Speak Without Interruption » Marketing

I’d bitch about health care, but I’m too sick.

Carla René — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:53:00 +0000

My apologies, peeps: I’ve been rogue lately.

Was knocked on my butt last week with chest pains and shortness of breath. When I got home from picking up a few groceries on Wednesday evening at 7:30, I sat down to check my mail like I usually do, when I suddenly felt sharp pain in bands across my back and I was having noticeable trouble breathing. My breath was coming in short gasps. My roommate gave me a couple of muscle relaxers, as I thought it might be from my Fibromyalgia, but after thirty minutes I had no relief, and so she decided to take me to hospital.

I HATE going to hospitals. If you’re not clearly dying or decapitated, then they make you sit in the ER forever; although, I’ve known a few who lost limbs and still weren’t considered “trauma”. My minimum that night was 2 hours before being seen by a doctor, and another 2 once I had been seen to await my test results.

The highlight of the evening had to come when they needed to do a CT scan for blood clots or tears in the aorta, but they couldn’t get a vein for the IV. Finally, after yet another chest x-ray and blood work, they sent me home.

Fast-forward to the next night, and I’m still having pain and trouble breathing. The very handsome doctor whom I saw that night said the only choice left, was to get the IV and do the CT scan. I think I’ve had gynecological exams that were more pleasant. My veins run deep and they roll, so it’s nearly impossible to get a good IV on me at anytime. Tonight was no exception. I think I stopped counting at twelve times for how many times they had to poke me, and they still ended up doing an EJ (external jugular), and that one they had to try for three different times. They were tenacious, I’ll give ‘em that.

But, as soon as they got the pain meds in, I didn’t give a flip what they wanted to do after that.

A few hours later, and the handsome doctor returned with the verdict that I had a good case of pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the lining of the lungs. He sent me home with Percocet and orders to follow-up with an off-site doctor.

Here I am a week later, and having just as much pain and breathing trouble, but with no insurance, there is not going to be a doctor on the planet who will see me. So, it’s either make another coma-inducing trip to the ER, or sit in agony, as I’ve done now for the last two days since running out of my medication. It burns me up when people begin bitching about health care, who truly have no real need for it. However, my Systemic Lupus precludes me from the requisite bitching about socialised health care.

Just sorta ootzy that way.

And now after a nice, long break from writing, I’m back, working through the pain. Think I’ll take a break–my back is starting to hurt.

The Gaslight Journal is Done

Carla René — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:15:38 +0000

Book Cover

Yesterday morning at approximately 2 a.m., I officially finished my first, full-length novel, The Gaslight Journal.

Begun back sometime in 2001, this book was originally a fluke of an idea. Because I’ve said previously that I had no confidence in my writing, I did not work seriously at the thoughts of ever finishing this book, let alone trying to shop it around for either a publisher, or to make available as a Kindle title, which I plan to do. I am shooting for an early to mid-November release date, hyping the publicity for Christmas.

It was around this time that I also joined an online writing group on Usenet. That group of people that I met there, taught me a lot about life, growing up, the value of friendships of people you’ve never met, and how with just a little relentless encouragement and a whole lot of craft, I was the only one holding me back from doing this. Some of those people–Steve W., Barry A., Joe K., Alaric M., Bob W., and Amanda T., are still close friends and confidants to this day. To be honest, I have no idea where I would be in all this, if it hadn’t been for their kind hearts, and taskmaster discipline.

I highly encourage you to find a good, active online or face-to-face writing group. The benefits of an online group, are that it’s easy to post excerpts or short stories for critique, and many, many people have the benefit of making comment, so you get many varying POVs. Plus, my favourite, being able to post stories, comment and commiserate, all without leaving your chair or changing from your peejays.

The downside of a group of this nature, is that you generally have to wade through several timezones before you get an answer, sometimes waiting for days or even weeks in some cases, as people are extremely busy and the level of posting is in high volume. The other drawback is that because each poster is in equal probability an amateur as well as a published, experienced author, you never know, without trial and error, if the advice you receive will truly work for you.

The pros of seeking out a face-to-face writing group, inherently, are the same as an online group: you learn how to give–by mere repetition and discussion–effective constructive critiques, and you get them in return, which, since true writing is only in the RE-writing, will only make you a better writer. You also have that immediacy of advice, because once you read your excerpt, you then have the luxury of hearing its immediate affect on those listening, and they can offer comment while the work is still fresh in their mind, and they haven’t had an ample amount of time to think about it, which often happens in online groups–people have lives to live between the time they read your story, and the time they have to comment, so opinions are sometimes in jeopardy of changing in that time, and you just don’t have the access to those visceral, gut-wrenching opinions.

The downside of this sort of group, is that you have to get dressed before you leave the house. Oh, and you have a specified time to meet each and every week, rain or shine. You can’t just sit back in your cozy armchair if the snow is too deep and you don’t feel like reading Shteeve’s latest tome until in the morning.

As you can see, both groups have benefits and both have their drawbacks. As to which one will work better in your situation is entirely up to you, but the important and only thing is, that you find one and become an active part of it. Those who offer critiques and read our stories are an integral part of the writing process. Even if your average reader does not know how to place into words why your story sucks, if it’s not polished and snazzed up, is rife with misspellings, grammatical errors and typos, he will simply know it does, and that will be more than enough to kill your sales, because avid bibliophiles TALK.

Now that my own group disbanned about a year ago, I am also, in want of a new, constructive and active group, because I’m not nearly done writing–I’m just getting started!

My web-site: http://www.carlarene.com

My blog: http://carlarene.blogspot.com

Become a “Twit:” http://www.twitter.com/carlarenecomedy

I’d Like to Thank The Academy…

Carla René — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:41:30 +0000

Are we so used to rejection and the sky falling that anytime something wonderful happens, it shocks the living doo right out of us?

My response: a vehement ‘maybe.’

I preached a few weeks ago about this business being nothing but farming: with each new contact we make, with each new eBook submission, with each new shiny dollar we use to bribe friends for their support, we…are…planting…seeds. And like real plants, they take a while to grow. Some may even forget where they planted, or what seed it was. But when they finally come to fruition, it makes us feel all warm inside, like we’ve finally really accomplished something.

But why does that continually surprise us? Why are we so geared toward failure, and accepting that as the norm?

Yesterday, I learned, quite by accident, that my upcoming novel, The Gaslight Journal, is now sitting in the number one spot at the HarperCollins web-site for the week’s listings. (I’d like to thank the academy…) (I’m shooting for a late October/early November release in time for Christmas) I’ve worked very hard at my writing–especially that book, because it was a genre that I love to read–am a huge Jane Austen, Edith Wharton and Henry James fan–but was wholly unfamiliar with as a genre in which to write. In fact, I’ll give you guys a little secret–the entire book hinged off one comment; the first comment that popped into my head one snowy, Christmas evening.

“Her bustle hit the ground, hard.”

Don’t ask me why bustle was in there, but it was, and I suddenly could actually see the story unfolding before me. It was as if a movie was playing in my mind. There were the snow-covered small-town streets, her black boots with the buttons, getting knocked over by a group of handsome, but moronic college men (who, we eventually learn, actually know her), and walking home from the train station to her childhood home. I could see it all so clearly, that I had to immediately begin dictation.

And now, here we are, too many years later, and up to chapter twenty-six. Why too many years? Why didn’t I just get it out when it began? Because I had no confidence in my abilities. Oh, I’d plunk away at it as the mood hit me, but never really took it seriously as a discipline until recently.

Which brings me to my essay thesis. I think the reason we become so surprised when something wonderful happens for us, isn’t because we didn’t plant the seed, but because we did, and we weren’t convinced that anything would come from it.

What is the first sensation we are faced with just a few seconds after birth? That’s right–the doctor kicking our ass–he slaps it. And we cry. I know, it’s a wholly physiological response to getting the phlegm out of the lungs as quickly as possible, but I like its metaphorical purposes as an allegory. It’s this harsh introduction to reality that kind of sets the tone for the rest of our lives. Judeo-Christianity tells us that we are born morally bankrupt, into a world of sin thanks to Adam and Eve’s being an apple short of a baker’s dozen. There are a rare few who believe that people are born decent, but that’s a load of crap. I don’t believe that. I believe we’re born with the odds stacked incredibly against us, and from the word ‘go,’ we spend most of our time fighting for what we truly want out of this life, which, if when analysed, make us dig deep into that dark, survival-centred place. We fight ourselves, in the hopes of making peace with who we are. We fight our parents for the car, for freedom, for adulthood. We fight the world for peace, for fairness and for respect.

We fight our entire lives. And we see failure. Statistically, the odds of us succeeding are also stacked against us from the outset. So we learn to fight the odds, too. And we get knocked on our asses–plenty. And we get our hopes dashed–plenty. We see our dreams broken into tiny pieces, and if we can’t recover, then we take pieces of that dream and slash our wrists with it. (Hey! This is pretty good stuff.)

All of this to say, we’re groomed pretty much from the beginning to expect failure for most of our lives. It’s even in our vernacular:

“Don’t get your hopes up.”
“No one expects you to work miracles.”
“Aw, better luck next time.”
“Without bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”
“Why can’t you do anything, you idiot? Do you think you’re too good to stay here on the farm and milk the cows…….” Okay, so I threw one in from my parents, but follow along.

And my favourite, by comedian Steven Wright:

“People always tell you that practice makes perfect. And then they fake you out and tell you nobody’s perfect.”

This society as a whole is completely obsessed with failure! And your “supportive” friends only reinforce it, with their condescension. “Aw, you’ll do better next time,” while at the same time they’re jumping up and down, happy that you failed and they still have a shot. And maybe that’s why I screech so loudly when something good finally happens.

People, we are not jockeying for position, here, we’re all in this moronic soup together!

Where was I?

Oh, yes: Why, oh why do we pay taxes??

And, scene.

What happens if it works?

My friend Lelia has that in her sig file, and I love it. It is so antipodal to the normal way we view life, always trying to prepare for the contingency if it breaks. In fact, we’re so focused on that, that we never prepare ourselves for what to do when it finally works. Maybe that’s the reason some self-sabotage themselves before ever becoming successful. They never prepared themselves mentally for handling the situation when they finally hit it big.

And mental preparation is needed for success. Just ask those folks who are busy being successful. But they probably won’t have time to return your call.

How about, for the next week, I challenge you to begin planting seeds, preparing for the time when you are successful? At the end of the week, come back here and post your experiences with it. I’m curious to see how it goes.

Now, and I’m not just saying this:

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Worth The Wait

Genevieve — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:05:06 +0000

I read a neat blog article somewhere today about … waiting.

It talked about how a writer spends their days … waiting. They wait for inspiration, they wait for responses from agencies and publishers, they wait for feedback … from anyone.

All painfully true.

But it’s not just writers. It’s people in general. We wait for the bus. We wait for the paycheque (or should), then wait in line to spend it. We wait for the kids to finish swimming lessons. Wait wait wait. Glancing at my watch or calendar, tapping my toes, hurrying so I can wait some more.

But waiting, and thinking about waiting is a waste of time. You can’t control time. But … you can take control of your time.

I figure waiting happens when you let it happen. Over the past year I started taking my writing more seriously. And I decided that waiting wasn’t going to happen anymore. Or, if I did have to wait, at least I’d do my best to forget about that ‘wasted’ time. I filled those hours/days/months with improving my craft. I sliced and diced and polished that poor manuscript until it was shiny and new … to the point where when I click on some sections, I actually don’t remember having written them.

Then I sent it out again. I didn’t wait for responses, though. They were usually negative, and usually depressing. So many people moan on and on about how it’s impossible to get an agent or publisher. And I was tempted to join in the lament. But what’s the point of doing that? I knew the book was ready. If an agent thought so too, then great. If not, well, I’d done my best. I wasn’t going to wait around, moping. I started writing a new book and got entirely swallowed up by it. I started editing for people, which also helped my own writing. Every moment I could have spent waiting, worrying and moaning was instead spent … doing.

And one day, a miracle happened. An agent actually called, wanting to represent me. We worked together and did more scrubbing and polishing, then he took it out to some editors. I could have waited and worried. But I didn’t. Sure, it was in my mind all the time (and I mean all the time), but what was the point in fussing? Instead I wrote, I edited, I filled my time.

And it happened. The first desk on which “Under The Same Sky” landed was that of an Executive Editor of Berkley Publishing in NY, a division of Penguin Books. And she loved it. She wanted it immediately. There were negotiations back and forth, and I admit I did buzz around my phone and email an awful lot over those couple of weeks. But I also wrote, edited, and filled my time.

And when that moment came – that moment when I received the call saying I was now a Berkley author – I realized it was a moment for which I had waited my entire life. And I hadn’t even known I’d been waiting for it.

Who ever would have thought I’d be a published author? Not me. I toyed with it in my mind, dreamed impossible dreams. Wouldn’t that be fun? Imagine if my book were actually considered good enough for that. How did those authors ever get onto those shelves?

Now, guess what? We all have to wait. “Under The Same Sky” will be out in bookstores between Jan-April 2012, and six months later it will be joined by its companion novel, “Sound Of The Heart”.

And … now I have to admit something. I can’t wait!

How to Market your Talent if you Cross-Pollinate (some practical guidelines)

Carla René — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 05:16:38 +0000

This week has been *very* busy for me. The publishing world (I promise, this ties
into acting and other arts.) has changed very quickly with wi-fi books; i.e., Nook, Kindle,
app readers for smart phones, and so now not only is an author faced with
writing on his next upcoming release, but he’s also shouldered the
responsibility for the marketing, publicity, the advertising, and it takes a
lot…of…work. My days with Lupus and Fibromyalgia, are at least
16-hours, all of it writing: my upcoming novel release in the fall, my
blog, and I’m also now contributing author at several sites.

If you create it, they will come.

At first, I just had my web-site. So then, big deal? Now what? Most all
of my previous web-design clients have been artists: actors; directors;
musicians; and authors. Most authors. Word-of-mouth. I haven’t spent one
dime on advertising. I’ve never had to. And the biggest thing that I, as a
webbed-mistress have harped to my clients, is that they need to exploit
themselves as much as possible. We spend all this money on
professionally-photographed headshots, acting classes and clothes for
auditions, but we think we can get by without a web-site? Or if we don’t,
then we design our own web-site and business cards?? Uh, no.

