1 – Why
Why are you having the meeting?
Determine the purpose of your meeting and communicate that to everyone attending.

2 – What
What are you going to cover? Create a list of items to be discussed then send an email out to everyone attending the meeting asking them if there is anything else they feel needs to be discussed.

3 – Agenda
Create an agenda with all items to be discussed, times allotted for each item, schedule of times, and the person’s name in charge of reporting on that item.
For example (i.e. 8:00 -8:10 (10 min) Budget – Kenny

4 – Prepare
Send the completed agenda to everyone and ask them to come prepared with their agenda item and/or input.

5 – Get Psyched

Send a reminder out the day before the meeting focusing on the positive and getting them a little excited about attending. For example, “Just a reminder that our meeting is scheduled for tomorrow from 8 am to 9 am. We have some great things to discuss that will be beneficial to you all.” If you can get your meeting attendees a little excited about the meeting, they will come with a more positive attitude and higher energy which will result in a more productive meeting.

At the meeting…

6 – Begin Promptly
Start on time out of respect for everyone who showed up on time and have an engaging opening remark to get them in the right frame of mind and focused on the meeting agenda. (For example, “Before we begin I just have to tell you what happened to me this morning on the way to work….”) A humorous personal story would be great, but make it short, and try to tie it into the purpose of the meeting as an analogy. For example, “It scared the heck out of me, sort of like this meeting today. I’m trying something new, and whenever you try something new it can be scary. But it can also be effective, which is my goal for this meeting.”
Announce up front how the meeting will go, that you will be sticking to the agenda

7 – Set the Tone
Let everyone know up front how the meeting will go and let them know the benefit to them. For example: “In order to get everything done that we need to get done today and to assure everyone has a opportunity to discuss what they need to discuss, and of course to make sure the meeting does not go longer than it needs to, we will be following this agenda and will be sticking to the items and the times stated.

“We will be staying on track only discussing that item of which we are on. Each person will speak one at a time. If you disagree with someone, say that you have a different opinion rather than accusing others of being wrong. Everyone’s opinion matters.

Ask up front, “is there anything else we need to discuss today that is not on the agenda? Have an item on your agenda towards the end that says “other business” 8:25 – 8:35 am (10 min).

8 – Take Charge
Stay in control of the meeting. If the meeting gets side tracked bring everyone back in a positive way, “Wow. Looks like we could have a whole other meeting on this subject, let’s get back to the discussion on hand so we can all get out of here on time.”

9 – Be Funny
Use humor whenever appropriate. It keeps the meeting lively, creates a safer environment for people to participate in discussion. And be sure to encourage participation. You never know what wonderful knowledge, experience, and ideas could come out of someone, especially someone who does not speak up that often. And… who knows… they just may look forward to the next meeting!

10 – The Amazing May Happen
End on time or early. Wouldn’t it be great to end early? Stick to your agenda, and you just might!

If you are conducting the meeting, but you do not think you are good at facilitating and getting people to stay on track, then change the way you think about yourself. This is a great opportunity for you to develop and practice your leadership and facilitation skills. It is your responsibility to keep everyone on track. They are all relying on you. Don’t let them down. Be firm, be strong, and be nice about it. You will gain the respect that you deserve and you will have a productive meeting. You can do it!

Bio: Jacki Rose, owner of Top Performance, is a presentation skills expert who turns business professionals into professional presenters. More free tips at JackiRose.com JackiRose.com

Jacki Rose is the author of “11 Steps to Powerful Public Speaking,” and has helped hundreds of business professionals become great presenters. Jacki Rose is available for speaking engagements, coaching programs, and training seminars. Her website includes lots of great free articles and tips on public speaking and presentation skills. jackirose.com jackirose.com

There is little point in hosting an article on your website just for the sake of doing so. If it doesn’t grab the attention of the user, then you have just wasted time. Nevertheless, do not lose heart! If you are looking for help in writing your article, you have just found it! A little effort and with the following format to guide you, it will not be long before you are turning out high quality articles.

A brief explanation of the dilemma

Begin your article by briefly describing your reason for writing the article. The purpose for this largely is just to get started on the article. Do not labor the point and lose your reader’s interest. Your opening descriptive paragraph must draw the reader into reading further and completing the article.

