Writing Inrochester

I write in a number of categories, most of which deal with business.

But if I want to maximize readership or to make the most of my writing I need to place my articles into the proper categories.

Let’s say I’m writing an article about “scripting” sales presentations. It could go into one of several categories:

(1) Sales
(2) Sales Training
(3) Sales-Telesales
(4) Sales Management

This piece has something to say to each of these functionaries. Salespeople need to know that they’ll sell more, faster with a script than without, and the earlier they commit to this idea the better off they’ll be.

Trainers need to know that they can spout technique after technique in a classroom setting, but unless they become embedded in practices, they’re not worth very much.

Scripts have special application in telesales not only because they have been used there for decades, but they are easier to use when prospects can’t see that we’re using them.

And, of course, managers need to know that they’ll get more sales, more consistently with scripts than without them.

Now, let’s say I knew for a fact that I would get the most readers by placing this article in the Sales category, and the least from Sales Management, the choice would be clear, right? Go for more readers, that’s what logic dictates.

But, in my case, the number of readers is less significant than their power to hire me as a consultant. A Sales Manager has more power to bring me in to craft a script and to customize a sales improvement program for his people.

So, I’m more apt to publish where the dollars are.

Consider your ideal audience, and then write for them, making sure to submit your articles in categories that they’re most likely to read.

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 1,000 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered “The Gold Standard″ in negotiation, sales development, customer service, and telephone effectiveness. Top-rated as a speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the globe and the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: mailto:gary@customersatisfaction.com gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Article marketing is one of the easiest ways to create targeted traffic to your web site, and of course one of the ways to do this is through the process of creating backlinks from your article to your web site.

Once you have written your article (and by the way, make sure that you have thoroughly spell checked your article and made sure that it is not ungrammatical – ask a member of your family or a friend to read it over for you), then make sure that there is some way for your reader to access your website for more information.

The easiest way to allow the reader to access your web site directly from your article is to include a backlink (or 2 or 3) to your web site or web pages therein. You can either create a bio; this will generally be permitted by the article directories in the form of the ‘author’s resource box; and in the bio include a backlink to your main page. This is a box which is added to your article and in which you can say a bit about yourself and provide a link to any page in your website that you want.

Another thing I like to do, when the article directory permits it, is to include specific web pages in my text anchor backlinks, rather than my index or main page.

This is what is so good about article marketing. You can advertise a specific page within your website. If readers like the article and wants to copy it to their own website, they may do so as long as they include your resource box. What this does is to provide you with a link to your web page back from theirs, without you having to provide a reciprocal link.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Download it free here:

Authors, self publishers and book publishers can be very unhappy when they see boxes of books delivered from the printer, loaded onto pallets in their garage and not have any idea on how they’re going to sell them; don’t let this happen to you — be prepared. Self publishers need to have a good marketing plan to sell books and should be written prior to writing your book and in place a year prior to publishing your book. This article will provide you with easy, free, and cheap book marketing, promotion and publicity tips to get you headed in the right direction fast.

Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media. Mail a press release to at least 1000 print and broadcast contacts just prior to publishing your title and again and again after you publish you can never send too many. Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why.’

Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly. Mail a press release to all the trade journals in your field over and over again you can use the same release. Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press directories.

Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases. Send out the same press release to the editor of your local daily newspaper every week until you are called for an interview or are written up.

Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book’s topic to drive customers to your website. Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing. Contact non-bookstore booksellers and offer to leave books on consignment.

Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers. Local radio shows and television appearances are good but are often forgotten within hours of the broadcast; make sure to make or get a copy of any television broadcast for future promotions. If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way.

Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer. Place free ads periodically for your book’s website on Craigslist in different categories to drive even more traffic to your website. I’ve not found that book signings sell many books for publishers and are often a waste of time; better to spend it elsewhere.

Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline. Women buy more books then men; see how you can fit your book into the womens′ market. Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials. Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed.

I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you′re doing. Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website.

I hope this article has provided you with helpful tips to accelerate your book marketing and book promotion efforts. Yes you can market and promote your book on a shoestring budget, just be careful about your marketing dollars. Don′t delay another day if you’ve fallen by the wayside; make sure to focus on promoting, selling and marketing your book each and every day.

