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The memories collected and moments captured from family vacation trips last a lifetime. Therefore, these vacation trips should be planned as a bigger-than-life experience. Fortunately, Dallas has some of the finest accommodations and attractions, with fun activities for both parents and children. As far as accommodation is concerned, nothing beats the comfort, luxury, and amenities of Omni Hotel Dallas. It is in the center of the city and only a few minutes’ walk to many attractions, like the 6^th Floor Museum and Dallas World Aquarium.

DALLAS HERITAGE VILLAGE

This village has collected and preserved the rich history of Dallas and North Texas. They have the furnished historic buildings that represent the period of 1840-1910. The costumed storytellers catch the eye of all the children by recreating the moments of Dallas’ beginning. Among 38 historic buildings, they have a hotel, church, and a bank that creates the experience of historic Dallas.

MESQUITE CHAMPIONSHIP RODEO

Mesquite Championship Rodeo has been entertaining the public for more than 50 years with their iconic events, like bull riding, barrel racing, team roping, and bronc riding. They have created a “Fan Zone” specifically tailored for children, in which they offer free pony rides, roping dummies, and stick horse barrel racing. On the other hand, visitors can step onto the arena floor to meet the rodeo participants and experience their rodeo skills. This makes it the most attractive and entertaining experience for both parents and children.

MEDIEVAL TIMES DINNER AND TOURNAMENT

Enjoy a 4-course royal style dinner at this unique venue, who has spent millions of dollars to create an outstanding experience for their guests. They can accommodate 1,000 guests in their arena style seating. Nothing could be better than witnessing the battles of steed and steel while having a 4-course meal.

DALLAS ZOO

This place is a not-to-be-missed attraction for a family vacation. The Dallas Zoo offers activities that cannot be found in other zoos, and that’s the reason this zoo is considered one of the 20 best zoos in the United States. A safari exhibit made on an area of 11 acres gives guests the opportunity to feed lettuce to Giraffes and giant tortoises and witness the sprints of a cheetah. The reptile house includes all kinds and sizes of beautifully textured snakes, and the northern part of the zoo is full of interesting animals like koalas, wallabies, and tigers. The most interesting area for families with children is the Children’s Zoo in Zoo North, where the children can enjoy some amazing tunnels and slides.

PEROT MUSUEM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE

With giant fossils of dinosaurs and multicolored natural gems and minerals, Perot Museum becomes a great attraction for visitors of all ages. The extraordinary, huge building and outdoor spaces offers an illustration of engineering and technology and serves as a living science lesson. Perot Museum has 11 exhibit halls that contain video and 3D computer animation, where the visitors can storm their brains through hands-on activities and educational games. The museum also features a mini replica of the Cave of Crystal giants in Mexico, and the third largest natural gold nugget, the Ausrox Gold Nugget, which weighs 50 lbs.

Do you remember when MTV release its series titled The Real World back in the day? Seven strangers, picked to live in a house, and have their lives taped.

It changed television and the entertainment industry forever.

Some of the most popular reality series exclusive to Satellite TV channels, just had the participants pack carry on luggage and show up at the destination for filming with no information or warning. This added to the element of surprise.

The producers realized that if they combined personalities that could clash and cause drama they had a hit series on their hand. The public couldn’t get enough. It was like watching a real life circus. The personalities the grouped together for reality tv was like mixing fire and gas — and the outcome was the same. A total explosion.

There are three main reasons why reality tv made such an impact on the entertainment industry.

It Drove Production Costs Down Significantly

Before reality tv the producers would have to sign big name actors to contracts that paid them a lot of money per episode. When you consider all of the cast members that contributed to a large number.

Well, with reality tv, the cast was essentially free. They were not compensated, and later down the line, those that were, it was a very small number. There wasn’t a lot of editing and production time needed either, as the footage was mostly raw. That is why is was so appealing — it was new and different.

Made Producers See That There is Endless Talent Available (Cheap)

As reality tv took off in popularity the producers noticed that they were creating super stars out of people who prior were unknowns. They were regular people with regular lives and jobs.

Then, they got on a reality tv show and their lives changed overnight. They were instantly famous for doing nothing.

“The ‘stars’ didn’t need to be paid. There was always a mile long line of people willing to let the wold watch them for free. They just wanted the exposure,” says Chris Dziak of Pure Nootropics. And that line continues to be long to this day.