Here’s a quick run-down of the first things I tell my clients once we get
their site live:

Get business cards, and if your web-designer hasn’t designed them to
look like your web-site, then at least find a company who will, or who will
get the design close. Your web-site should be your first portal to new
“fans” on the web, and it represents you in EVERY way, so make sure your
business card, which is the first portal to new fans in real life, matches
the rest of your promotion materials. I always try and design a business
card template for my new clients, unless I find they already have them, then
don’t waste money making new ones. Use up what you have.
If you wish to incorporate your identity, then hire a professional
logo designer. This person will be able to design a professional logo
that will A. stand out in the mind of anyone who sees it, and B. will make
it look good either on the side of a bus, or the side of a pencil.
I encourage anyone like an actor, director, voice-over, musician or
comic–anyone who needs a promo pack–to have it professionally done.
Part of my job as a web-designer (Which put my skills as a comic and writer
to work.), is knowing how to present my client’s company or my client in the
best possible light, and that means knowing how to BS the hell out of the
process. I don’t mean make things up–I mean, to know how to put
advertising spin on the product that’s being advertised. There is a
heirarchy of information that newspaper editors consider all the time when
involved in layout for the next edition. It’s a skill that comes from years
of working in design, watching the trends change on a dime and keeping up
with the technology to do it. Also, unless you’re Mr. Serious, have this
designer incorporate a little levity into your copy, be it web or
promotional materials. Now, I will acknowledge there are some pretty nice
site templates available now like Joomla and WordPress. But, however pretty
the template may be, you are still responsible for its content, and isn’t it
better having someone who knows what they’re doing, so you can concentrate
on what you should, and that’s learning new monologues?
GET THEE TO A FACEBOOKERY. Ok, it’s not Shakespeare, but you get my
meaning. Let’s admit it: you’re *going* to waste time on it anyway, so
why not use it to your advantage? I have not only my personal page, but
also now have a “fanpage,” where I advertise upcoming stand-up gigs as well
as books I have available for download. And I can interact with anyone
there, which, if they’re a fan of your work, makes the people very happy.
There are new social networking sites cropping up all the time, but when
you’re just starting out, in order to save yourself some time and sanity,
stick to the big ones: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, GoogleConnect
and LinkedIn. Most require profiles, so either give your web-designer one
piece of copy of what you want written so that they can do it for you, or
you will spend much time filling out profiles and preferences.
Get a blog. I resisted this like the plague for a long time, then
suddenly last week when my career exploded, I realised its value. People
WANT the personal touch when it comes to you, their public figure. If
you’re a director, then blog about your current production, or the time when
you directed “Titanic.” If you’re an actor, blog about your current
production, or the time you acted in “Titanic.” People are nosey–it’s in
our nature–so play your strengths to this human weakness. There are ways
you can link a blog into your web-site, or, some people even have just a
blog, which its capabilities and power and being expanded all the time, for
photos, videos, even audio. Some buy just their domain name and then host
it on the Blog servers.
Pretend you are already a star.Wha?? I do it all the time when no
one’s looking, so make it work for you. I don’t mean go out and buy
expensive crap you can’t pay for, I mean advertise yourself and get your
name out there as if you were already a big-name. I learned this week on
one of my sites where I contribute, that this one lady, an author with a
novel already under her belt and a new one due to be released soon, had a
mentor. A publisher, I think. And the first piece of advice she was given,
was to do just this very thing. Now she has a huge fan-base, and is primed
and ready for sales as soon as the novel hits Kindle this fall. See, people
LOVE confidence. Not hubris, but sheer confidence. And to put yourself out
there and have yourself marketed as if you’re John Malkovich instead of John
Doe, well, people, even if their reaction is negative (Who IS this guy, and
who does he think he is?), will be forced to sit up and take notice.
(Hmmn. Says he’s got a movie coming out. Guess I’ll see how good he really
is. Once that happens, you’ve got them hooked. Hey–it’s how it happens.)
WRITE A DAMN GOOD NOVEL; BE A TREMENDOUS ACTOR; DIRECT SO WELL YOU ARE
INDISPENSABLE. In wrapping up, all of this fluster in advertising and
hard work, well, it won’t mean a hill of beans if you neglect the basics,
and that is to learn all you can about your craft and make it better. This works no matter in what area of art you are. Why take the time to get Joe Blow located in your line-of-site and get him enticed into watching your upcoming movie, if your acting skills are no better than Heather Graham?? You’ve wasted all that time and energy and for what?
Do not give up. This business is fickle, so when you put on your
advertising hat, be thicker-skinned than when you are wearing your artist
hat. Think of it this way: every time you fill out another profile, or
post to another discussion thread, you are planting seeds, and seeds take
time to root and come to monetary fruition.
Specifically for actors: Do NOT stop living your life. You’re
on-stage or in front of the camera maybe 4 full hours out of an 18-hour day,
so go back to school, take a floral design class, learn basketweaving. Stop
falling into depressions because you’re not in a job. I love and highly
recommend the book by Katherine Mayfield, called, “Good Actors, Bad
Choices.” She discusses this in-depth. Get it.

So. How is this working for me? Well, let me just say, that in one day,
yesterday, I not only sold my first 3 downloads on Kindle, but I also landed
a paying impov comedy job that runs through Halloween. 2 download units
were from Facebook as well as the audition notice for the Halloween job.

All this to say, do not dismiss out-of-hand the power of social networking
until you’ve been “unfriended” by it.

I should’ve been the one to paint the Sistine Chapel

Carla René — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 10:21:15 +0000

I’ve decided to get today’s article out here early–I’ve had a lot on my mind and was excited to discuss it.

But this sure has been a strange week.

I’ve spent a lot of time getting familiar with this e-publishing craze and realising just how green about it I am–and green is not my colour. I have friends who are mid-list authors who once were the darlings of the hardcover and paperback novel world, but who are now realising the value of self-publication, and they’re making a lot of money in addition.

Now. I’m intelligent enough to know that once you start something such as self-publishing, what you’re doing, in essence, is planting seeds that common sense tells you will take time to root and grow into monetary fruition. I’ve been writing for over ten years, but it’s taken me this long to get up the courage, and self-confidence in my writing to try and get it marketed. It takes getting known by other authors, getting recognition from those who read the other authors and happened to stumble upon you in the process. It takes web-sites, blogs, contributing articles and lots of potato chips and Starbucks. I’m slowly realising that there is a finesse to it.

But I want to make money now! I’ve had my titles up on Kindle for all of a full week. And have seen not one sale from it. (Hey–I promised to share my joys of good news and unexpected blurbs, along with my hideously disfiguring disappointments.) I’ll be honest–this is one of those hideously disfiguring disappointments for me. I’ve been the kind of person who has always succeeded at anything I’ve tried, so since it’s taken me some time and hard work (My muscles are killing me from all this computer work and writing.), I guess I expected a return on my investment a little sooner than now.

Now. I know what you’re gonna say, and you’re right. I shouldn’t be so impatient. But let’s analyse this for a moment. Is there a better feeling in the entire world than seeing your name in print? Yes, and it’s called selling your work. When someone takes their hard-earned money and decides to invest it in something only you had to say, well, it’s a feeling that I imagine is like no other. I guess it’s akin to an unwritten trust; it sets up a symbiosis between the reader/buyer and the author/seller that only another artist would know and understand. As a fine artist, I had that exact feeling for my first time when I was 17 years old, and was asked by a class-mate of mine to paint her portrait. I painted it from a photo of her, and I think it took me all of a week. But when I was finished and showed it to her for the first time, her reaction was something that made me feel significant–like the talent that I had mattered somehow.
But when she paid me the eight whole dollars I asked in return, just to cover the cost of my canvas and oils, well, you’d've thought I had won a beauty pageant. But follow along.

Mary didn’t have to pay me anything for the painting, because she was a fellow classmate. But she wanted to, especially after she saw it. Apparently, this girl saw something in my previous artwork that spoke to her very soul. Or, maybe I was just convenient and she didn’t have to drive far to find me. I’d like to think it was because at that moment in time, she didn’t see little old me from the dairy farm with no money–she saw Carla René, the brilliant, undiscovered painter who should’ve been the one to paint the Sistine Chapel instead of that deadbeat, Michelangelo.

And that was a feeling that I hope to experience soon with my writing.

It’s also bruising my delicate ego. Oh, c’mon! You didn’t think I was perfect did you? Well, no, you probably did. I know I give that impression because of my inherent perfectionness, but trust me, it’s a brave, brave front.

But back to my ego. If you’re a fellow writer reading this, then you cannot tell me in all honesty that the thought hadn’t crossed your mind during those wee hours of the dark morning while pounding out your latest tome, that once it reached public consumption, the world would be a different place. (I’m doing it right now!) I know you–sitting there, licking your fingers from the chocolate that your wife doesn’t know you have–fingers sore and bloody from all the key-pounding, and in-between paragraphs, taking just a short respite to toss your head up toward the ceiling in a delicious daydream about what the general reaction will be once you unleash this powerful masterpiece onto the mass market. In fact, you don’t see how the world could actually think it could get by without your great American leaflet. Here you are, convincing yourself that once it hits eBooks and print, then people will soon forget who Michael Crichton and that idiot Kafka were, and will be doing cool stuff for you like giving you the key to the city and naming unknown streets after you. Yep! Soon you’ll have it made and won’t be able to shop for groceries without getting mugged for an autograph.

Hey. We’re all adults here, so let’s stop pretending we are that critically-acclaimed idiot Kafka and let’s do something unique: let’s pretend we are simply us for a change. I think it’s a natural progression to go from timid, unsure writers to ego-ridden daydreamers. But it’s also something John Vorhaus warned us about. Writing your novel with an eye toward getting Tom Cruise (Ewww.) cast in the lead role might be fun while you’re doing it–if you’re into Cruise–but it will be doing a disservice to your book once it’s finished. In fact, that’s one of the things Vorhaus says will kill a career–dreaming of fame before you’ve done the work. But, that’s another conversation best saved for when I’m drunk.

I’ve learned that blog tours are especially helpful in getting your name out there to other authors, so I intend to host a few of my friends if they’re willing, and hopefully, they will reciprocate. So, in preparation, I’ve been reading a lot of blogs, and learning a lot of information along the way, and each time I learn something completely new that I never knew before, it makes me excited to think that everything I’m doing now, is producing seed that I will soon reap in the benefits of Kindle sales, and when that happens, you’ll hear me shouting from the rooftops, because it’s a feeling I want everyone to know.

And as artists, I believe we all deserve to know that feeling at least once in our short careers.

Disclipline is a Bitch

Carla René — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:08:34 +0000

I guess I keep writing here–knowing I have no followers: which means I’m now technically talking to myself, in the hopes that my Field of Dreams experiment will come true:

If you write it, they will come.

To be candid–and let’s be honest: when did you ever know me to not be–I’m slowly realising that it’s not the writing a novel that is the hard part; it’s not coming up with something fresh and enjoyable for two separate columns every single day; it’s not even the self-promotion and feeling dirty when you’re done–it’s the discipline that eventually knocks you on your bum. Discipline will very quickly divide the wheat from the chaff. It will weed out those who only play at becoming writers, and those who are too demented to do anything else. It will quickly kill any chance you ever had at a social life, and stomp on those who dare knock on your door for dates. It will keep you from enjoying your family, be they feline or human, and make you sit at the computer when enjoying a rare movie so you can check your blog comments rather than sit in a chair like someone normal.

Simply put: Discipline is a bitch.

I was introduced to this unique bitch while in college. Even though I had a natural gift for music and playing the trumpet, piano and singing, I quickly realised that if I wanted to reap any benefits from those pursuits, then I would need to be disciplined. Discipline quickly became my best friend. On days when I was too sick to get out of bed, Discipline would yank me by the hair of my head, throw on my clothes, and have me planted at my eight-o’clock German class. Discipline would keep me at school, some days, until well after midnight, only to get up and do it again the next day. Then while preparing for my recitals in my junior and senior years, Discipline would promptly plant my butt in the college gym and poolside in order to build up my lung capacity, for junior recitals are just you and a spotlight and accompanist, playing straight for 30-minutes, and senior recitals are the same, but with you playing for an hour. That, my friends, takes Discipline. And now that I’m writing full-time and publishing books and short-stories, I’ve reacquainted myself with Discipline.

But, just like real bitches, if you can stand the pain, then you’ll see real truth from it. Discipline will show you where your weaknesses lie as a writer, and your inherent desire for perfection will push you to fix them. Discipline will make you voracious about protecting your writing time. It will keep you from turning on the television for days at a time, which literally means you have more hours available to you in the day.

Of course, once or twice this week I was able to sneak under Discipline’s radar. I got a lot done! I rent a room in my landlady’s home, so while she’s been on vacation this week, I have been keeper-of-the-canine, and with him being a German Shepard/Husky mix, he’s required a lot of my attention. I’ve also cooked a few good meals for myself, and came up with “DJ Squeak,” her cat’s new rap name. So you see, it wasn’t all fun and games.

But, discipline always finds me and drags me back. Because I’ve learned that discipline’s rewards are many. It means more prolific writing. It means becoming better at your craft. It means increased chops. Which then means more book sales, which leads to more money for cat food. And trust me: that can never be a bad thing.

And now it’s time for me to sign off so I can sit down to work on my novel, before my one weekly indulgence that Discipline allows me: FlashPoint.

So. Have you made friends with Discipline yet?

Bone-headed sometimes pays off

Carla René — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:15:36 +0000

Good mor…er, afternoon.

Today, I did something odd, in my continual quest for fame, fortune and the perfect hotdog. I decided to put my barely two-month old Twitter skills to use. I found myself getting more and more frustrated each time I’d check my number of followers. After ALL of this self-aggrandising I’ve done, you’d think some of it would have paid off a little quicker. I think I broke some rules of etiquette, but here’s what I did:

I went to every single one of my followers, except for places like NASA and–ok, I’ll admit it–Icanhascheeseburger.com–and sent them a tweet, telling them, in the oh-so-generous 14 whole character spaces they give you, who I was, part of my professional pedigree, and then gave them the link to my Amazon Kindle page and in a bold, and according to my imaginary press, an unprecendented move, asked them to be my fan.

You heard me right–I stepped up to people like Craig Ferguson, Eddie Izzard, Joe Mantegna and Bill Engvall, and asked them to be my twits. Since this was only minutes ago, I don’t know the full results of my experiment, but I did have one positive thing happen from it:

Don’t ask me how it happened, but suddenly as I checked my inbox, I had a notice from Twitter that Amazon Kindle buzz was now one of my followers, and they had re-tweeted my recent tweet to Joe Mantegna. I don’t claim to understand how all of that works yet, and I’m still trying to figure it out, but my pint–or point, if you’d rather–is that if I hadn’t tried such a hair-brained scheme, then I wouldn’t have garnered yet another admirer on the René-train-of luv.

I once heard that in order to get noticed finally, by a Hollywood community who was already obsessed with itself, Steven Segal, when he was a valet, used to put his headshots on the windshields of the cars he would park, and on the back would be his résumé and contact information. It got him into the right hands of the right studio executive, and the rest, is boring-tough-man cinematic history.

Give it a shot–this business is so weird and cannot be quantified, so you just never know what will work and what won’t. Share your experiences–would love to hear about what you’ve tried that was completely unconventi

Macau ignores elephant as casino revenue soars

Muhammad Cohen — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:31:39 +0000

What a difference a year makes. At the 2009 Global Gaming Expo Asia at the Venetian Macao, crowds were thin and worry was thick. For the first time since casino competition began 2004, casino revenue growth had stalled due to visa restrictions that cut the flow of visitors and money from mainland China. A year later, Macau’s casinos are steaming ahead at a record pace, 67 percent of a year ago. Yet the possibility of visa restrictions remain Macau’s elephant in the room that could send the house of cards crashing down again.

As I reported in Asia Times, experts are divided on whether the Beijing will tighten the noose again. But sooner or later, Macau’s resorts will need to broaden their appeal to visitors to expand beyond the Chinese market. Record revenues can make that transition easier or more difficult.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, financial crisis, and cheap lingerie.

A new author with an imaginary day-job needs fans to mock her!

Carla René — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:20:57 +0000

Sometimes, I feel as if my brain has aged fifty-years beyond my body, when I come up with idiotic bone-headed ideas like, “I’m avoiding blogging because everyone else is doing it.” How many times did we hear THAT reasoning fall from grandmother’s lips? But, now that I’m gaining quick notoriety as an author, I figured that maybe the world was finally ready for my wisdom, for all this time I’ve been convinced that the problem was that I was so intelligent, I was merely ahead of my time. And I’m not full of it at all.

The reality of it is, everyone has something to say and blogging provides the perfect platform for that, whether it’s really worth reading or not. I’ve decided to take a very novel approach with my blog, and I hope it’s a ride you’ll join me for and get on board with from day one to the end, when I finally die of silicone poisoning. (I don’t really have silicone implants. Are you kidding? Mine are saline…)

I will not puff myself up (except for the lie about implants) to make me seem better than I am. Merely looking at me will convince you of this. So I won’t lie and say I’m not a fresh, new face on the publishing scene. I am. Have you seen my skin?? The real point being, I’m just starting out on this self-publication journey, and instead of blogging ad nauseum about toxic waist (Pun intended), or deforestation, or even the recession, I’ve decided that I’d like to share my pure and raw experiences, both good and hideously disfiguring disappointments, in the blog. I mean, what good am I to keep around if you can’t truly mock me?

So where to begin. Oh, I’ve got it. A little about me. My first published piece was on the web back in 2002, long before it was cool to publish to the web. It was a short comedic piece centering on an author’s endless quest for his own writing space.

My next piece was a flash fiction story included in an anthology called, “Small Bites,” back in 2004. I was so excited.

Then last week, I published two new titles to Amazon Kindle, finally jumping aboard the DTP bandwagon. Hey–I figure I’m sitting on millions of unearthed gems, so why wait for a major publishing house to send me 500 rejection letters? At least, Amazon has made it easy for that to happen. That way, I can cut out the middle man and still have time left for a piece of pie.

Over the weekend, I was accepted as contributing author at 2 different sites, and in the same day, invited to become a guest columnist at one, while being referred to a third. Finally (and I’m being serious for a moment), after being homeless for 18 months and living on nothing but lots of dreams, doors are finally beginning to open.

