Designing Web Success

People often ask me how to make their stories more attractive to the media. I tell them that providing examples is one of the best ways to do just that.

What do I mean by examples? Examples may include:

1. Client comments or testimonials.

To promote http://www.vegangal.com/: “Jane Johnson spent most of her life overweight. After trying every type of diet, she found a video on becoming a vegan at http://www.vegangal.com/. Six months later, she had lost 30 pounds and gained a great outlook on life.”

2. Expert quotes and opinions.

To promote the benefits of a particular hedge fund: Notes Dave Fields, a leading hedge fund analyst, “Hedge funds typically offer investors a 5% greater return than any other type of investment.”

3. Anecdotes about people related to current trends.

To promote Pamella Roland white pantsuits: “White pantsuits have recently been seen on the bridal runways of Richard Tyler, Saison Blanche and Pronovias. This year a Pamella Roland client in her late 30s got married in a white pantsuit in Palm Desert, California. And trend-setter Ashleigh Banfield, Court TV reporter, wore ivory silk palazzo pants, as well as a veil, to her wedding in 2004.”

In fact, examples can actually help promote your business more powerfully than just a story about your business. And they’re exactly what many reporters are looking for. Why? Because we all like interesting stories. And examples provide depth to those stories.

Business stories in particular often contain examples. “Examples can be critical for the right article,” says freelance writer Jeff Zbar. “I prefer two examples. I especially like examples from different types of people, such as an expert and a customer.”

Providing examples can also give you the edge over other sources. Stephane Fitch, a reporter at Forbes Magazine, notes that he will often choose to quote someone who has provided a great example, vs. one who didn’t provide one.

So, be sure to collect promotional examples about your organization. They may be the key to getting great media coverage.

Copyright 2006 Margie Fisher All Rights Reserved

Margie Fisher, President of Zable Fisher Public Relations, is the author of the Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Kit. For more information on the Kit, the Pay for Results Publicity Program, and to sign up for the complimentary PRactical P.R. newsletter, visit http://www.zfpr.com.

Does the thought of knowing your verbs from your adjective scare you? Can the word syntax send you running for cover? Or perhaps putting two words together in front of a crowd sends your body into complete melt down.
If so, there is help for you.

Have you ever wanted to communicate more effectively with other people, or dreamed of writing a novel.
Maybe you just want to write better reports, get your points across more clearly or be able to stand up in front of people and give a talk.

Often people will say to themselves, “I cant do that, I was never good at English in school.” Yet, this feeling of not good enough is where many communication masters began.

I know of people who stuttered as children and were told theyd never be able to read or talk, yet are well known speakers today. One other person that I know, immigrated to the US and had to learn English, yet today he is a speaker and author. These people discovered that it takes more that knowing your nouns and sentence structure to communicate with others.

Part of the challenge is, we were taught that if we can write a proper sentence then we can communicate are thoughts correctly. That is like saying if you can see than you can read or if you can hear you can listen. Unfortunately, this is not true for reading and listening are skills that we need to learn.

There are many people who have grammatically correct sentences with proper punctuation who can not write anything creative or interesting. It takes more than grammar to connect with other people.

Getting your thoughts, feelings, views and values across to another person are skills that you can learn and master.

It is important to understand that connecting with people can be very intensive and emotional whether you are feeling fear; anger, joy or ecstasy and many people shy away from this. Most often people misunderstand one another because people see things differently and can get upset when people do not see eye to eye with them.

There is a lot of fear of being wrong, of making mistakes, of failing or being perceived as being stupid in anyway. Many misunderstandings lead to disagreements and violence in trying to make or force their way of thinking. People can act as though their lives depended on being right as apposed to having a different point of view.
These create many barriers to communication which need to be overcome in order to connect with another person and master communication.

When you can release the need to be right, you can discover a whole new world of discoveries and wonders. Marianne Williamson said it well when she said, Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? It is important to understand, that to make the world work, we need different views, outlooks, likes and desires.

Many problems happen with people who share the same birth language. There seems to be an assumption that if you spoke the same language that the other person should automatically understand you.

What most people do not realize is that on a physiological level, our brains are all wired differently due to the way, environment and culture that we have been raised in. This also helps to create our psychological out look and personalities.

