Guarding Your Time

It's so easy to get caught up in "whatever," especially for those of us who are self-employed and set our own hours. Protecting your time, and staying on a productive path means that you actively embrace the art of saying "no."

Time management is a set of principles, practices, skills, tools, and systems working together to help you get more value out of your time with the aim of improving the quality of your life.

Time management is not just something that should be watched in business, but it is a useful skill for every aspect of life. From the moment you wake up in the morning, to the time you go to sleep at night, the outcome and productivity of your day is going to depend largely on your ability to manage your time effectively.

Part of the ability to manage time involves prioritizing the events of your day. Learning how to determine what to do first and do second, or not do at all. If you learn the skills of time management, you'll accomplish more during the day, but you will feel a great sense of satisfaction about the control you have of your life. It will seem like you actually have more time to spare. If you don't learn how to manage your time, productivity will be difficult, and people will drain you, because chances are you won't be able to say "no."

Avoiding procrastination is also very important in managing time, for the simple reason that procrastination puts off what should be done now, and in the end, when you wait to get something done that could be completed now, it makes it difficult to do the next thing, because you're always playing catch-up.

No one will ever guard your time for you. You alone can take charge of your life and calculate your day.

La-La-Land Wonderment!

The new Alice in Wonderland... a feast for the eyes?

The truth is...It's all about ENTERTAINMENT!!! It's certainly not a particularly strong script, but having the acting genius of Depp helps to make up what is lacking in the writing. Viewing Alice (now 13 years older), I kept having to remind myself that the film is just an EXTENSION of Lewis Carroll's novel. Burton turned Carroll's wonderful Alice into a fantasy epic, using amazing special effects. Certainly an entertainment for the senses, and an appeal to those who delight in the far out. What an adventure! Alice in a new kind of la-la land wonderment! It is certain that Disney Studio's are pleased with the $116.3 million dollar opening weekend. I guess it could be worse!

Defining Your Objectives: Writing relevant ad copy

Writing advertising copy begins with defining your objectives. What precisely do you need this ad to accomplish? These objectives will be unique to you and your firm, to each campaign, and to each ad. They dictate that the copy -- as well as all other elements of the ad -- are focused and relevant.

Ads seem to work best when you...

• Know your prospect. Not only who your prospect is, but what kind of service your prospective clientele really wants, and what kind of problems they'll depend upon your service to resolve.

• Know your service. Know your service in terms of what the prospective client is willing to buy, not what you're offering to sell

Writing is not the manipulation of words, it's the expression of ideas. Words, grammar and punctuation, are merely the tools and devices we use to express ideas most clearly. To think of copy as a configuration of words is the same as thinking of a symphony as a configuration of notes.

Why do ads that seem well written sometimes not work? Because they miss these points of advertising. Because they attempt to merely translate somebody's idea of persuasive talk into the ad medium, which can sometimes be like wearing a tuxedo to the gym, Somebody didn't recognize that the art of advertising copywriting is not the art of literary writing. It is a different medium with a different purpose.

The advantages of online press releases

In today's world, most people are interested in the news anytime and anywhere, and a having a press release written to announce an event or something important can really increase your visibility within a community. Online press releases are relatively new concepts, and their popularity is growing. They grant a business the ability to share vital information and updates through the internet and help webmasters to promote their products and services in a better more expedient way. Online press release distribution is a quick and effective way to alert the public, and index certain news channels such as, Google News, Yahoo News and Red Tram. It is a GREAT way to target a market, which in effect will generate more brand awareness, more traffic to your company's website. More traffic equals more sales. It's that simple!

Quick thoughts about web content

Writing themed and relevant content attracts search engine spiders, who scour the web for related material to share with others.

It is up to you: Is your ad getting the readers attention?

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of businesses that waste their money on poorly written ads. This does not only encompass properly written ads, but ads that actually represent your business and stand out to the reader. If you are advertising in a magazine for example, it is paramout for you to keep in mind that the readers did not pay for you to be in their magazine. YOU paid to run an ad in the magazine, so it is up to you to have an ad written well. Your ad should properly represent your business and get the readers attention.

Realizing that noone buys a magazine to read the ads is very important. Guaranteed, the objective every reader has is to view the contents. Often times a reader will purchase a magazine based on an article that appeals to them, or based on something they have seen on the front cover. It is NOT about reading advertisements!

You are an univited guest in the readers experience. A side dish or added notion, so if your ad is not getting read, and it is not creating a response from the reader, then you are not going to get the leads you need or make any money.

Poorly written websites?: Don't waste your money

As a professional writer, I am more aware of syntax, poor grammar and punctuation issues than the average Joe or Josephine. In fact, it almost seems like there are increasing issues as our technology continues to rapidly develop. With the imploding invasion of the ability to text message on cell phones, tweet ourselves silly, or leave moment by moment updates in just about every social network site on the planet, we are facing a new type of functional illiteracy. While I have always been an avid user of the dictionary, I find myself continuously at a loss with many of the text messages, instant messages and/or emails that I receive. It is concerning when I read written messages conveyed by people and I cannot even begin to decipher what they are trying to say. Something is seriously wrong with this picture. It is like being served chopped liver, and we need a new dictionary to help digest and process what many people are trying to say!

I am not sure whether I would be so sensitive to this situation if it were not for the fact that work as a writing professional. I have friends who are English professors that have admitted that this is becoming unbearable for them as well.

This problem is everywhere, to include the business world. Sloppy resumes with misspelled words, or websites advertising products and representing companies with the companies names misspelled (yes, I have seen it all)! Websites that are filled with incorrect spelling, bad vocabulary and atrocious grammar. You don't have to go far to find this. With the click of your mouse, you can find a wide array of sites filled with menus that are a regurgitation of what used to be proper English.

Perhaps I am wrong, but if a website or ad is not written to an acceptable and intelligent standard, it might cost you business. Having award-winning images and stellar graphics are worthless if the content is not right. In fact, it is a waste of money!

It is certainly something to consider...