Ashley Solutions

By far, I have found that the lack of discipline is the biggest hindrance for most people, when it comes to writing a book of any kind. Although I urge you as a would-be writer to develop a theme because once you are clear on “why” you want to write a book, your motivational level will shift into a higher gear, I also urge you to get an accountability partner. This person will be the most important asset you can have as a writer.

However, choose carefully, because the role of the accountability partner is to make sure that you are following your commitment on a daily basis. The partner is responsible for calling, e-mailing you or talking to you by phone or in person every day to check the progress of your book. This person should be gentle enough to keep you encouraged, but forceful enough to not be afraid to chastise you.

In other words, your accountability partner will “hold your feet to the fire” to make sure you keep moving forward. Believe me; this person is worth his or her weight in gold. Why?

Although I promise you that writing a manuscript is easier than you might thinkyou don’t need to be a seasoned writerit is not the easiest thing in the world to do. There will be plenty of times when you will want to scratch the whole idea. Your accountability partner is your cheerleader, telling you, “We have spirit, yes we do!” and exhorting you on to “V.I.C.T.O.R.Y.,” even when it seems like you are in the waning minutes of the game and your team is losing 42-0.

Games are played, one at a time. If you lose today, unless something tragically happens, there will be another one tomorrow. Television’s Dr. Phil said, “Everyone wants to be a hero on Saturday. The big difference between winners and losers is that the winners work hard every day to do what it takes to win.”

If you fail your writing task today, you can start again tomorrow. However, losing seasons occur when in the end, you have lost more than you have won. Most new writers and seasoned ones as well, don’t write as much as they can on a daily basis.

Even writing part-time, two pages per day is a good start, and more can easily be done if the effort is put forth. However, most of us need that extra push from someone who genuinely cares about us and our project, to keep us in the game. Although it is good to find a like-minded individual, in some ways, your accountability partner’s character should be diametrically opposed to your character.

For example, if you know you need a lot of hand-holding, your accountability partner should definitely be a self-starter. If you are a pessimist, your partner should be an optimist. However, if you are an optimist, it is usually better for you not to pick a pessimist for your partner.

By Marvin D. Cloud, founder of mybestseller Publishing Co. and author of “Get Off The Pot: How to Stop Procrastinating and Write Your Personal Bestseller in 90 Days.” Visit http://www.mybestseller.com and grab a free copy of the “Get Off The Pot” newsletter, which is dedicated to motivating ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

A new wave of bettors should have stumbled upon the slogan “offshore sports betting”, though aren’t altogether certain what it alludes to. A foreign betting site inherently operates outside of the legal power of a distinct land but alternatively it can also mean a web based betting site that situates their computer servers inside the borders of a country where internet playing of games of chance is not illegal. In brief therefore, it can be delineated as a sports betting business operating outside the land of the client. Online gaming world wide websites are currently governed by three institutions. They are OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), the IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association (the FTGA).

bet on sports us

The OSGA are a nonpartisan institution that keeps tabs on the modern offshore gambling business with a mission to grant sports gambling devotees the facility to easily find trustworthy companies to play games of destiny on, without worry. It tries to support consumer’s rights, and also they charge no particaption costs. The Offshore Gaming Association are a competent and neutral third party agency who convey objective judgments, based on your observations, objective inquiry, calls, inside prompts and in addition delivers industry information.

The Interactive Gaming Council are a non-profit-making organization. The agency was founded to allow a platform for concerned parties to discuss points also to boost shared concerns in the multinational interactive betting business, to establish sincere and also sensible business rules and methods that raise consumer certainty in interactive gambling products and functions, and also to work as the offshore betting trade’s inclusive strategy guardian and the council also functions as an info base.

The IGC has worked up a name for safety, stability and sincerity because of the integrity standards it demands, also its allure to business enterprises of principled conduct. The IGC regularises offshore gaming via applying an original ten step standard procedure instructions moreover bills sports betting websites license fees to show their logo. Dissatisfied betting fans may additionally air any of their differences of opinion to the Interactive Gaming Council.

