:The Flash Advancer

No matter what you’re marketing on the web, there are days that it seems like your traffic numbers are dwindling, and you can’t seem to tell exactly what’s off. It doesn’t matter if your audience is out of town, glued to the Olympics, or simply not making it to your website. They’re just not there when you need them to listen most. Every website owner has a time when they feel that their traffic may be suffering. Luckily, this is the best time for you to get moving and take a few fail-safe steps to action. Stop checking your statistics in a fever pitch, and choose one or two of the following traffic back-up plans to boost your traffic, and reach a new audience, within days.

Idea 1: Post on Craig’s List in your area. Everybody’s doing it. Create a professional ad in the appropriate section. Make sure it is well-written, has an active HTML link, and sells your brand or products. You can post a new ad every day, as long as it’s not the same ad. Post and feature one of your products every day, if you’re an online retailer. If you sell services, run a special for Craig’s List users only. If you can code a simple HTML table, with links to the graphics on your website, your advertisement can set you apart from the crowd. Visit: http://www.craigslist.org and look around for examples of ads. It’s also a great place to barter some of your services or products with other small businesses.

Idea 2: Do a contest for a giveaway and spread the news about it. Choose a nice item or quick service that you want your audience to know about, and give it away in a drawing. You can do this on a weekly basis or once a month. It’s easy to do, and not too expensive. All you need is a form on your website - which is great for adding subscribers to your email list or postal list. If you have a message board or discussion group, make sure to announce your giveaway. In fact, any forum you belong to should be notified about it. Write up a quick announcement for email lists and newsletters you receive. (Or, if you’re really, really bold, and want a huge amount of traffic, submit it a few internet sweepstakes sites…) A press release is also a nice, professional touch that may help your contest make its way to a few websites and local papers. If you decide to do a regular contest, expect a lot of links to your website in the future.

Idea 3: Join a business or social network online and introduce yourself. Have you heard of MySpace? (www.myspace.com) How about Ryze? (http://www.ryze.org) Both of these forums are a place for self employed and other business professionals plan their work, and play. The concept is simple; your network expands as more people join your “friend list”. You can join forums, groups, and subgroups based on your interests, as well as learn about real-life, local networking events. Think of it as part directory, part chat room, and part advertising space; a place where people surf around, view profiles, and form an opinion of you and your business. Then they decide if they want to network with you in real life. So take a few minutes, create a professional profile, and join some discussion forums. Be friendly, chat openly, and participate. Every time you join a group or create a post, people are watching and visiting your website. And every time you have something to announce, you’ll have a whole new subculture listening to you!

These are just a dent in the many ways there are to increase your audience and build traffic. They’re great in a pinch, and you’ll be able to see tangible results after about a week. But it’s really a great idea to have a thorough marketing plan in the long run. Use these as a quick fix, and build up your audience, but be aware that building website traffic is a daily affair. Hard work and determination, and the right knowledge, will help you immensely in your quest for quality traffic.

Melissa Brewer is an award winning writer based in Northern Virginia, just on the cusp of Washington DC. Her copywriting skills have been put for work for the past 6 year, helping a plethora of clients on and offline. You can learn all about her copywriting and marketing services at her website, http://www.techsavvycopy.com If you’re stuck trying to brainstorm marketing ideas, she’s always available for a free consultation, just email: Melissa@techsavvycopy.com

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1. Trade links with other websites. Websites that are related are best, simply because the user is more likely to be interested in the related link. For example, if someone was looking around a web design site, they are more likely to be interested in a web hosting links than a sausage appreciation society website. However, any link is good (as long as it isn’t with a subject you don’t want to be affiliated with, i.e. adult websites). It also has the added advantage of increasing search engine rank.

Websites to help with this would be:

• www.gotlinks.com, which is an automated link exchange.
• www.linkmarket.net, which is semi automated link exchange.
• www.honestlinks.com, which helps you build a successful link page.

2. Sign up with a banner exchanges or traffic exchanges. They provide you with a way of reaching an audience, although the audience may not be interested in your website’s subject. I would never pay for this service, but as it’s free is worth the effort.