So, great! I was high from the accolades and invites for a time, but then I began assessing the reality of the situation, and ended up asking myself, “Um, now what?” See, no one had ever taken me by the hand and said, “Well, honey, if you self-publish, then the book tours, book signings, advertising and sales responsibility are all yours. No one’s got your back.” It suddenly hit me that I would need to become my own best advocate.

What did I do first? Well, I went to my friend, respected and prolific horror author, Robert W,. Walker and asked him what my first steps should be. Since I was his web-designer and web-mistress for many years, Rob and I had an open friendship and we’re honest to a fault with each other. He knows me. Well. And still likes me. So I trusted his guidance. And his answer was to begin at this site, and 1st Turning Point. So that’s exactly what I did. I also signed up at Authors Central and may post a blog there, but his basic answer was to just use social mediums and networking as much as you could to squeeze as many new followers out of them as you could. For you never know when someone becomes interested enough in purchasing one of your downloads or your POD books.

So for now, I have a guest columnist article coming out on 1st Turning Point on October 4 of this year, and I’m excited. (And the fall-out from that, is that my parents FINALLY don’t think I suck!) I will also be adding new downloads soon to my web-site, and publishing my first full-length novel to Amazon Kindle this fall, entitled, “The Gaslight Journal.” I’ll be a featured author on 1st Turning Point, as well as another site called, “Texty Ladies,” and I couldn’t be happier.

Suddenly, this week I am seeing myself as an author for the first time. Sucks, but it makes a difference when others notice your talent, too, don’t it?

Public Relations and the World

Alan Caruba — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:16:38 +0000

Public Relations and the World

By Alan Caruba

PR Week publishes monthly editions in addition to its other news services and the July issue is devoted to “The most powerful people in PR.” All industries have their major players, so there is nothing surprising that public relations would also have its heavy hitters, but there are some interesting insights to be gleaned from the list of the twenty-five chosen.

I have plied the magic arts and crafts of public relations since the 1970s when I gave up the notion of ever making a decent living as a journalist. Journalism offers tons of ego satisfaction, but the pay was bad back then and, by comparison with other professions, not much better today.

The major players are, not surprisingly, the ones in charge of projecting and protecting a corporate “image”, otherwise known as perception. Number one on the list is Katie Cotton, the VP of worldwide corporate communications for Apple. She is teamed with Steve Jobs its cofounder and CEO because, together, they are the dynamic due of PR for a company that is testimony to American innovation and enterprise. It’s a very good choice.

Corporate PR folk on the list include Leslie Dach, VP for Wal-Mart; Jon Iwata, VP for IBM; Ed Skyler, Executive VP for Citigroup; Sally Susman, Senior VP for Pfizer; Chris Hassell fpr Procter & Gamble; Gary Sheffer, VP for GE; Bill Margaritis, VP for FedEx; Rachel Whetstone, VP for Google, Julie Hamp, Senior VP for PepsiCo; and Teri Everett, SVP of News Corporation.

One thing should particularly be obvious and which continues throughout the list is the role of women at very high levels, even if men continue to dominate these positions. Of particular interest is the inclusion of Stephanie Cutter among the “most powerful” as an Assistant to the President for Special Projects. That is president as in President of the United States of America. While Robert Gibbs is in the spotlight as Obama’s spokesperson, Cutter played an essential role in his campaign and now in his administration.

Of the top twenty-five named, nine were women. That’s progress.

Among the other “power principals”, there are the expected CEOs of major agencies such as Richard Edelman of Edelman; Harris Diamond, CEO of Shandwick Worldwide; Mark Penn, CEO of Burson-Marsteller, Paul Taaffe, CEO of Hill & Knowlton; and Margery Kraus, CEO of APCO Worldwide. It is worth noting that these public relations firms operate on a global basis.

In a recent public television documentary on George P. Schultz who served in many top posts, including Secretary of State for Ronald Reagan, he noted that while people think cabinet members have a lot of power, their primary power is the ability to persuade people to support their policies. I cite this because the U.S. government employs a small army of “communications” people whose job is to marshal support. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C. probably has more PR agencies per square mile than any other city in the nation.

Persuasion is the cash crop of public relations and perhaps the most interesting new trend is the creation of a whole new breed of PR folk whose expertise is in “social media” which is to say PR focused on using websites like Facebook, My Space, and Twitter to spread the message. There’s a lot of outreach to influential bloggers as well. The emergence of the Internet has been one of the major changes affecting the profession.

Time was if a PR guy or gal “placed” a story with the wire services or a major newspaper such as The New York Times, Washington Post or Los Angeles Times, or a news magazine like Newsweek or Time that was sufficient to affect events. The loss of numerous daily newspapers and the shriveling of others have altered that dynamic. The news magazines are in their death throes.

A major contributor to this is the loss of credibility these news dynamos have brought upon themselves by pushing hoaxes such as global warming or in giving unexamined support to political agendas depending on who was in office. Investigative reporting is virtually a thing of the past as news organizations trim their staffs to the bare minimum.

The recent virtual black-out on news about the New Black Panthers and the failure of the Department of Justice to pursue voter tampering charges is yet another reason fewer and fewer television viewers turn to the network news shows for, well, news.

The rise of conservative talk radio speaks to the fact that a majority of Americans self-identify as politically conservative. The popularity of leading news and opinion websites that serve this audience is testimony to the power of public opinion.

Meanwhile the PR power players, in corporations, trade associations, special interest organizations, and in agencies, are hard at work seeking to influence public opinion.

Ultimately, however, it comes down to the quality of products and services, the actions taken by government, and the state of the economy that determines what the public thinks and does.

The (Black) Hair Thing

Minnette Coleman — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:08:30 +0000

My hair is not my shining glory.

Saying that as a black woman conjures up a lot of feelings, jokes and anger. But not for me. Once a young friend chastised me for cutting my hair. She told me everyone was trying to grow some and here I destroying mine. My response was “It’s only hair and it will grow back”. It was something she didn’t understand because for ages black women have wanted the hair they claim God didn’t give them. I know why, I understand why but I think now is the time to get over it. It is time for a major hair change in this country.

Historically the black hair thing started out as a racial problem. Blacks were slaves and considered inferior in everything from looks to intelligence. The Emancipation Proclamation may have removed physical shackles but not the mental ones left on both sides. It was hard for whites to see blacks as equal because they did not look like them. It was hard for blacks to get a job or have a good life because they didn’t look white. Looking white was the way to have the ‘good life’ in the United States. And the good life could only come with those who struggled to have good hair or have women and children with good hair.

I grew up a victim of this intolerance. When my mother deemed me old enough I was sent to a hairdresser to get my thick kinky hair ‘straightened’ with a hot comb, an invention credited to Madame C. J. Walker. I hated sitting in the beauty shop waiting for them to get to my hair. Because I was a child they did my hair last, or as least that’s’ what they said. As I grew older I realized it was the thickness of my hair that caused beauticians to scoff and raise the price. I didn’t have that ‘good hair’. I have what I termed ‘miscegented hair’. Every race of my ancestors appears on my head. When I wanted to get an Afro I had a hard time because my hair was not consistently curly or kinky. I had to have my hair extremely short to accomplish a natural or roll up the often too straight front and hope it was stay curled to mimic the rest of my tight locks.

Hey let’s call it what it was- nappy. Don’t really know where that term comes from but many older black women consider it the other ‘n’ word. We all knew that nappy hair would not get you a job. So black men cut their hair short and black women tried to have flowing tresses like white women or at least have hair in the same condition as white women. It went beyond Madame Walker’s hot comb. It became perms which originally burned the scalp but softened the curl in the hair to make it look white. Then there was the Jeri-Curl phenom. This was a two prong process of straightening the hair and then re-curling it into shining and non-kinky tendrils. When that didn’t work there was always, and still is, hair extensions, the process of adding real of fake hair to one’s own to achieve certain looks and styles. Many believe this is what made the late Farrah Fawcet have such a great mane- it wasn’t all hers. I don’t know about that but I understand that many Hollywood lovelies of all races use extensions to fill out their hair look.

Unfortunately this created a new black hair issue.

Black hair salons and the products used to take care of black hair are thriving businesses. Most black hair salons are owned by people of color. There are still a few black owned hair care product companies, but most of the major hair and cosmetic companies have gotten in on the deal with products for women of color. If you get a chance take a look at the Chris Rock documentary “Good Hair”. While Mr. Rock tells the story of the black hair situation in the black community he offers no solutions or answers. One question he raises is why don’t black people own more of their own businesses?

It used to be that we couldn’t get loans to buy the needed property and goods. It is one of those things held over from the early days of black freedom and the continuing wave of racism in this nation. It wasn’t that people were being turned down because of race. They weren’t allowed to apply because of race. My mother was one of the first accountants to get a Small Business Loan for one of her clients when the laws changed. There was, and still is, a continuance of redlining in neighborhoods and other forms of racism that stops blacks from achieving the goal of being their own master. Master is the term I meant to use. As far back as my parents’ college days the term ‘slave’ was used to talk about jobs, especially those with unequal pay. Places where one works and is made to feel less than an accepted employee are still called ‘plantations’. The people who slave at these plantations are often the same ones who fight for equal rights on the job without any fanfare.

What does this all have to do with black hair? Check this out.

A few weeks back a fairly well off black woman in my community decided she wanted to open up a different kind of hair salon. She wanted it to have a swanky upscale feel using only the best products and the best hair for extensions or what we call weaves. She would also offer massage therapy on site and several types of manicures and pedicures. She had the space, she knew she had the clientele she even had top hair dressers with years of experience in the field. Everything looked like a go until she made contacts with the suppliers of the hair, hair products and nail products. The suppliers are usually Koreans and the Koreans she associated with told her they would not supply any products unless she gave them a cut of her profits.

It wasn’t enough that she was going to have to buy everything she needed from them and their sources but they wanted a share of her profits. Otherwise she would not be able to do anything she wanted.

It makes me wonder about all the hair salons in this city and in this country. Was this an individual case of greed based on a racial need or is it across the board? When I heard about it the first thing that came to mind was protesting, the way we did in the 60s and 70s and got results. But this time the protest would be extremely difficult. It would mean black women giving up all other looks but one- the natural.

It is hard to imagine the number of issues that would be sparked by such a drastic change. We would have to look at ourselves as we are without any nods to a so-called predominate race. Women who had perceived themselves as unattractive because they could not grow long tendrils would have to learn to love what they saw in the mirror: a beautiful woman a mixed heritage with hair that spoke the same.

It would change the face of fashion, which often excludes black models, not for their hair but for their ample figures. If no black woman in this country donned a wig, a weave, used a perm or a straightening comb the distinction and pride of a race would easily be understood. Would there still be the fear instilled in the 60s when Afros meant the wearer was militant? Time would tell but white people have been wearing their hair ‘natural’ ever since they brought slaves to this country. Why can’t the descendants of slaves do the same?

The answer is the melting pot. This country is not ready for the ingredients in the pot to be darkened. They are still trying to lighten it up. And that means lightening up brown people to blend with the mixture. Those out there trying to get jobs in this messed up economy will tell you they are still made to feel that white is right. Embracing the black heritage is one thing. Embracing naturally black hair is another.

I have gone on about this issue fair longer than I should have but it is irksome to me. This thing about black hair runs deeper than sewn in weaves and is thicker than my hair in its natural state. I know several women who have gone natural or have dreds because they feel that is natural. I’m still debating that issue in my mind. But the majority of black women are attached to long hair and dreams of it. It still means a better life, a better job, even a better man. Black people cannot be raised to positions of great power in this nation looking like their black ancestors. President Obama’s hair is cut short, his wife’s is a perm. And remember what happened last summer when their oldest daughter went natural? Several people, most of them white, said it was inappropriate for the child of a head of state.

This is the initial problem: a country not ready for a hair change. And that, people, creates a real black hair problem no matter what way you look at it.

Didn’t that use to be a bookshop?

Tim Roux — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:15:06 +0000

Once upon a time in a time and space far distant from our own, I used to work for 3M, a company famed far and wide for its innovation.

Inside 3M we were far less convinced of 3M’s innovative capabilities than seemingly those who had read the publicity, but it was clear that 3M in its first 75 years had been ground-breaking, commercialising one landmark innovation after the other in a relentless, if never smooth, sequence.

The insight that 3M had from around 1920 was that all landmark innovation is not a risk, but a gamble. The chances of success cannot be calculated. However, there is a formula which 3M used. Identify a whole bunch of crazies, fire them up, tell them to break every rule, and taunt them with the idea that their obsessively cherished baby of an invention will never, ever be born unless they go through hell and back again.

That really gets the manic juices going.

The truth is, though, that while a small-to-medium sized company can handle a bunch of out-and-out whackos, it is untenable for a massive mega-corporation to do the same with 70,000 employees, which is why those sorts of companies nearly always buy in landmark innovations from elsewhere.

So, the old 3M innovation model was:

1. Darwinian – send a thousand baby turtles scurrying for the sea – some will evade the swooping skewers and grow to become big, fat turtles

2. the future and the success of any one project are unknowable, but you have to take a position regardless

I believe that this is the only way for any company to become truly innovative – to be ‘the house’ in gambling terms, to encourage thousands of punters to place their bets and to be assured that overall you will win, without knowing which individual gamblers will win or lose against you.

At the moment, the whole of the publishing industry is a roulette wheel which can fudamentally pay out on odd or even numbers.

The ‘odd’ will be that it follows the ‘paper market paradigm’. Since the 1970s, everybody has been foretelling the collapse of the paper industry in that it should by all logic be virtually replaced by digitisation and yet, every year up to the last time I looked, the paper market grew in overall size. Far from depressing the demand for paper, digitisation has actually accelerated it.

According to the ‘odd’ scenario, therefore, paperbacks are here to stay and may become even more popular overall.

The ‘even’ paradigm is that of audio / video / photography whereby despite all the fond assurances of many experts that analogue musical tones were ‘warmer’ than cold digitital ones, that digital images were less nuanced than photographic ones, and that we all yearned to hold a photograph in our hands and onscreen viewing just wouldn’t wash, the original vinyl, VHS and photographic paper markets have tumbled in the face of CDs, DVDs and digital photography.

According to the ‘even’ scenario, in 3-5 years’ time e-tablets in combination with portable computing systems will rule the world (and may even merge), and bookshops will be but a nice place to drink coffee and to try to remember what paperbacks used to look like.

While the experts are hesitating between these two positions, declaring it is all too early to be sure which of the odd and even scenarios will play out, commercial operators have to place their bets.

And three little-known niche market players already have – Amazon, Google and Apple.

You may not have heard of these three, but you will one day.

All three have definitively decided that the paperback is fundamentally dead. Google has been digitising books for years, Apple now has the iPad which is a serious e-tablet platform, and Amazon is hailing every passerby to persuade him or her to invest in a Kindle.

My guess is that if these three digital giants are determined to make this revolution happen, the heads of the ancien regime will surely roll.

The big enticement here is not the digitisation of the erstwhile paperwork in the humble written word. That is merely the first step. The biggie is multi-media publishing.

Within a very short period, books will read, sing and dance – and it is tough to do all that in paperback.

Take bird books as I was discussing them with my twitcher brother-in-law Steve the other day. Currently you have a bird watcher’s book whereby you have beautifully rendered plates of a bird in a limited number of static positions with some sage words to describe how wonderful it is. Happily, the real bird doesn’t have such a limited repertoire and the vast majority of them have been known to fly, and to sing. Indeed, real ornithologists rely on a bird’s call more than on its visual appearance to identify its presence. So, the ideal book for a serious bird watcher is not in any paper form that exists today, but a digital book which blends static shots, words, the moving image, sound and links to further sources of information or even live webcams – watch the birds on XYZ wetland now! Given developments in intelligent CCTV technology, that could save pampered bird watchers from suffering some very cold days in the field and take the more enterprising ones around the world in seconds at the flick of a switch, or less. Oh, and by the way, a tip from Steve – expert bird watchers are only interested in brown birds. Don’t embarrass yourself by declaring loudly “Oh look at the astonishing plumage on that one” while the anorak at your side is thinking “Tart!”.

All this is but a mere preamble to where Bruce Essar and I are taking Night Reading / Publishing. Bruce is infallible even if I am not, but our gamblers’ bet is that the digitisation of books is the only likely future and that bookshops will become literary-chic cafés anytime soon. When that happens, the classic book marketing strategy of pouring money into the hands of bookshops to muscle in on their window displays and instore facings will be over. The only way forward will be to market books via social network media and book review bloggers.