A little more in detail

After your opening paragraph has caught the attention of the reader, you are now ready to go further. Give your readers some more information on the topic or issue that your article deals with. Avoid the tendency to crowd in all your points together. Write in as clear and simple a manner as possible, so that your readers can delve deeper and get more involved with the points laid out in the introduction.

Demolish the Dilemma!

Now we have arrived at the core of your article. This is what the reader has been waiting for and many readers will in fact go straight to this section without taking the trouble to read the earlier segments. It is a good idea to draw attention to this section, either with a font size or color change or with a catchy heading as I have done.

This section will form the main body of your article. Therefore, it will usually be considerably longer than any other part of your article. Analyze the problem thoroughly and provide unambiguous and practical solutions. This can be in the form of a paragraph or bulleted or numbered points.

A Done Deal

Congratulations! You have made it to the last segment of your article. If your reader has read this far, you can take it as ample proof of your article’s worth and readability. Do not now enter the pitfall of saying something completely vague at the end. Your readers deserve better. As part of your conclusion, briefly summarize the article and then give your readers some thoughts that they can mull over. Let your conclusion be brief and conclusive.

This then is your article-writing blueprint. It is certainly not the only one you can use but most templates follow a similar structure. Go ahead, personalize it to your requirements, and have great time writing!

The author is the CEO of Power Lines Central which is a Bangalore based communication that services clients in 8 different countries. She heads a talented team of writers who excel in creating compelling content. Power Lines Central’s writers are experts in editing and writing technical and management projects, SEO specific web content, marketing material, corporate communication material, training materials, thesis, dissertations, articles, essays, short stories, books, novels, presentation content, newsletters, news bulletins and much more. Log onto powerlinescentral.com powerlinescentral.com for more details.

One of the biggest problems I see in these pieces is the fact that the copy is stale, limp and anemic.
Copywriting is “Salesmanship in Print”

This is nothing new. It comes from the ageless teachings of the masters, like Hopkins, Barton, Collier, et al, which still ring true today.

Writing copy is like face-to-face selling. And when writing copy, the lack of human interaction takes away the emotional element in the selling process. A sales message must therefore communicate that emotion that so empowers people to buy.

Often, the challenge is not with the offer itself but with the language, the tone and the “voice” of the copy.

You may have a great product, but your copy must be effective enough to make its case and present its offer in an irresistibly compelling way.

Problem is, some sales messages get so engrossed in describing the companies, the products and the features of their products that they fail to appeal to the reader specifically.

It’s understandable. Businesspeople are often so tied to their businesses or products that they get tunnel vision and fail to look at their copy from their readers’ perspective.

Understandable, yes. But not excusable.

My advice? Be benefit-rich, of course. But more important, be ego-driven when describing those benefits.
Appeal to Their Ego

People buy on emotion. Even when selling to other businesses, people are still the ones okaying the deal, whipping out their credit cards or signing the checks. And people always buy for personal, selfish reasons.

Copy using convoluted, complex, highfalutin language doesn’t sell product. I’m talking about third person, impersonal, high horse, “holier than thou,” ego-stroking corporate-speak. (In here, I’m referring to the seller’s ego, not the buyer’s.)

The fact remains that companies and websites and committees and C-Level titles are NOT the ones that fork out the money, issue the purchase orders or sign the checks.

People do.

Don’t be shy or afraid in being personal, conversational and emotional with your copy. Of course, I’m not talking about being so lackadaisical with your grammar and your spelling to the point that English majors want to burn you at the stake for heresy.

(Although, your copy might infuriate some purist grammarians. Unless you target scribes and grammarians specifically, these people are not, and never will be, your clients. Clients are the ones that matter.)

And I’m not talking about being crude, uttering profanities or using a style that’s so laid back, you appear as if you are on anti-depressants.

I mean copy that goes “for the jugular,” is down to earth and is straight to the point. Copy that relates to your audience at an intimate level — not an educational or socio-economic level, but a level people can easily understand, appreciate and identify themselves with.