Websites to help with this are:

• www.bpath.com offer free banner exchange.
• www.trafficswarm.com offer free and paid for traffic exchange.

3. Offer an RSS feed. When people read it, they will be reminded of your website. Also, they provide you with inward links to your website, which search engines like. Search engines also like websites that offer an RSS feed.

Websites to help are:

• www.w3schools.com has tutorials to help publish an RSS feed.
• www.syndic8.com Will publish your RSS feed, with over 300,000 other feeds listed.
• www.daypop.com Will also publish your RSS feed, with over 50 000 other feeds listed.
• Www.Newsisfree.com Again, will also publish your RSS feed, with over 18 000 other feeds listed.

4. Form an online community. It could be an online message board, e-mail discussion list or chat room. When people get involved in your community they will regularly return to communicate with others. They are hard to start up, but will pay off.

Websites to help are:

• www.sparklit.com offers free forums
• www.bravenet.com offers free and paid message boards etc
• www.tinit.co.uk offers free message boards and chat rooms for your site

5. Write articles and submit them to article submission sites. They advertise your site, and provide you with inward links. Remember to include a link to your website in the ‘About the Author’ section.

Websites to help are:

• www.goarticles.com will list your articles
• www.articledepot.co.uk will also list your articles
• www.ezonearticles.com will also list your articles

6. Give away an electronic online freebie, and allow your users to distribute it. This will increase your ad exposure and attract people to your website. It may cost you or you may be able to persuade a company to let you have it free. Also, list it on a freebies site.

Websites to help are:

• www.thefreesite.com will list your freebie
• www.freebiedot.com will also list your freebie.

7. Join a forum, and include a link to your site in your signature. Also, when ever someone asks for advise on selecting a service, recommend your website (if it is relevant).

8. Partner with another website offering a similar service. For example, on the Big Wow site, we have a page advertising our partner who offers web design services. In return, they recommend us to their clients. This costs nothing on both parts, but is very effective.

9. Advertise your business on Google Adwords, Yahoo Overture, or Bpath Bidvertiser. These are effective, but you do have to pay for them. They can be subsidised by displaying the adverts on your site as well.

Websites to help are:

• https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/Login?sourceid=AWO&subid=UK-ET-ADS&hl=en_GB is for Google Adwords
• http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/ is for Yahoo Overture
• http://www.bidvertiser.com/bdv/bidvertiser/bdv_publisher.dbm?bdv_aff_id=13 is for Bpath Bidvertiser.
• http://services.google.com/marketing/links/UK-OA-EDR To get £20 off your first Adwords account

10. Be included in newsletters. Again, this is expensive but effective. You could be an advert, or in an interview.

Websites to help are:

• www.sitepronews.com- large newsletter offering a range of ways of advertising
• www.bravenet.com can be included in their many mailings.

Tim Shaw is director of (Big Wow Web Hosting), a cheap and reliable web host. He has written several books and ebooks on web hosting, and has had many years experience in computers, the web and web hosting.

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We saw during the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic tropical hurricane season the incredible devastation that Mother Nature can yield. We also saw, that mankind is getting better at predicting the direction, duration and strength of the stores; all this thanks to NOAA, weather researchers and supercomputers.

The upcoming 2006 Atlantic tropical hurricane season will be spectacular. We know this partly because we’re in the middle of a La Nina season on the West Coast and that means a stronger than normal hurricane season. These supercomputers to crunch terabytes of data in very short amount of time, yet we need to add a little atmospheric artificial intelligence to be systems. Why? Because during the last hurricane season the NOAA often produced contradictory predictions of where the hurricane would go as it dispersed over land and met up with other flows of normal weather patterns.

As we add more components and more data and more information to be artificially intelligent programs which will be running these supercomputers are we need to understand better the interaction of all things. One of the hardest things to do in weather prediction is long-term predictions.