There is also our metaphysical nature which affects whether we are willing to try and connect with other people. We are influenced by Universal laws, even when we are not aware of them. For example, if you did not know that gravity existed, it wouldnt stop you from falling off of a cliff. On a quantum level our beliefs and attitudes affects the outcome of our ability to interact with each other. For example many people have heard of “Cause and Effect”. In this law, as you treat others, so shall you be treated. On a scientific level, we are electromagnetic spectrums of energy. So the energy that we give off, we attract back, because like attracts like. This means, when you give off anger, hatred, judgments or love, kindness, and understanding, you are attracting the very same behaviour back to you. This in turn, affects your ability to communicate and connect with other people.

Your beliefs have an impact on whether you are happy or sad, have abundance or poverty, health or suffering and even of what you can or cannot be, have or do.
It is when we are aware of our own beliefs and values we can work on seeing if they work for us, or if we need to change or alter them.
So maybe youre asking yourself, where do I begin? That question is easy to answer, with yourself. So often people have no idea what they want and hope that other people will figure it out for them. I have seen people get mad at other people for not knowing what they want or for misunderstanding them.
It is important to realize that we cant communicate to others before we clearly know what we want and where we are heading. The people that I spoke about earlier; their lives improved when they clearly understood what they wanted, and then were able to ask others for guidance and moved forward in helping others. For communicating is connecting with others.
The second area, once you understand yourself, is that its important to understand others and their reality. The next step would be to realize that what you think you are seeing and understanding may not be an exact representation of reality. Our brains filter out most information around us so as not to overload us. What it chooses to let through are things that are important to us and things that are a potential danger. Any information that is considered in conflict with our perceived reality and beliefs is filtered away. So you need to be open to learning and discovery.

Now, if you take this information, consider the following. What if you realized that reality is often illusive and personal? What if you where to discover that the main block to your growth and answers are in the way the you perceive yourself, the world around you and of what you believe you can achieve? And what if you were to understand that the answers werent out there, but inward and that you already have what you need to communicate clearly to others? What if I told you, that what you had to do was to be willing to look anew, and that it can build from there?
See if you cant realize the possibilities from understanding yourself and others around you in order to master communication.
Today, we are asking more questions and wanting more answers. Today more than ever people are asking, what if I can?

Maria Boomhower is a professional in communication, media relations and holds a Diploma in the Art of Applied Communication. She has won awards for excellence in her field. Her background in communication management has spanned from supervision and training to productions, photo journalism, running sub-press centres and security videos
Her style has been to teach communication in ways that creates a win-win environment for those involved. Maria Boomhower
The Master Communicator
http://www.falconfreedom.com
“Command Attention & Confidence”
1-250-389-0551
maria13-89433@autocontactor.com

A well structured press release in an excellent way of receiving free publicity for very little effort and cost. It is simply the process of writing a newsworthy story about your company, products or services in a reasonably standard format, and then distributing it in the correct way to relevant media contacts.

This document contains only a brief overview of the basic structure of a release. For a more in-depth walkthrough of the Do’s and Dont’s, together with a step-by-step guide with examples, refer to Chapter 2.1 within the ‘Marketing your Business’ book, available at www.marketingyour.biz.

Start by ensuring you actually have a story that is newsworthy - nothing annoys editors more than continually getting items that are of little or no interest to their target audience. A news story might relate to:

A new product launch

New appointment of staff

Forthcoming event

Customer case study

Company performance

The title of your press release is very important and should be short, snappy and to the point. It has to make the editor interested enough to read the first paragraph, but also tell them precisely what the release is about, so there is no room for abiguity here.

The first paragraph must follow the title in summing up the rest of the release’s content, but delving a little more into the depth of the story. It needs to contain the ‘who, what, where, how and why’ to your story.

The main body of the release is where you go into more detail. You need to substantiate the claims you made in the previous paragraphs as to why this story is of interest to the person reading it.

The closing content is to direct the reader as to where they can go to find out more. This might direct them to a sales line, a website, or where a product is available for demonstration/purpose.

Finally, you need to tell editorial staff about your company. Not all of them have photographic memories, so include a short paragraph with an overview of your business.

