance of invoking their pity and getting something:

If they remain stubborn, tell your local brewers that National Espresso Day is on November 23, and they’d better offer you something free…or else.

How many people are inside you? And more importantly, which one has the special skills and personality traits that you need right now to achieve an important goal?

Today’s topic is #4 in the 8 Mistakes Men Don’t Makeseries, and it’s a killer. Resisting duality describes what we do when we are unwilling or unable to take on different personas in different situations to achieve certain objectives or fulfill certain roles.

You Are Multifaceted – Use It!

You are not the same ‘you’ all the time. Different situations require you to feature different aspects of your personality. Women especially can get sucked into the idea that we have to be our deep and authentic selves every minute of every day. We tend to downplay our skills and accomplishments, presenting our content—whether it’s a report or a resume—without the sizzle it takes to really sell it.

Bottom line: facts and numbers do not speak for themselves. You need to use everything you’ve got—or rather what unique and valuable trait or skill you offer—in order to close the deal.

Selling Confidence

Sometimes people just need to believe in you. Even in you’re not in sales (but aren’t we all?) almost everyone can relate to the interview scenario.

Several years ago I followed my husband halfway across the country to follow his great opportunity. But as the glamour of mixing formula and adjusting the kids’ diets based on what I found in their diapers wore off, I began to tap my sparse new network for a job.

An acquaintance at a local CPA firm tipped me off to an opening in the tax department. I’d never done the type of work that was required, but I’d done plenty that was, in my not so humble opinion, more difficult. However, I knew it was going to be a hard sell – these were accountants after all and hard skills matter. I knew I’d have to get in on personality and my ability to connect the most related skills from my previous experience to the requirements of this one.

I laid it on thick. So thick in fact, that by the end of the interview the partner in charge stopped me mid-sentence and said,

“Yeah, I got it – you’re confident.”

At that point I felt anything but. I didn’t own a suit that fit or a blouse that wasn’t stained with spit up. I’d never heard of an oil royalty, and the majority of the firm’s clients lived off their 1970s black gold profits. I had an inside connection and I had to leverage it. If I’d been afraid to play that interview over the top, I’m sure there would’ve been a line of applicants at the door the next day.

I didn’t show up and act like ‘myself’. I put on a show and as a result was offered the position on the spot.

Image Credit: Photos8, Flickr