We will also need to consider as we redesigned the supercomputer artificially intelligent programs the potential effects of space weather, solar flares, X-Flares, underwater volcanic vents that could heat the ocean temperature and even moon cycles. Believe it or not all these things affect our weather and some more than others, yet to get a perfectly accurate reading any better long-term analysis of where these weather flows are going and what will happen as a hurricane disperses over land, we must consider adding more data and artificial intelligence to our hurricane supercomputers. Consider some of this in upcoming hurricane 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

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The game of baseball has used baseball english since the beginning of the game which Abner Doubleday so aptly named “baseball.”

All the players on a baseball team should be proficient in using baseball english. The pitcher and the three (3) outfielders are the ones we so desperately depend upon to be the masters of baseball english.

Get those good marks in english classes and excell at the game of baseball. All around baseball players are the baseball players who know all about baseball.

The baseball itself seems to have taken on an animated life and ability to respond when the masters of the english instructs.

This baseball english language is a partnership developed thru many practices and numerous games with the players and the baseball. Here is how it all takes place.

The pitcher grips that ball with different styles. When he wants the baseball to veer or curve to the left as it approaches the plate he grips the ball a certain way. He is in essence telling the baseball I am going to twist my wrist and release you so that you spin (he puts english on the ball). When I spin you this way I want you to go to the left. If I spin you this other way (like this) I want you to go to the right.

Wouldn’t you just know it the pitcher is putting english (spin) on the ball and the ball just as if he understands does as the pitcher wants. Now isn’t this a blast the pitcher is talking and doing and the baseball is doing and it’s nothing more than english making it do.

Now folks this english talk with the pitcher talking to the ball can get complicated, ole hosshide don’t care.

Those good outfielders have their work cut out to give perfect and proper english to that baseball. When there are runners on base each outfielder must think ahead of the probable play situation. Where is my throw to go when I have to field that hard hit ground ball coming to me? The throw going to the second baseman will be a hard throw with significant velocity as to reach the 2nd sacker right in the letters.

He tells the ball “I want you to go like a rifle shot straight and true.” The fielders puts top spin (english) on the ball when he releases the ball from his hand. The ball hums it’s way straight and true with a slight rise upwards and bingo right in the letters of the second baseman. The ball silently said in a soft hum, “yes boss.” Ka-Plop the the 2nd sacker puts a sweet tag or at least dared the hitter to come on.

There is a whole new english lesson which the outfielder and his partner the baseball must execute when cutting a runner down going to third. The outfielder knows the throw needs to be arriving to the third baseman on a good clean hop. If the throw is coming from the rightfielder then that long throw means the ball must make a really long hop. The outfielder tells his little buddy (baseball) “I’m going to put some top spin (english) when I let you go, don’t you slow up because you have to really scoot.” The ball just as if it was really listening hits that clay dirt diamond and kicks up a puff of dust and zap right in there on time. The baseball is a quick learner the next throw to third might require a short sudden stop hop. The outfielder and the ball are getting good at this rapping going on between them. The fielder throws with all his might and puts back spin (english) and little baseball dutifully kicks up a bigger puff of dirt with his back spin putting on brakes and hops into 3rd baseman’s big glove. A trio of jubilation with 3rd sacker grinning, the outfielder pumping his fist saying, “Yeh Yeh” and little baseball taken from the game by the umpire because he got scuffed in the deal.

Fans and friends it’s a sweet and well known language this english between baseball and ballplayer.

Find out all about Baseball and More with Major Wiley B. Channell USMC (retired) at http://www.baseballfarming.com

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It has been said by many a therapist that we hide our pain and hurt behind our fat. It has been my experience working with a new process that in fact the fat “is” the pain and hurt. Let me explain.

As I mentioned, many therapists have believed that individuals unconsciously make themselves unattractive or unappealing to others by putting on the pounds. Although this may have some truth to it, it has been my experience working with individuals that in fact the emotional trauma actually “materializes” in a manner of speaking.

A new process called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) (MRP) which I have written about extensively about here in this ezine has the ability to permanently release negative beliefs and traumatic memories from one’s mind/body in a relatively short time.

One of the unexpected and recurring surprises I have had over the last several years facilitating change in people’s lives is that as they release their trauma they also in a very short time shed huge amounts of weight and all without dieting or any change in their daily routine. The fat essentially disappears!

