Weiss Report Blog

What does it take to effectively start your path toward becoming a freelance travel writer? What skills, experience, tools, education, and temperament are best suited for success as a travel writer?

The requirements to begin your career in freelance travel writing are pretty basic.

Most of us have heard the slogan from the popular athletic shoe maker - “Just Do It”. That’s applicable here. You’ve just got to start writing. If you aren’t interested in writing, if you can’t discipline yourself to write regularly, then you shouldn’t try to be a travel writer. Yep, that’s the hard truth of travel writing - you do have to write. But you don’t have to write a novel, you just need to take notes, observe, and write regularly.

You need to have an opinion, a voice. As you regularly write about your travels, or just your daily experiences, your voice will begin to develop in the words you put on paper. By nurturing and developing that voice, the articles that you submit will stand out and be more interesting. Editors will be more likely to take notice and publish your work. Tell the reader what you really think! (Well, within reason)

Working hand in hand with the emergence of your written voice are your powers of observation. When you walk down the street near you home, try looking at it like you’re a visitor and have never seen it before. What things do you notice that has escaped your attention in the past? Learn to exercise your powers of observation every chance you get. Watch people, notice the subtle changes in the afternoon light as summer turns toward autumn, take nothing for granted.

You now have gotten into the habit of writing regularly, you’re developing a unique writing style and voice, and expressing that voice with your thoughts and observations of the world around you. You’ve got a good start on becoming a successful freelance travel writer. There are a few more things you’ll need to complete the picture of an aspiring travel writer.

You need to be able to do some research. These days, most of your pre-trip research can be done online in the comfort of you own home. But you don’t necessarily need a computer, you can always go down to your local library to do your research. But research is a must. For instance, if you’re planning a trip to Costa Rica, you’ll want to find out the basics like climate and weather, population and culture, main tourist attractions, principal industries, government, and any additional information that may be pertinent to what you plan on writing about. You want to get a feel for the country or region and its people before you leave home. After you’ve arrived at your destination, you’ll want to seek out the unique and interesting aspects of the area and its people. Try to find things that the average tourist would find interesting and unique - dig a little deeper. Seek out and talk with the locals, read local newspapers, arrange to interview people that can help bring your articles to life - business people, historians, tour operators - Or perhaps just the person on the street to get some of the local color. The more research like this you can put together the more saleable and unique your articles will be.

The last thing is a willingness and desire to learn. Read books and take a course on travel writing. Many good books are available on the subject. There are college level courses available as well as some excellent home study travel writing courses.

You’ll want to get your hands on as much travel writing as you can. Subscribe to one or two travel magazines, read the travel section in your local newspaper, buy travel books. Find out what editors are looking for in a travel article. See if you can spot the basic structure of a well written travel article. In particular, pay attention to an article’s lead; how does it draw you in? How well does it state its theme? After a few sentences, are you motivated to read any further? After the lead and theme are established, how well does the article prove that theme and paint a picture. Do you have a sense of place as you read the body of the article? Again, is the writer drawing you through the article in an interesting and compelling way? If so, how is he doing it? If not, what is lacking? Finally, how well does the writer bring the article to a close? Does he effectively reflect on the lead and restate the theme? Does he leave you with an urgent feeling inside of you to visit a destination or try an activity or find out more?

The elements described above comprise the basic structure of what most editors are looking for in a travel article. Learn to spot what works and what doesn’t. You’ll find that once you start looking at travel articles with a critical eye, you’ll start thinking like a travel writer. Before you know it, you’ll get your first byline and editors will start thinking of you as a travel writer as well! Your journey has begun!

What You Don’t Need…

You don’t need a degree in journalism or even a college degree at all (though both those things certainly don’t hurt either!). Editors aren’t going to ask to see your diploma. What they want to see are well written articles appropriate for their publication and submitted within the stated submission guidelines. You can learn how to do that without stepping inside a college classroom. (But remember, taking a home study or other type of course on travel writing can be a big help).