For more information on TwinPeaksPress.com book marketing tips and selling more books go to TwinPeaksPress.com TwinPeaksPress.com founded in 1982, specializing in help for authors, self publishers, ebook and book publishers with tips, advice and resources, including information on media, library and other mailing lists, and TwinPeaksPress.com press releases – online, wire service and offline distribution

USE STRUCTURE. Structure is all too often dismissed as a hindrance to creativity and, taken to the level of conformity it is, but up to a critical threshold it enhances creative output – both in terms of the quality and size of the idea pool.

• Short term goals (incremental productivity) produce more output than a “do your best″ approach. With specific regard to creative writing, 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.

• Simply being prolific improves performance and quality. The single best creative product tends to appear at that point in the career when the creator is being most prolific.

• Techniques such as separating creative from critical thinking increase the quality and quantity of the idea pool: they allow the production of a large number of ideas and a large number of diverse and novel ideas.

• Sustained engagement in the endeavour increases the incidence and frequency of problem identification and thus the incidence and frequency of insight. The frequency of inspiration increases when engaged in the task.

USE THE HERO’S JOURNEY. This is another form of structure. While it is useful to know about plot points, three act structure, mid point (thus four act structure) and so on, this is (virtually) useless for screenwriting. You need to know WHAT to write and the Hero’s Journey is the template that the vast number of successful screenplays and stories are based upon. By using the Hero’s Journey, your plot points etc will naturally fall into place. Consider this:

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

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

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

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

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

f) 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.

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

DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE DESCRIPTION TO A DEGREE. It is true that cinema is a visual medium and the screenwriter must perfect the art of putting visual imagery on paper. But the screenplay is a word document and the decision maker’s imagination has to be fired up by the words. What the eye sees and instantly understands sometimes has to be described. You have two choices:

FADE IN: Old Man waits at a traffic light.

FADE IN: A frail old man, with a face that has lived, wary of others, hesitantly waits at the…

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

Freelance writers can attract clients in a variety of ways. If you are interested in building a clientele of nonprofit organizations, here are five proven methods.

Develop Subject Areas of Expertise

Nonprofits are mission-driven organizations. They have been granted their special tax status because they are working to change the world in some way that benefits society. Therefore, most of them specialize in certain areas, from the environment and animal welfare, to health care and advocacy for children or the elderly, and everything in between. Nonprofits want freelancers who understand their missions and who can help them convey the importance and urgency of their issues to the public. If you specialize in writing about a topic a nonprofit works on, you will be a more attractive candidate to the organization.

Join Groups that Nonprofits Join

Most states have associations of nonprofit executive directors. You can find a list of these associations on the website of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations. Join the association in the state where you live or where you want to market your writing services. By becoming a member of the group, you will often receive discounted conference and exhibition registrations (where you can meet staff from potentially hundreds of nonprofits) and advertising discounts in newsletters and other publications. Membership in these organizations is a great way to network as well.

Attend Nonprofit Functions

Go where nonprofit leaders go. Staff at nonprofit organizations tend to support each other’s work and mingle in similar professional circles. By attending a fundraiser for one nonprofit organization, you will likely meet staff from several others, and you can work into conversations that you are a freelance writer. You can usually write off the cost of admission as a charitable donation or as a marketing expense.

Encourage Word-of-Mouth Referrals

Word-of-mouth referrals are the best kind of marketing for freelance writers. It doesn’t cost you a penny and you don’t even have to do the work. Encourage others to become part of your “secret” sales force by making sure your friends, family, neighbors, spouse’s co-workers, and everyone else you can think of know that you provide writing services for nonprofits. Think about it . . . anyone can be involved with a nonprofit in their spare time, so you never know where that referral for writing and editing services might come from. Make sure your name comes up by letting the people in all the circles of your life know that you are a freelance writer/editor.

Offer to Write for a Reduced Fee

Many people will suggest that writing for nonprofits as a volunteer is a good way to build a portfolio and client list. But instead of positioning yourself that way, write or edit for a reduced rate or make it clear that you are donating your services as a professional freelance writer. By framing the relationship this way, it is clear to the nonprofit that you are a professional freelancer who normally expects payment for services. Asking for payment on future projects will be much easier with this kind of relationship in place.