One example of an individual shedding over 40 lbs in a matter of 2 to 3 weeks was not only a surprise to me but also to her. After close questioning she noted that there had been no change in her diet, exercise routine, or eating habits.

At first I was not sure what to make of this and wrote it off. After many other clients started experiencing the same thing I began to realize the connection between emotional trauma and obesity.

I explain it as follows.

When an individual experiences a trauma and it becomes “embedded” in their mind/body whenever they recall it they often will re-experience the hurt that goes with the trauma. What they also experience are feelings of tiredness, emotional gravity (i.e. heaviness) and a draining of their vital life energy.

It literally feels to them as if they are carrying something that is dragging them down. This is not dissimilar to carrying extra weight on board. In fact now it turns out that the “extra weight” is actually the trauma in “material form”.

When an individual experiences the MRP process and releases the trauma they repeatedly feel emotionally lighter, less burdened, more energized, more peaceful, and more joyful. In addition they feel physically lighter. As strange as this may seem this latter feeling is almost spontaneously associated with a measurable weight loss.

The conclusion I am coming to may sound strange but it is something that I am in the process of researching. It is as follows:

Emotional trauma not only brings one “down” emotionally” it also brings one “down physically” by literally turning into fat.

When the trauma is released (which occurs in minutes with MRP) the fat is transformed into energy. In other words what is happening here is that mass density is decreasing while energy density is increasing.

If you’d like to know more or experience MRP for yourself kindly visit the web link below to download a free audio session.

Dr. Nick Arrizza is trained in Chemical Engineering, Business Management & Leadership, Medicine and Psychiatry. He is an Energy Psychiatrist, Healer, Key Note Speaker,Editor of a New Ezine Called “Spirituality And Science” (which is requesting high quality article submissions) Author of “Esteem for the Self: A Manual for Personal Transformation” (available in ebook format on his web site), Stress Management Coach, Peak Performance Coach & Energy Medicine Researcher, Specializes in Life and Executive Performance Coaching, is the Developer of a powerful new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) that helps build physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being by helping to permanently release negative beliefs, emotions, perceptions and memories. He holds live workshops, international telephone coaching sessions and international teleconference workshops on Physical. Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Well Being.

Business URL #1: http://www.telecoaching4u.com

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It was two days before our shoot. I was in the office with the client going over the story boards and filling him in on all the details for his latest television campaign. At that time, with my agency being in its infancy stage, we were taking in any client we could, which is why I was seated across from the “Redneck Crazy Man” as I liked to refer to him. He owned a string of low end rental car shops and his only redeeming quality was that he was a quick pay.

For this particular shoot, my script involved an NBA star and a good looking young
boy I had cast through a local talent agency. The boy had been in a few commercials
and he knew how to take direction which is crucial when it comes to working with
children.

As I was going over the script, the client stopped me mid-sentence, put a picture of
a boy in front of me and said, “What ya think about this kid?” Not sure what he had
up his sleeve this time, I looked at the picture of the 10 year old boy. “He’s cute,
why?” I asked. “Cause he’s gonna be in the commercials.” He said deadpan. “But I’ve
already cast a boy through the talent agency who’s perfect! He’s coming in
tomorrow to do the radio spot and he’s contracted to do the TV shoot the following
day.” I replied. “Don’t care”. He said. “This here boy is my grandson and if he isn’t in
the commercials there ain’t going to be any commercials.” I looked at the picture
again and looked back at my redneck crazy man client and shrugged. How bad
could he be? I was about to find out.

The next day at our recording studio the “cute” grandson I’ll call Jake in this article
to protect all concerned, came in with his mother to do the radio commercials I had
originally scheduled with the professional child actor. I gave Jake the script and
because he had never been near a microphone, I began to coach him as to how
close he should get to it, how to be careful about pronunciation, etc. “Let’s try a few
lines” I said, and that’s when the fun began.