Now there are reality programming on almost all of the major networks. Why? Because it’s popular and it’s so cheap to produce.

Showcased The Power of Personality

“People became addicted to reality tv because they put the craziest personalities together under the same roof,” says Darryl Howard the o-shot specialist. “It’s the reason it took off like it did.”

Talent was thrown out the window, because they were reality stars. They were not expected to have any acting or performance talent.

The only thing they were expected to do was be themselves and if the producers picked correctly that alone would be the recipe for a hit tv show.

Now these reality stars are getting huge endorsement deals, from local spots, such as recording a PlayUp review, to national deals from clothing and lifestyle brands.

This recipe has been duplicated over and over, and applied to different concepts and by different networks. And it continues to work very well. There is no sign of reality tv slowing down. The studios love it cost-wise and the viewers love it entertainment-wise.

Celebrities have such a loyal following that their audience is almost priceless when it comes to brand partnership agreements. If they post something and hint that their followers should buy it, you can almost guarantee a sellout.

Before, you had to go through agents and it was a battle to even have the chance to talk to a celebrity about marketing your company. Now, all it takes is a DM and a CBD tincture company can be in touch with any influencer or celebrity they want directly.

Sometimes you will work with them directly and sometimes an assistant will be the point of contact. The point is that the communication barrier is down. You can get in touch with almost any celebrity you can imagine.

Now, you have to have realistic goals and be aware of how expensive it can be. To have Kylie Jenner post your product on Instagram it will cost you a cool $750,000 or more. Here are some tips to consider in the event you are able to find a great celebrity partner.

Have Them Promote to Their Social Following

This is the main goal of any celebrity partnership. You want access to their huge audience. The best approach is to have them post your product naturally. The less it appears to be an advertisement the better it will perform.

“The right celebrity partner that also has a massive social following can instantly drives sales,” says Chris Moberg of Slumber Search. “Look for celebrities that have an audience that matches your target demographic.”

Create Blog Content with Their Likeness

If your website and blog receives a good amount of traffic already you can boost conversion rates significantly by including images of your celebrity partner on your website and within the blog content.

When you are making blog content featuring a celebrity partnership keep it simple and let them be the main focus. You will want to use a very simplistic blog theme like the one used here.

You want someone to land on your website and realize “so and so” is a brand partner. That builds instant credibility and trust, which translates into sales.

From little subtle images of them with your product in the sidebar or including their likeness on your checkout page, it’s an instant conversion booster that will skyrocket your sales.

Run Paid Ads Featuring Them

Just as a celebrity partnership can help you generate sales by having them organically post your product, using their image in your paid media campaigns will also create a buzz that leads to more sales.

“Make sure to work out an agreement that allows you to use the content they create on social media in your paid campaigns,” suggests Tony Rush of truck sub box company HiFi Sound Connection.

You can re-post what they post and you can also do a one time photo shoot and use it as an opportunity to take several different images that can be used in campaigns throughout the year. You will have to plan in advance as their time is very limited (and expensive).

You have probably watched the hit TV show Shark tank, or at least seen it being advertised. It’s been on the air for 10+ seasons and it really helped to bring the world of entrepreneurship mainstream.

It made people understand that they could do anything they dreamed of, as long as they were willing to work hard (and it was a good viable idea). There is a lot you can learn about business just by watching the show. The way the guests pitch and conduct themselves, to how the sharks respond and what questions they ask — it’s a great business lesson every episode.

Actually, there are many valuable business lessons brought to light each episode, so let’s go over a few of the most important ones right now.

You Have to Always Be Prepared

Preparation is key — in the shark tank and in real life — and when someone who is pitching in not prepared it becomes very obvious and very quickly. The sharks have no problem calling them out on the spot and letting them know that they made a huge mistake by entering the tank unprepared.

“One way to fail is to never be prepared,” says Lisa Rush of phone support outsourcing company Staff Outsourcing. “You have to always be prepared for every aspect of your business — every day.”

The minute you aren’t prepared you let your guard down and you become every vulnerable. This is when little costly mistakes are made that can ruin your business and have a negative impact on your future growth potential.

Always Know Your Numbers

I can’t tell you how many times I have watched this show and when the sharks ask a question like, “What does it cost to make?” or “How much does it cost you to acquire a customer?” — and the person has a deer in the headlights look on their face.