You don’t have to spend a lot of money. All businesses require some investment in both time and money to get off the ground, including freelance writing. But you don’t need to spend a fortune. Invest in some books, a travel writing course, and investigate some other resources available to travel writers like publisher databases, websites, etc. (find out more about these resources at www.TouristTravel.com/travel_writers_wanted.htm), but save your money so you can eventually travel to exotic locals rich in fodder for your travel writing.

But remember, you don’t really even need to travel; everyplace has a story to tell. Many are lucky enough to live in or near a popular tourist destination. Local excursions and your own personal knowledge and experience can easily form the basis or your travel writing career.

So there you have it, some of the ins and outs, needs and don’t-needs that will get you started on your own exciting path toward freelance writing success!

Happy Trails!

Tom is a freelance travel writer, copy writer, and web publisher. His popular website TouristTravel (http://www.touristtravel.com) features a section of resources for both beginning and seasoned travel writers.
Tom lives and works in San Francisco and is a member of the Bay Area Travel Writers Association

The different sounds that the letter”d” takes at the end of a
verb in the past tense

An extract from the book: Word Power by the author of this
article.

The English language indicates that the action of the verb is in
the past by having some form of the “d” or “t” sound end the
word. We say some kind of “d” or “t” sound although the word is
almost always written with a “d”.

Many people who learn English are so confused by the irregular
forms of the verbs that they give up and invent their own ways
of referring to the past. Some say: “Yesterday I walk to work”
or other ways to avoid using the past tense that they have never
learned.

Sure, there are irregular words in English. The past of teach is
taught; the past of buy is bought; the past of think is thought.
But even these irregular words end in some kind of a “t” sound
to indicate that the verb refers to the past. Luckily, there
aren’t too many of these irregular verbs. You just have to learn
them. The good thing is that they behave more or less the same
way.

But let’s look at the regular verbs. Most English verbs are
regular. To indicate the past, they put some kind of a sound
made with the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth.
Almost always it is the sound of a “d” or of a “t”.

The ending of the verb “love” in the past: “I loved the movie”
is very different from the ending of the verb “walk”: “I walked
to work.” When it sounds like the letter “d”, it is a voiced
sound, that is the vocal cords vibrate. When it sounds like a
“t”, it is a voiceless or an unvoiced sound.

But how do you know when it should end with a voiced “d” sound
and when with a voiceless “t” sound? Although you may not
believe it, there is a “rule” that will help you to form the
past of most English verbs. You may still make some mistakes but
little by little you will feel the mistakes and will correct
them. The structure of your mouth will force you to make the
right sound.

The “rule” for the formation of the past is similar to the
“rule” for the “s” at the end of plural nouns and verbs in the
third person singlular of the present tense. The rule of the “d”
in three parts:

There is a one simple “rule” that covers the pronunciation of
the “d” and “t” sounds.

The sound that indicates the past of the verb is the voiceless
“t” sound when the verb ends in a voiceless consonant. On the
other hand, the indication of the past is the voiced “d” sound
when the verb ends in a voiced consonant.

The three parts of the rule are:

1. the voiceless “t” sound, 2. the voiced “d” sound, 3. the
added syllable.

1. The voiceless (unvoiced) “t”:

The “rule” tells us when the last sound of a verb is is like
that of the words talk, cap, mess, etc (that is, a voiceless
sound), the past of the verb ends with a voiceless (or unvoiced)
sound like that of the word walked. The past of these verbs is
talked, capped, messed and the “d” is unvoiced.

For example the letter “d” that represents the past in the
written word is pronounced like the “t” of Tom (a voiceless
sound) when the verb ends in a voiceless sound. So when the verb
ends in voiceless sounds such as the letters k in the word
looked, p in the word stopped, f in the word cuffed (or gh in
the word laughed) the past is indicated by the voiceless “t”
sound. This always happens so don’t be fooled by the written
letter “d”.

The past tense of the verb is also indicated by a voiceless
sound when the verb ends in any “hissing” sound such as the
words: face, wash, crunch. All these sounds are voiceless so the
verbs that end with them will always have the “d” of their past
form sounded voicelessly and therefore become the forms faced,
washed, crunched.