Jake I quickly learned, had speech problems. The client’s name had a couple of “R”s
in it and Jake pronounced “R”s like “L”s making the name of his granddad’s
car rental company sound like a Lithuanian side dish. In addition, he would put a
“th” on all words containing an “S”. No matter how many takes he did, the copy
came out sounding like a foreign language. Jake grew restless and complained to
his mom that he was bored and wanted to go home. And after a couple of hours of
futility I ended up salvaging what I could and hoped the listeners were bilingual.

The following day Jake showed up (late) with his mom for the television shoot. Our
crew had already been there several hours setting up for our first scene while the
NBA star was in makeup. Jake looking bored, grabbed a basketball and started
bouncing it on the court right next to one of the sound engineer’s high end reel to
reel tape machines. “Be careful bouncing that ball so close to that machine.” I told
him. “That is a very expensive piece of equipment.” “Who cares?” He replied
deadpan. “If it breaks, my grandfather will pay for it.” That’s when I knew we were in
for a long day.

As I tried to get him to focus on the lines he was to deliver (in that special foreign
language of his) his eyes went right to the craft services. “Donuts!” he cried as he
dropped the ball right on the tape machine and began stuffing his face. I had
rewritten most of the lines trying carefully to edit out any “R” words but the name of
the company couldn’t be avoided. When he was not causing mischief or complaining
to his mom that he was bored, Jake was hungry or he was tired, sprawling around
on the basketball court while I tried diplomatically to get him back in front of the
camera. At one point I found him trying to flirt with some of the female crew telling
them that when his grandfather “kicked” this would all be his. As I steered him into
makeup, the makeup artist said, “My, what cute little boy!” “I’ll get back to you at
the end of the day to see if you have reassessed that opinion” I whispered to her.

The grandson was not only confrontational and rude to the crew but also to the NBA
star as well who looked like he wanted to crush the little runt a few times. The rest
of the shoot went as smoothly and after about 10 hours of work, I prayed we had
enough film to choose from to finish the :30 second spot.

The makeup artist came up to me later in the day and when I asked her if she still
considered the boy cute, I seem to remember her response including the word
“strangulation”.

What was the lesson in all this? Well despite what you have heard, the client isn’t
always right. In fact, sometimes the client is dead wrong. It all depends on your
relationship and chemistry as to how you handle a difficult situation such as this.
Don’t be afraid to assert yourself in showing the client what’s best for his
advertising and marketing plan for it will benefit both of you in the long run. Just as
he is an expert in his business, so too are you in yours. And if you are ever in a
situation such as the one I’ve just described, the “grin and bare it” approach may be
your only option!

Hal Eisenberg is an award winning copywriter, voice over talent and producer, as
well as owner of The Eisenberg Agency, a full service advertising agency specializing
in creative ads that get results.

Visit his web site at http://www.eisenbergagency.com
Mailto: halacious@eisenbergagency.com.

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Looking for international property? Check out properties for sale in Italy here!

Notwithstanding the Property Index online service is a recent organisation, they were founded only in March of 2007, they have very quickly become experts. On closer scrutiny, they are a extremely cool organisation focusing entirely on looking after everyone aiming to sell, buy, rent, etc. real estate across the world. What they promise is to aid you hit upon precisely what’s desired swiftly and, further, sans pain. Property is being offered in a wide selection of areas across the globe presently, one of the elite areas being property you can purchase in Italy. It’s easy as falling off a log to write up the splendid property on the market in Italy, one motivation for wanting real estate here being properties for sale and the tremendous chance to live right amid such a bubbly, animated and lively people.

This is one of the truly trendy areas presently, and in view of the beauty and the wonderful sunshine surrounding you all day long, how could you ever say no! Property in Italy is steeped in history, art and culture, this area of the world is and has always been home to a good many nations. Some 25 years ago you would find just a trickle of Britishers who are looking for property in Italy. Just ask anyone who has chosen to remove to Italy and they will tell you the same thing. Plenty of people would tend to view it as a brief trend and others tend to view it as a that’s more or less an addiction! People who are willing to move to this place generally range from young freshly weds in search of a challenge in life to senior citizens who intend to enjoy themselves and loosen up.