Chapter 2.1 within the practical sections of ‘Marketing your Business’ also includes a full sample press release, together with examples of releases from blue-chip companies. It also discloses some of the glaring mistakes made by many companies and highlights what you can do to help ensure your press release gets read and published. The following chapter also recommends several ways to distribute press releases correctly.

About The Author

Since 1992 Martin Bailey has been involved with the marketing activities of small and medium sized companies, either through working directly for the organisation or by assisting friends and colleagues in their own business ventures. Based in the UK he regularly assists companies around the world in creating product and brand awareness for their chosen marketplaces. He has also written a number of IT and technical articles for niche market trade magazines.

Do you ever wonder how you can advertise your business more?

Have you ever thought about renting a billboard to advertise
your website?

Have you ever checked into how much it cost to rent a billboard
for one month? Wow, they’re very expensive. At least a couple
thousand dollars.

Well here’s a much cheaper way to let people know about your
business, every where you go.

You can use you car.

Why not?

People are always on the go. And to get somewhere they usually
have to take their car. So why not use your car, to do a little
advertising? Buses do. Taxis do. So can you.

You can buy one of those license plate holders with your web
address on it. The ones that you put around your licence plate.
But they’re usually in such small print. How do you know if
people can even see them?

There’s a much better way.

One that I guarantee you, everybody that passes you on the road,
or sees you in the parking lot, will Know about your website.

Go to a local office supply store, and buy some of the white 2″
stick on letters. They’re usually only a couple of bucks for a
whole package of different letters. For what you need, there
should be more than enough different letters in one package.

Select the letters of your web site address. And stick em to the
back windshield of your car. Be sure and put the letters up near
the top of your windshield, so as to not block your view out the
back.

Line em up nice and neat across the top of your back
windshield… www.yourdomainname.com

Voila…

Your own customized rolling billboard.

Now every time you drive somewhere, people will see your
website. Plus every time you’re parked at the store, at the
mall, at the movies…

Your website will be getting more exposure.

I know this is gonna get you some hits to your site.

Because before long, people will start coming up to you and
saying “hey, I keep seeing your website address, what’s it all
about?”

Bam, there’s you an instant opportunity to tell someone about
your business.

So for couple of bucks, you can advertise your website to just
as broad an audience, as you could for a couple thousand
dollars. What could be better than that!

********************************************************* You
have permission to publish this article electronically or in
print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included and
the article is published in its entirety.
*********************************************************

LCD TVs are incredibly popular, and prices continue to fall year
after year. Yet they’re still relatively expensive - you can
still expect to pay between $1,000 and $3,000 for many of the
high-tech models with large screen sizes. If your goal is to
find an LCD TV sale, you’re in luck: increased competition in
the LCD TV market has created a number of avenues for finding an
LCD TV sale or for finding LCD TVs on sale. Let’s look at a few
of the ways you can find a bargain at an LCD TV sale.

The first major source for an LCD TV sale is through online
discounters. Online discounters tend to offer lower prices than
even the discount electronics stores like Best Buy and Circuit
City because they have much lower overhead - they don’t have to
pay for retail outlets and for distribution to those outlets.
Keep in mind, though, that the total cost of the TV can be
higher than its purchase price due to shipping costs. Some TVs
bought at an online TV sale are sold with free shipping; in
other cases shipping can cost $40 to $80 and up depending on the
size of the TV you purchase. You can also find an LCD TV “sale”
at auction sites like eBay - not only can you find a new LCD TV,
but you may find a used model that’s perfect for your viewing
habits and your pocketbook.

Speaking of a used LCD TV, check out a used LCD TV sale. “Used”
doesn’t always have to mean “old.” Many retailers take TVs in
trade from their customers, and they’ll sell you a used set at a
greatly reduced price. Why? LCD technology is rapidly advancing
and today’s cutting-edge model can be tomorrow’s out of date
model. Many consumers love to buy the latest technology, and
will sell their “old” set at a fraction of its original cost…
letting you get a great buy at a used LCD TV sale. Some
electronics stores take trade-ins and return the used model to
the manufacturer for inspection and testing before they re-sell
it. You can find a used LCD TV sale by checking with your local
electronics stores or by checking online auction sites.

