The Consumer Salon

1) Think about your Readers

When writing ad copy be sure that the average reader can easily
understand and relate to it. Put yourself in their place. Would you
understand? Would you say, “That’s me”? One way to help you write for your
readers, is to write just as if you were saying it to their face. Address
the reader as “you” in your copy. Just like a one on one conversation.
Sometime take a closer look at some of the advertising around you. How many
times do you see them using “you”?

Make your copy interesting to read, almost story-like, all the time
generating enthusiasm for your product or service. Find ways to place facts
in your copy without sounding like an Army Service Manual. The trick is to
convey the hard dry facts and numbers, while making them interesting to
read.

Don’t talk about yourself. Readers don’t care what you like, what you
did or what you think. They want to know if they will like it and how it
will benefit them.

2) Organize your Copy

When you write your copy you should always know what your primary
message or selling point is as well as all the secondary selling points. You
might want to use your primary message as part of your headline and then
dedicate a few lines or paragraph to expand on it. Then fit in your
secondary selling points in lines or paragraphs after that. Whether they are
a few lines or a paragraph would depend on the size of your copy. How much
space you can set aside for your selling points? Before you start writing
your copy write down all your selling points. Sort them in the order of
importance. When writing your copy, move smoothly from point to point, one
leading into the next.

3) Short is Better

Everyone knows that short sentences are easier to read and comprehend
than long sentences. One thing that all writers have in common is that they
are taught to write short and to-the-point sentences. Read back through your
copy. If you find a sentence that has more then 12 words, find a way to
break it down. Break all long sentences into 2 sentences. If necessary,
break them down again. You can also use hyphens to help separate long
sentences. This is not to say that all your sentences should be the same
length. Copy can become boring when the sentences are all the same length.
Vary their length. Just keep them under 12 words. Remember you are writing
copy, not fiction. Sentence fragments, as long as they sound good to the
readers ear, are completely acceptable in copywriting.

4) Don’t be a Dictionary

Use simple and easy words. That’s what a reader understands. Consider
the mindset that you are communicating with. This reader is not trying to
dissect and devour your copy. This is someone, who for one reason or another
has been distracted from their primary goal to read what you have to say.
It’s only a short pause they’re taking to quickly read your words. If you
use complex words, you will either annoy or completely lose your reader.
Keep It Simple Stupid! Ad Copy is Communication. Don’t think that you are
impressing them with words they probably couldn’t spell and would never use
themselves. Make it easy for the reader to understand and keep up with the
copy.

5) Keep Clear of Tech-Terms with Wide Audiences

If your copy is to be read by a wide audience, don’t wrongfully assume
that they will know what you know. If you feel that these facts must be
used, find a way to convey these terms in the best way that they can be
understood. Don’t use a technical term unless it is the best choice.
Sometimes you have no other route than to use technical terms. Lets use
“software” as an example. What other way can you put it? It’s software. But
then again you wouldn’t want to say “C++ Software” just Software. The
average reader has no idea that C++ is a programming language and could care
even less.

6) Clear & Concise

Keep your ad copy free of clutter. Don’t use words that aren’t needed.
You are wasting your readers’ time, weakening your sales message and taking
up valuable space that could be better served in your interest. Your readers
‘ attention span is short and they are usually in a hurry. Avoid
redundancies, over-worded phrases and other poor writing mistakes that serve
no other function than taking up space. Provide specific and concrete
information in a clear and straightforward manner. The more specific you are
the less chance your readers have of misunderstanding you.

7) For God’s Sake, Get to the Point

Be direct and to the point. There is not time for beating around the
bush or to keep your reader guessing.

Next to the headline, the first paragraph of your ad copy is the most
important text in your work. The first paragraph, better known as the “Lead”
paragraph, is what draws in the reader. If your lead paragraph is
uninteresting to the reader, they will surely move on. Move right into your
primary selling point. Don’t waste time with introductions and explanations.
If you must use them, use them later. Your ad copy should be the essence of
sell from the first word to the last. Loose the fluff and fringes. They’re
for weddings not ad copy.