A level that appears as if you were a concerned, genuinely interested and empathetic salesperson making a face-to-face pitch with your prospect.

So, here are some tips.
Follow the “3 C’s” Rule

Express your offer as Clearly, as Convincingly and as Compellingly as possible.

Be enthusiastic. Be energetic. Be excited about your offering, because your job is to transfer that excitement into the minds of your readers.

Use words, phrases and imagery that help paint vivid mental pictures. When people can visualize the process of doing what you want them to do, including the enjoyment of the benefits of your offer, you drive their actions almost instinctively.

You need to denominate, as specifically as possible, the value you bring to the table. And how what you bring to the table will meet and serve the needs of your prospect specifically.

In other words, you need to make them feel important. Write as if you were speaking WITH your prospect, right in front of them, in a comfortable, conversational manner.

When you do, your copy will imply that you understand them, you feel for them and their “suffering” (for which you have a solution), and you’re ready to nurture and take care of them.

Forget things like “best,” “fastest,” “cheapest” and other, broad claims. Because the worst thing you can do, second to making broad claims, is to express those claims broadly.

Be specific. But also…
Be Emotional!

If you want to tell people how better or different or superior or unique your offering is, make sure you express those claims in your sales message in a way that directly benefits your buyer and appeals to her ego.

Being different is important. But don’t focus on how better or unique you are. Focus on how that uniqueness directly benefits others, even to the point they can almost taste it.

Again, people buy on emotion. They always have and always will. They only justify their decision with logic, and rationalize their feelings about your offering with logic.

Once you accept and internalize that fact, you’ll clearly have the first rule of copywriting (or selling, for that matter) down pat. (Plus, you’ll also gain an edge over 98% of all other businesses and copywriters out there.)

Even when selling to multinational, Fortune 500 corporations, the buyers are people, not companies. Purchasing agents are people. Decision-making committees are made up of people. Even C-level executives with 6- or 7-figure incomes are people.
They are Human Beings

And people always buy for personal desires, selfish reasons and self-interested motives. Why? Because people are people. Period. It’s been that way for millions of years.

And nothing’s changed.

So don’t try to sell to some inanimate object called a “business” or even a “prospect.” A business is just brick and mortar — or a bunch of computer chips, in the case of online businesses. And a prospect is not some name and address on a mailing list, or a “hit″ on your website.

Remember that it’s not businesses or prospects that fork out the money or sign the checks. It’s people.

Your job is to express your offer in terms that trigger their emotions, press their hot buttons, jerk their tears, tug at their heartstrings and nudge them into taking action.

If not, you’re only telling. Not selling.

About the Author

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at TheCopyDoctor.com/ TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.

Article marketing is a smart, comprehensive way to broaden the online presence of your small business enterprise. By posting articles to ezines, directories and newsletters, you can reap benefits ranging from new clients and a solid reputation to increased website traffic and heightened visibility.

At the heart of most successful article marketing is a comprehensive strategy known as Search Engine Optimization, a process through which keyword rich documents are published online to help to improve website traffic. Online marketers using SEO techniques choose a keyword or phrase that people will likely search for when conducting research. They then create relevant, engaging articles throughout which the critical word or phrase is used. Once these documents are posted online, search engines add them to their immense cache of information which helps to strategically drive traffic to selected websites. In addition to keyword rich document publishing, though, a second critical component of an online marketing strategy must include the distribution of a given website’s URL. Publishing a website’s address at the end of SEO articles will allow interested readers to easily visit the site by clicking on the embedded link.

When executed with quality, a useful article that is correctly formatted and well written, can provide a free way to quickly strengthen your online presence. Seek out a few places to post your articles. There are many free article directories and e-zines that actively request informative articles on any number of given topics. These resources are important allies when developing successful article marketing strategies.

Online article marketing, however, does more than simply heighten your internet visibility. Unlike direct paid advertising, it actually presents an opportunity to educate and assist your customer base. By providing useful resources online, you can make a case that benefits your business while building a reputation as an authoritative and knowledgeable entity. Further, article marketing offers a longer lasting form of promoting your business than does standard advertising alone. Paid ads usually lose potency and relevance over time. But a well-written, useful article will acquire hits and encourage viral marketing for months at a time.