It is important to note that although the voiceless “d” is
written “ed”, you do NOT add a syllable to the original word.

2. The voiced “d”:

The “d” is voiced in two situations:

a. when the word ends in a vowel sound such as, played, teed,
owed, cued.

The “strange” vowels are also followed by a voiced “d” such as
in the words: furred, papered, pawed. The past of verbs ending
in a diphthong sound also end in a voiced “d” sound, for example
in the words: plowed, paid, toyed .

b. when the word ends in a voiced consonant.

Some examples of the second case are: b as in the word robbed, n
in the word drowned, l in the word mailed, g in the word logged,
v in the word heaved, m n the word farmed, n as in the word
panned, thesoundof the letters ng as in the word ring, r as in
the word cars, v as in the word stoves, and thin the word
bathed.

Remember that that the voiced “d” sound forms the past of verbs
that end in a voiced consonant, for example, burned is the past
of the verb burn and lovedis the past of love.

It is important to note that although the voiced “d” in these
words is written with “ed”, you do NOT add an extra syllable.

3. The added syllable

In both cases, when the verb ends in either the sound of the
voiced “d” or the sound of the voiceless “t”, the English
language adds a syllable to the verb.

For example, the verbs in the present tense visit, vote, side,
need, plant, adopt, add “ed” to make the past tense and become
visited, voted, sided, needed, planted, adopted.

The “ed” is pronounced with a special vowel followed by a voiced
“d”. The special vowel is the “short i” which has the IPA symbol
of the small capital “i”. We treat this sound in the book in the
chapter on the short vowels. Remember a ship is not a sheep. You
have to be able to hear the difference to be able to use this
vowel in the added syllable.

It is only in this special case that you pronounce the second
syllable of the past of a verb. Not all verbs have two syllables
in the past. It is important that you realize that most common
English verbs have only one syllable. Do not think that you have
to pronounce the “ed” of the words such as walked, talked,
played, tuned, tooled. Do not read these words as they were
written in your language.

Although many verbs have “ed” in their past, it is just a
strange note of English spelling. You often only pronounce one
syllable with the past indicated by a voiced “d” or an unvoiced
“t” according to which sound preceded the ending.

You only pronounce the “ed” when the root form of the verb ends
with your tongue touching the back of your teeth, either with a
voiced “d” sound or with an unvoiced “t” sound. For example,
“Today, I heat the coffee but yesterday I heated it” (2
syllables because the last consonant is a “t”). But, “Today I
talk to my friend but yesterday I talked on the phone.” (one
syllable because the last consonant is not a “t” or a “d”)

The extra syllable: Listen to this as often as necessary for you
to be able to distinguish the unvoiced “t” from the voiced “d”.

Review and practice all parts of the “RULE”! The first part of
the “rule”: the voiceless “t”; The second part of the “rule”:
the voiced “d” : The third part of the “rule”: the added
syllable

When Robert Middleton moved his marketing consulting practice, Action Plan Marketing, to Palo Alto, California several years ago, he started his business from scratch. He had left his well-established client base several miles away and now had to find strategies to generate new clients.

Because Middleton had always spoken to promote his business, he turned to public speaking with a vengeance. He researched local organizations whose members comprised professional business owners, his target clientele. He called chambers of commerce, business groups and others likely to be interested in his three-hour marketing workshop.

Within a few months, Middleton had spoken at over a dozen organizations, establishing his reputation as a marketing expert for professional service firms. He quickly became a known entity, having personally introduced his business and credentials to hundreds of prospects.

Better yet, Middleton’s speaking strategy helped him land all the business he could handle in a relatively short time period.

Over the course of sixteen talks, he averaged one new client each time. Today, the seminars he conducts at business groups and, increasingly, teleconferences promoted through his web site generate more than 50 percent of his business.

Speaking Is Selling

Many business people never consider standing in the front of their buying public to share professional wisdom. If you’re one of them, you’re missing the boat.

Speaking is a marketing strategy you can immediately embrace to get in front of potential customers. Speaking puts you within handshaking distance of your best prospects, many times helping you close sales before you leave the room.