There’s No Place for Sexism or Racism

I was listening to an ad on a college radio station in the middle of the
summer semester. It was an ad for a local business. During the course of
this 30-second ad they managed to insult the Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai
and all women everywhere. Now needless to say that any type of racist or
sexist attitude doesn’t go far in advertising. But here we have a student
population, which during the summer, by the statistics taken each year, is
almost 30% of oriental origin and 65% female. Not only was this commercial
poor advertising, but just plain stupid.

Gender bashing, racist remarks and general rudeness offends people. You
don’t sell by offending others. The hardest of them to deal with is the use
of gender in your copy. How do you handle it? Instead of “service man”, it’s
“service person”. Instead of “his”, it’s “his/hers”. There are however a
couple of other ways to help deal with this problem. One is two use plurals.
Instead of his or her, try they, them or theirs. Another is to rewrite your
copy taking out any reference to sex at all. You may even try alternating
sexes through the ad copy.

Well, that’s it for now, hope you’re walking away with more than you came
with.

Listed above are just a few techniques that you can use to help you write
better ad copy.

Remember good copy sells, but great copy sells well!

About the Author

Wild Bill Montgomery
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As an International language, English has been used widely
in online world. Whether you use it to write a sales letter, a
follow up, ads headline, an article, and so on, you
need to use it correctly.

Now, by using search engine (Google, etc), you can check:
-typing error.
-grammatical structure.

This sort of tutorial is intended for you who have some
basics in English.

For the first example, if you want to check whether the
right word is “below” or “bellow”, just type the word in the
search box.

Here are the steps:
1.Type the word “below” in the search box and click
“Search”.
2.When the search result appears, click a website that uses
the word to make sure that the website use it correctly.
3.Notice the search result.
4.Now, type the word “bellow” in the search box and click
“Search”.
5.Repeat step 2 and 3 for the word “bellow”.

Here are the signals whether the word is right or wrong:

-The search result shows a list of websites that use the
word. In other word, if the word is wrong, the search result
will show nothing.

-If you find that both words have search results, notice the
number of websites that appear and compare both words.
Usually, the right word has more search results.

-Don’t forget to notice what is the language of the website.
For example, the word “biz” and “bizz” both have many search
result. But only the word “biz” is used in the English
website.

Sometimes some websites have typing errors. Be cautious about
it!

The same technique can also be applied to check a grammatical
error.

For example, if you are in doubt which one is the right
sentence:

“The brave man swam over the river yesterday.” or “The brave
man swam accross the river yesterday”?

Follow the steps above, but don’t forget to put the (“) symbol
in the beginning and in the end of the sentence, in order that
Google will not cut it.

If your sentence is too long, try to cut it.

For the above example, just type “swam over the river” and
then “swam accross the river”.

However, you should take care in checking sentences,
because not every sentence can be checked with this
technique.

One more thing, it is very difficult if you want to check
emotions of a sentence. For example, you can not check
whether “Would you please…?” is more polite than
“Will you please…?” by using this technique.

That’s why you should use English everyday on any
occassion, so that you will get used to it.
About the Author

Heris Yunora concentrates on providing tools for online promotion at http://www.soft-promotion.com.

Formula 1 motor racing is in truth the top of go karting. It is the professional make-up of the sport in its entirety. Formula One is a worldwide phenomenon, a business empire that receives millions and millions of ? each year from marketing, sponsorship, & radio revenue channels. Successful F1 drivers with a millionaire life style race these remarkable karts that are supreme with technological mechanisms – everything from hard to fabricate lightweight constructions that move the mechanism to tires with unmatched grooving style that illustrates the incredible speed on the race circuit. Catch up with the latest Formula 1 Race Results.

There is presently no other sport that best characterise the turn of phrase “multinational sport” like Formula 1 motor sport. Specific countries serve as active members in shaping the Formula 1 show – Malaysia for example, is a hot spot for Formula One racing (Fernando Alonso, a Spanish-born Formula 1 motor racing driver driving for Team Renault recently won a F1 race there) and Italy plays a vital role in designing and producing 1st class, top-of-the-line karts. Rivalries are natural in Formula One – providing an edge of pleasure with each and every zip of the bend and nitrous boost of the machine.