Kivi Leroux Miller is a freelance writer and editor specializing in the needs of nonprofit organizations. Read her blogs on writingfornonprofits.com/freelance/index.php freelance writing at WritingforNonprofits.com WritingforNonprofits.com and nonprofit communications at Writing911.com/blog Writing911.com/blog.

Public speaking experts can become public speaking snobs when it comes to the question of using notes when speaking. The super snobs will tell you to never use them, that they are sign of weakness and lack of skill, that they disconnect you from your audience, that they make you boring and dull.

But this is not necessarily true. You can use notes in such a way that allow you greater skill, confidence and effectiveness. Notes can free you up to take risks, be conversational, and have a little more spontaneous fun because you know you can always refer to your notes if you need to get back on track.

If you use notes, use them well.

5 DON’TS:

— Don’t read your notes!
There is nothing more boring than someone reading their speech. Don’t stick your face in your notes and read them. You should know your speech well enough that you only need to glance at your notes once in a while to prompt you to the next point, story or interaction.

— Don’t fiddle with your note cards or paper.

Don’t hold your notes in your hands, fiddle with them or fling them about like a feather boa. Not only is this distracting, but it tends to distance you from your audience. You don’t want any object between you and your audience, whether it be your notes or a lectern.

— Don’t apologize.

If you need to refer to your notes, don’t apologize. Don’t say, “I’m sorry, I need to look at my notes.” Why are you apologizing? You’re not doing anything wrong.

— Don’t try to hide it.

Dale Carnegie states in his book, Public Speaking for Success, that if you have to use your notes, be sure your audience doesn’t see you doing it. That’s just nuts. Don’t insult your audience by pretending not to look while you’re looking. You never want to hide from your audience. It makes you appear untrustworthy.

5 DO’s:

— Make your notes user-friendly

Make sure your notes are easy for you to read and use. Use one sheet of paper that holds the outline of your speech with bullet points and short phrases. Just enough to remind you of what you want to say. Make the font huge so it’s easy for you to see.

— Keep them in one place.

Place you notes on a table or lectern and leave them there! If you need to refer to them, walk over, glance at them, and then continue with your speech.

— Know your speech.

Know your speech well enough that you could present it without notes. Your notes should only be used as a prompt, not a crutch, just in case you need a little memory jog.

— Be real and deliberate.

If you’re going to look at your notes, do so confidently and deliberately. Don′t try to sneak a look or pretend it’s not happening. Walk over to those notes with confidence and take a good look.

— Stay connected.

If you need to look at your notes, stop speaking, take a glance, then look up and be with your audience before you start speaking again. Never speak into your notes. It cuts off the connection between you and your audience. Take a glance and then be sure your eyes are with them before you launch into your next point.

Sometimes, just knowing you have notes available offers you enough extra security that you end up never having to use them. So, bring those notes along, use them well, and have a blast.

If you′d like more tips on how to be a confident speaker, sign up for my free monthly e-zine, Becoming Fearless here: unconditionalconfidence.com unconditionalconfidence.com .

You can also get the 3 Secrets to engaging your audience any time you are speaking on the unconditionalconfidence.com/engage.html Engage Your Audience CD.

Nancy Tierney teaches entrepreneurs how to speak in public with confidence, ease and their own kind of charisma. You can discover how to be completely confident any time you are expressing yourself in any way by going to: unconditionalconfidence.com unconditionalconfidence.com .

The growth of the world wide web over the last years has
increased the number of people using online freelance
writing jobs to earn money for a living. The talent to write
and create a document or article has changed the life
of many people. The freedom and flexibility that a writing
job can offer you when is combined with work from home is
very attractive.

Is important to know what is a good writing and what is
not a good writing to sell. For example if you are taking on a
technical writing contract, the content, the subject and
style of your work have to be completed according to the
requirements of your customer and the commission that you
will receive.

You can find many online freelance writing jobs is thousands
of websites for freelance writers, you can get a contract
there, is very easy and simple. Freelance websites offer you
different types of freelance writing jobs.