By speaking regularly you can end the uncertainty of knowing where your next client will come from. Speaking can help you reach dozens, and sometimes hundreds of your best prospects every time. Speakers report that speaking regularly continuously fills their prospect pipelines, ensuring a steady stream of new clients and customers.

Speaking is effective because it showcases your knowledge before groups of people who eagerly show up to hear it. Your prospects may tune out advertising, but they’ll pay attention to your talk because it presents your knowledge in polished form to people who think it will help them.

Speaking gives you tremendous visibility and credibility that increases over time. Whenever you are in the front of a room, you get noticed. People will remember who you are and what your business does. The more people see you speak and see your business name, the more successful people think you are.

Speaking gives prospects a taste of what you offer in a non-threatening environment. When they are in a room full of people, they feel comfortable. There’s safety in numbers. They do not feel the sales pressure of a one-on-one meeting. It’s also low risk, as chances are, they didn’t pay as much to hear you speak as it would cost to hire you.

Get On The Program

You don’t have to be a seasoned speaker to put speaking to work for your business. If you’re willing to speak for free, you’ll find that there are more outlets available than you’ll know what to do with.

“If you can get up there and do a decent job you will immediately position yourself as an expert in the minds of an audience,” says business coach, author and professional speaker Caterina Rando. “You only have to be ‘decent’ to make an impact. Even though speaking can be scary at first, anybody can find groups to speak to and master the basics of giving a good speech.”

Choose the right topics

Before you contact an organization about speaking, create sample talk descriptions with catchy titles. For example, a financial planner could avoid generic descriptions like “Planning Your Retirement,” and use a more snappy title like “Enjoying Your Gold Years On A Champagne Budget”.

Targeting speaking opportunities

Once you are clear about your topic and its benefit to the audience, make some calls and offer yourself as a speaker. Here are ideas of where to look for a free podium. Many of these groups need speakers all the time.

• Chambers of Commerce

• Service Clubs

• Industry Specific Associations

• University Extensions

• Professional Associations

Getting the most out of your speech

The promotional value of your talks goes beyond your time on the podium. Often, when you speak to a group, the group publicizes the event. Many people who do not attend the event will still read the information, or will hear about you from other attendees, and may give you a call.

Consistency is the big thing. Getting out there and speaking on a regular basis keeps your pipeline full of prospects. When you’re done, put a follow up mechanism in place, even if it’s a simple mailing or newsletter. If you keep in contact with people who’ve heard you speak, you get more long-term leverage from your efforts.

About The Author

Steven Van Yoder is the author of Get Slightly Famous (tm.). He teaches small business owners how to attract more business with less effort by becoming a mini-celebrity in your field. Visit www.getslightlyfamous.com to claim your FREE Slightly Famous Marketing Plan Workbook.

steven@getslightlyfamous.com

To be successful at any affiliate marketing program, you not only need traffic but you also require a certain type of traffic. In fact this rule also applies to any online marketing you can think of.

Recently some across an amazing audio interview where one man says he abandoned pay-per-click ads for free articles online marketing because he found the latter more effective in his case. You will find the audio interview here;

http://big-online-story.blogspot.com/2005/06/
guy-who-gave-up-pay-per-click-ads-for.html

Personally I have been earning a living online for a while now and I have never seen any need to purchase pay-per-click ads (at least not yet). Free articles have done everything for me. Recently I’ve also started combining the free articles with other free online tools and the results have been very good.

While I have seen successful affiliate marketing and online marketing done using traffic generation sites and viral marketing sites (see my other articles), one generally requires very high numbers of this type of traffic to be successful. But with articles, you only require very little traffic to be hugely successful. I’ve run blogs with google adsence ads posted (one of the most popular affiliate marketing programs on the web currently) and have quickly noted that just a tiny amount of traffic from articles has had a major impact on the number of clicks that happened at my blog. I also get clicks from traffic generation sites but I usually require more than 10 times the traffic I get from articles to get the same results I get from articles. That is a tested and verified figure from my blog.