Note that you may likely encounter a few quandaries when buying property in a foreign market: you’ll find there are a hundred varied, rather complex, steps whether organizing, inspecting or buying and completing. If you only miss only a single action it may well give rise to huge quandaries plus, even more importantly, financial damage. Obviously, as can be expected with this fashionable region, property may well be quite high-priced in this location and that is basically caused by the high market demand. Nevertheless the real estate buyer is spoilt in a region so full of beaming landscape and fantastic setting. Patently it offers the whole kit and caboodle a patron might imagine, and plenty more.

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As I logged into my e-mail account, I clicked on the Bulk folder to check the latest newsletters. Most of the newsletters and mailing lists that I’m subscribing to, arrive in my Bulk folder.

I glanced curiously through the 25 new messages displayed on the first page. There were only 3 e-mails that pulled my attention and made me open them immediately. Also, I opened 4 additional e-mails because they came from sources that I was expecting e-mails from.

And, what about the rest?

There was nothing in the subject line that would’ve been beneficial for me. Therefore, I didn’t even bother opening the rest of the e-mails. Maybe, I’ll go through them later when I have more time to spare.

Who knows! Maybe those e-mails that I didn’t open had something of a great value to me. But, the marketers sending them didn’t spend enough time to word the subject in a way to grab me by my shirt and make me open them without even thinking about it. Well, at least 3 of them did.

How’s your “opening ratio” of the e-mails that you’re sending to your list?

We live in a “Headline Society.” With free time becoming increasingly rare and with a massive amount of information coming at us from infinite number or sources, people use headlines as time-saving devices. They direct their movements and attention to the headlines that spark interest.

Analyze yourself and see what grabs your attention first, the content or the headline?

If your headline doesn’t instantly reach out and touch the prospect, chances are that the rest of your message doesn’t stand a chance.

And, remember that the subject line of your e-mail is nothing else but a headline. It’s the first thing that people see before they even look at your entire e-mail. It’s your only chance to interest and influence the recipients. It will either grab their attention or not.

Your subject line will tell the recipients whether they should “read on” or “move on”. If your subject line fails to attract a sufficient readership, nothing else matters. The body of your e-mail quickly becomes irrelevant. Your entire effort might be doomed.

Ideally, you want to make your e-mail recipient be “fully alert” and pay attention to your message, the same way you would pay attention to a fire truck, an ambulance, or a police car coming down the road with the sirens on.

You have to burst out with your strongest, most provocative, explosive choice of words. Something that compels the recipients of your e-mail to read further and take action.

So, how would you get that accomplished?

A successful subject line consists of carefully selected words that achieve any, or all of the following:

1) Deliver a benefit,

2) Present a compelling offer,

3) Reveal attention grabbing news.

But regardless of the approach you choose, at the end of the day you want to accomplish the following with the subject line of your e-mail:

a) Attract attention and create curiosity;

Never beat around the bush, but cut right to the heart. Capture people’s attention with your most remarkable claim or benefit that you will deliver with your e-mail. You want to make your subject line impossible to miss. Benefits, benefits, benefits. That’s what everyone wants - including your e-mail recipients. The bigger and more impressive the benefit you offer, the more curiosity you create.

b) Arouse people’s interest and ignite their desire to read more;

Give them a hint or a taste of what is to come. It makes the person hungry for more and keeps them involved. The benefit, offer, or news that you mention in your subject line, will be the major reason for your recipient to continue reading. It’s the magical lure that compels the person to read on.

c) Sell them on the rest of the message;

Always think of the recipients’ benefits when writing the subject line. When you’re thinking from your recipients’ point of view, you’re communicating on their level about something that they’re interested about. WIIFM (what’s in it for me). Sell them the rest of your e-mail by telling them with your subject line - what’s in it for them and not what’s in it for you.

Here are some examples of subject lines that will help you accomplish the above.