Additionally, article marketing is one of the few forms of promotion that have the potential to reach a large audience without considerable financial investment and it is unique because it empowers you to position a nuanced message prominently in the vast landscape of the web. You can reach customers who you would have no access to you otherwise and the cost is typically measured in time rather than dollars.

websition.com/categories/Business/Marketing/Article-Marketing/ Article marketing offers significant numbers of benefits to retailers who choose to engage in the strategic method of search engine optimization. For many small business in particular, it is the best way to use the power of the internet to bring prospective clients to your door. Importantly, the most successful marketing campaigns understand that quality, content and keyword relevancy are critical components of good marketing. Therefore, investing the time to ensure you develop great ideas, witty content and informative articles will help you reap the greatest benefit of article marketing in both the short and long term.

© John Doetsch 2006. Online reprint rights granted as long as the article is published in its entirety, including links and resource box.

John Doetsch is editor at Websition.com, a websition.com/ content provider, where you will find fresh articles to use on your website, newsletter, or ezine, all with royalty-free reprint rights. websition.com/ websition.com

Let me recommend that for this writing exercise you use pen
and paper. This way you can accomplish it anywhere — on a
metro, waiting for the plane to take off, before a meeting
starts or when you are waiting for someone. Laptops take
time to boot up, a precious time when memory can become an
endangered species.

This process is easy to remember, easy to complete, yet
needs pushing to start. The exercise only requires that you
write fast for 10 minutes. The goal is to let go of control
or any other block. Give your supraconscious, subconscious,
and conscious permission to let anything roll out.

Topic doesn′t matter. Even if you start with monkeys, run
through the grocery or chore list, and finish up starting
the first chapter of a novel that you didn′t know you wanted
to write. You might even start and end on just one topic.
Allow and know all is perfect, no matter what appears.

This stream of conscious writing has few goals except to
write nonstop during the 10 minutes. Writing well, how fast
is fast for that particular writing, paragraph division,
spelling, grammar, or anything else doesn’t matter. Just
keep the pen moving. If you can’t remember a person’s name
or place, leave a blank, e.g., “______.” Return later and
insert. If your mind goes blank, begin the next sentence
using the last one or two words from the previous sentence.

Let me make two suggestions. First, you will want to
remember to breathe normally through the exercise. It isn’t
uncommon to hold your breath or breathe very shallow during
the exercise. Actually, breath reduction is a common
occurrence during any type of timed writing. Breathing
controls the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain. Less
oxygen, less clear thinking, and yes, less creativity and
poorer expression.

Second, please be careful not to let this exercise fall into
the category of journaling — personal writing — in other
words, all about you. If you are trying to move away from
journaling into other types of writing, or product
production, you will want to give up journaling for a short
time in order to allow the new process to take hold. Not
forever mind you, just a little while, while you learn to
open your writing to a higher level of purpose and
possibility. The freewriting exercise is one of the best
ways to transition to another style of writing.

If you prefer your freewriting exercise to have more focus,
you can begin with a concentrated statement. I do suggest
that you allow yourself to become comfortable with unfocused
freewriting before exploring concentrated freewriting. This
transition usually doesn’t take long. Maybe a month or two,
if completing this exercise as frequently as once a day.

When beginning with a focus, write a question or statement
at the top of the page. Give yourself a minute or two to
reread the focus, let it swirl around in your mind, and then
begin writing. Still you don’t want to control the freedom.
This means that if the topic begins to go south, give your
writing the girth that it needs to do so. If the thoughts
stop, you can easily reread the statement or question to
trigger the flow again. If you find that you repeat
yourself after a stop/trigger/start, let this occur as well.
You will find that the repeat usually adds clarity.

A personal preference of mine is to keep my freewriting
exercise in a subject notebook. I write “FREEWRITE” on the
cover. Previously, when I used single sheets, they became
something else I needed to organize. The stack grew. I
wanted to toss them out but just couldn’t for some reason.
The compromise was the notebook.