Formula 1 cars can be summed up in two words: technological miracle. These sleek, low riding gems travelling around laps at speeds reaching one hundred and sixty mph consist of nothing more than simply a frame, an engine, and 4 wheels. For a start, the engine is placed behind the cockpit as opposed to road vehicles. Find great offers on cycling equipment.

The urge to write fiction seems God given for some, a learned skill for others.

One thing is certain – it requires practice and a particular mindset. But, if you’re a beginner, where do you start?

The following 10 tips will help kick-start your writing habit, whether you’re a complete novice, or perhaps a pro who has lost their way!

1. Step Away From the Car, Sir.

Slightly detach yourself from your surroundings. Stop participating and begin observing. In social situations, watch people, see how they act and – more importantly – interact.

Don’t pass judgment. Take it all in – and draw on it later when you write.

2. Look Harder, Homer

Stop and look around you. Consciously notice the buildings, what’s underfoot, overhead, and what’s right in front of you.

At home, look at something you take for granted. An iron, for instance. Find yours and study it.

3. Write Thinking Will Be Rewarded.

A simple technique. Your mother is making tea and you are chatting to her. Take a mental step back and describe the scene.

Similarly, when you’re outside, describe your environment as though you were writing it down.

4. What Reasons Do You Need?

Don’t wait for inspiration – just write!

Force yourself to write anything at all. A shopping list. An overheard conversation. Describe your bedroom.

It doesn’t matter how personal it is, or how trivial, just get it down!

5. Wakey Wakey!

Set your alarm clock for an hour earlier than normal.

When the alarm goes off, get up. Don’t dress, bathe or eat. Don’t even make coffee. Just stagger to your writing space and write the first thing that comes into your head for five minutes.

6. Oh God – Not That!

Think of the most awful and embarrassing thing you’ve ever done – the more cringe-worthy the better. Now write about it. All of it, in all its gory, horrible detail.

Then hide it away for a year or so before you read it again!

7. Like Your Style, Baby.

Don’t limit yourself. Write poems, songs, dialogue, fact, fiction, even practice writing advertising copy or horoscopes.

Your expertise improves in all areas – an improvement in one area can reap benefits in another.

8. The Sincerest Flattery

Take out a classic book from your bookcase. Copy out a paragraph. Think about the words as you write them. Don’t get intimidated!

9. Wanna See My Invention?

When you’re not writing, string together stories in your mind. Think of plots, characters, settings, dénouements.

Ask yourself what you should do next to improve your writing.

Develop this technique into a habit.

10. It’s A Goal!

When you start writing regularly, set yourself small goals. Anything from 200 words a day, or just a commitment to writing in your diary.

Later extend to finishing a short story, or an article or a poem. Perhaps one in a week.

The trick is to set goals you can achieve easily.

That way you’ll get the writing habit – and you won’t forget to enjoy it!

robparnell is founder of the Easy Way to Write, a young Internet company committed to giving excellent writing resources to novice and seasoned writers. For free writing lessons and much more visit: http://easywaytowrite.com

rob@easywaytowrite.com

Kunlun Shan mountains border north
Soaring peaks that bathe in cloud
Man and beast trek back and forth
Himalaya, standing proud

Fierce torrents fed from snow
Yellow River, fleet and swift
Religion keeps the status quo
Himalaya, natures gift

On broad green valleys, nomadic man
Through solid earth and barren land
Herds his cattle, sheep and lamb
Himalaya, proud and grand

Snow-capped mountains fringe the plain
Where wild yak roam to and fro
Braving climate, wind and rain
Himalaya, friend and foe

Wild sheep graze mountain meadows
Crispy air pollution free
Swiftly eastwards, Yangtze flows
Himalaya, tranquillity

About the Author: Steven Cronin writes articles, poetry and short stories predominantly concerning travel as well as issues that influence the world in which we live. For further literature visit http://www.sargas.co.uk

Source: www.isnare.com

According to Frank Azzolino, President and CEO of aPriori, “We off an industry first cost analysis for machined products…real-time, predictive cost estimates for turned and 3-axis machined products throughout the entire product delivery process.”