The FTGA was founded in order to produce a standard which will upgrade the transactions of world wide web based sports gaming operations. The agency hope that by conducting business with websites of good standing, they can build an affiliation of the most fair and professional offshore betting businesses internationally. These are establishments which inspect the dealings practised by machine-accessible sports betting and which should with luck function to take the sting out of any misgivings felt by a few gamblers. World wide web based sports gambling websites are altogether safe, since personal details are not demanded and the returns not to mention the gambling odds are consistently just as equal and fair as your usual Vegas-style sports bet. They wipe out travel costs, but maintain of a casino, but nowadays you are in a position to bet at your leisure.

Formula 1 motor racing is basically the height of go-karting. It’s the professional design of the sport in full. Formula 1 is global phenomenon, a media company that gets millions and millions of $ a year from advertising, sponsorship, and TV revenues. Certified Formula One drivers with a millionaire bank account race these unbelievable cars that are supreme with hi-tech luxuries - everything from hard to construct lightweight casings that move the machine to tires with incomparable grooving style that supplies the fabulous speed on the grand prix circuit. Find great offers on rugby equipment.

There is currently no other sport that best embodies the turn of phrase “multinational sport” like Formula One motor racing. Numerous countries are active contributors in influencing the Formula 1 motor racing scene - Malaysia for example, is a hot spot for Formula One racing (Fernando Alonso, a Spanish-born F1 driver with Team Renault recently won a Formula 1race there) and Italy plays an important part in designing & producing first class, top-of-the-line Formula 1 cars. Rivalry is likely in karting - giving an edge of exhilaration with each & every zip of the curve & nitrous boost of the engine. Keep up to date with the latest Formula 1 Constructors information for the up and coming Formula One season.

F1 vehicles can be summed up in two words: technological miracle. These sleek, low riding gems travelling around laps at speeds around two hundred and twenty mph consist of nothing more than simply a framework, an engine, & four wheels. For a start, the engine is located behind the cockpit as opposed to road motor cars.

What a lack of research could do to you.

When creating an ebook how well do you research the topic before hand?

It’s absolutely crucial that you research what problems your target market is having and
what they’re spending money on.

The time to pay attention to detail is here.

If you don’t research how will you know what problems exist in your target market, what
their recommending for products to try, pay even closer attention to the dollars involved.
Hope fully they’re purchasing pattern will lead into 3 digit numbers.

This is why probing for the information you need you’ll be in a better position to analyze
the information to see if it’s a worthwhile project to start, if not junk it.

Case in point, I recently had a young lad email me and explain he was a first time author
of a 30 pg ebook targeted at teenagers.

He realized that because his target market is teenagers and teenagers do not purchase as
frequently online as adults do that he was in a bit of a bind.

What was he to do?
He’d put a bit of work into his project and knowing what he does now, he has to decide
whether to sell or give it away. He needed some positive feedback, nothing to
devastating. Instead of targeting students he could alter the ebook towards another target
market, a market with money to spend and a hunger for his type of info product. Just a
little copying, pasting, and editing.

Praise those accomplishments:
The first thing I did was congratulate him for being a first time author.

Good topic, wrong market for low income earners:
The topic he was covering was actually a good topic, but he realized after the fact that he
had probably created a dud for an ebook because of the restrictions imposed on his target
market…lack of access to purchasing power.

What would you do in his position?

His question to me was what he should do with the ebook. He had considered giving it
away to people as an incentive for them to sign up for his newsletter, or selling the ebook
at $5.00 a copy.
Indication of his problems:
I assumed that because he only put a price tag of $5.00 on the book that he was either not
comfortable with the content he placed in the ebook OR that he was selling himself short.
I would assume the latter.

Summary:

The collection of data, decision time.
Once you’ve collected what you think is all the info required via surveys, it is now time
for the decision making process

Why researching the right way the first time will save you hair loss and disappointment:

This is why doing a thorough job in the researching part of your work is so important. If
he would have put a little more thought into who his target market was he wouldn’t have
created a dud for an info product.

Lack of researching is the number one mistake that most new authors make, take your
time researching…what’s the rush?

Copyright 2004 August

This article may be re-published
as long as the source box remains.
Notification of use would be appreciated.