In the inside front cover, I wrote my contact information,
just in case I left it someplace. I number each page before
I start to write in the notebook. I also start a reverse
(from the back page inwards) table of contents, labeled
TOC1, TOC2, etc. in the upper corner. When I begin to start
my freewriting exercise, I record the date in the large
margin at the top, along with a circled 1. Meaning that is
page 1 for that date’s freewrite. Then continue the process
with circle 2, etc.

Later, if I feel the material is ready to blossom, I type,
usually rewriting at the same time. Afterwards, I mark
those pages with a light slash corner to corner and write
“typed” in the top margin. After printing I sometimes, but
don’t always remember, staple a copy to the page. I do so
in a manner whereas I can still read my original writing.
Sometimes after I finish my freewriting, and it isn’t ready
to be typed, it could be ready to outline. Since I’m a
trainer in Mindmaping (clustering), I might also outline in
the notebook.

Usually, I have no idea what is going to appear. It usually
takes more than one 10-minute freewrite to get to whatever
wants to shine. Since I purposely wake up three hours early
every morning to devote to my writing, there is more than
one segment available for the sun to appear.

Scattered throughout my day I like to add a 10-minute
freewriting session. After a coaching call, reading, or
watching television. TV programs like, “The Associate”
trigger ideas and thoughts, but nothing concrete, and with
the freewriting exercise I can pull out what is gnawing at
my gut.

The best part of having my exercises in a notebook is being
able to reread and see my progress. Seeing the changes in
my style, language, and creativity is enough push for me to
keep completing the exercise day after day. Even years
after completing this exercise, I′m still delighted with the
progress I′m seeing. Occasionally, I′m shocked with, “I
wrote that.” Those are warm fuzzies all writer’s need,
including me.

Allowing is a major principle under the Laws of Attraction.
Here are the 10 gifts that freewriting provides within the
principle of the Law of Allowing:

1. Allows the use of good time management skills.

2. Allows less negative energy expenditure for worry or
doubt and increases positive energy for creative allowance.

3. Allows separation between the production process and the
revising process.

4. Allows dancing around the inner critic.

5. Allows the writer to be in the present moment.

6. Allows the focus to transition from the result to the
process, thus reducing the pressure to produce.

7. Allows the mind and heart to melt together into
unprecedented language.

8. Allows a virgin flow of creativity to materialize.

9. Allows current emotion to manifest in the writing.
10. Allows a connection between your knowledge and the universal knowledge field.

Catherine Franz, a Professional Marketing & Writing Coach,
specializes in product development, Internet writing and
marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles
available at: abundancecenter.com abundancecenter.com
blog: abundance.blogs.com abundance.blogs.com

Most prospects will never pull out their wallets because they like your web design; they do so only when your words convince them to. Here are some tips and a template to create compelling sales letters that sell your book:

1. Create a compelling (must get information) headline
Researchers have proven negative headlines works best.

For example, ‘Stop Making these Site Mistakes – Discover 10 Vital Things to Do Right Now’ will get the attention of anyone struggling to make sales online using their website. It will make them want to read more.

The same goes for ‘Don’t Even Think About Skipping This Page!’ People by nature are attracted to the negative. Why do you think the Jerry Springer’s show is so popular or even Desperate Housewives. People react to the negative in spite of themselves. It will create a curiosity pull.

2. Avoid all caps or bold caps in your headlines.

All caps reduces the readability of your copy. It makes it harder to understand. It interrupts the flow of your message and slows your reader down. Use bold to emphasize a point and underlined to especially emphasize. Headlines can have every other word starting with the first letter capped. The variety will be much more effective than all caps.

3. Write compelling copy.

Draw your reader in like a big fish on a hook. Entice them to want to know more and more. It takes practice but use the copy that sold you as a template. Use benefits including the interactive and the enticing format.

4. Connect your dots.

Create copy that flows smoothly from point to point. Again, it takes a little practice but you can achieve great flow by pinpointing your transitional points. Smooth them by using transitional paragraphs and new point headlines. If written correctly, long copy works best.

5. Create a sales template file.

Start a file with all the good sales letters you encounter along the way. You can learn a lot by studying other successful letters. Don’t plagiarize (copy word for word.) Use the good letters you collect as your templates.