If you are looking for a part time job and you want to have
a lot of flexibility to work and be in control of your time,
then freelance writing jobs are for you. With
freelance writing jobs you have a lot of advantages:

The first advantage is that you can work from home and earn an
excellent income, imagine staying at home, doing a job that you
love and getting paid for doing it. Well, it is not a fantasy,
is a reality, every day millions of people are having success
with online freelance writing jobs, if they can do it, then you can do it too.

Claim your Free Report on How to make Passive Income Online and Learn how to
find the Best Paying Freelance jobs in Just Minutes step by step, you will be
shocked when you discover how 99% of people are getting it Wrong when it comes
to Making Money Online, Download your

There are many great tips for how to refine public speaking talents using appropriate visual aids and gestures to add impact to your subject matter. It takes practice, talent, conscious effort and a pretty thick skin to deliver a good speech. One of the most significant advances anyone can make in refining their speaking skills is to learn the art of tongue control. Even professionals sometimes struggle when it comes to managing what comes out of their mouth when they are struggling for something meaningful to say.

Uttering useless sounds to cover uncomfortable moments is one of the worst habits anyone can acquire when it comes to expressing themselves. These noises take the form of words like “uh” or “um” or other similar drawn out vocal stammers. Some speakers use “you know” as a brain pause sequence to buy time for the next sentence. Most people may not notice these stumbling foibles of a nervous speaker until they become extreme, but whether your audience pays any attention to using these sounds or not, they definitely detract from the focus of your intent.

Believe it or not, the most effective alternative to making noises like these is a pause. It is better to take a moment of silence to allow your brain to catch up with your mouth than it is to stand there and say “you know” four or five times before continuing. I can remember listening to one of my school teachers using “uh” so often in their presentation, we started making a game of counting how many times the person said it in a half hour. We stopped counting after fifty.

Allowing your mind to stay in synchronization with your mouth is the next best thing to using inflection, and effective gestures. Your credibility will be improved in both public speaking and regular conversation if you work consciously to eliminate the “static” from your delivery. Learning to keep silent when you have nothing to say is difficult to learn at first. You may even feel uncomfortable with pausing for a moment, but silence can become a powerful tool to work in your favor, because it can also be attention getting. Pausing can wake an audience up from their own thoughts, and tune them back toward paying attention to what they are not hearing.

In negotiations, if you do not respond immediately when answering questions, the people you are talking with might begin to feel the pressure of silence. If you cannot think of anything else to say other than “uh,” try adopting some trigger phrases you can use for those awkward moments. You can say things like, “That’s interesting. I think I am going to have to think about that before I can answer your question.” As a general rule, it is always better to say nothing than it is to blurt out a meaningless response.

John Dir
LittleTek Center
Check out our information channel and free softtware at home.earthlink.net/~jdir/ home.earthlink.net/~jdir/

Writing a life bio for some websites can be a challenge. Especially, when the site doesn’t tell you how any words you get, or what the guidelines are regarding reference to other commercial websites. What? No remarks section!

After 40 years of healing, I recently attempted to create such a masterpiece, daring make contact with the kids with whom I shared those critical, formative four years.

I’ve since learned that my work probably won’t be accepted. Having worked all night on it, I decided to publish in two parts here. The following has been submitted for the Class of 1965, Franklin High School in Portland, Or.

My “Life Bio”, as they call it here, can best be read by Googling Russ Miles. I’m not the software developer in England, although I often wished that I shared his skills. Anyway, I’ll be on page one. lol The ezine articles writer, and I’m probably listed a hundred or so more times.

MilesBooks.com is my personal website where you classmates can keep yourself occupied for a couple of weeks if you like. As my computer people won′t be here to fix the glitch for a day or two, I can′t update the site, so I am finding fun ways to fill in my time.

I’ve just joined MySpace myspace.com/russmiles, and have posted my 4th day Blog. Check it out. If you are already a member, please add me to your “Friends” list. This is quite a Cyberspace vehicle. I’m only beginning to learn what I must do to fly it

OK, I’m the father of 4 children, Grandpa of 9. I’m single, again, and my 16-yr-old daughter, Cassiopeia, moved in with me unannounced on New Years Day. We remember being 16, don’t we? I was the deaf kid from a logging camp – fresh out of an 8th grade class of 6 kids of which only two of us were boys.