Another type of TV that’s always on sale is a “scratch and dent”
TV. Retailers always offer their slightly damaged LCD TVs at a
sale price. Why? Just like other appliances and electronics
equipment, an LCD TV can’t be advertised and sold in new
condition if it has minor cosmetic damage. Most retailers will
discount those items heavily instead of paying the shipping
charges necessary to return them to the manufacturer for repair.
When you walk in the door, the scratch and dent items will
always be included in an LCD TV sale. Best of all, most scratch
and dent TVs come with a full warranty, so you won’t have to
worry about reliability. You can buy an LCD TV on sale by
finding a unit you want with minor cosmetic damage.

Discontinued models are frequently included in an LCD TV sale.
Manufacturers constantly seek to introduce new models with
cutting edge technology, and retailers sell overstock and
discontinued models at near-cost levels to free up inventory
(and cash.) A discontinued model is frequently one of the
feature products in an LCD TV sale. Keep an eye out for seasonal
specials, too - shopping in January will often let you take
advantage of excess inventory in the post-Christmas period.

Finally, you can create your own LCD TV sale by taking advantage
of rebates. Some rebates are advertised at the point of
purchase; others are a little more “hidden,” and can only be
found by checking with the manufacturer. Many electronics
manufacturers, like Sony, post rebate information on their
website. While your local retailer might not have the latest
rebate information, the manufacturer will - and if you take
advantage of a rebate, you’ve created your own LCD TV sale.

Glenna Jean, a well-respected manufacturer of crib bedding, is available through online retailers and baby specialty stores. The Green Acres bedding collection is a good choice for anyone looking for something in the farm theme while still wanting to maintain a sense of subtlety. Though Green Acres is priced on the higher end, with pricing ranging from $230 to $270 for the four-piece set, the fabric quality and craftsmanship of Green Acres appears to justify the price for those who can afford it.

Green Acres comes as a four-piece set which includes a quilt, bumper, crib skirt, and fitted sheet. There is also a five-piece option with your choice of a pillow or diaper stacker available. All pieces are also sold separately. The collection is made from a 60/40 cotton/poly blend and is machine washable. As with most bedding collections, accessories are available to enhance the nursery. Two common accessories are not available in the Green Acres pattern, which are a hamper and wall border.

Green Acres is comprised of four main fabrics - a soft cream fleece, a cream basket weave pattern, soft thin green cotton, and a tightly woven yellow and green plaid. Each square or patch of the fabric is joined by using a genuine patchwork design, in which each square is individually sewn together. There are a small number of farm animals appliquéd on the quilt and other accessories, however, these are the only embellishments to the collection.

The bumper measures 9″ tall with ties on both the top and bottom. One minor flaw of the bumper is that is in one continuous piece, which makes washing more of a chore. Another feature of the bumper is the patchwork pattern appears on both sides of the bumper. In many cases, the inward facing part of the bumper features the patterns used in the collection, while the outward facing area is a plaid or another striped fabric used as a background. The fitted crib sheet is a cream fleece, which is also on the back of the quilt. The crib skirt has a 15″ drop to finish the look of the crib set.

Because Green Acres merchandise is assembled in the United States, it can be particularly appealing for Canadian customers purchasing from a US retailer. It can be shipped to Canada duty-free, thereby avoiding charges of 17% or more of the purchase price that apply to bedding manufactured in China or India.

If you like the look of Green Acres, you might want to look at On the Farm by Brandee Danielle.

Katherine L is a Copywriter/Customer Service Representative for BabySupermall.com, an online retailer of Barnyard Bedding, including Green Acres by Glenna Jean

Power words elicit emotions and create visual pictures in a
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Jogging Stroller Car Seat

One of the greatest innovations in stroller design in recent years is the travel system. These all-in-one systems have integrated car seats, strollers, and (sometimes) bassinets, which allow you to move your baby easily from car to stroller and back again.

The jogging stroller manufacturers have not missed this great design and parents are now able to buy a jogging stroller car seat for their infant.

The car seat in these travel systems is attached to a base which is permanently installed in the rear car seat.