So that is where we are headed and, in that vein, we are pleased to announce that all our future books will appear on the three key publishing platforms – paperback (initially via Amazon’s CreateSpace), e-tablets (Amazon’s Kindle / iPad / the Sony eReader) and e-books (Smashwords). Fortunately, all three platforms are relatively painless to access.

We have also nearly completed loading our backlog onto these platforms as well. To take a look, click on the magic words here:

‘Get Some’, by Daniel Birch – CreateSpace – Kindle – Smashwords
‘Missio’, by Tim Roux – CreateSpace – Kindle – Smashwords
‘Buenos Aires: a train ride over the rainbow’, by Paul Perry – CreateSpace – Kindle – Smashwords
‘…. at last!’, various – CreateSpace – Kindle – Smashwords

Stephen Sangirardi’s runaway ‘Monday Afternoon’ is next.

Enjoy!

Amid healthcare triumph, a reminder of Democrats’ losing ways

Muhammad Cohen — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:24:38 +0000

Following passage of the US healthcare reform bill, I wrote about the impact of US reforms on medical travel in Asia for Asia Times. I promptly went into the hospital for three days of unscheduled research.

What could have sickened me was an article that broke just after the healthcare bill’s passage. The Associated Press reported that Republicans originated and supported the health insurance mandate in President Obama’s healthcare reforms. The mandate is now behind Republican cries of “Armageddon” and “the end of the American way of life,” to the extent there is anything behind those bleats beyond hot air.

According to the AP report, Republicans crafted the mandate during the 1990s as a private sector alternative to Clinton era healthcare reform proposals. At that time, Republicans didn’t see the mandate as socialism but instead called it taking responsibility. The individual insurance mandate is at the core the Massachusetts reform plan that Mitt Romney signed as governor and newly elected Senator Scott Brown supported as a state legislator.

What’s sickening to me isn’t that Republicans would so blatantly flip-flop strictly for political advantage and predict disaster from a policy they once championed. I’m appalled that during a 14 month fight for its political life, the Obama White House didn’t uncover and use the Republicans’ flip-flop against them. Unlike the arcane and windy arguments Obama and his team put forward to support healthcare reform, here was a sound bite sized argument that would put Republicans on the defensive about their opposition to reform they once championed.

At least one progressive political group uncovered Republican mandate support ahead of the AP, so why didn’t the White House? Heads should roll for failing to unearth such a tasty political truffle nestled right under their noses. Getting the healthcare bill passed doesn’t excuse the failure. There are plenty more tough battles to come – over financial reform and climate change, for starters – and the White House can’t afford to miss this kind of low hanging political dynamite, especially in an election year. Get some people in there who are smart enough and work hard enough to do the job right and give Obama the support he deserves.

The Man on the Horse- Do We Care How He Smells?

Minnette Coleman — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:57:41 +0000

To be honest I like the latest, hottest commercial on television because it is funny, not because the man selling the product is good looking from head to toe and has a voice that could whisper in my ear anytime. The sensuality is a plus. But it is a good commercial, it’s a funny commercial and the actor went so over the top that he created a character that has 2 millions views on YouTube.

And he’s on a horse.

When I first saw it I couldn’t believe the creativity Old Spice allowed the guys that wrote this to have. It is a marketing dream, appealing to both men and women. He is the man you want your man to smell like. Because, let’s face it, most men are not going to ever look like Isaiah Mustafa (the actor in the commercial). It is the point of the commercial. This very stuck -up character is actually trying to help couples out by telling them: “Pay close attention to this African King-like torso, regal manner, sexy voice and perfect diction. You cannot have me or anyone like me. You man cannot be me or anyone like me. But if he washes with the same thing I wash with, he can smell like me and doesn’t that wet your fantasies just enough to go out and purchase what could make him close to me?”

He’s in a shower, then on a boat, then riding backwards on a horse. A real horse! Does he look good? Damn right! Does he smell good? How the hell do I know. But he made his point and he made it well. You can’t have this chocolate wonder but maybe you can have someone who smells like it.

Did some women rush out and buy Old Spice Body Wash for men after they saw that commercia? Of course they did. Men are always looking at lingerie ads with gorgeous women and then on birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, even Mother’s Day, guys will show up with the pink bag from you-know-who and give it as a gift. It is usually filled with tiny lingerie that is impossible for women of any size to get in or out off, but they are not looking at the woman they are with when they buy it or even when she puts it on. They are looking at the girl in the ad. They are buying a part of a fantasy. Doesn’t matter to them if you like it or not, they didn’t really buy it for you. They bought it for a pleasure of the mind. It’s the only time they are going to actual get the woman they want and can’t have, and, for the most part probably can’t afford.

So in comes the guy on a horse to rescue men from usuing their ladies sweet scented soaps and body washes and women from the tedious commercials that hint that men smell more like socks worn for a month than the once enticing pheromones that captured your interest. The last line in the commercial is “I’m on a horse” and that is so important. Sexually it eludes to all kind of fantasies for women. Comparisons in proportions, f or those of you not paying attention. In the romance department it works as well. How many romance novels have a damsel being rescued by a handsome man on a horse? Sure a horse is a means of transportation. So is the boat. But the boat symbolizes the money your man probably doesn’t have to buy you the tickets to things you want but they can’t remember or the jewels you were hoping to get from him before old age set in and you couldn’t test them with your real teeth or wear them without riding around in your wheel chair. The commercial gives a woman every fantasy she could hope for in a man: clean, well built, rich and well hung. At least that’s my less the prurient view of it.

Cause he is on a horse.

Hey, I congratulate Old Spice for a real winner. And Mr. Mustafa (wasn’t that the name of the father in “The Lion King?” I rest my case!) is a great find for the screen. It’s a funny commercial but it makes a lot of points. In the end the truth is, ladies, do we really care how that guy smells when he rides into our lives on a horse?

Tiger Woods and the Morals Clause

Alan Caruba — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:51:10 +0000

Tiger Woods and the Morals Clause

By Alan Caruba

“Accenture takes very seriously its business ethics, corporate governance and transparency of operations. Our board of directors authorized the creation of our Ethics and Compliance program. Led by our general counsel, the program is designed to:

# Foster the highest ethical standards amongst Accenture personnel.

# Be effective in preventing, detecting and appropriately reporting and addressing any allegation of misconduct and violations of law by Accenture personnel.”

You can find this statement on the website of Accenture, a management consulting firm for whom Tiger Woods was its celebrity avatar. His image is no longer on their website because Accenture announced it has severed its relationship with the sports star.

No doubt Accenture’s general counsel reviewed the contract it has with Tiger Woods as regards his personal behavior, otherwise known as “the moral clause.” As we are learning, Tiger’s morals off the greens weren’t just a lapse of judgment, but a serious breach of appropriate behavior before and during his marriage.

Off the greens, Tiger’s life was truly the stuff of tabloids. In time, however, he will find forgiveness or just the fatigue people will have with the story. In the short term, however, those corporations and other enterprises associated with his name will want to sever relations or distance themselves.

Regrettably Tiger’s scandal is all-too-familiar. He has joined the ranks of former President Clinton, Governor Mark Sanford, former Senator John Edwards, former Governor Elliot Spitzer, and talk show host, David Letterman.

We live in one of the most sex-drenched cultures on the face of planet Earth. Sex is used to sell everything. It suffuses fashion, music, films, and sports. One can hardly watch television without commercials promising improved sexual performance and warning against the hazards of four-hour erections.

Tiger Wood’s performance on the greens has always been spectacular. That’s not Tiger’s problem. His problem is the moral clause and it’s there because few suspected Tiger Woods had an appetite for porn stars and Nordic beauties, but just in case he did.

It can be argued that, until it was made public, it was none of our business, but no highly public figure can or should ask for our approval at the same time they are breaking one or more of the Ten Commandments.

Having spent my life as a public relations counselor, I can tell you that whoever is advising him is now engaged in a full scale review of every single thing written or said about him. This is being done in an effort to assess when the media feeding frenzy will peak and then begin to loose its ability to inflict further damage. That’s not likely to occur for months.

At some point Tiger will return to the tournaments that made him a millionaire, but he is not likely to return to the commercial affiliations that made him a billionaire.

By then his wife will have divorced him and moved back to Sweden, taking the children with her. Nothing can heal that marriage.

In time the public will grow tired of his apologies and be content just to watch him play. But they will never look at him quite the same again.

The morals clause will preclude the big endorsement contracts; the major paydays are over. Instead, he will have to win tournaments and, if he does, the current sordid mess will eventually fade sufficiently to let him live a more modest and, hopefully, a more moral life.

We all have a morality clause in the contract we call life. It’s there for a very good reason.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center – he blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.c

How to get lots of good reviews!

Tim Roux — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:50:58 +0000

You know how you pick up a bestseller and the first few pages are packed with good reviews.

As a reader I think “Cannot be a bad book, then,” although as it is a bestseller you can never be too sure.

As a writer I think “How the hell did they achieve that logistically?”

Not wishing to boast any more than is persuasive, I get plenty of readers telling me they like my books (and of course a few who tell me that I am the worst writer since …. no, that I’m simply the worst writer ever), but can you get the people who like your books to formally review them? It is very difficult and I am not yet shameless enough – although I am getting there – to ask poor innocent friends to get onto Amazon and declare what they think of me.

However, I now have the solution to this problem and it took me only seven days to achieve it. I am going to show you the results for one of my books first, then, and more importantly to you, I am going to tell you how you can get the same thing without that much effort and for no cost beyond invested time and the excruciation of being nice to strangers (most of whom are fairly friendly back too).

Comment from Zehra Mustafa, author of ‘Shadows’: “What a fantastic matter-of-fact humour you have; it’s just too funny! I loved your narrative from the very first sentence making it an addictive read.”

Comment from Sandie Newman, author of ‘The Crown Of Crysaldor’: “This is hilarious and brilliant. I love the beginning when he is hanging out of the window, just so funny, brilliant, brilliant writing.”

Comment from Francesco Scannella, author of ‘Sicilian Shadows’: “Your writing has a unique voice that I find enormously entertaining and this work, once again, shows it off at its best.”

Comment from David Brett, author of ‘All These Are Memories Of My Voyage’: “The first two chapters are the funniest start to a book I have ever encountered (well, I may exaggerate, but it felt like it). It keeps it up too. When our hero become the villainous Harry and kicks the blue lights out of sundry bad men, then it felt even better.”

Comment from Chris Ricketts, author of ‘Inside Out’: “It has a fantastic plot which is so well introduced with the powerful opening. It has wonderful characterisation between the two lives of Keith and his wives! It has a very readable style of writing which flows effortlessly and takes the reader with it into the world of poor Keith.”

Comment from Tony Bayliss, author of ‘Past Continuous’: “This is a fascinating take on the Jekyll and Hyde scenario, and one with which a lot of readers will associate, if not empathise, given that we all dream to be better than we appear, but are often worse. In Keith’s case, it’s considerably worse, and you handle all the implications of that with consummate ease and intelligent writing. This is a very high-brow thriller, deeply psychological, cunningly satirical, and cleverly constructed. You write in a clean and authoritative style.”

Comment from Robert Young, author of ‘Auctoratus’: “This would translate superbly to the big screen, such is the strength of the opening scene and the action packed, almost slapstick comedy.”

I could go on and on, indeed I would like to go on and on, but all self-congratulation has to stop somewhere. But the point is that I could go on and on. It took me seven days to collect these authoritative reviews from other writers, but five years to work out how to do it.

And I didn’t even quote Jennifer Braun, author of ‘Shoondor’ saying “This book is a stylish thriller with superior, descriptive writing, and memorable characters. It’s one of the best I’ve read ….” Because what she actually said was “This book is a stylish thriller with superior, descriptive writing, and memorable characters. It’s one of the best I’ve read on this site” and some days of the week I am afflicted by bouts of superior honesty too.

If you have followed any of the links, you will know that all the quotes came from Authonomy. Until last week I had heard of it, I had even followed a forum link on “Why I Write”, but I didn’t really know what it did until I was re-introduced to it by Stuart Aken, a newbie contributor to this site.

Authonomy is run by HarperCollins and showcases fiction and non-fiction. With about a one-minute sign up, authors can load up for free either an extract from a book (minimum 10,000 words) or a complete book, chapter-by-chapter. The process is very easy. If you have your book in a decent state in Word, it will take you 30-45 minutes.

The hook of the site is that if you get a very high ranking, HarperCollins will formally review your book. The unstated inferred promise of the site is that if you get a very high ranking, HarperCollins will consider publishing your book.

Well, according to award-winning crime fiction writer Nick Quantrill, who knows these things, they haven’t yet, but some other publishing houses have cherry-picked works on display.

However, for me, the issue is not to splay myself across the editor’s desk of Authonomy, which sounds dubious, painful and maybe even shocking for both of us, but to get ten lovely, lovely quotes from other writers to use in publicity elsewhere. OK, it might be even better if Ian McEwan or Nick Hornby were to say those things but two weeks ago I would have settled for my best friend’s dog’s dog bowl giving me these kinds of reviews.

So, once you are up on Authonomy, what is the game (there is always a game)?

Yep (a very rude word in Russian – thanks, John Joss) there is a game. It’s called ‘swapsies’. You review somebody’s book. They review yours. Sometimes you get a note through literally offering that bargain – “I will do you if you will do me”. What can I say? I pretend to high moral standing. I mostly tell them to fuck off, but I equally do hunt down everybody and anybody who has given me a review, good or bad.

The highest ranking books are not necessarily the best reads in anybody’s opinion, but they will have to be fairly acceptable to get that high. The highest rankers have authors who day and night contact people saying “I’ll do you if you do me”. They then read a few paragraphs of your book, type in a quick review and disappear in a flash of puff (or is that a puff of flash, or just a puff, or just a flash?). There must be authors out there who read 75-100 books a day, all one paragraph of each.

I’m sorry, I cannot be bothered to do that however much an editor may end up having the hots for me. I’ll settle for a handful of good quotable reviews and some enjoyable, even excellent, reads along the way.

The temptation is to say that all the books up there are sub-standard, but they aren’t. Some of them are very, very good indeed.

Bob Ellal of this site has his ‘By These Things Men Live’ loaded and this is one of the best books I have ever read. Stuart Aken of this site has exposed his ‘Breaking Faith’ which is a very challenging, provocative and explicit book about the switch in sexual mores in the 60s and 70s from “look but don’t touch” to “everything must go”.

Apart from these, the books that have grabbed me so far are:

‘Sicilian Shadows’ by Francesco Scannella, a superbly written and evocative tale about a boy who is hauled off to Sicily, the land of his parents, from the Home Counties of the UK where he is born, to find a world turned upside-down and back-to-front, where maiming others is mandatory, running away is recommended and picking up your own litter is about the most despicable thing you can ever do. Read it.

If you are into crime chiller-thrillers (like the Ripley tales or ‘American Psycho’), you can read the first part of Jared Conway’s ‘Mummy’s Boy’ which is indeed chilling, but also sexy and funny too.

If your preference runs more to the everyday paranormal, Kim Jewell’s ‘Invisible Justice’ is ranked right up there at the top as the detailed narrative account of how a teenager called Sam gradually acquires some very interesting skills that none of his friends have. Kim is very friendly and approachable too.

One of the most intriguing books because it is a work in progress based on a fiendish idea and sense of humour is Adam Sifre’s ‘I’ve Been Deader’ – lovely title too – about a sympathetic, albeit gangrenous, zombie.

Finally, I currently have my eyes on Jennifer Braun’s ‘Shoondor’ about a woman who marries into a man and a culture she should have left well alone, and ‘Brimstone and Lily’ by Terry Kroenung which describes itself as “a wild tongue-in-cheek Civil War-era urban fantasy featuring a female Huck Finn and a smart-aleck shape-shifting talking sword” whose first couple of chapters are very funny indeed – it has a prologue written in pure Southern drawl.

This Speak Without Interruption site is a wonderful place for authors to blog and to strike up friendships but most of us have found that if we post extracts of novels up here it doesn’t do much for us. We hardly even rate a comment. Over at Authonomy, things are different, and maybe a few Authonomy authors will stray here too for the off-the-cuff stuff and the banter with Prentiss.