1) The unfinished sentence;

“Here’s the secret source of …” , “A sneaky marketing trick that will …” , “A shocking truth about the …” , “Increase your commission with this new …” , “Here’s a great example of …” But, don’t get lazy and use the 3 dots on a statement. “Only 14 hours left …” It won’t create the same effect as “Only 14 hours left for …”

2) The question;

“How much is your hour worth?” , “Are you frustrated with your paycheck?” , “John, are you making this mistake too?” , “Did you get the recording from last week?”

3) The “Ah, what?” statement;

“The funeral is Friday.” - Mat Gill. “Thank Donald Trump for this.” - Kevin Wilke

4) The “how-to” statement;

“How to increase your profits.” , “How to have the best sex ever.” , “How to write the best articles.” , “How to triple your signups.”

5) The direct statement;

“The shocking truth about making millions of dollars.” , “Finally, the best marketing option.”

6) The Indirect statement;

“The best ways for getting signups are waiting for you inside.” , “A very special opportunity is waiting for you inside.”

7) The guarantee statement;

Be careful with this one. Don’t say it unless you have 100% proof. Or, FTC will knock on your door very soon. “Double your money in 30 days or I’ll pay you 120% cash back!”

Scare-them-half-to-death statement;

“Your online identity is at stake.” , “They will steal your credit card right in front of your eyes.” , “A teenager can break into your computer nowadays.”

9) The pure benefit statement;

“7 easy steps to a professional looking website.” , “10 ways to fight Click Fraud.” , “25 tips to help you qualify for your job.”

10) The news;

“Google changed their policy.” , “The best online survey.” , “Judge sentences spammer to nine years in prison.” , “A brand new free money video” - Frank Kern.

11) The invitation statement;

“You’re invited to attend tonight’s free phone seminar.”

12) The emotional statement;

“I cried when I wrote this for you.” , “I apologize for the last week e-mail.” , “I’m sorry for the late notice.” - Frank Kern.

13) Use your imagination. Create a subject line that will spark interest, create curiosity, get the attention, and most of all, deliver a benefit that your recipients cannot refuse.

Steve Dimeck. Author and Publisher. To receive more quality articles such as the one you just read, sign up for Steve’s [TSM] Bulletin at: http://tsmbulletin.ogdteam.com. Your next issue of the [TSM] Bulletin is just one click away.

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The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters:

The Hero’s Journey:

• Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

• Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

• Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

The Hero’s Journey is also a study of repeating patterns in successful stories and screenplays. It is compelling that screenwriters have a higher probability of producing quality work when they mirror the recurring patterns found in successful screenplays.

The Hero’s Journey is also a study of conventions. Before screenwriters can decide whether to accept or reject the conventions, they must appreciate their purpose and value.

Consider this:

• Titanic (1997) grossed over $600,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• Star Wars (1977) grossed over $460,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• Shrek 2 (2004) grossed over $436,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• ET (1982) grossed over $434,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• Spiderman (2002) grossed over $432,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• Out of Africa (1985), Terms of Endearment (1983), Dances with Wolves (1990), Gladiator (2000) - All Academy Award Winners Best Film are based on the Hero’s Journey.

• Anti-hero stories (Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990) etc) are all based on the Hero’s Journey.

• Heroine’s Journey stories (Million Dollar Baby (2004), Out of Africa (1980) etc) are all based on the Hero’s Journey.

Should Screenwriting be a marathon?

There are two elements ot this: Time Pressure versus Incubation.

Time pressure is an effective tool for producing output. Incubation is an effective tool for producing richer ideas.

Time pressure increases creative output. By forcing idea production, setting goals and incremental deadlines, a greater number of ideas are produced than if a “do your best” approach is taken. If a leader asks participants in an idea generating session to address a problem and think of at least 5 ideas every half an hour, then 80 ideas are produced by one individual and 1600 are produced by 20 individuals at the end of an average working day. This level of output is conscious and would not be produced normally.

Time pressure encourages prolific production and therefore the probability of generating good ideas increases. It can be said with great confidence that quality of output is closely related to quantity. The best single creative product tends to appear at that point in the career when the creator is being most prolific.

