1000 Ways to Improve Your Business
June 30, 2007
One of the best things you can do for your business is to give information away. Information empowers your customer and brings them back for more. There are many great ways to give information to current and potential customers, which will instill confidence in your business. Many send out newsletters or email online newsletters to keep customers in their minds. It is important to keep customers aware of what is going on and tell them you appreciate their patronage. Some businesses send out gift certificates and Christmas Cards. But there is an easier and better way. One I think you might be aware of.
I recommend writing articles about things in which you have lots of knowledge in, areas of expertise where you are either an expert or borderline expert. Many companies and professionals write articles or have columns in industry rags or trade journals. Some write articles in their newspapers. But the very best way I have found to get the word out is this fast growing really cool company called EzineArticles.com where you can post your articles for free and people from all over the world come to see them and often reprint them on their websites, their company newsletters, the ezines and even read them on the Radio. This is especially good for someone like me, who has the perfect face for radio as I was once told by a former girlfriend.
Screenwriting ? The Lone Wolf Story Structure Template
June 30, 2007
Story Structure Templates are the fastest way to write screenplays. One of the most well known and often used templates, which goes beyond three and four act structure, is the Hero’s Journey. Arguably, all stories are a variation of this template and the Lone Wolf is one of the most successful of those variations.
The Lone Wolf template is best explained with a combination of Arthurian Legend archetypes as well as Hero’s Journey archetypes. A hero journeys to another land to discover the cause behind the death of blood relatives. A battle with Demon Kings, Enemy Knights, betrayal of an Oracle, Mentors, Shape Shifters and a growing set of revelations result in a Final Conflict and eventual catharsis. This hero can also be considered an anti-hero and this template allows for his final death with the inclusion of a Dark Knight.
The Lone Wolf story structure template consists of 56 sequences, which translates to approximately 2 pages per sequence to complete a full length screenplay. The first eleven sequences include:
Screenwriting ? The Value of Structure
June 30, 2007
Structure in the form of frameworks, work processes and goals enhances creative output:
a) Short term goals (incremental productivity) produce more output than a “do your best” approach. Writing four pages a day completes a words-on-paper first draft screenplay in one month. A “do your best” or “waiting for inspiration” approach can take months or years. Witness the untold number of people with unfinished manuscripts under their beds.
b) Work processes such as separating creative from critical thinking and other techniques help to a) unblock the mind, b) tap into tacit knowledge, c) trigger the mind into working at various cognitive levels and d) apply a) and b) and c) to the areas of problem identification and idea generation and evaluation.
c) Frameworks reduce complex problems into their component intellectual parts. For example, story structure can be reduced to three or four acts or The Hero With A Thousand Faces (Campbell, 1973). Frameworks increase output by reducing complex problems into smaller, more manageable problem solving exercises. Frameworks tell the screenwriter where to start, where to finish, what to write and what should be happening at a particular stage of the story.
Personal Journaling - Strategies To Make It Easy
June 29, 2007
Recently I was watching the Oprah show and it was about doing something really great in someones life. Was it buying them a special gift? Or taking them out? Not really.
It was about saying something really special to them. Telling a child how beautiful they are. Telling someone you love how you appreciate their beauty, how you love spending your life with them.
Comments like these last for that person and makes an “imprint” on them for the rest of their life. Especially to children.
When I was a child my mother had an album for me, you know the magnetic kind. But she did something different….
She wrote words of love on the pages.
I remember sitting and looking at my album over and over at the pen on those pages, know how much she loved me because I read those words over and over.
They also say, “Children live what they learn.”
Isn’t that so true?
We all know as scrapbookers how important journaling is to our albums, but alot of us get stuck with what to say.
Sometimes we feel like robots writing down, the place time, etc.
The End of Email, Ezines and Online Marketing?
June 29, 2007
Ok, it’s time to bring out my soapbox.
Something has been bothering me for over a month now, and it just keeps getting worse, so I am afraid it’s time to talk about it.
Some of the readers may not appreciate this, but I think it’s something that needs to be looked at and I think you will appreciate it, when others may start thinking I have lost my marbles again.
I want to apologize in advance to any of my fellow ezine publishers. If I rub you wrong with my comments and thoughts today, I truly don’t mean any one person, nor do I think any less of any of you. I know you are doing what I am going to discuss, so you can bring quality content to your readers that will benefit them and also to grow your own business while helping others.
Have you noticed lately how more and more ezines are full of spelling errors (or so you would think at first)? Seeing articles with ‘f.ree’ or ‘mo.ney’ and so forth?
At first I thought I was seeing things, because even some of the most experienced and well-known marketers were spelling all these words wrong, but it’s all on purpose, and you know what?