The new technology broadens visibility to the cost impact of trade-offs between performance, quality, price, and delivery for a wide array of industries and products. It provides abilities to capture cost-relevant design information, production facility data, and cost accounting methodology to accurately explore cost saving alternatives in the design, manufacturing, sourcing, and management of product programs.

Azzolino asserts that, “Cost visibility begets business agility. Exposure to real-time product costs at any time, by all who impact costs from conceptual design through production and delivery, allows users to evaluate product design, manufacturing, and sourcing alternatives before making critical decisions that drive costs.” Always knowing product costs prevents surprises, missed cost targets and rework, schedule delays, and missed market windows.

Based in Concord, MA, aPriori (www.apriori.com) is the technology leader providing innovative cost management solutions to the discrete manufacturing industry. aPriori’s Cost Management Software Platform enables manufacturers to better understand product cost decisions early and throughout the product lifecycle. aPriori’s Cost Management Platform empowers manufacturers to lower cost-of-goods sold (COGS), provides real-time visibility to “cost-critical” decision information, and builds critical cost knowledge to go on the business “offensive.” aPriori’s patent-protected cost management platform allows companies to assess, control, and reduce cost of goods sold by whole percentages. The aPriori Platform truly enables “Cost Knowledge Before it Matters.”

Contact: John Busa aPriori 978-371-2006 jbusa@apriori.com

Hotel Club Cala Moresca is situated in one of the most pleasant spots of Campania situated 25 km from Naples airport, on the Phlegrean coast, opposite Ischia and Procida. The Cala Moresca complex is situated on an area of 40.000 mq., amid luxuriant Mediterranean vegetation stretching down to the sea.

Services
Restaurant
Conference hall
TV room
Meeting room
Solarium
minibar
Telephone
Television
Tv with satellite
Washing machine at disposal
Bed linen
Organized Activities
Daily room cleaning
Water, light, gas included
Buffet breakfast
24 hours front desk
Pizzeria
Wine cellar
Continental Breakfast
Fridge
Garden
Internet
Outdoor swimming pool
Guarded ext. Parking place
Modem plug
Piano bar
Cable television
Pay Tv
Balcony
Bancomat
Bar
American Bar
Bath towel
Tennis court
Typical local cuisine
Cuisine for children/baby
Vegetarian cookery at disposal
Alimentazione per celiaci disponibile
Free shuttle to the city centre
Terrace
Pets allowed
Kitchenette
Panoramic restaurant
Air conditiong
Elevator-lift
Hair drier

How to arrive
-Take the number 14 exit called Pozzuoli – Arco Felice
-Head towards Bacoli through the tunnel you will see on the right
-Once outside the tunnel you are in Lucrino.Continue straight on until you reach Baia and Bacoli.The sea will be on your left all the way to Bacoli
-The hotel is on a Hill Called Capo Miseno at number 44, Faro street.

Planning a trip to Italy? The top 3 destinations in Italy are Rome, Venice and Florence; for example, in order to make it easy to find an hotel in Rome, you can have a look at our advanced search. Simple as 1-2-3, the same method can be applied to find guided tours in Naples, or to compare price for different hotels in Palermo, from bed and breakfast to Hotels.

So proud and bright are the leafs of Spring, glist’ning.
I hear the twitter of tiny birds hiding.
Fuchsia flowers, from the trees, gently falling.
Here we are, on a Summer morning, basking;
I stare, in worship, at the sunbeseeching.

Grandfather admires the redness of flowers.
The neighborhood’s like a pastiche that glitters!
Lingering in the air: whir of lawnmowers.
I ask myself what, in life, really matters.

Summer breezeclean and freshI inhale, I breathe,
Trying hard to conceal my woes underneath.
Even though the paths you take I can’t enwreathe,
To me, Demure, your love and life may you bequeath.

Spring has fin’lly faded; Summer is looming.
Fairies, foliage, and youin my heart, dancing.

About the Author: aLfie vera mella, otherwise eLf, is a nurse in profession and a literatus in avocation. Read more about him on http://www.elf-ideas.blogspot.com.