Final plug:

And if you want to explore ‘The Dance of the Pheasodile’ further, click here.

The Coolest Job

Minnette Coleman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:00:51 +0000

Like most artists I would prefer making a living from my art. For the majority of us that never happens and we have to make do with professions outside of the creative. Sometimes we get lucky and land a job we enjoy. Sometimes we land a position that is beyond rewarding. I know I am one of the lucky ones since I get to play Santa 52 weeks a year.

It was a job no one else wanted. This was going to be an extra burden for whoever took what might have been a short time assignment working with another non profit to give away clothes and toys. The task sounded simple: find agencies around the country that would accept donations of brand new merchandise without too many questions. Places that didn’t mind taking 40,000 pair of jeans or a tractor trailer of diapers. Places that had large distribution networks for boxes of gloves, hats and children’s clothes that sometimes were all the same color if not the same size.

It’s easy to find places in need, not always easy to take what is offered. Companies donate what they can’t sell and often the reason they can’t sell it is because no one wants it. Once I got 100 evening gowns and cocktail dresses. Fortunately it was spring and I was able to convince several organizations to take them for use at upcoming proms. Then there were the 2,000 hand puppets, the 50,000 Happy Meal toys, and the 800 of teddy bears with cd’s. It was like selling ice to Eskimos but I got the items placed. The hand puppets went to day care centers and after school programs, the toys went to a school district that took a year to hand them out to all their students at special lunch events and the bears went to a child care laborers organization in Alabama where they distributed them to other organizations in the state.

This giving is only a fourth of my work, but I have to say it is the most fulfilling. It makes me come in everyday. I get a call from the non-profit that gives the merchandise from different vendors and then I go to work finding someone in need. Last week it was about men’s winter coats. The week before it was placing a few boxes of young women’s and girls items from a store that was closing. There were socks, pajamas, luggage, t-shirts and headbands to be given away. I had to make sure they would go to a place that could use them and was lucky enough to hear about a girls home that would use the items towards their Christmas gifts.

This time of year I get lots of requests that I can’t fill. Most companies don’t give much during the Christmas holidays because they are busy trying to sell. But every now and then a miracle occurs and some manufacturer gets the idea that this is the season for giving. Last Christmas I helped move an armory full of toys. Unfortunately some of the places I could have sent the toys didn’t get any because the donation came quite late in the season after all the holiday parties had taken place. One lady actually returned to her office and contacted families to come in and get the gifts a few days before Christmas. It way laid her plans for the holidays but she didn’t care. It was a job that had to be done and there was this feeling of joy that came from knowing you do made a difference in several children’s holiday.

I get thank you cards and letters all the time from people I never met who have benefited from the job that I do. At first it was just something added to my position to make my life a bit more stressed in the office. Now it is the one thing that brings me relief. Companies are still giving but in smaller amounts and there is always a need in every community for help. At the end of the year when the Board of Directors sees the 2 million dollars worth of product that I have given away they are impressed. What impresses me is that I get the product to the right people at the right time. Like coats in winter and toys and gifts at Christmas. That makes me happy and that makes the coolest job of all.

Have We Seen Enough Naked People in Bathtubs?

Bill Hazelgrove — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:38:15 +0000

You’ve seen it. You’re sitting there with your kids watching Elf or some kid movie and here they come. A middleaged couple yucking it up over some wine and before you know it they are in the bathtubs in the yard holding hands, celebrating the fact that flaccidity has been banished with CIALIS. So you plow through that one and field the questions from your kids…why are they sitting in bathtubs in the yard. You have no idea and you mutter something about how they must like to bathe outside. The next one is even worse. A grinning woman is gushing about her man and some dopey guy in a sweater is talking about how once he took EXTENDEEZ well things were never the same. The grinning woman comes back on and gushes about how she just loves her man now that he took his penis enlarging drug.

You field a few more questions and call it an antacid. Now you are slouching on the couch as you are hit with middleaged and elderly people toddling around able to just have a ball while taking drugs for incontinence, constipation, depression, COPD, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, joint pain, chemotherapy side effects, migraines, strokes, heart attacks, cholesterol…you name it. By the time Elf is over you feel like slitting your wrists. Since when did drug advertising become so heinous and pervasive?

And these are not just benign pitches to take their drugs. These are you better take these drugs or else! Take the black and white pitch of the guy who did not take his cholesterol medicine until it was too late. He had a heart attack and he tells us to know be stupid like he was…TAKE YOUR MEDICINE. Well, the pharmaceutical industry posts billions in profits. We know why. Are we ever more vulnerable than on the issue of health?

Back to the men who are taking all sorts of drugs so they can get it on anytime or anywhere. We see a couple skipping through Paris, on a boat cruise, a woman holding her high heels while Don, Harry, George leans back from reading the paper with a small smile. We assume that this drug has just turned them into lovers on a tear to just do it whenever they can. The kicker of this advertising is everyone keeps getting younger and younger! The suggestion is hey, this can happen to you at anytime. For men this is nothing short of terrorism.

You could say it is for our own good. But is it? We are an overmedicated society as it is. We reach for a pill to cure just about everything and are rarely told to change behavior or habits that might be causing our maladies. The drug industry is interested in one thing…scaring us to the point of taking their drugs or enticing us with the promise of a chemically altered existence that will usher in a second utopia (see couple in bathtubs holding hands.)

We do not need to be reminded of the ticking clock that is our mortality. We don’t need to be told that one day when the mood hits us our performance might be off the mark. We know these things. We know it the moment we hit the antiseptic waiting room of some doctors office. We sure as hell don’t need to be explaining to our children why a man is sitting in a bathtub next to a woman outside when he could just as easily take a shower inside. Preferably a cold one.

William Hazelgrove writes in Ernest Hemingways Attic. His latest novel is Rocket Man

http://www.billhazelgrove.com

http://www.freado.com/player/bookplayer.php?contentid=4738&authorid=3736&preview=1

How Not To Make Online Marketing Blunders

CFJackson — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:12:58 +0000

Have you been wondering how not to make marketing blunders when it comes to your website and online?

At this very moment over 539 million searches have taken place on Google. Many are searchers aren’t reaching millions of websites because of marketing blunders when it comes to marketing online.

It was in June of 2005 when I learned that there was a lot I didn’t know, which made perfect sense to why I wasn’t getting much web traffic, books sales, let alone subscribers to my newsletter. It was frustrating. But I saw that there was a lot more to being online than having a website.

With the growth of the internet, consisting of over 1.6 billion users in the world a lot has changed, which requires a lot more. So let’s touch on a few marketing blunders made daily across the World Wide Web.

1. Not using keywords or keyword phrases on website, articles, blogs and all content posted on the web.

2. Focused on the pretty and snazzy website, rather than a customer friendly website.

3. Missing contact information on website: Phone Number, Email Address and Mailing Address

4. Blogs: Forcing readers to login to leave a comment

5. Failing to collect names and emails of web visitors

6. Free websites with banner ads

7. Too many distractions on website that takes visitors away

8. Not investing in a domain name

9. Poor quality of images on sites

10. Social Network Sites: Selling more than providing value to the community

11. Missing the opportunity to brand product, service and expertise

12. Missing a brand

13. Not having a personal or business website

14. Focusing on the sale over building a relationship

15. Inconsistent activity with marketing online and offline

16. Seeking the cheapest route

17. Slow to act and implement

18. Not multi-marketing

19. Not getting out of the way to receive help

20. Doing the same thing daily and seeking a new result

21. *Right here insert a marketing blunder you’ve seen or supported. Share it right below to help others.*

Now, this is my subjective list, but it’s a list to get you thinking and moving. There are so many blunders out there and not even I can catch them all. I know I have been a victim to many of the 20 I’ve shared with you today.

Add to the online website marketing blunder list. More importantly, stop making the blunders to help improve your sales, traffic and online results.

=================
About The Author,
=================

And to help you with marketing your book, product or service, C, F, Jackson invites you to check out Website Makeover Online Marketing Service where you leave the online marketing up to them. Can you customers find you on Google, Yahoo, or MSN?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recommended Services:,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,

Website Makeover One-On-One,

Mentoring By The Minute

Ethical SEO across the search engines

amabaie — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:14:53 +0000

Ethical SEO across the search engines

by David Leonhardt

You’ll never guess what I found when I recently searched for “ethical SEO” at one of the major search engines.

The organic listings, of course, are open to tampering to match the algorithms, so even an unethical spammy SEO company could rank well for “ethical SEO” with enough effort. What caught me by surprise was what I saw in the sponsored listings – the paid ads.

Just for the record, any unethical SEO could easily post an ad for ethical SEO; how would the search engines know, without investing a major effort in checking out the methodologies of each company – which they are not about to do. But, you would think they would at least check the ad copy. You would think that a paid ad on a search engine that announces “ethical SEO” would at least not have an unethical message, such as “guaranteed ranking”. You would think there might be a filter to red flag such ads.

Nope.

(For those new to SEO, guaranteed ranking is one of the cheapest lies an SEO company can make…and far too common. Rankings are relative. You get to be top 10 only by ranking higher than all the other websites. Nobody can guarantee a ranking without having control of all those other websites, as well as having control of the search engine’s algorithm.)

I present to you below the results of a search for “ethical SEO across the five major search engines: Google, Yahoo, Bing , AOL and Ask.

“Ethical SEO” at Google

“Ethical SEO” at Yahoo

“Ethical SEO” at Bing

“Ethical SEO” at AOL

“Ethical SEO” at Ask

So which search engine supports the most ethical SEO when showing ads to the public? I’ll let you decide, and I welcome your comments on this.

David Leonhardt, [follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/amabaie ]

President

The Happy Guy Marketing

mailto: info@SEO-writer.com

(613) 448-4086

SEO and writing: http://seo-writer.com

Canada: http://seo-writer.ca

América Latina: http://es.seo-writer.com

Personal growth: http://www.thehappyguy.com

One Powerful Strategy on How to Market Yourself

CFJackson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:28:57 +0000

Have you been wondering how to market yourself? How about how to market a business? I discovered there’s a way to help market yourself that many people seem to overlook.

Just the other week I wrote the article titled “Can Customer Feedback Increase Your Sales?“ The article discusses how to use customer testimonials to help with your sales. But what can giving a testimonial do for you?

We all desire help with our marketing efforts and some portions of it requires an investment. Then there are ways that are cost effective. I learned that my giving genuine testimonials can help brand and market me with zero out of pocket expense.

The goal with marketing is to reach your target audience and/or market over and over again while receiving a high ROI (return on investment). How can you achieve this goal without ever having to pay for it?

Well earlier this year I decided to give a testimonial on a program that’s offered by someone I’ve been learning from since 2005. With my taking 10 to 15 minutes to share my true feelings about MRMI Basic Training, they placed my photo on the front page.

This opportunity has allowed me to be contacted by someone whom I’ve admire because they saw me on this website. Now, Stephen Pierce is an authority in what he does, so being on a website of someone who is really respected makes it great.

Just this past September I offered feedback to an article I read in the Entrepreneur Magazine on Russell Simmons. Again, taking about 15 minutes to express what inspired me the most about the article has allowed my letter to the editor to printed in the November issue of Entrepreneur Magazine.

It’s really easy to get started with putting your name, brand, and face out there by providing testimonials.

Here are few steps:
1. Recognize what products or services you’ve found of value.

2. Ask yourself: “Have I told everyone about it?” and “Have I shared by joy with the business?”

3. Sit down and write a brief email on what you like best about the product and/or service.

4. Most importantly be genuine.

Remember this, your company and name is behind this testimonial, so be sure to stand firm on it. This is something you can implement right now. Don’t you agree?

=================
About The Author,
=================

And to help you with writing a quality testimonial, C, F, Jackson invites you to check out Website Makeover Mentoring by the Minute, where your online questions are answered. The topics range from how to market a book online to I need web traffic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You May Also Enjoy:,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,

How To Create An Internet Presence In 10 Minutes

11 Ways You’re Shooting Yourself and Your Business in the Foot

Can Customer Feedback Increase Your Sales?

CFJackson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:15:51 +0000

What are your customers saying about your products or services? Are
you sharing your customer testimonials with your future customers
and clients?

Today, we are caught in the web of more complaints and more negative
opinions. With the social networking world and Web 2.0,negativity and
complaints are spreading like a wildfire.

Like with most decisions we make, we want to know what others have
experienced when it comes to a book, a restaurant, a vacation destination
and so on.

Now the key is this when it comes to presenting your testimonials:
Present them uniquely and live.

What do I mean?

Anyone can take text and place it onto their website. But how about taking
it to another level by having your happy customers record a video or audio
for you?

When I finally got the message I created video reviews from my readers. Visit
my site to see for yourself at www.CFJackson.com. I allowed my avid read to
express what they liked about my novel Won’t Be Denied. You can see and hear
their enthusiasm about the novel and the storyline. Someone expressing their
experience can do a lot more than text.

The challenge for you today is step outside your box and start enlisting the help
of your happy clients and customers with a LIVE testimonial. Your perspective
customer will find them to be the deciding factor to buy or not to buy.

What’s your goal? To get them to buy.

=================
About The Author,
=================

And to help you with getting started online right, C, F, Jackson invites you to check
out Website Makeover Mentoring by the Minute, where your online questions are
answered. The topics range from how to market a book online to I need web traffic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You May Also Enjoy:,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,

Blogging For Dummies Easy Tip

How To Get The Right Keywords

How To Create An Internet Presence In 10 Minutes

CFJackson — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:32:08 +0000

When I started out on the internet in the late 90′s it wasn’t as easy as it is today
to get online and have a presence quickly.

There were ways to create websites, but without knowledge of HTML or the desire to
learn about web design it was a challenge.Most people invested large amounts of money
to have their websites designed.

Today any and everyone can create a web presence online overnight. Yes! You can
have a web presence overnight. However the key is this, doing it right.

I was online in the 2003, but it wasn’t right. The same struggles many are having
today, I didn’t know the key and pivotal elements to getting started online right.

How can one do it right?

1., Blog – Getting a blog is one of the fastest and cost effective ways to getting online
today.

Blogs are easy to update, which means there’s no need for a webmaster to make small
and minute changes.

The cost is either free, small base fee or you can host it yourself. It all depends your skill
level.

One thing, they are built to help you get started right. Search engines love blogs because
they fuel their engine with content.

2., Keywords – These are the keys your audience use in order to find you online. I didn’t
provide my target audience with a set of keys.

Let’s say you have a blog or a website and you’re not getting the results you want. It’s
possibility you haven’t defined your keywords.

This is where a lot of people go wrong online. This is where I struggled. Without keywords
and keyword phrases your website or your blog will forever be lost in the abyss.

These are two strategies I use to capture my target audience, to drive traffic, and build my
business. You can learn all seven key steps when you join me Thursday evening as I present
an online workshop titled 7 Key Steps On How To Get Started RIGHT As An Author Online
OVERNIGHT.,

In this workshop you’ll discover…,
- Key Elements to a Domain Name,
- Internet Presence In 10 Minutes,
- How to Increase Book Sales,
- How to Systematize Online Process,
- Powerful Customer Getting Methods,
- and a lot more,

Date: Thursday, September 24, 2009,

Time: 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM EST,

Where: Online,

=================
About The Author,
=================

And to help you with getting started online right, C, F, Jackson invites you to check out Website
Makeover Mentoring by the Minute, where your online questions are answered. The topics range
from how to market a book online to I need web traffic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You May Also Enjoy:,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

11 Ways You’re Shooting Yourself and Your Business in the Foot,

5 Ways To Improve Sales Through Your Website

In Printed Form or Not?

Bob Grant - Editor — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:01:41 +0000

As stated in SWI Roots http://www.speakwithoutinterruption.com/site/swi-roots/ I have no credentials or experience to have started our Speak Without Interruption Online Magazine. I just had an idea – and with the tremendous help of my Son-in-law plus the writers who took a chance on an unknown site – we are experiencing an ever increasing audience and number of contributors. On Labor Day I had an idea – maybe it shows my lack of experience – of starting a printed version of our Online Magazine or some form thereof. I asked our contributors what they thought of the idea – some thought is was a good idea and most thought it was not. It seems that the “printed form” is going the way of the horse and buggy and the ”online form” is becoming the new frontier – at least for me.