10 Ways Writing Articles Can Improve Your Business
June 29, 2007
Writing articles has proven time and time again to be one of the best ways to drive targeted traffic to any website. Here are ten quick tips to help you use your articles to the best of their potential.
1. Submit them to e-zines and web sites for publishing. Include your resource box at the end of the article to get free advertising.
2. Combine your articles into a free e-book. You can place your business ad in the e-book. Give it away to visitors and allow them to do the same to multiply your advertising.
3. Create an article directory on your web site. People will visit your web site to get the free information.
4. Submit your articles to print publications that pay for submissions. You can make extra income getting paid as a freelance writer.
5. Combine a few of your articles together into a free report. Give away the free report as a bonus for buying your main product or service.
6. Publish a book with all your articles. Make extra money selling the book from your web site.
Writing Secrets You Must Know
June 28, 2007
Writing better is critical for students. But it’s even more important for business communicators.
Let’s face it?if you write succinctly, you can (a) win promotions, (b) lead people with your creative ideas, and (c) create instructions for your employees to follow.
Therefore, here are five secrets about business communications you must know:
1. You must write simply ? We all want simple instructions that are easy to understand. Choose words that everybody knows, and offer analogies that are clear and precise.
2. Use action verbs ? Passive verbs like is, are, was, and were simply exist. Active verbs jump, run, explain, and covey information.
3. Learn from the best ? Read Mark Twain’s brilliant short stories. Study Ben Franklin’s short quotes and aphorisms. Lean about headlines and copywriting from researcher John Caples.
4. Compressed messages ? In the fast-paced 21st century, readers demand information in short, easy-to-absorb form.
It’s been said that the average adult attention span today is a mere eight seconds. Can you deliver the theme of your message in that short time?
Book Marketing 101
June 28, 2007
Francine Silverman. Book Marketing from A-Z (InfinityPublishing.com, 2005). Trade paperback. 400 pages. $18.95 US.
For beginning authors, book promotion is the key to success. Whether an author self-publishes or is published by a major house, most often that author needs to market her book herself if she wants there to be any chance at all of it being successful. Large publishing houses are too concerned with promoting the next blockbuster to focus even on mid-list titles, and smaller publishing houses usually don’t have the resources to commit to marketing their titles. Even worse off are those who self-publish, because when they receive their books, they are on their own. Any marketing that happens, happens because of their efforts, and their efforts alone.
What is a new author to do? He can sit back and hope that his book sells somehow, or he can put money into a marketing plan and hope that plan is successful. But without a marketing background, that money can be wasted quickly. As a result, many authors don’t market out of fear of loss and uncertainty, and sell far fewer books than they should.
Super Verbs Really Move Your Copy
June 28, 2007
Run or hustle? Eat or devour? Move or scurry? You can boost the power of your copy by boosting the quality of verbs you use. Verbs show action, and the way you describe that action can have a dramatic bearing on your readers. Why would you want to fill your copy with complacent words when you can conjure emotions and visual imagery in the hearts and minds of your readers? Sure, “run” and “hustle” both indicate that someone is moving fast. But “run” is a dull, ordinary verb while “hustle” evokes definite images in your reader’s mind.
Hadn’t really thought about it? You should! You can choose commonplace verbs like “talk,” “make,” and “like,” or you can electrify your copy instead with verbs like “chatter,” “discover,” and “adore.”
Look at these examples to see what I mean:
Before
Down Comforters Let You Get Warm
When it’s cold outside, get into bed and warm up with our genuine goose down comforters. There’s no reason to be cold when you can heat things up instead!
After
Down Comforters Let You Snuggle
When it’s cold outside, leap into bed and burrow down with our genuine goose down comforters. There’s no reason to shiver when you can snuggle instead!
10 Things that Keep You from Writing Your Book? and What You Can do About It
June 27, 2007
9 out of 10 professionals and small business owners have at least one book or information product inside their head, but lack the time and organizational skills to get it out into digital or print form.
You may cringe when you read this list of ten things keeping you from writing your book, because it rings too close to home for you. You may have already written a book or an e-book, or have come close to starting it. It’s hard, we know it, and we’ve been there too. But go ahead and read this list, see if you can identify, and let’s discuss a possible solution to the book writing problem.
1. I can’t seem to find the time.
2. Every time I sit down to write I go blank.
3. I need an uninterrupted time period to immerse myself.
4. I need clarity on my message, but there’s no one to consult with.
5. I don’t know where to start or how to organize all the chapters.
6. I’m afraid of losing clients and having my business suffer if I take time away from it to write my book.
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