Forcing output pushes individuals along the experience curve, refines their methodology, builds competencies and knowledge and improves performance. Screenwriters know that they are likely to produce more, better quality work faster if they set themselves a schedule of a certain number of pages per day.

Motivation is critical to creativity. If a person is intrinsically motivated, time pressure may be a synergistic extrinsic motivator. If the person is not intrinsically motivated then it may turn out to be a non-synergistic extrinsic motivator, which reduces the level of engagement in the endeavour.

Short-term time pressure can be negative in that it does not allow the mind to engage in the endeavour at various cognitive levels. It does not allow rich ideas to formulate through the process of incubation. Intrinsically motivated individuals will benefit from short term time pressure and goals (sets cognitive forces in motion) and will generate richer ideas through incubation over the longer term.

In conclusion, producing drafts should not be a marathon. The process of editing and improving can take time.

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and FREE 17 stage sample and other story structure templates can be found at http://managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://managing-creativity.com/

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Maintaining a balance between work and the rest of your life can be a struggle for many small business owners. It’s easy to be consumed by your business, especially if you love your work and you’re committed to making your business a success.

And when you’re consumed by the day-to-day running of your business, marketing often gets pushed to the back burner. That may seem fine right now while you’re swamped with work and clients, but what happens when things slow down and there are no new clients in the marketing pipeline?

This is where many small businesses get into trouble.

So just how do you find time to manage and market your business at the same time?

Here are 10 tips I use to help me balance running and marketing my business at the same time. I hope they’ll help you do the same.

1) Be realistic about how much you can do

Pace yourself, reschedule some things if necessary, and perhaps even put a few things off for a few months when you have more time in your schedule.

2) Use a calendar or Day-Timer system to stay organized and record all your appointments and “to do” activities

I use Microsoft Outlook and a Pocket PC. I enter everything I need to do as an appointment. For me, this works better than having a separate “to do” list because it forces me to actually schedule time to get the work done.

3) Prioritize your activities

Put those that help you generate revenue at the top of your list - and this includes marketing. We often get bogged down in administrative or busy-work that either doesn’t have to be done right now, or that we could get someone else to do for us.

4) Make sure to schedule time for your marketing and planning activities

These are crucial to the long-term success of your business. Book time in your daily schedule to do them, just as you book client appointments. Then stick to your schedule.

5) Every evening, look at your calendar for the following day

If you need to prepare for a meeting, do it the night before. Know what you need to accomplish each day and be ready to get up and go in the morning.

6) At the end of each day, review your calendar and check off all the activities you completed

If you didn’t get to something, move it to the next day you can commit time to getting it done. (And, here’s a tip: if you move something more than 4-5 times, it’s probably not a priority item and you can push it to the back burner or maybe get rid of it completely).

7) Get some help

For seven years I did everything in my business. I didn’t hire help because I didn’t think I could afford to. If hiring help means you can spend more time on revenue-producing activities, you’ll be able to pay for that help in no time. And, if you’re like me, you’ll kick yourself for not getting help sooner!

Schedule an “exercise” appointment every day

Daily exercise, whether it’s a trip to the gym, a 20-minute walk, going for a run, or whatever activity you enjoy, will help you maintain the energy you need to get all your work done. It’ll also help boost your immune system so you stay well. I’ll admit, I let this one slip sometimes, but every time I get back on track, I feel better about everything.

9) Schedule “me” time, too

Just because you’re busy, doesn’t mean you should let your personal time go by the wayside. You need that time more than ever now, to rejuvenate and keep your energy up. Book time to relax and read a book, get a monthly massage, spend time with your family, go on a date with your spouse, or whatever you like to do. You’ll return to your business with a fresh perspective and attitude that will help you be more successful.

10) Realize something’s not going to get done, and be okay with that

Despite all the diligent scheduling, unexpected things will come up, some tasks will take longer than you planned, and you probably won’t get to everything. The good news is, if you follow all 10 of these steps, the priority work (that’s the work that produces revenue for your business) will get done. You may even find that some of the things you thought HAD to be done, really didn’t have to be done after all.

(C) Copyright 2005 Debbie LaChusa

Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free 10-week Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com

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