There are many activities in or around your city that you probably know all the tourists go to, but when was the last time you went? Just because you have been there many times before along with your children doesn’t mean they wouldn’t love to go again (and again and again).

Take a few days during the summer break to visit attractions and destinations that you haven’t been to in awhile. If you know that the place is going to be crowded on the weekend or in the afternoons go on a weekday morning. The added benefit of being a local and going to a tourist destination is that you know the ins and outs and the tricks to get the most out of your day.

Water parks are always popular and tend to fill up around and after lunch time. Try and go when the park first opens to beat the crowds. If you leave before lunch time, you can save money by eating at home and get out of the hot midday sun.

Going to your local zoo is an all day event. Pack a picnic lunch and if you aren’t able to bring it into the park get a hand stamp and leave for awhile to eat. Consider buying a season’s pass too. Most times a pass will pay for itself in less than three visits. If you don’t want to spend all day at the zoo, break it up into 2-3 hour chunks and keep coming back.

Go to your local visitor’s center and pick up the free brochures that are available there. You might find some excursions you didn’t know about or had forgotten existed. The staff at the visitor’s center usually have coupons for free or discounted admission too. Take advantage of your local resources.

         

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It’s summer time and you don’t want the kids cooped up in the house in front of the television set. But a day here and there is not going to hurt and it could be a sanity saver for you on a wet and cold day.

Make it a planned event. Go to the video store and let each child pick out their own video. Make sure the ground rule is set. They can pick out their own videos but have to agree to watch what the other children pick out too. Make sure to pick up some popcorn if you don’t already have some at home.

Set the mood; let the kids create their own movie theatre in the living room. Their movie theater can take the form of a fort, lawn chairs, or whatever else they can think up to make themselves comfortable for the movie marathon.

As the parent you will have to be in charge of the concession stand. Popcorn is a given but also have some healthy snacks on hand to satiate their appetites. Vegetable sticks and sandwiches are easy to make and if you are letting them eat in front of the television they won’t make a big mess.

When children are in front of the TV for extending periods of time their energy gets pent up and they are going to need a way to release it. Come in between movies and have a stretch or exercise burst to shake away the sillies. It can be just like the 9th inning stretch at baseball games. Play follow the leader in the house or do jumping jacks - make it fun.

When the rain stops, send the kids outside. You will find they won’t ask for TV as often with a few of these days thrown in each month.

         

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If there isn’t one coming to your town or city this summer help the kids put on one of their own. You can be the ring master and invite over friends and family to watch the finished production.

Depending on how many children are participating some kids may have to perform in more than one act. Find out what each child wants to be and try to find a way to include all of their talents.

Older children may like to take on the challenge of learning how to juggle before the big show. So now one gets hurt (including the audience) use tissues or kerchiefs for a beginning juggler.

An acrobat can use a log or long piece of 2 X 4 to showcase their balancing skills as they cross the high wire - with no net. This might be a popular one, let all the practicing acrobats participate.

If your family owns a well-trained dog, recruit the family pet to be a lion and have one of the kids be a lion-tamer. If there are no animals to use for this, convince one of the children that they can be the lion. You can’t have a circus without a lion and a lion tamer.

Another popular act at the circus is the clowns. Let your clowns dress up and create their act by themselves so it is a surprise for everyone. As the ringmaster, try and be as authentic as possible and introduce each performer as grandiosely as possible. You will know you are doing a good job by the number of giggle you elicit as you announce the children’s names. Don’t forget the popcorn and peanuts for the audience to munch on as they watch the show.

         

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The sound of a wind time in the summer breeze is very relaxing and making one can occupy the children for an afternoon. The materials you will need are items that will make a pretty sound when they rub against each other (shells, beads, or even old utensils), something sharp to poke a hole through each item, a hammer, string, a round
item (a lid or piece of wood) for the top, and a hook to hang the wind chime.

Once all the items are collected the adult should use the hammer and sharp object (such as a screwdriver) to make a hole in each object. If the item is too hard to make a hole in (like a rock) tie string around it several times until it is secured. After the holes are made tie a piece of string to each item.

Take your tools again and punch holes in the round lid that you are going to use, one for each item that will be hanging from the wind chime. Thread the string through the hole and tie a knot so that it will not fall back through. Poke two more holes in the lid and tie one piece of string through both holes and attach the hook.

All that is left is to find the perfect spot for your wind chime. Place it close enough so that it can be heard through an open window on a breezy day. If the items do not knock against each other when the wind blows you may have to adjust the lengths of the string a few times until you get it just right. Keep an eye on the wind chime to make sure it doesn’t loose any of the pieces. If it does be sure to pick them up as they can pose a choking hazard to young children.

         

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For someone just getting into CPA marketing, the variety of different offer types can be confusing - it might seem overwhelming at first to try and figure out what all the different offers are.

Some common types you will find in nearly any CPA network’s portfolio are free-trial offers, zip-submit offers, and e-mail-submit offers.

Let’s begin with free-trial offers, because they are so popular among both advertisers and the marketers who promote them. The reason is simple: These free trial offers are often completely free to the customer, except for a small fee (as little as $1.95 or so) for shipping and handling. The customer gets a product they are interested for an incredibly low price, and the advertiser gets a valuable lead.

As a marketer, you might be wondering how this benefits you. Even though the offer is free, or nearly free, companies are often more than willing to pay generous commissions (as much as $20-$100 per lead). The reason is that many of these free trial offers are forced continuity programs - by accepting the free trial offer, the customer is agreeing to pay for more of the product when the free trial is up, often through a monthly auto-ship program.

All you need to worry about, however, is delivering the lead - retaining the customer is up to the advertiser. That means that you get a high commission on an offer that is easy to convert, and all you have to do is get the customer to the company’s landing page. Free-trial offers are popular for a reason?

Another very common type of CPA offer is a “zip submit”. All a visitor has to do in order for you to get paid is enter their zip code. You can be sure that the company running the promotion has a way to make money from the customer on the back end, but you as the CPA marketer get paid just for the customer’s zip code. These offers convert extremely well, although they are generally low-paying - you might earn as little as 75 cents to $1 for a zip submit, but if you can drive a lot of traffic to them even small change can add up to big money.

Another similar kind of offer is an “e-mail submit”. You have probably heard many marketers say that “the money is in the list”, but building a list of prequalified buyers can be tough, and so companies are willing to pay a lot for the right e-mail addresses. That’s where you come in: All the visitor needs to do is enter their e-mail address and you get paid. Like a zip-submit, the payouts can be a little low, but you can make up for that in volume.

You can learn a lot more about the various types of CPA offers and, most importantly, how to choose the right offer to promote and how to promote it, by checking out the newly-released zero friction marketing.

         

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