Brian is a freelance writer and publisher
of The Ebook King Chronicles.
Brian’s goal is to give you more ideas for
your next project, step by step.
www.theebookking.com

Presentation techniques are the tools that help us to bring a page of written text to spoken life. They are the means by which we animate words, inject interest and build audience rapport. Learn the following 7 techniques and you’ll have your audience clinging to every word you say.

1. Speak To Their Ears. Remember that your audience receives your words through their ears. They aren’t reading it. That’s why you should continually ask yourself, “how will this sound to my audience?”. In particular, you should check for…
• the use of jargon, technical and bureaucratic language, long phrases and gobbledeegook. Avoid them.
• specific meanings: “next Friday” is better than “soon”.
• concrete words rather than abstract words: “microphone” is better than “sound amplification facilities”.
• Anglo-Saxon rather than Latinised words: “talk” is better than “communicate”.

2. Use Conversational English. Speakers who lack the confidence to speak directly to their audience tend to lean heavily on their prepared texts. This creates the risk of speaking the written word which can sound artificial and stilted. Conversational English on the other hand is natural and flowing. By creating the feeling of a personal chat, the conversational style helps to build audience rapport.

Idiomatic, conversational English is distinctly different from written English. It allows for occasional ungrammatical and incorrect use of words and sentences, as long as the meaning is clear and sounds right. You would not, for example, say the grammatically-correct “For whom is it?” in place of the colloquial “Who’s it for?”

3. Make Everything Make Sense. One of the most important points to remember about a presentation is that written English does not always make the same sense to a listener as spoken English. When we read written English we go at our speed and can pause, go back or jump ahead. When we are listening, we rely on the speaker to make sense for us. Notice the difference between these two ways of expressing the same sentence.

Not: “The user will no doubt be familiar with the consequences of a machine failure at difficult moments.”

But: “I expect you know the sort of thing I mean. You’re right in the middle of something worth saving when, Phut!, the whole damn thing goes up in smoke. Before your very eyes…”

4. Signpost Where You Are Going. The technique of Signposting, or Labelling, can be used throughout a presentation. Signposting, like the signs on a street, is a way of letting the audience know in advance what is coming next in your talk. It is used to tell the audience what you want them to understand from it.

• we can signpost the whole talk when we start: “I’d like to do three things this morning. First, I’d like to look at our current position; then our plans and finally, the costs.”
• we can signpost a sub-point: “My second area is to look at plans. First, this year’s; then next year’s…”
• we can signpost any issue: “Let me give you an example of what I mean…”
• we can signpost the end: “Just one more point before I finish…”

Audiences appreciate signposting because it helps them know where they are.

5. Use Jokes To Build Rapport. Jokes are a way of amusing an audience while at the same time sharing something with them. The point of contact is the shared laughter. If a joke works it brings you together; conversely, if the joke doesn’t work, it pushes you apart. Jokes need to be appropriate, well-presented and, of course, funny. A blue joke from the Rugby club dinner speech probably won’t work well at the annual conference of the Women’s Institute. Equally a joke told badly where you miss your timing, tell it too quickly or forget the punchline is worse than no joke at all.

This joke told by Patrick Forsyth seems to catch the mood of a farewell speech:
“I remember the day after Nigel joined us and overhearing the impression he’d made on two young ladies from Accounts.
“Doesn’t that Mr Green dress well,” said one.
“Yes,” replied the other. “And so quickly.”

6. Pause For Maximum Effect. Some of the best moments in a speech are, surprisingly, those moments when you stop. Knowing when to stop is the art of the creative pause. It can work for you in a number of ways:

• to tease the audience, perhaps after a provocative question: “I bet you’d like to know how you could make a million…”
• to pause before the punchline of a joke
• to wait for an audience to settle after laughter or a general discussion
• to give the audience time to think (for example, when looking at a new overhead)
• to show you’re in total control by holding the pause just slightly longer than you need to.

7. Show Don’t Just Tell. Turning a simple presentation point into a narrative or story can entertain and involve the audience on a different level. It is a way of showing them not just telling them.

Not: “Our personal computer has three kinds of memory storage: the random access memory, the hard drive and the floppy drive.”