You don’t have to be a famous copywriter to write effective sales letters. In fact, you have everything it takes to write an order-pulling sales letter for your book. You have the passion, the knowledge of your product (book) and now the sales letter template. Follow the above 8 steps to get organized and then write your compelling letter to convince every prospect that your book is the one they want.

Earma Brown, 11 year author, business owner, web developer
ebk: 10 Easy Ways to Market Your Books Online
helps service business owners, professionals and writers who want to write and market their best book now! Visit her at bookwritinghelp.com BookWritingHelp.com or book-marketing-help.com Book-Marketing-Help.com for more book writing and marketing tips.

A map will help you keep track of your characters, plot a journey, give reference for character and monster homes, and give depth and background to your story. You don’t need to be a professional cartographer to draw a map. Chances are high that your readers will never see it. If you do plan on sharing it, you can make it look better later. For now, stick with the rough basics.

Draw an outline of the country, continent, world, whichever suits the needs of your story. My own novel stays within the borders of Dashevona, so I haven’t bothered mapping anything outside that realm. Note the starting point of your story and start detailing out from there. Add mountains, rivers, hills, forests, plains. Make dots for villages, bigger dots for cities. Give names to your towns and natural landmarks. You can be content mapping out only the basics that will be traveled within the story, adding more as needed. Or you can branch out, detailing the entire map. The more you detail, the more material you have for “what ifs”, creating trade routes, and other aspects that can enhance your world.

If you’re stuck where to start, look at premade maps. There are many resources you can use. An atlas, encyclopedia, or Google Maps will show you real world maps. My own map was conceived after seeing a map of Scotland, it’s one big peninsula. You can even trace a map directly, change the coast or borders slightly, and fill it in any way you want. To look at maps other people have created, do a search online for role-playing maps, world-building, and fantasy maps. There are also map-creation tools you can use. Video games like Civilization and SimCity have mapping tools. There is also software you can purchase or download if you want something more professional. An example of these is Campaign Cartographer 3, from ProFantasy Software.

Keep in mind how coasts and mountains will affect weather. You’ll want to research climate and topography. Once you have your map, you can determine how long it will take to travel from point A to point B, have visitors from town C, and trade from D. If you get stuck in the story, perhaps looking at your map will give you ideas. What if this central river flooded? What if this mountain has a cave with a monster? A map is a handy tool indeed.

Mary W. Jensen is an author on Writing.Com/ Writing.Com/
which is a site for Writing.Com/ Creative Writing. She is an editor for the Writing.com Fantasy newsletter, and the cofounder of an offline writing group. Mary is writing a fantasy novel, freewebs.com/feywriter/ Emergence of the Fey.

Business letters are probably the most difficult to compose. They need a clear purpose and the writing style should be unambiguous and concise. When you write a business letter you have to “visualize” your reader and his/her availability and desire to read your message. Business people are often too busy to read long rambling letters. So try to resist the temptation of writing too much and, if you are “new at the job”, ask someone else to read and review the critical letters prior to sending them out.

To produce the ideal business letter (and the same principles apply to other letters as well) you need to:

plan what you want to say – eventually make some notes to structure your ideas before actually writing the letter; write the letter – and avoid using slang, technical and unusual terms, sarcasm (which is often misleading on paper and people might find it offensive); read the letter out loud – by doing so you’ll get a better sense of the flow of your message and how it might sound to the person reading it; print out your letter and reread it – this time edit it by cutting out all the useless words and phrases: keep it short and simple; check your spelling, punctuation and sentence structure; make all the necessary corrections on the original copy, then send.

A business letter has a standard structure, quite easy to summarize: the date, the official’s name and address, the correct salutation, the body of the letter and your signature. The body of the letter at its turn has a pretty clear structure too:

in the opening paragraph you explain why you write; in the next parts you stimulate the interest of the reader through a positive tone and a clear presentation of your message;in the ending paragraph you stimulate action from the reader by telling her/ him what is the next logical step.