Source: www.isnare.com

As a beginner trying to find the right web host for your website is often daunting. The jargon used by most web hosts often goes way over your head. In this article, I provide 4 lessons for anyone who wishes to learn the basics of finding a web host As a beginner trying to find the right web host for your website is often daunting. The jargon used by most web hosts often goes way over your head. In this article, I provide 4 lessons for anyone who wishes to learn the basics of finding a web host.

Lesson One: What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is the essentially the placement of your website onto the Internet through a server. Once your site is on a server, anyone with Internet access can look at your website – from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day.

In order to have your site hosted on the web, you need to have the following three things:

A Website – a page or set of pages that is located under the same domain name. A web page is a computer document written in a publishing language called HTML. When an Internet user types in your web address, your web server sends the content of your web page to that user.

A Domain Name – a unique text-based address used to locate a specific set of web pages. A domain name is made up of words and/or numbers plus a TLD (top level domain). The TLD for most businesses is “.com”, such as http://www.brandblast.com/; non-profit organizations use “.org”; universities and educational sites use “.edu”; and sites involved with the U.S. government use “.gov”. More TLDs are available, such as .biz, .pro, .name, .info, etc.

An Account With A Web Hosting Company – or a server of your own to host your website. A server is a computer that stores information that can be accessed through the network. Servers can also be used to store website information that can be accessed by any computer with a connection to the Internet – and a browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, the two most popular web browsers.

Web hosting is, in many ways, similar to renting property. There are plenty of companies that will rent you space on their web servers. The wide range of services start from free hosting on up to buying a server for your own personal use. It’s possible to spend thousands of dollars a year on web hosting alone, though the average person or small business typically pays $10 – $50 a month, depending on how many features, web space, and data transfer they need.

Lesson Two: Do I Need a Web Host?

If you are planning to establish an internet presence, whether it be in the form of a personal homepage or a full-service e-commerce catalogue, and do not own your own personal server, you will definitely need a web host.

Finding a good web host, however, can be a rather difficult endeavor. BrandBlast’s website hosting services are a great place to start your search, our hosting plans are designed to acccomodate any website requirement and can be upgraded at any time, our plans grow with you.

Choosing a host for your website should not be taken lightly. Once committed, it becomes a real headache to move elsewhere – not to mention the damage that can be done to your business if you make the wrong choice.

This makes it very important to “get it right the first time.” Find out as much as you can about your prospective host before making any decisions, and have a clear idea of the scope of your site, and the functions you wish to have prior to searching for your host.

Doing the proper planning will help you a great deal in your selection of a host, and will save you the headache of trying to change hosts later.

Lesson Three: What type of web hosting package is suitable for me – free or shared?

FREE – Free is for fun. If you want to experiment with a site or put up a small, personal site for the fun of it.

If you fall into this category, you probably need just a small amount of web space and little bandwidth: 1 to 2 MB should be plenty for your needs; and a personal, unique domain name may not even be necessary. In fact, you can get web space FREE.

A popular provider of free space is Geocities (http://www.geocities.com/). However, because it’s free, you may find out later that there are many limitations – it all depends how far you want to go…

SHARED – Go “shared” if you are serious about doing some business or have a professional website that is much better off “standing on its own.” Or if you simply prefer your own domain name and space.

Setting up your own web server is not the best approach for an individual or a small/medium business. You can rent space for your web site from a web hosting provider at a far lower cost.

If your web site is text-based, you won’t need much web space – text takes almost no space at all! Select a provider that supports CGI and other advanced features that you think you might use in the future. Better safe than sorry! And in this category, BrandBlast offers our Bronze package for only $9.95 / month!

If you’re developing a web site for a small/medium business or organization, you should carefully evaluate the possibility of further expansion in the future. It will be a bit of a hassle if you discover later that you need a database for your web site, but your provider doesn’t offer it.

If you’re planning to sell a product (or products) online, look for a provider who can provide you with a commercial web solution such as a Merchant Account, Shopping Cart Software and a secure online payment system certificate that is compatible with their hosting platform. Choosing a large web space with a high bandwidth allowance is a good idea in this case.