But: “Designing the storage memory for this particular computer was always going to be a tricky problem. The first team to look at it was Rob James and Ellen Smith. After several experiments they discovered that they could build in a huge RAM but their problem was what to do with the hard drive. This was new territory. Neither of them had worked on anything like that before. First, they tried a separate box. No good. Then a new casing. Still no good. They were about to give up when news came from Japan about an amazing new microchip…”

Master these simple techniques and you’ll raise your presentation expertise to heights you’d only just dreamed of before!

© Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com

For instant solutions to all your management training needs, visit www.managetrainlearn.com and download amazing FREE training software. And while you’re there, make sure you try out our prize quiz, get your surprise bonus gift, and subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter. Go and get the ManageTrainLearn experience now!

You’re busy.

You’ve got a bunch of e-mails to send. You hit the keyboard.
Wham…bam…out they go.

Most go to people you don’t know or know only casually. WHOA!

Consider this. Every word in those e-mails is creating an image
of who you are…particularly with those who don’t know you
personally or know you only slightly.

What are your words saying about you? That you’re warm and
personable? Or, that you’re curt, formal and indifferent?

Yeah…I hear you. E-mail is supposed to be a brief and fast
medium of communication. You don’t have time to be warm and
personable?

OH YES YOU DO!

It’s easier than you think. And requires only five extra
seconds. Less time than it takes to blow your nose.

Here’s what you do before writing an e-mail:

1. Image the person in your mind. If you don’t know them,
imagine what they look like. So who cares if it isn’t reality.
Do the person a favor and make them beautiful or handsome.

2. Now, smile at that person. That’s right. Smile! If you’re
around other people and you don’t want to look like a grinning
idiot, at least smile inwardly.

Now, you’ve just spent five seconds and you’re ready to write.
Let me tell you why those five seconds mean so much.

Smile-writing adds a warmth to your words that you don’t
consciously apply. Your message will be the same. The length
will be about the same. In fact, you’ll probably read it over
and think, “Sounds like what I would have written without all
that smile business.” But it won’t be. Trust me.

I don’t know how or why this happens but it does. When you smile
at the people you write to, that smile comes through your words
just as certainly as if you were there. It is absolutely one of
the great mysteries of life.

Remember, partner, whether you’re sending an e-mail, a letter, a
proposal, a memo or a report, your words create a picture of
you. And it may be the ONLY picture of you your target will ever
know. Making it warm and personable could someday make a major
difference in your future.

Give yourself an extra presence. Smile-write.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Doug C. Grant is the author of the new e-book, ‘How to Move from
Cubicle to Corner Office with THE SECRETS OF POWERWRITING’. A
FREE preview plus details on receiving a FREE Blue Pencil Edit
for one of your own imcoms is available by e-mailing:
mailto:edit@newbieclub.com

Do you know what the Child Trust Fund is? Hardly any mothers or fathers seem to be aware of the fact that all newly born babies receive a free £250 voucher from the State to put in a Child Trust Fund. The voucher may be invested in any one of three varieties of CTF account, Stakeholder - a shares-based account thatswaps into cash, a savings account or a shares account. It is a great opportunity to invest for the future requirements of a youngster

Scottish Friendly is an approved provider of the Child Trust Fund The State is keen for the public to have access to Stakeholder accounts and this is the type of account that we provide. This means that:

Investments are placed into Scottish Friendly’s Managed Growth Fund, which intends to provide strong growth potential

It invests partly in shares to take advantage of potentially higher returns over 18 years,compared to a cash deposit account (although the value of shares can
go down as well as rise whereas capital would be protected in a deposit account)

It comes with a low ‘Stakeholder’ funds charge of only 1.5 percent every year

When a person reaches the age of 18 the young person will receive a lump sum, entirely free of Capital Gains and Income Tax under current law

It is very affordable - extra payments can be put in the account from as little as £10

A notable attraction of the Child Trust Fund is that anyone - parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends - if they want can give to the Fund to a maximum of £1,200 per year to help increase the child’s Fund (once added, this money is not allowed to be withdrawn).