There are many types of pamil-visions.com/services.php” target=”_blank business letters. Among them the sales later requires the most advanced writing skills. Hopefully, after you write your first successful standard letters (acknowledgement letters, adjustment letters, complaint letters, inquiry or response letters, etc) you’ll be prepared to take your skills to the next level. If you are still insecure, there are enough free tutorials and free samples online to help you out.

Read other professional articles on ewriting.pamil-visions.com/” target=”_blank Mihaela Lica’s online PR blog.

1. Put Your 5 Senses to Work

A simple but effective way to generate fresh ideas from a single concept, idea or object is to describe or illustrate it using the 5 senses — sight, smell, touch, taste, sound.

For you to do: Generate 5 specific images or concrete examples (one example for each sense) for the following:

vindication (what’s the smell of vindication? how does it taste? how does it sound? what does it look like? how does it feel?)

hesitation

celebration

2. Take Advantage of Your Conflicts

Conflict is a part of life. It’s also a source of creativity. You only need to look at yourself and examine your experiences to come up with ideas based on conflicts.

For you to do: What’s stopping you from doing something? Who is in the way of you getting what you want? What’s stopping you from taking a career leap? Brainstorm for conflicts in your life and come up with at least 15 in your list.

3. It’s OK to Call People Names

Generate nicknames or terms that capture the lifestyles, attitudes or characteristics of certain groups of people.

For example, the nicknames I came up for the kind of people I encountered on the bus when I used to commute to work and back were: space-hog, slumper, fidgeter and refined. The terms described how the people on the bus behaved as they sat. [They were useful because I was able to avoid the space-hogs and the fidgeters when choosing a seat. Sitting beside a slumper was all right, since most slumpers kept their slumps within their space ;o)]

For you to do: Generate nicknames or terms for the following groups of people:

cashiers

waiters

teachers

employees

actors

Begin using these 3 simple ways of generating ideas today. Before long, you’ll be churning out one idea after another with ease. That’s creativity at work!

About The Author

Copyright (c) 2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

Shery is the developer of creative, motivating and fun e-mail courses for writers. Sign up and take an e-mail course today…free! writingbliss.com” target=”_new writingbliss.com

In times of panic, doesn’t matter in what area of life such a panic occurs, the norm is to turn back to the tried and tested, the reliable “method” of doing whatever it is that we are trying to do.

In times of panic, reliable is better than risky, ordinary is more comfortable than extraordinary.

This is therefore an ideal moment for those of us who espouse article marketing as an online marketers dream to reiterate again why we take this view.

First, what is article marketing? Nothing more than writing articles concerning any subject under the sun, and submitting them for publication, exactly as I have done with this piece.

Why do those of us who believe in article marketing hold such a view?

Many reasons spring to mind, some commercial, some not so.

The simplest commercial benefit is that it is generally free to get your article published, and then, from the article, you can the ask someone to view your website. This in turn could be a further commercial benefit, depending on what your website is designed to do (i.e. is it selling something, or not?).

Second, you can build content websites, which the search engines absolutely love, by using articles.

Furthermore, it’s a fact that the algorithms that the search engines use are constantly shifting and changing, and recent testing seems to indicate that having a published article linking back to your site is becoming an ever more effective method of getting your site visited by the search engine spider. This, of course, means that your site should get listed in the search engine rankings much more quickly than was previously possible.

This seems to be true without any reference to what particular “kind” of site it might be.

For example, testing my free blog site at article–marketing.blogspot.com and my non-blog Asia Travel site at webbiz99.com/asiatravel seemed to indicate little difference in the results generated.

How about the non-commercial benefits? Well, it’s a great big boost to the ego to see your name listed as a published writer, no doubt. This then leads to the same phenomenon occurring with the search engines – my wife has looked my name up quite a few times recently with Google and found me listed fairly high in the rankings (to her considerable amusement, which is not necessarily good for the ego!).

So, article marketing works, it’s free and effective.

The only problem is, of course that to conduct a successful article marketing campaign, you need to have articles to submit.

Where to find these articles, how to create them and exactly what to do with them are subjects that I will come back to in my next article.

Steve Cowan is an Asia based businessman and writer,as well as an international racing driver and full time father.To discover more,visit his blog -What’s New Today,Stanley?- at webbiz99.com/ webbiz99.com/