Lord, I hated high school! A class of 600, mostly self-consumed city kids, jockeying for position and but a few teachers could comprehend or relate to what I was experiencing. One day, I will publish a book about it.

Had it not been for discovering wrestling, speech and drama, I doubt that I would have survived. Even then, it was my 58 Plymouth convertible that afforded me the chance to stay relatively sane. Kids from other schools didn’t know what a klutz I was.

I’d have killed to be a part of you then! I mean, somebody beside myself. Raised a Catholic, I knew that suicide was a “Mortal Sin.” That, it would have taken more than 3 “Our Fathers” and 4 “Hail Mary’s” to have been forgiven. Fortunately, I had a Very Good God watching over me to make me realize that I wouldn’t be able to say even them if I killed myself.

Unfortunately, several in our class, didn′t believe that, did they?

Anyway, today it is more acceptable to depart with such a wasted statement. Probably, this explains why more teenagers kill themselves today. Have things improved? I hardly think so… But, on the bright side, shooting teachers and fellow classmates is more acceptable now. Still, I’m glad that was not an option in our class. We didn′t kill each other – at least, not in the flesh.

Hey, guys and gals, I don’t hold any of you responsible for what I went through. We were just kids. How could you know what I was feeling? Would you have even had a chance to care, if you had?

I only pray that I have imparted some understanding, by not making speedy judgments of others, to my own children when someone is “Out of it” at their school.

From what I see, they are each compassionate and understanding. Not to mention, “Forgiving.” Yes, this too is something I have learned.

I have done many things to be forgiven for, both since and back when we were in Franklin. I didn’t have the courage to call wrong, “Wrong!” On occasion, I’ve even called wrong, “Right!”

(Continued in Writing a Life Bio for Your Graduating Class After 40 Years of Healing ~ Part Two)

Russ Miles is author of the novel, For Sale By Owners:FSBO.
A “Seasoned Real Estate NAR® Broker,” disabled by Multiple Sclerosis, Russ writes books & articles on varied subjects.
FOR SALE BY OWNERS:FSBO ISBN 0-595-28703-4,in trade paperback,
is available by phone or Internet:1-800-Authors to order direct!
Adobe e-book & hard cover editions also available at Amazon.com at Barnes and Noble and other fine booksellers.
Comments: mailto:MilesRuss@Gmail.com MilesRuss@Gmail.com.
Please visit Russ Miles’s website Http://www.MilesBooks.com www.MilesBooks.com for other informative features and information of interest.

The only valuable structural template is the one that works:

Classical three, four and five act structures are only valuable on a very superficial level. They certainly won’t help you write screenplays or stories on any meaningful level. If you must think in terms of acts, then think in terms of the macro stages of the Complete Hero’s Journey…more than 188 stages of the journey you need to know about… Classical Act Structure has a place in sitcom writing, but even there the Complete Hero’s Journey can be elicited per episode, across a series and across the whole lifespan.

Classical Plot Points I and II (around pages 30 and 90) are redundant - or, again, perhaps valuable on only a very superficial level. Pulls or Pushes between each macro stage of the Complete Hero’s Journey are more significant. For example, what Pushes or Pulls the Hero beyond Refusal to the Mentor or First Threshold? What Pulls or Pushes the Hero from Trial and Transformation 1 to Trial and Transformation 2? What forces the Atonement?

The Mid-Point is significant. There is a significant occurrence of increased antagonism and challenge at around this stage. Within the context of the main protagonist’s story, the mid point may be drowned out by the Trials, Transformations, Regression and Communion etc. However, the challenges of the other major characters and the threat of the antagonism may be given higher profile.

Pinches were never any use.

Various other multi-act structures (10-act, 12-act etc…) inherently recognise the repeating patterns and structures across stories but do not stand up to scrutiny as well as the Complete Hero’s Journey…more than 188 stages of the journey you need to know about…

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at clickok.co.uk/ clickok.co.uk/
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 clickok.co.uk/ clickok.co.uk/