All this means our Stakeholder account provides a good balance between possible high returns and a lower level of risk. There’s also the extra assurance that our account meets with the Government’s stakeholder criteria. However this doesn’t mean that returns are guaranteed or that Stakeholder accounts are appropriate for everyone. Bear in mind that the value of shares in the Managed Growth Fund (where your Child Trust Fund money is held) can fall as well as increase and would not be guaranteed.

Only infants who were born on or after 1st September 2002 are allowed to open a Child Trust Fund. If you have children born before the 1st of September 2002 who are not eligible you could consider investing for them with a Child Bond - it’s a tax-free savings plan which was created for long-term growth.

It is undoubtedly the case that saving for your son is a sound means of preparing for the future.

by KaronThackston © 2003
http://www.copywritingcourse.com

As I was riding down the road last week, I noticed a billboard. As I sat waiting on a stoplight I kept staring at it. I couldn’t help wondering what those people were thinking when they created that thing. It made no sense to me whatsoever. The focus was completely off. They were spending all that money on a billboard that was practically useless.

That happens quite a bit with all types of advertising. Well-meaning people design and/or write ads that just don’t make good sense. For all their time and all their money they will likely get nothing in return. So, what did they do that was all wrong?

This particular billboard was for a realtor. Half of it was taken up with his photo. I understand photos… they help to create relationships and give people a face to put with an otherwise arbitrary name. But half the billboard? The photo should have definitely been much smaller.

The next biggest thing on the billboard was the realtor’s tag line. To be honest, I don’t remember what the tag line was… something pretty generic like “Serving your real estate needs for 15 years.” Nothing worth taking up all that space for.

Next… in about the same size font (type) as the tag line were the name of the real estate company and the realtor’s name.

Last - and in the smallest type - was the contact phone number. Hmmm… does something seem wrong to you?

Now let’s think about this. What is the purpose of putting up a billboard - or any other piece of advertising? To get people to respond. And how do people respond? In this case by contacting you. If I had a shot at redesigning this billboard, I would do a lot of things differently.

The biggest two things on the billboard would be the realtor’s name and his contact phone number. If a person driving by only got two pieces of information from this ad, I’d want it to be the name of who to contact and how.

Next, I’d want to see a tell-all tag line (USP - unique selling position). Something that sets this realtor apart from others. Something that tells me - as a prospect - that I need *this* guy to sell my house… not any of the other 6,000 realtors in my area.

Lastly, I’d work in the smaller photo, and the name of the realty company. Both are needed, but they don’t need to be as large as they were.

When you create any piece of advertising, you have to keep the end results in mind. What do you want to happen once a prospect sees your ad? In this case, the realtor wanted people to call him. Therefore, the contact information simply has to be prominent.

People driving past a billboard *may* have a total of 3 seconds of viewing time. Since this billboard was near a stoplight (great choice of location by the way), those who were stopped had a few more seconds, maybe even a minute, of viewing time, IF they noticed the billboard. (They may have been looking in the rearview mirror and yelling at their kids!) That means the focus has to be crystal clear.

When you create advertising pieces, be sure to keep your focus in mind. What do you want to accomplish with this ad? If every aspect does not lend itself in some way to getting the prospects to respond the way you need them to, consider reworking your ad.

Whether it’s billboards, postcards, Web sites, newspapers, magazines, or brochures keep your focus in check. Making it easy for the customer to buy will bring you maximum results.

About the Author

Copy not getting results? Let Karon write targeted, persuasive copy for you. Visit her site at http://www.ktamarketing.com, or learn to write your own copy at http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Karon’s free ezine at http://www.ktamarketing.com/ezine.html.

The hardest part of nonfiction writing is finding a subject to write about. Unless you’re a student or a professional writer no one is going to select a topic for you. That means you have to come up with your own themes. If you’re like most writers, your subject matter will be things that interest you. I used the headings listed below to generate ideas for my writing. Hopefully these idea generators will help you become a more productive writer.