“Not knowing what your customer acquisition cost is for example, just shows how unprepared you are,” says Henk Schipper of Jaloezieen Fabriek. It’s impossible to run a successful business without knowing the numbers inside and out.

This goes without saying, but if you are ever talking to potential investors and you don’t know your numbers, how do you think they are going to react?

There is no way they will part with their money and give it to someone that doesn’t even know what a customer costs to acquire. From online resources that help find contractors to hire, to e-commerce beauty brands — every customer has a cost tied to them.

Understand The Value of Partners and VC Money

Bringing on a parter or an investor is going to end up costing you money. You have to fully understand this. If you take on an investment you are giving up a part of your company.

“Funding is not easy to come by, no matter what Silicon Valley makes you believe,” says the owner of National Pool Fences. “When you do have the opportunity, understand fully what that means.”

Are you prepared to give up 25%? 30%? If the business takes off and becomes successful you never regain that stake. Be 100% certain that you can live with all of the possible outcomes before you sign on the dotted line.

Traveling alone can be one of the most rewarding activities that anyone can do. Not only will you learn a lot about other cultures, but you will also give yourself time to reflect on what you desire in life and what you believe in. For this reason, we recommend that everybody try traveling solo at least once.

However, traveling alone also requires a lot of safety precautions to be taken. For example, the same situations that can be very liberating for some, might feel unsafe for others. Therefore, it’s important to understand how to keep yourself safe while traveling on your own.

One of the most wonderful things about traveling is that you are able to immerse yourself in the local culture, eating and drinking things that you wouldn’t be able to find at home. Despite how much fun it can be, drinking is often one of the most unsafe things you can do while traveling alone. 

Though you might typically have a friend or family member with you at a bar to monitor a drinking environment, traveling alone often means that you will be in situations that you are not familiar with, increasing your chances of having a negative experience.

That being said, there are plenty of ways to prepare for your traveling experience and make sure that you stay safe at all times while consuming alcohol on vacation.

 Always Have a Way to Get Back to Your Hotel

This might seem like an obvious tip for some, but getting to your hotel while in a city or town you’re unfamiliar with can become quite difficult while intoxicated. For this reason, we recommend that you always figure out your path home before you begin drinking. If you are someone who prefers to use ridesharing applications, you should make sure that your preferred app services the city that you’re in and that your phone is fully charged.

Something important to consider when planning your trip home is that public transportation does not always run at consistent intervals. For example, in cities like Berlin or New York, it can be easy to get around with public transit during the day and evening, but the frequency of certain services slows down greatly after midnight. Make sure that you are able to get back to your hotel quickly and efficiently.

 Set a Drink Limit for Yourself

Let’s face it—it can be easy to overdo it when you are out trying new drinks in a new place. To prevent yourself from becoming too intoxicated, we recommend that you set a drink limit for yourself. It’s also worth noting that you should factor in alcohol percentage when deciding your drink limit. For example, if you typically have a few beers, drinking one absinthe drink with exponentially higher alcohol content might be sufficient. Not only can having too many drinks leave you impaired, but alcohol poisoning can be fatal. 

 Always Turn Down Drinks

Though it’s easy to believe that everyone is kind, it’s important to remember that there are plenty of people out there with bad intentions. Free drinks are often one of the ways for predators to drug and subsequently abuse solo travelers, so you should never accept drinks from strangers or even people you’ve just met.

Know What to Say When Turning Down a Drink

We recommend that you always have lines prepared to turn down drinks. Here are some examples:

• “No thanks, I already have a drink”
• “I’m waiting for a friend”
• “I already had too much tonight”
• “No thank you, you should have it”

Use Yelp to Find a Bar

Online review sites like Yelp can be great resources for determining which bars have controversy surrounding them. When deciding which bars to go to, you should be aware of which bars are respected and which ones have certified bartenders. By doing this, you can make sure that you are safe throughout your travels. Be sure to do your research! 

In Conclusion

Traveling alone can be an intimidating thing to do, but it can also be very rewarding if you keep certain safety precautions in mind. If you ever feel doubt about a particular situation, always trust your gut. It is definitely better to be safe than sorry! We hope that this list has been helpful so that the next time you’re traveling alone, you know exactly how to drink in a responsible manner!