My 94 year old Father-in-law has a computer. It might as well be a large paper weight. He prefers to read three different newspapers per day along with various novels as fill in. If he lost his newspapers – as in them going out of business – I think he would feel lost. He can’t be the only one who feels this way?

I imagine there will always be printed books. I suppose super market tabloids will remain. We still get a mailbox full of printed magazines and catalogs – thought they make my recycle bin extremely heavy. I can’t complain – if the printed form is evolving to the online form then our Online Magazine is on the right track. But I would be very interested in having you post your comments on this subject and where you feel the magazine market, and other print media, is heading and why?

How Many Books to Order Up

Author 101 — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:21:37 +0000

You’ve decided to write and publish your book, you’ve even managed to find a publishing method that works for you—great, you’ve made it this far. But your publisher won’t be the only one responsible for selling your books; much of this will fall on you. If you are traditionally published, your publisher will give you some copies, but expect you to purchase additional ones at your own expense. P.O.D. publishers often state they will be promoting and selling your books for you; this is just never totally true. You should expect to have several books on hand at all times. Remember, regardless of common belief, books really do sell “just one-at-a-time.”

So how many books will you need on hand?

Ask yourself these questions:

Will I be attending fairs where I will be selling my books directly to the public?

Will I be responsible for selling and “shipping” my own books?

Will “I” be the one selling and delivering my books directly to book stores?

How many copies will I be giving as gifts or using as review copies?

How many books will my friends and family be purchasing?

If you are a self-publisher and printing your own books, be careful of how many copies you initially order. Book printers offer great deals on large quantities of books. For instance, you may pay $8 per copy if you order only 100 (hard to make a profit). But if you order 500, the price may be cut in half. Then if you double the order number again, the copy price could be drastically less per copy, making it very tempting to order more than you will need. A new author may order 2,000 books to save money but end up with a closet full of books collecting dust (I can show you mine from my very first book order—dusty!).

The average self-published author sells less than 200 copies of their book. Better to make a little less profit than be stuck with excess copies for your grandkids (you just won’t have that many grandkids).

Find out how much your book will cost to print and ship using the calculator at http://www.48hrbooks.com.

For more about writing and publishing your own book, read A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story available wherever fine books are sold.

It pays to be mean

Prentiss Gray — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:13:46 +0000

Is it a problem that negative journalism is read, viewed, discussed more than positive reporting? Well, more viewers means more money and as a race, it would seem that we are more attracted to the negative than the positive.

Just a few nights in front of the TV around any election will demonstrate to the viewer that when money is being spent, it’s the negative ads that get made. This is a good measure of effectiveness of the “right type” of marketing. Consultants and campaign managers are paid to win campaigns, they have to use what sells in order to be effective. Their overwhelming choice; a good smear campaign. Everyone can name their favorite, there is almost no need cite examples.

The news media also knows this key strategy, in the form of “bad news sells.” We only have to count the number of bad news stories as compared to good news stories to see. What’s the average, 98 to 1? Which is why morning news/entertainment shows all vie for the worst (read “best”) stories they can find. They have an insatiable appetite for fires and floods, murders and kidnappings, and bad war news. Even the so-called entertainment segments of the programs cover only the best fear producing topics. Are you being ripped off at the store? Why you are more likely than the next guy to die at an early age (insert too fat, too sedentary, bad diet, bad genes, bad habits).

Of course, that brings us to the latest media love affair, reality medical shows. Doctors giving advice and commentary, on all the medical or psychological problems we may have. Medical fear mongering for the “snake fascinated” audience.

Political reporters focus on the possible problems with a candidate or movement, product reviewers list endlessly what is wrong with a product rather than what is right. Even comedy shows sell better when they are weighted toward the negative. Try to think of a joke that doesn’t involve someone being hurt, embarrassed or just incredibly stupid.

So, what is that? What makes us that way? Some have said that the media does it to us. But, I doubt that. The media is just taking advantage of our own humanity, if good news sold better they would be falling over themselves to show it.

I often wonder if it isn’t a form of schadenfreude; pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. Do we get a kind of pleasure from bad news? Maybe it’s kinder than that, perhaps we are just glad that it isn’t us that has been kidnapped, murdered or had their house burn down.

I once had a colleague explain it as “ Good news isn’t news at all; its the normal state of the universe. Only bad news is interesting, because it’s different.” That maybe so, it’s the nicest explanation I’ve ever heard for our terrible preoccupation.

Beyond why, is the effect of all this bad news. The global reach of media has focused this penchant in to a behavioral characteristic of our lives. We are becoming more fearful. When we hear about a robbery somewhere far away, we lock our doors. Even if there hasn’t been a robbery around our neighborhood in 30 years. When someone looses a child to a human predator, we fear for our own children. To see this effect in action, go out this Halloween and count the children roaming from house to house in a greedy and wonderful search for candy. As many as last year? As many as when you were doing the same thing?

I think you’ll find the number has dwindled drastically, all do to fear. Fear of attack, fear of loss and even fear of tooth decay. We’ve scared ourselves right out of a great holiday.

Is the world so different, than it was when we were hunting a big haul of candy bars? Or, does it just seem different? Is the world more dangerous now, than it was in the past? Or, do we just hear about it more?

I’ve been told that we are more careful now because we’re more “aware.” I doubt it, I think we’re just more pummeled with bad news. Were we truly more aware, we’d notice that good news is the natural state of the universe. But that doesn’t sell very well, does it? Which is why I picked the title I did. Get the picture?

Prentiss Gray is a writer and columnist and currently writes the Domesti-Tech Blog for Gannett. He can be reached through his website at www.prentissgray.com

Branding: It’s Not Just For Cows

Peggy Klaus — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:00:51 +0000

Branding: It’s Not Just For Cows

by Peggy Klaus

Personal branding is an essential element of establishing your reputation in the business world and distinguishing yourself from the herd. It’s how we convey our core values, highlight our talents, and present our agenda to others.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or a corporate warrior, nurturing an established career or hunting for that first job, you need to take charge of how others perceive you by cultivating your own distinctive brand. Bosses, colleagues, and clients are constantly forming opinions about you. What do you want them to be thinking and feeling?

As a workplace communication trainer and executive coach, my clients often tell me that they conceal their individuality on the job in order to be taken more seriously. They are convinced that their real self is too lighthearted (or too quirky, or too artistic, or too comical, or too passionate, or too fill-in-the-blank) to reveal at work. They believe that by leaving their personality outside the office door, they will come across as more “professional.” But the way to capture the minds and hearts of those around you is by sharing—not hiding—your unique characteristics and life experiences.

When I first started my training company, I feared my days in the corporate world would be numbered if clients knew that I came from Hollywood instead of Wall Street! But I soon discovered they were fascinated by my experiences in the entertainment world and appreciated the same personal
qualities in me that had brought success in my previous career.

The Evolution of the KLAUS & ASSOCIATES Cow Logo

If you have ever looked at our website, visited my office in Berkeley, attended one of my workshops, or received one of our Moosletters, you’ve no doubt been exposed to the Klaus & Associates herd. We have cows on our letterhead, cow art in the office, and hand out small cow paraphernalia at workshops. Of course I am constantly asked, “Why all the cows?” The “why cows?” story is a perfect example of personal branding (no pun intended!), and so I am going to share it with you now.

Those of you who personally know me are aware of my habit of assigning nicknames to nearly everyone who crosses my path. When my company was starting out, I gave my trusted business consultant and now dear friend, Molly Hamaker, the nickname Moolie which was soon shortened to Moo. When Moo and I were first developing the Klaus and Associates corporate identity for letterhead, brochures, and other marketing materials, we interviewed a graphic designer, Jill Davey. When Jill heard Moo’s name, she told us that she hailed from Wisconsin where, of course, there are lots of cows. I told her that I had gone to college in Wisconsin and that if she could give us a great moo, we would give her the job. Jill proceeded to belt out the most fabulous and authentic cow sound I had ever heard. Her design portfolio was equally impressive, so we hired Jill on the spot.

We wanted something unique and fun for the letterhead. With the bovine theme already brewing, we brainstormed the idea of a logo featuring a cartoon-like cow who walked upright and wore a pinstriped suit. But as much as I loved the idea, I worried it was a little too outrageous for my emerging corporate identity. After all, I was already bringing a new approach into their arena. So I chickened out and settled on a seemingly safer design for round one of letterhead and business cards. But the cows simply wouldn’t go away—they started sneaking in everywhere! We developed a series of marketing postcards, each one featuring a humorous quote about communication taken from a famous person. The cards were illustrated with a caricature of the person as a cow. I started giving away little foam “squeezie cows” at presentations and to my coaching clients. Cows began to decorate the dividers in our workbooks. And before long, cartoon cows in pinstriped suits popped up on the elegant, embossed presentation folders we designed to hold our marketing materials.

Soon I started to hear positive and enthusiastic feedback from our clients who found the cow theme refreshing and yes, probably even a little nutty. The cows were clearly contributing to making my business unforgettable. When it came time to reprint our materials, I was ready to let the cows out of the barn. I officially embraced the playful bovines as the company’s corporate brand and redesigned my business cards to prominently feature them.

I had been so busy agonizing over how to represent my developing business that I initially failed to listen to my own advice: “Don’t be afraid to show your authentic self.” Eventually I learned what I had been successfully teaching my clients and realized that I didn’t need to shut down my personality in order to run a successful ”cow-moo-nication” business. In fact, it’s my quirkiness that makes me memorable. Clients on Wall Street, just like my previous colleagues in Hollywood, like to have a good time and appreciate a sense of humor. It wasn’t until I allowed myself to be a little silly and started to trust my instincts that I was able to find the brand that really works for me.

It’s not easy to stand out in a world saturated with brands, but letting yourself be who you truly are will make the struggle to find a unique identity easier—and definitely a lot more fun!

Here are ten tips for developing your own successful brand:

Brand identity should reflect your personality along with your business acumen, goals, and vision. Write down the specific characteristics, traits, and talents that you want to project. Since your brand follows you wherever you go—be sure it’s the YOU that you want everyone to know.
A strong brand has an emotional impact on an audience. What kind of impact do you want your brand to have?
Ask your colleagues and loved ones how they would describe you to a stranger. Do certain words repeatedly come up? Think about how to incorporate these characteristics into your brand.
Think about what distinguishes you or your business from the crowd. Why should people do business with you and not someone else? What are the benefits you offer and how can your brand reinforce this?
Image your brand as an actual person and describe his or her appearance and characteristics. Is he or she polite, aggressive, sexy, funny, etc.?
Using ten words or less, come up with a powerful and concise branding statement. Does your brand reflect the sentiments described in this statement?
Is anything preventing you from fully branding yourself such as inhibition, fear of being perceived as calculating, etc.?
Track the results. Are you receiving positive feedback, landing that next big project, nabbing the coveted promotion?
Create opportunities to expose your brand at company gatherings, industry conferences and association meetings, media events, and social occasions. Remember that wherever you go, there you are—and your brand should be right there with you!
Keep it fresh. As time goes on, review and revise as needed.

Peggy Klaus, President of Klaus & Associates

You may have seen Peggy Klaus on Nightline, the Today Show, and 20/20 or read her advice in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Newsweek, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and O magazine. You may know her as the “brag lady” or—as one newspaper called her—a “bragologist” because of her popular book, BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It (Hachette Books Group, Hardcover 2003, Paperback 2004). Or you may know Klaus for the soft skills savvy she promotes in her second tome, The Hard Truth About Soft Skills: Workplace Lessons Smart People Wish They’d Learned Sooner (Collins, January 2008).

For more than a decade Klaus has provided communication and leadership training programs, keynotes, and executive coaching at leading corporations and organizations worldwide. Her client list reads like a who’s who of Fortune 500 companies, including firms such as JP Morgan Chase, MasterCard, Computer Associates, Chevron Corporation, Deloitte, General Mills, Goldman Sachs, The National Football League, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, American Express, Mattel, Booz Allen Hamilton, Kaiser Permanente, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, among others. She also has served as a lecturer at Harvard University; the University of California, Berkeley; and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

With advanced degrees in drama, speech, and theatre from London’s Royal Academy of Music and the Drama Studio, Klaus began her career as an actor and classical singer. She then moved to Hollywood to become a producer, director, and coach who worked with actors, comedians, musicians, and broadcast news talent for productions at Paramount Studios, Warner Brothers, ABC, CBS, and NBC TV, among others.

When she is not coaching, training, lecturing, making television appearances, or giving keynotes in the US, Europe, and Asia, Klaus can be found in Berkeley, California, where she lives with her husband.

11 Ways You’re Shooting Yourself and Your Business in the Foot

CFJackson — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:18:38 +0000

I’ve been online since 1993 when it was still in the DOS stage of life, but as it grew, I of course allowed my knowledge to grow. Going from pleasure to business was a complete mind shift for me back in 2001.

However,if I allowed the below 15 ways to shooting yourself and your business in the foot to kill or even stag net my growth you wouldn’t be reading this today.

Over the years I’ve heard the battle cries and struggles of many people: online or face-to-face. And what I’ve collected are common denominators to the lack of success, may it be business or personal.

I have struggled with many of these self-afflicting symptoms. I recognize a lot of them daily within my day-to-day travels.

Today, I’m sharing with you symptoms that are harming to many entrepreneurs, authors and small business.

1. Free Mindset – Look and expect for everything to be free. I’ve seen it where people will not invest $10 for a domain name. Even that is too much to ask.

Constantly seeking out the cheapest and free methods up the ladder to success.

2. Constant Complainers – Spend their time to find fault and dislike in everything under the sun. Ask them to do it better, they wouldn’t know how.

3. The Non-Reader – The reason people fail to get the results or answers they’re looking for is due to their inability to slow down and read.

Reading is fundamental!

4. Do It My Way – Wants everything delivered in the exact way they would do it and if it’s not then it’s a missed one time opportunity.

It’s an unwillingness to open oneself to new a way to receive information.

5. Overly Skeptical – No matter how much they’re struggling with, let’s say web traffic, they’ll talk themselves out of investing 50 dollars to achieve results.

I do understand the fear of being burnt because I have invested thousands into a program that wasn’t worth it. Later another program that had too many add ons.

6. Not The Right Answer – Takes up the time of a knowledgeable person to get an answer to their dilemma, but the answer entails for “too” much work. For them it wasn’t the right answer.

7. Quick, Fast, & Hurry – Always want results yesterday without the leg work or the building of the foundation.

How do I get web traffic? I need to sell XYZ amount of books in three months.

8. Cornered – Will remain in the corner rather than branching out in order to increase their skills and their network.

9. I Can’t – Allow the phrase ‘I can’t” dictate their abilities online or offline. They have the capillarity to do a lot more once you can take away the I can’t.

The word can’t shuts down one’s ability to move.

10. Network – No matter how many contacts, Twitter followers or Facebook friends one may have, it doesn’t compare to having a network of colleagues one can connect with locally.

It took a minute for me to step outside of myself. I have a mastermind group that has helped me immensely. You can find one in your area on MeetUp.com

11. Look At Me – It’s the person whose social networking ratio is 90% look at me and 10% by the way here’s something I found.

People are turned off to constant self-pointing. The way people will notice you is when you offer solutions. Bring value to each place you enter into… online or offline.

There are others that weren’t mentioned above and some you already know about yourself. If there ever was a time to put the gun away and place a bandage on your wounds to start the healing process, then that time is now.

Make a commitment to yourself, then to your business to change one thing a month that you’ve been shooting you in your foot. Now, if it’s a bunion keep on shooting. I’m joking!

Seriously, take time to reflect on what’s been debilitating your growth and your ability to reach higher levels with your business. Once you’ve identify them, then Face it, Trace it, then Erase it.

=================
About The Author
=================

And to help you from increasing your web traffic to finding your target audience, C.F. Jackson invites you to join the 120 Day Challenge… Achieving online success in 120 days. To participate is simple… Just got to http://www.VirtualTutorialCenter.com – Create your account and you’re ready to go!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You May Also Enjoy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Top Four Key Success Factors of Online Business

Website Makeover One-On-One

Act like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One: Bragging and Branding Your Way Through the Recession

Peggy Klaus — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:29:01 +0000

Act like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One:
Bragging and Branding Your Way Through the Recession

by Peggy Klaus

Anxiety is running rampant. Everyone is feeling it—anxiety about job security (or lack thereof), anxiety about the current economic climate, anxiety about the future of the country and even the world. You probably don’t need a career coach to point out the obvious and tell you that when it comes to surviving this slowdown, the old rules no longer apply. The reality is that our economy is undergoing a major sea change and we must change with it if we don’t want to drown. That’s why resting on your pre-economic crisis laurels won’t keep you afloat.