Data Transfer allowance really depends on how many visitors you’re expecting and how well you promote your web site. For most sites, 3 to 5 GB should suffice, and are provided by our Platinum and Diamond plans.

With all hosting plans, there will be some features that you need and some offered that you don’t need. Be sure to focus on the essentials that are required to launch your website.

You may want all the nice extras but will you use them? It’s a good idea to choose a host that will allow you to expand and upgrade your plan as and when your website grows. If you want to start selling online, for example, an additional e-commerce option for an extra fee will be easier and quicker to implement than looking for and transferring to a new host.

BrandBlast’s plans differ only in their web space and data transfer allowance, features such as shopping carts, website builders, technical support, and much more are available as standard options on all of our hosting plans, you can upgrade or downgrade plans at any time, and manage multiple domains from one control panel. View a demo of our control panel.

Lesson Four: Evaluate their support service?

Customer support is very important – often critical. To cover yourself from the start, take some time to look around at several providers’ web sites to see what their support policies are.

Email them with a few sample questions to check the speed and quality of their responses. Nothing guarantees that they will respond at the same speed and manner if you do become a customer, but this approach is quite accurate and telling about 90% of the time.

Look at a number of providers’ web sites to see how they handle support. Many providers provide lists of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and support documents on their web sites.

Closing Thoughts

Selecting a provider with many years of experience is a good decision. Look at the provider’s web page for a list of its customers and check out some of their pages. Take a minute to view some of BrandBlast’s current hosting and webdesign clients.

Nowadays, the web hosting market is full of resellers. Even well-known providers can be resellers of a large web hosting provider or wholesaler services. Sometimes, they are resellers of resellers. Choosing a reseller provider is not always a bad idea. The reseller may provide you with faster technical support service. They usually offer other services too, such as web design or web maintenance.

To investigate the reliability of providers, we recommend you check the contents of their web sites. Experienced providers should have a large web site containing several pages of services and support documents, plus their phone and fax numbers, as well as their physical address.

You have gained valuable knowledge in this quick lesson, we at BrandBlast wish you the best in your search for a website hosting provider, and hope that you will choose to to try BrandBlast’s Website Hosting Services for 30 Days Free!

About the Author

Alessandro DeBarros is a web marketing specialist for BrandBlast, a CT based firm whose cutting edge hosting services is quickly being recognized around the world as a leader in its field. At a current base of 5,000 clients, BrandBlast specializes in small to medium business hosting, providing small businesses with the services and support they need at affordable prices.

Scientific data collection and experimentation is generally done with a specific intent in mind and a focus. Strict adherence to that mission is said to be the quintessential part of research. Indeed this makes sense, yet one would hope that our scientists and researchers are careful to keep an open mind of those things that they notice during their regimented experimentation as well. Here is one researchers take on this issue of open mindedness and the more important issue of extreme adherence to detail in the experiment, as it is explained to an online think tank as they state;

“However, the main reason I am stressing to determine the absolute root is to ensure that the work put into this experiment will reach a maximum potential.”

Well then if you go into an experiment with blind folders on to the other interesting information you might find along the way, well then you may achieve the answer to your question indeed. But you may miss an opportunity to answer an even more important question and potentially enlighten the maximum number of people.

Secondly the researchers state: “I have found in the past that barking up the wrong branch of even the same tree will not only reduce the accuracy of the results but create more work as the focus shifts through the experiment so, conditions permitting, the ideal is to go with the highest most accurate position in the problem.”

Indeed well feature creep exists in research just like it does in designing an IT system, building a house, Computer Programming, making a new widget, teaching a subject or marketing a product or service. Yet along the way you often find that pure research opens many more doors of opportunity, to at least peak in and see what lies behind those doors. If you do not open them you can run down the hallway, open the door and find it merely leads to a stairwell, which only goes straight back down to the lobby.

Personally although I applaud the scientific methodology and their systems based thinking, I think academia sucks and most researchers fail due to the scientists busy arguing over definitions, the engineers arguing over materials and really it is the fly by the seat of their pants entrepreneurial types thru trial and error and just plain perseverance who press on and save the day, only to look back and see those experts still arguing over the details of nothing-ness. Perhaps you should consider all this in 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/