The car seat (baby and all) can be attached to the base with a minimum of fuss and when you arrive at your destination it can be taken out of the car and placed on the stroller - all without waking baby!

Several jogging stroller manufacturers have models that can accommodate popular brands of car seats. This is a logical step to the jogging stroller as all-purpose stroller - meaning that parents need only buy one stroller for all their needs.

Although it is not advised to expose small babies to the jostling motion of jogging, jogging strollers can still be used for regular walks until your baby is old enough to support her head. After the age of 6 months parents can safely take baby with them on their regular jog.

Parents who buy a jogging stroller car seat right at the start can save the expense of buying two types of stroller. If you have (or are expecting) a new baby, look for jogging strollers that have this feature.

It’s worthwhile to get the best jogging stroller you can afford. You can expect to get almost 3 years of use from it for each child, and you child will enjoy these outing all the more if he or she is comfortable and secure.

Jogging strollers should have a 5-point harness system, a hand brake for controlling the stroller when jogging, a parking brake, and a tether strap. Other features that make the stroller more convenient include storage pockets for keys, cell phones, and toys.

Ross is author of http://www.baby-strollers-guide.com and http://www.baby-product-guides.com/ Visit us for more!

This Valentine’s Day why not delight the precious person in
your life with a fabulous diamond heart pendant in white gold.
To make it extra specially tempting we’ve reduced the price from
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From the most precious of diamond
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If stunning
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For those looking to make the
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of rings and jewellery has to be the only choice. Each diamond
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For
the man in your life, H.Samuel has a comprehensive range of
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Visit the HSamuel website for a host
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For more information, please contact Naomi Dodson or Anna Kemmis
at Yellow Door 020 7580 0707 or email
naomidodson@yellow-door.com

“Directories are sooooo 2003.” “Remember BlueFind?” “I thought Google hated directories.”

Many people think that directories have become obsolete. The truth however is that while their SEO importance has decreased in the last few years, they should still be an integral part of link building for new sites.

Of course, you should no longer submit to directories just for PageRank. As search engines analyze user data and integrate this information into their algorithm, the traffic you receive from a link becomes paramount again. (Shouldn’t it have been this way all along? I digress…) The point is, if you can get relevant traffic from a directory listing, then it’s still a viable marketing channel. And it can still be an effective SEO method, as well (we’ll get to that).

Thus the question shouldn’t be, “Should I submit to directories?”, but rather, “Which directories should I submit to?” The answer is that you should submit to directories that either:

a) will send traffic, or

b) have listings that will be considered editorial votes of quality by major search engines.

Did you know that specifically mentions both the Yahoo Directory and The Open Directory (DMOZ) in their Webmaster Guidelines (see http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html )? This implies that Google believes links from the two mentioned directories are indeed editorial votes of quality. These “trusted links” are the type a site needs to both break out of “the sandbox”, and to rank highly in the current (hard to crack) Google.

Of course, I do recommend submitting to more than just the aforementioned two “directory kings” (Yahoo! and DMOZ). It becomes a matter of sorting through the low quality “rough” out there to find the directory “diamonds.” For starters, Best of the Web, MSN bCentral, Gimpsy, and Business.com all have editorial integrity at a level which probably ensures that search engines “trust” their links. Outside of these, there are a few others on the “top tier”, but beware of any that sell sitewide links, as that practice all but ensures that Google won’t trust the directory’s editorial integrity.

What about the rest? Submitting to lower quality directories may not propel your site to the top of Google, but my recent research suggests it is still a very efficient link building method to build rankings in both MSN and Yahoo!. I have never been one to put all my eggs in the Google basket, so I still regularly use these second tier directories to quickly (and cheaply!) get my sites to the top of these engines.

In conclusion, directory submission should still have a place in your link building strategy. If you are going for Google rankings alone, you should probably stick only to the top tier directories whose listings are considered editorial votes of quality by Google. If you are going for rankings in MSN and Yahoo!, you can cheaply build a slew of effective links by submitting your site to many of the lower quality directories. And of course, if you are trying to rank in all 3 major search engines, you should probably do both of the above. Either way, don’t write off directories just yet!

Pankaj Gupta offers directory submission services at http://www.directory-submission.net