So how do you make yourself stand out in today’s unprecedented environment? Start off by reframing the way you view your position. Prior to the recession, you may have given little thought to the company’s bottom line, unless doing so was part of your job description. Nowadays, keeping the company’s bottom line on the top of your mind is vital to job security. Make certain you are seen as someone who brings in clients or sales, who finds solutions to problems, and who constantly looks for ways to make the company more efficient. Act as if it’s your own business, even if it’s not. In other words, think of yourself as an entrepreneur!

I think most business owners would agree that one of the hardest aspects of being out on their own is having to promote their company and themselves on a moment’s notice. But the successful ones know that pitching a prospective client or venture capitalist, talking to a journalist, and spreading the word about the company to family, friends or even the guy mowing his lawn down the street are the surest ways to maximize exposure without spending a dime. So whether you are looking for a job or trying to keep the one you already have, think like an entrepreneur and learn to promote your most valuable product—you!

Here are some tips for getting started on your self-promotion campaign:

Tooting Isn’t Just For Performance Reviews. When it comes to learning how to self-promote effectively, you need to be ready 24/7 anytime, anywhere, for anyone. The opportunities are going to come your way when you least expect them; when you’re riding in the elevator with the CEO, attending a neighbor’s barbeque, sitting next to someone at a conference, standing in line at the grocery store, or waiting for a plane. Now more than ever you need to be prepared not just for those scheduled situations at work, but also for times when you weren’t expecting to be “on.” Start by creating what I call your brag bag—a running tab of all the information about your best self that can be easily accessed when you need it. Think of and write down all of your brag bites—the situations when you took initiative, solved problems, found better ways to accomplish tasks, or generated solutions, especially to problems that no one else wanted to handle or acknowledge.

Convert Brag Bites into Bragologues. Weave your brag bites into several bragologues—short, upbeat stories about you and your accomplishments—suited for a variety of potential circumstances and audiences. Read each version out loud several times until you can rattle it off without even thinking. Ask yourself: Am I showcasing myself in a way that demonstrates what effect I have on the bottom line? Am I demonstrating my versatility? Am I expressing my attributes in a way that is colorful and interesting? If you think your boss or a hiring manager might react to your bragologue with a resounding, “So what,” then start from the beginning again.

You’re Only As Good As Your Last Movie. Just as in Hollywood—where what matters most is the movie you just made, not the one from 10 or 20 years ago—what you’ve done most recently at work is what counts. That’s why it’s so important to keep your self-promotion campaign up to date by constantly refueling your brag bag. Be sure to measure your success in tangible and specific outcomes, such as, “By analyzing our insurance costs and switching us to an umbrella policy, I cut our yearly insurance premium in half.” Or, “By networking on industry message boards and LinkedIn, I booked five new high-profile clients this month.”

Think of Yourself as a Cereal Brand. A brand is a promise—implied or explicit—of the value offered. Your brand—whether carefully crafted or left to chance—determines what will pop to mind when others think about you. Unlike a cereal brand, you don’t have a marketing department to run the campaign! So the job of crafting your personal brand falls on you. As you develop your bragologues, think carefully about what you want others to be feeling and thinking about Brand You.

Use On-Line Networking Sites to Reinforce Your Brand. More and more recruiters and hiring parties are using LinkedIn and other on-line networking sites to search for job candidates or to learn about an individual prior to a meeting. Make sure your profile is always professional and portrays your brand the way you intend. Online venues are also a great place to test your bragologues. If you’re not getting the response you want, tweak your story.

Believe in Yourself or No One Else Will. I am not asking you to just act as if you are invaluable to the company’s bottom line. I am asking you to truly become invaluable by thinking big, seeking out opportunities to contribute, and using every opportunity to take initiative. You’ll be amazed by what a can-do attitude, a great bragologue, enthusiasm, and the belief that you can do it will accomplish

Peggy Klaus, President of Klaus & Associates

5 Ways To Increase Your Website Traffic

CFJackson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:07:19 +0000

Have you screamed, “I need traffic to my website!”? With over 500 million Google searches taking place daily: How do you get traffic to your website?

It’s evident that anybody could own a website because there are millions online today. With the internet being the fastest growing information vehicle everyone is taking it for a ride.

Think about it! How many people do you know are using the internet to sell their own products and services to reach their target market? How many of these individuals place strong efforts to promote their website with a low marketing budget?

Out of the millions of websites on the internet today, the vast majority aren’t experiencing continuous traffic all day through. What these individuals or businesses lack are the most essential factors of success – applicable and practical techniques that work.

I give kudos to those who have mastered the ability to capture website traffic every hour. However, should you be in need of assistance to increase your traffic, here are few affordable and practical techniques.

Search Engine Submission is one of the most basic and practical techniques anyone can implement.

This is an inexpensive method of traffic generation through the use of search engines. The action is just as it reads, which is submitting your website to search engines. There are two types of search engine submission – manual and automatic.

- Manual Search Engine Submission – the process of visiting each search engine and submitting your website, by filling out the required information.

- Automatic Search Engine Submission – completing the require fields, the software or web based service would forward the information to other search engines

A few other practical techniques to increase website traffic to your website are:

- Banner Advertisement

- Classified ads

- Text links

- Section sponsorship

These techniques will cost more, but these methods will help you reach your target audience wherever they frequent the most on the internet.

This is a process, so remember that the effects of these practical traffic generation techniques will grow over a time span, so be sure to monitor your website traffic to learn which methods and techniques are working. The time is now; find an effective and affordable traffic generation technique to increase your current results on the internet today.

=================
About The Author
=================

And to help you learn more about how to increase your website traffic using 8 simple steps on LinkedIn, C.F. Jackson invites you to claim your Free VIP training when you visit http://www.GetLinkedOut.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You May Also Enjoy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How To Get Traffic To Your Website

3 Practical Ways To Boost Your Book Sales

“Getting” Market Segmentation

Jack B Rochester — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:27:14 +0000

“Getting” Market Segmentation

By Jack B. Rochester

Tuesday night, June 9, Boston: cold, spitting rain, the Red Sox playing the Yankees at Fenway. Instead, I went to see a band called The Decemberists at the Bank of American Pavilion. A tent, really, dry but not warm. Robyn Hitchcock and his mates tried to warm up the audience, but it took the poofs of smoky mist and the appearance of 34-year-old Colin Meloy and his band to do the trick.

It did. The crowd of about 5,000 was on their feet about fifteen minutes into the performance and remained standing throughout.

I looked around: lots of young people, of course, most of whom wore jeans and short haircuts but no nose rings or colored Mohawks. Quite a few older people, making this 64-year-old feel not so out of place.

What amazed me was the power of this album to draw these people out. We sat next to a thirty-something marketing guy named Ken, whose doctor-wife was otherwise busy and, on a whim, mostly because he really loves this album and this band, decided to attend.

Released in April, “The Hazards of Love” debuted at the South By Southwest music festival in March. This extraordinary piece of music: a rock opera, a novel set to music, a concept album – whatever tag you may wish to hang about its neck – is by any measure an extraordinary artistic creation. It tells the story of a maiden named Margaret and her lover, William, who navigate the shoals and breakers of life in the era of Middle English, the land and times of Sir Lancelot and Guinevere, and Romantic Love.

It is also a brilliant feat of marketing. I would never have guessed that so many people in Boston would attend this concert, much less even know of this relatively obscure band from Portland, Oregon, and its brilliant leader and composer, Colin Meloy. The music itself harkens back to the heyday of folk rock – think Fairport Convention – and Elizabethan era social mores, music, and poetry.

Meloy tells the story of writing “The Hazards of Love” here, but the real story is in how he put the act together. Meloy and his band wear suits and ties onstage, although the coats soon come off and there he stands, a somewhat pudgy guy with a flop of hair hanging over his glasses, surely obscuring his vision, long sideburns-cum-muttonchops on his cheeks, his tie knotted, shirtsleeves rolled up, button suspenders holding his trousers up as he plays his acoustic guitar and sings his heart out. It is utterly captivating.

I first heard “The Hazards of Love” broadcast over NPR – you still can - when The Decemberists first performed it live at SXSW. And yes, I was captivated. I bought the CD, and as I began talking about the album and the group, I learned that I was not alone in not having heard of them. However, since then, their notoriety has spread far and wide: witness filling the BofA Pavilion last night. I stood among people who danced and and sang the lyrics, not just of “Hazards,” but many other songs from their repertoire the band played in their second set.

It’s somewhat difficult to peg The Decemberists. They clearly have roots in folk music – more Shawn Colvin than Pete Seeger – but they really rock as well (and are referred to in the rock genre) as witnessed in their cover of Heart’s “Crazy on You,” which drove the crowd nuts. But the point is, they break the rules and conventions with “Hazards.”

So here’s Takeaway One: As marketers, we should never assume – presume? – we understand the who and what of our market. The unfolding popularity of The Decemberists is a case study in how one performance or venue – can morph a single market into many others – SXSW to NPR to a nationwide concert tour still going on months later and far into the future.

It is also an example of how an operatic suite, made up of seventeen interconnected songs, nearly an hour in length, can fly in the face of a market where everyone thinks buyers only want to purchase single tunes. And Takeaway Two: Don’t let your mindset too closely define your the segmentation or differentiation product or service – otherwise, you might not “get it.”

Cheers,
Jack

Jack B. Rochester is a professional writer and editor who has worked in nearly every aspect of publishing since 1974. He heads Joshua Tree Interactive, and is Managing Editor of The Business Insider blog.

Start a Business? Are You Ready?

Author 101 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:45:12 +0000

Do you plan to give up your job and start a new business of your own? What would that take? What would be your new responsibilities? Probably more than you planned. In new business, your security is the biggest thing you give up. The idea of having a paycheck in the same amount you can count on every week is gone. The benefits you get now, your insurance, or whatever it is that you count on is gone. When you work for someone else you have set responsibilities, when you work for yourself, you are responsible for everything. Scary huh?
Failure? The myth that nine out of ten businesses close in their first year may or may not be completely true. According to more recent Dun and Bradstreet data, 76 percent of new companies were still in business after two years, 47 percent after four years, and 38 percent after six years. These estimates are substantially different than what is still commonly believed.

These business survival statistics are based on the number of new business licenses applied for each year, which are not renewed on following years. The licenses could be for a person selling crafts at the swap meet on Saturdays, or someone in a temporary business, or just as a tax shelter. Some of these “failed” businesses could have been sold or transferred to another individual. These estimates are hard to prove either way, but realistically, most new business does fail.

Statistically, more men are self-employed than are women. Women may be selling themselves short in the business world. Although times have changed, society has taught us in the past that men are leaders. All of our past presidents have been men. Women need to realize that starting a business requires attention to detail, devotion, commitment, and nurturing, all of which are natural characteristics of themselves. Women make great entrepreneurs, but the business failure rate is equally sexed.

Studies show businesses that do survive longer had more cash up front to invest. Other survival factors include the owner‘s age, higher education, and previous experience in their field.

According to a 2002 United States Census report, most business owners are between the ages of thirty-five and sixty-four and have had ten to nineteen years of work experience prior to self-employment. More experience in life and business seem to translate into more competent decision-making. How much “life” experience do you have?

Ask yourself these other questions as well, and be honest with yourself–it doesn’t help your chances for success to lie! How do you keep your own personal finances? Do you balance your checkbook regularly? Do you have credit card debt? Loans? How you manage your personal finances is a good sign of how you will manage your business finances.

It’s easier to be successful if you’re motivated to work for someone else–there’s that guaranteed paycheck every week. Working for a paycheck usually means there will be someone to give you direction and instructions on how to complete a job; someone who sticks their boot in your ass to get you going. But when you require your own boot, in your own ass, it’s harder to get that “kick.”

If you think you’re ready to be your own boss, do your research and by all means, don’t “mortgage the farm.” Make sure your personal ducks are all in a row and you won’t be jeopardizing your future or the future of your family.

Read more about business start-up at http://booksbydenbow.weebly.com/business-books.html.

Carol Denbow is the author of several books including “Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss?” a 144 page, easy-to-read and comprehend business start-up book available at Amazon.com.

Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki endorse networking as a business. Do you have what it takes for this industry?

maryepopkin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:43:29 +0000

So you want to start a home based business now what?

You have made the decision to become an entreprenuer and start a home based business but with so many different comensation plans, products, established companies and start up businesses the choice can become a daunting task.

If you have been searching you will hear over and over again about all the money you can make in MLM, or network marketing. Yes, it is true you can achieve financial freedom in this industry however; why is it that only about 3% actually achieve the financial freedom when the other 97% either burn out or move on to the next latest greatest business opportunity.

So how do you become the MLM success story instead of the people who scream MLM is a scam. First MLM isn’t a scam to paraphrase J. Paul Getty give me 100 people giving 1% effort instead of me doing 100% effort. In essense you create leverage and when done properly it is a successful business realtionship for you and the people you attract to your home based business.

Here are some things I have learned over the past 3 years in this industry why people fail in MLM. They don’t understand the industry, they quit too soon, they fail to make a game plan, and lastly they really didn’t have the proper mindset to become an entreprenuer.

I talk every week to people who don’t even realize they are in MLM because it has gotten the reputation of being a scam when the opposite is true. So why is scam associated with MLM because most people are presented this industry as work from home. It isn’t a job it is a business and like any other business you don’t get a weekly paycheck. Now to the entreprenuer that is a great thing because they want what MLM actually does produce and that is the ability to write your own paycheck. You will hear people use that as a way to get you to look at their home based business opportunity but what you need to do is fill in the blank. Yes, you can write you own paycheck but you have to put the work, time, passion and effort into it before you see a paycheck.

So before you “fire your boss” realize you are starting a business and there will be some costs but when you compare it to starting a “brick and motar” business the costs are minimual. So realize there will be a start up expensise and probably some monthly expensises but this is a business not a job. Which brings me to another thing a lot of people don’t understand about this industry it isn’t for everyone. Now when you join a home based business they will tell you to start by sharing the model with your friends and family. Honestly that is what we are paid for advertising and marketing the business opportunity so letting your friends and family know you are now involved in ABC business makes sense but don’t expect them all to sign up. Not everyone is drawn to self employment and even if they are inclined to be self employed they might not want to be in the business you have choosen. Too often people become desperate to build a team and they don’t interview the person who wants to be on their team. They need to realize this is a business, they will be some expenses and also a time commitment on their part. So if you start looking for business parters instead of just trying to “tell and sell” everyone on becoming a business owner and make large money you will grow a team of motivated business partners.

Often people start out very excited and tell everyone they know how great their business opportunity is and how much money they will be making. Then when they don’t see instant results and their friends and family tell them when you make money I’ll join they often quit. However; there are those who put up flyers, place free classified ads, do some social networking and still make the mistake of quitting too soon. You need to plant those seeds and let them grow. Now you might need to look at your “game plan” to make sure it is working. Which actually brings me to another reason people fail to succeed in MLM they don’t even have a game plan.

Imagine if you were starting a business would you just one day say I want to own a shoe store or restaruant for example and not create a business plan and model. Why do people think in the home based business industry they don’t need to create a business plan and model? You need to make goals and have a plan of daily, weekly and monthly activities to achieve success. If you study the one’s who succeed in any business you will find they have set goals and created a blue print for achieving those goals. This is your business so you need to find how you want to market your business and then go into action. For some people that might mean working only 5 hours a week others might be able to put more time into their business but I will tell you it is one of the major attractions for me personally to start a home based business verses a “brick and mortar” business.

If you choose to open a store or restaurant you need to be there during the hours of operation or hire someone to be there during business hours. In additon when the place is close you still need to be working on things as inventory, bookkeeping, stocking and the list goes on. With a home based business you do get the freedom to pick you hours but you still need to put time into your business in order to make it grow. Often you won’t see a profit for a few weeks, months or maybe even a year depending on how you are working your business. Yet, if you look at a new store owner they realize that profits might not show up for 5 years and they might be working their business 40 to 60 or more hours a week. It always amazes me when someone starts a home based business and they think great now I have a website on the internet and the sales and signups will just appear without me doing any work or spending any money or advertising.