HOW DID I SOLVE THAT PROBLEM?: This question can lead to an infinite number of article ideas. The articles that result from it are generally the easiest to market, because many people have the same problem. A writer just starting out could develop a niche by answering this question. Which was how I got started. I was an electronic technician when I published my first article. At the time I was flooded with printed information, catalogs, data sheets, articles, etc. To handle this overflow I developed a filing system. Then I wrote an article about how I solved my problem. The article entitled, “The Ultimate Electronics Reference File” was published in The Electron, a technical journal. A couple months later I was looking for a cheap source of electronic parts, test equipment, etc. (This was before E-Bay.) That thought led me to write “Getting More For Your Electronics Dollar” which appeared in the same publication.

OBJECTS: Observation and/or memory of an object can lead to many ideas. For example, I once owned a multicolored 1955 Chevrolet. With that old car in mind, I wrote an essay entitled “Ode To An Old Car” which was published by a local newspaper.

CHANGES: Some are good and some aren’t, it’s that simple. Either way using this topic, you can create an articles defending or attacking changes. Which I did in “The Advantages Of Flex Time” also published in a local newspaper. I set the piece in a gas station

HOW I DID IT: This is a variation on the above topic. As a woodcarver, I used this statement to detail how I created a certain kind of carving. The resulting article “Carving An Ancient Artifact” was published by Chip Chats Magazine.

OPINIONS/RANTS: Now I’m passionate about a few things in life, though some folks who know me might disagree with this statement. “Nonfiction Idea Generators” is one of the things I’m passionate about, after all I did write this article. But, what I’m not sure of is whether this is an opinion piece or a rant.

READ: Newspapers, magazines, e-zines, cereal boxes, and anything else you can wrap your eyes around. Read to find ideas for future articles. Ask yourself, as you read, “is there anything here I can use? Does this leave me with unanswered questions?” If so, good. That is what you’re looking for. Write down your thoughts and save them along with the article. More about this later.

LISTEN TO YOUR FRIENDS: Sometimes, when friends talk you’ll hear something that sounds like a great subject for an article. An article you know you can write. But before you do, you probably should ask for permission to use the info—if you value the friendship.

SOMETHING THAT MADE YOU LAUGH: Changes are, it’ll make others laugh, too.

SOMETHING YOU’RE CURIOUS ABOUT: One of the best sources of nonfiction ideas can be found by just wondering about something. Example, in a chemistry class studying different types of sugars, I asked the instructor how brown sugar was made. He said he didn’t know and assigned the topic to me. I did the research and wrote a two page report (about 300 words) on the subject.

PUT YOUR DREAMS TO WORK: I had a dream about selling an essay, which I had hadn’t even written at the time of the dream. The essay, now exists, and is part of an e-book I am writing. The essay is about putting my world back together, as a freelance writer, after being laid off from NASA Glenn Research Center, where I worked for sixteen years as a subcontractor. This is not an easy thing to write about; but since the dream, I now have a use for that story.

USE LISTS OF CURRENT MARKETS: Here is a great way to find not only subject matter, but also a market for the piece, should you write it. But before you do a knock-their-socks-off piece for a listing: read the writer’s guidelines, study the publication and its advertising. The advertising will tell you a lot about the publication and its readers.

REVERSE A PUBLISHED ARTICLE’S IDEA: The article you clipped above could serve as an idea generator, if you reverse the argument put forth in the article.

SAVE YOUR ARTICLE IDEAS: When you find an article idea, write it down. Use a single sentence. Put the idea away for a few days. Then go back to it, find a target market. Study the publication you intend to submit it to. What kind of people read this journal? Slant your article for those readers.

Remember, use you Article Idea Generators often and wisely. An idea is a terrible thing to waste. Good Luck.

Neal Naughton is a technical writer, copywriter, and creative writer. He is also a ghostwriter, who can handle your next article etc. You can reach him at nealnaughton@WRITENEAL.COM. All of his articles are copwrited and can not be reproduced without his written permission.

Try to keep your old flames

As your present candles,

To remind you who you are,

To cast you light when it’s dark.

Retire from your old games;

Farewell to past moonspells;

Repair your remaining scar;

‘ past is but a previous spark.

Life’s course should be linear;

There’s no more turning back.

Yet, life’s also circular,

From pure white to pitch black.

Say hello to the present;

Bid farewell to the past.

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