Which brings me to my final reason people don’t succeed in this industry they aren’t cut out to be entreprenuers. You need to have the correct mindset that you are the CEO of your business and work it as a professional. Even if you are only putting 5 hours a week into your home based business you need to run it professionally with your blueprint and goals as your objective. If you have money to spend on advertising great if not you need to learn effective and creative ways to advertise for free. Just remember what this industry rewards are people who know how to market the company they have choosen as their home based business.

In closing understand the industry. Make a game plan and test it long enough before you quit. Often you just need an adjustment or more time doing what you are doing to succeed. Too many people quit too soon because they don’t see immediate results when what they should be doing is continuing to work their game plan and make adjustments as they work on their marketing skills. Lastly are you really an entreprenuer? If you aren’t passionate about what you are doing how do you expect others to follow you? Remember it all begins with you having the proper mindset and seeing yourself as a success the results will follow.

Mary Ellen Popkin
SAHM, Professional Marketer,
Published Self Help Author and Creator of

http://www.MentorWithMaryEllen.com

Home Based Business http://www.TheGreatestBiz.com

Am I Ready to Start a Business? 10 personal questions to ask yourself before you commit

Author 101 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:44:15 +0000

No, we won’t begin with “Do you have a master’s degree?” Although education does matter, higher education is not a requirement for starting or succeeding in a new business. In fact, according to a 1992 United States Census Bureau report, only 5.3 percent of business owners have a Master’s degree or higher education. 9.4 percent had less than a high school education—some only up to the eighth grade. Oddly enough, only 17 percent had any business education. The founder of Dell Computers was a college dropout. Starting out of his garage, he managed to excel above all of the world’s top computer manufacturers. One in three computers sold today is a Dell.
What you will need is more commonly known as “street smarts” or common sense. In addition, you will need to have certain individual qualities, or personality traits. Most individuals who are successful in business and in “life” possess these traits. Take the quiz and see how many of the following questions you can answer with a confident “yes.”

Do I have energy, and am I in good health?
Am I a self-starter?
Do I have a willingness to work hard?
Am I a good organizer?
Am I able to make decisions?
Am I able to make plans and follow through?
Am I able to inspire and direct others?
Am I honest (and be honest!)?
Do I regularly balance my checkbook and avoid debt?
Am I a jack of all trades and a master at one???

If you can honestly answer all the above questions with a “yes,” you may be the type of individual who is well qualified to operate a successful business. But before you close the deal, be sure you have educated yourself in the field you’ve chosen. Research and learn the process necessary to start and operate your own successful business.

Read good books relating to your type of business and get the education you need to be successful.

If you’re unsure of your response to any of the ten questions listed above, it’s possible that if you attempt starting a business, you may fall into the ninety percent of new businesses which fail in their first year. The statistics can be startling, but they are a reality. You may want to re-consider your business idea.

Carol Denbow is the author of several books including “Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss?” a 144 page, easy-to-read and comprehend business start-up book available at Amazon.com.

5 Ways To Improve Sales Through Your Website

CFJackson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:22:41 +0000

Almost everyone who has been marketing online knows that the lifeblood of book marketing and internet marketing is the traffic of a site. More visitors equal more sales. However, here are some ways that you can tweak your sites with to improve sales as you continue to strive to get more visitors.

The first method is to weave in your personal touch in your sales message. Nobody wants to be sold to by a total stranger, but many people will buy what their close friends recommend to them. If you can convince your audience that you are a personal friend who has their best interest at heart, they will be convinced to buy your books, products, or services. Remember to speak to an individual in your salesletter, not to your whole audience.

The second method is to publish testimonials and comments from your customers. A good idea would be to publish both good and bad comments; that way potential customers will be really convinced that these testimonials are real. When potential customers see testimonials on your website, they will have the confidence to buy from you because human beings follow the herd mentality; when others have bought and proven it authentic, they will jump on the bandwagon and buy too.

Use visual representations for the problems and solutions that your product offers. Not everyone will read your text copy from the head to the tail, but most people will pay attention to images, video and audio on your website.

Offer quality bonuses to accompany the product. When you offer bonuses that complement your product, your potential customers will feel it’s a very good deal and it would be stupid to miss it. Be sure to state the monetary value of your bonuses so that people will be even more compelled to grab your good bargain.

Lastly, ask for the sale! Many people entice their potential customers with the benefits of their product, sell to them with stories of how it has solved many problems, even offered killer bonuses but forget to ask for the sale. Give a clear instruction on how to buy your product (e.g. “click the button to buy now!”).

=================
About The Author
=================

And to help you improve sales through your website I’m inviting you to claim your free 30 seconds book trailer/product video when you visit
http://www.Video.WebsiteMakeoverWorkshop.com. [Only 27 Available]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You May Also Enjoy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Download Your Copy Now!

What Would a Domain Name Do For Your Book Marketing?

LA RELEVANCIA DEL ZAPATO

Antonio de la Vega — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:46:42 +0000

El sistema de partidos en México a punto del zapatazo

Teóricamente, una noticia tiene generalmente como promedio de vida en el ámbito de la opinión pública de alrededor de una semana. En ese tiempo, la resonancia de la información depende de muchos factores contra lo que puedan suponer los adoradores del rating, el ranking y otras mediciones estadísticas. El primero y más determinante de ellos es curiosamente el más difícil de medir: la relevancia.
Es común que los investigadores midan la relevancia desde la perspectiva del uso o respuesta de los consumidores respecto de un mensaje en particular. Así, si 10 personas leen la nota “A” mientras 25 atienden a la nota “B” se determinan conclusiones que se antojan estadísticamente obvias, pero si hay algo con lo que los estadísticos tienen que lidiar y hasta ahora muy pocos han podido resolver es con el valor subjetivo y cultural que subyace en las respuestas de los consumidores.
Al investigar mediante el buscador de Google cuántas referencias se suscitaron a lo largo de la semana en que estuvo en la palestra el asonado tema de los zapatazos lanzados al presidente estadounidense George W. Bush, estas fueron de un millón 380 mil referencias conteniendo la combinación de palabras “zapato” y “bush”, para las fechas entre el 15 y el 22 de diciembre de 2008. Referencias todas estas en varios idiomas, algunas repetidas o redundantes o con alguna forma de desviación en cuanto al contenido contextual. Ahora, a la fecha de redactar esta entrega, el número de referencias “actualizadas” es de 163 mil. Es decir que disminuyeron en poco más del 90%.
¿Qué significan esos números? ¿El grado de interés sobre el tema? ¿Su importancia? ¿La actualidad? Sí y no exactamente. En la superficie sólo son la cantidad de búsquedas actuales relacionadas y no necesariamente la cantidad de referencias específicas, entre las que podrían contarse los documentos y artículos más añejos, las variaciones sobre el tema o las tendencias e inclinaciones en tal o cual sentido de la información. Podría pensarse que servirían de fundamento para establecer una tasa de referencialidad o una tasa de actualidad, pero no serían suficientes para retratar tales conceptos cabalmente.
En aquellas fechas, cuando la búsqueda se combinaba además con la palabra “periodista”, el número disminuía notablemente a un millón 10 mil referencias. ¿Era menos interesante o relevante el tema por incluir al periodista actor del hecho? Hoy se muestran 143 mil referencias. Tanto en uno como en otro caso, todavía habría que hacer la tarea de excluir aquellas referencias sesgadas por incluir alguna o varias de las palabras pero en contextos diferentes al de la famosa escena del periodista iraquí que lanzó un zapato al ex presidente George W. Bush. No pueden hacerse simplonas sumas y restas, como pretenden algunos.
En estos días muy próximos a las elecciones intermedias en México, los temas de discusión central han sido el voto nulo y el voto blanco. Al buscar en Google la combinación exacta “voto nulo” obtenemos 495 mil referencias. Con la combinación “voto blanco”, 363 mil referencias.
Desde mediados de junio, luego de la proposición del empresario Alejandro Martí mediante su organización Mexico S.O.S. para promover el “voto comprometido” bajo el lema “mi voto por tu compromiso”, y con el cual conminó a los políticos mexicanos a signar ante notario público una lista de compromisos a cumplir a cambio del voto ciudadano, la primera combinación a la fecha de este artículo arroja 1,550 referencias, mientras la segunda arroja 151 mil referencias, haciendo notar un mayor uso de esa combinación en los materiales publicados en la Internet tanto en blogs, sitios, revistas, diarios, podcasts, etcétera, trátense de textos verbales o textos icónicos (imágenes e ilustraciones).
Estas cifras, que nada tienen que ver con otras medidas como vistas, visitas, clicks, contrastan con las de otra combinación: “voto diferenciado”, que arroja 4,160 referencias. Estos datos duros, fríos, no reflejan el grado de confusión que el tema ha suscitado en la población mexicana que no está distinguiendo los conceptos “voto blanco” y “voto nulo”, considerándolos equivalentes cuando en estricto y técnico sentido no lo son; ni clarifica el nivel de aprobación o rechazo del mismo. Sólo son indicios del interés que unas parejas de palabras tienen en la opinión pública durante un tiempo más o menos determinado.
A los anunciantes y publicistas esta información resulta útil al momento de contratar espacios publicitarios. Y a los editores de contenidos en la Internet y otros medios les sirve de guía para generar interés y tránsito hacia sus sitios mediante la fijación de etiquetas y categorías para la búsqueda. Pero para efectos comunicacionales y sociológicos, esta información no basta para profundizar en el trasfondo que encierra el interés por dichas palabras “voto”, “nulo”, “blanco”, “diferenciado” y “comprometido”. Son necesarios y obligados otros estudios más concienzudos que separen y observen por separado la incidencia de otros factores conceptuales y filtros de búsqueda. Las búsquedas que hemos hecho para este artículo no han utilizado ninguna clase de filtro, fuera del que implica el orden de las palabras, el uso de signos lógicos y el idioma.
También es importante considerar el origen y ubicación de la referencia, pues no es lo mismo que una palabra aparezca en el cuerpo de un artículo, que este artículo sea reciente o antiguo, a que lo haga en el título del mismo.
Google, sin duda el mejor buscador, aún con sus filtros, no discrimina. Es labor del investigador documental, del lector, del usuario de la Internet efectuar la discriminación y para eso son necesarios criterios que van más allá de la simple medición estadística. Hay que decir igualmente que semejantes datos no distinguen entre referencias comerciales (anuncios), referencias interactivas (vínculos y tracking), menciones efímeras (twitter, facebook y otros), y otras formas de referencialidad capaces de introducir sesgo involuntario.
Quien se entera mediante la carretera de la información ha de tener en cuenta estas minucias para no caer en las trampas que encierra la formación de la opinión pública. Existen muchos periodistas adoradores de las estadísticas que harían bien en volverse más metódicos y críticos al momento de emplear estos datos para su labor informativa, de lo contrario seguirán abonando a la confusión y amplificando la espiral de ruido.

How A Free eBook Can Be Your Viral Book Marketing Salesman

CFJackson — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:09:36 +0000

E-books are the future and the future is now. The printed word on paper and bound into books used to be the only way information was given and received. They were great, you could take them with you and put them on shelves and they do still exist and will continue to for the foreseeable future but the time of the E-book has arrived.

The marketing E-book is a slightly different animal from just an E-book. Marketing E-books contain text, images, links to web pages and navigation controls. The marketing E-book has become a very important part of marketing on the Internet.

With a marketing E-book you can present your story in an effective way and include links to your web sales pages. Your E-book can become your best salesman.

Have you been wondering how to write an ebook or how to make an ebook?

First, your E-book needs to be interesting and informative. It always has links back to your web site and to your sales page.

Next, be sure that you have a prominent section telling readers that they are free to give your E-book away. Let them know that they can post it on their site as a free download, that they can use it as a bonus, and that they can bundle it with other products. This is the way to create viral book marketing for your products or services. Remember those links back to your site contained in the E-book?

Last but certainly not least before you send your E-book out to the world, double check spelling and grammar and be sure that you have tested every link to verify that it goes where it is supposed to go. Obvious errors will reflect badly on you and will not be of much value to you, it could even by damaging.

Post your E-book to some of the E-book directories. Many let you post it for free, or will let you post a link on their site to your E-book.

And to help you learn more about how to write an ebook, I’m inviting you to check out Break The Code: Write Your Own eBook In 5 Days ebook today and receive 50% off with Coupon Code: ebook [For A Limited Time]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You May Also Enjoy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6 Steps On How To Market Your Book Online

Free Videos: Do You Need A Video For Your Book/Product?

4 Reasons Why Writing Articles Is An Affordable Book Marketing Method

CFJackson — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:53:08 +0000

From Free Keyword Tracker, a keyword suggestion tool, you will see the millions of searches done to a certain keyword. When these keywords are typed in search boxes of search engines, indexed websites containing articles with those keywords will be displayed. And this is what leads traffic to websites with keyword-rich articles. Yes, the magic word is articles.

Content is king. You can say that again. That is why writing articles is one of the most utilized Internet marketing medium today. Internet surfers just can’t get enough of information on various topics and subjects. Providing information through these articles is a surefire way to drive traffic to almost any website.

Why is this so? Here are the benefits that writing articles can give your current online results a boost.

1. It’s absolutely free.

Too good to be true? Not. Okay, you have to pay for your Internet Service Provider (ISP). That’s it. All you need is your thoughts, your computer, and your hands. If you have those, nothing will stop you from typing words that will make you complete that article for your website. On which aspect of that process did you really shell out any money? Maybe later when your electric bills come.

2. Your website will be noticed in a short period of time.

Submit that article of yours to article directories that get the most web traffic and in no time your website will be crawled. That is if you don’t forget including in your resource box or byline your website address.

3. Obtain back links automatically.

When you submit your articles to directories, surely, other websites will make use of your article, too. With the copyright terms of your articles, the URL of your website will still be in tact and will subsequently direct more traffic to your website.

4. Improve your reputation.

As an author and or entrepreneur, if you plainly display your products on your website, you will not gain much conversion rate. Conversion is when your traffic converts to sales. You have to show that you are knowledgeable on your field. And what better way to show that than by writing articles that will allow you to display your knowledge, right?

Just make your creative juices flow and jot down or key in on your ideas quickly to jumpstart your article writing momentum. With those benefits listed above, a writer’s block is the last problem you will ever be able to surmount.

=================
About The Author
=================

And to help you learn more about affordable book marketing and internet marketing, I’m inviting you to claim your Free Membership and Free Gifts when you visit http://www.VirtualTutorialCenter.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You May Also Enjoy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How To Promote A Self-Published Book Online

Free Videos: Do You Need A Video For Your Book/Product?

SEO Strategies for Financial Websites

amabaie — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:44:14 +0000

SEO Strategies for Financial Websites

by David Leonhardt

Here are a few SEO tips specific to financial websites.

First, understand that people are very sensitive and possessive about their money. Your website has to ooze credibility if you want to convert traffic to customers. You probably know this already, but keep it in mind when you hire an SEO consultant. He or she needs to make sure that SEO changes do not reduce the credibility of the website.

Are you selling services locally or nationally/globally? If you are selling locally, there is no point fighting for national rankings. People will search for “bookkeeping southern California” if they need somebody local, and you have a fighting chance to rank for that search term. But the investment required to compete with all the other sites and outrank them for “bookkeeping” just isn’t worth it.

Design your website around the services you offer. Don’t place a link in the main navigation menu that says just “services”. Have a page for accounting, a page for bookkeeping, a page for tax filing, a page for each individual service you offer. Why? Two reasons:

A page centered around bookkeeping has a better chance ranking well for “bookkeeping southern California” than a page centered around services. The focus on one topic makes it clearer to the search engines what the page is about.
People searching for a specific service, such as bookkeeping, should land on a page specifically about what they search for. You will convert more visitors that way. And nobody searches for financial services; they search for the specific service they need, whether it be insurance, or accounting, or investment advice, etc.

Make sure you are participating on Tipd.com and PFbuzz.com. These are great places to get ideas for link-bait viral content. It’s a great place to submit your own content (search-engine-friendly links) and get the attention of financial bloggers who might be interested in linking to your content.

Most SEO strategies and tactics can be applied across almost any sector, so don’t forget to do all the good things you would for any other website. What I mention in this post are a few items that are specific to financial websites.