The reason may not be too difficult to guess. Traffic that you get from the search engines and pay-per-click ads will be the sort of traffic that is not entirely sure of the content they will find at your site. Remember that these folks are usually lured in using catchy headlines which may not always be very clear in meaning. In sharp contrast, a visitor to your affiliate marketing site or blog who has read one of your articles will have already sampled much more than just a catchy headline and will therefore not only be sure but will also tend to be extremely interested in what you have to say and is therefore more likely to visit many more pages within your blog, site or affiliate site. The longer a visitor stays, the better the results you get and the more valuable that traffic ends up being to you.

The longer they stay, the more likely it is that they will click on one of your google ads, thus earning you income. The longer they stay the higher the chances also, that they will end up buying something or joining the affiliate program or purchase the affiliate product that you are marketing.

However, not all articles are effective in driving traffic where you want it to go. To be effective the articles will have to be very well written and they will also have to be loaded with lots of valuable information. Some affiliate marketers or online marketers deliberately hold back a lot of information from their free articles and end up referring people to their site for any useful information. This is a big mistake. If your article is not well written or the information in your article is not valuable, then you will find that most people will not bother to visit your website or blog.

Christopher Kyalo has made money online while using articles as his only marketing tool. Visit the following link to find out the most effective site to post your free article to; http://marketingurhomebiz.blogspot.com/2005/06/
revealed-most-effective-internet.html

Visit his blog for more valuable free tips; http://big-online-story.blogspot.com

Interviewer Christopher Seufert sat down with author Nancy Geary in between
promotional events for the release of her latest novel “Being Miss Alcott.” Latest
release and information about Nancy can be found at www.NancyGeary.com.

Christopher Seufert: So you’re teaching a class on how to write your first novel?

Nancy Geary: Yes, at the Cape Cod Writers Conference.

CS: You’ve written four books and you’re on your fifth now. What’s the difference
between writing a first novel and writing subsequent novels?

NG: Well, the idea of the “Writing Your First Novel” class, the way I teach it, focuses
on the choices that you need to be aware of when you’re getting started. We spend a
day discussing first person versus third person, which kind of voice is better for the
tone that you want, outlining a plot, which I think is incredibly important, the
themes of your book, and dialogue… So I think there are various issues that are not
so particular to a novel. A novel is like any ambitious project. If you don’t have it all
organized in your thoughts before you get started, what’s going to happen to these
students is what happens to most people- they start and don’t finish. And so, the
ultimate goal of my class is to prepare the students to see their book through to the
end.

CS: Tell me about how you made the decision to leave your job as a lawyer, and to
move to the Cape to begin your first novel.

NG: Being a lawyer was taking 100 percent of my time and I just didn’t feel like it
was 100 percent of me. And there was this burning sense that I had something to
say, that I had this story to tell, even though I wasn’t quite sure what it was at the
time. I’d grown up thinking that if I work really hard and I keep trying, then
everything’s going to have a happy ending. But, after my dad died I suddenly had
this sense that, “My god, every moment is so precious, everyday is so precious.” I
just couldn’t see myself staying a lawyer and never trying this.

Financially there were huge issues, and that’s why I gave myself two years. I said, “If
I haven’t made it as a writer within two years I’m going to have to go back to being a
lawyer.” So it was confined. I admire people who have written manuscript after
manuscript and keep on writing after being rejected. In fact, sometimes I think
those are the real writers because they’re internally driven. They’re not writing for
any sense of commercial success or public acknowledgement. But for me, because I
was giving up so much and I was allowing myself limited time, it was either going to
work or not work, and it was a huge risk.

I think that in this society your career becomes so much of who you are. I remember
when I quit my job, people would ask me what I did for a living, and I would say
“Nothing.” I didn’t say “I’m a writer.” I didn’t know what I was at all because I wasn’t a
lawyer anymore. Those first couple of months were some of the scariest months of
my life. But once I got to school and started meeting other people who were trying
to write and I found a community of people that were trying to do the same thing
that I was, it got easier on a day-to-day basis. But in the end it really wasn’t until I
signed a contract that I felt like I could say I was a writer. Then I felt more
comfortable about who I was.

As for Cape Cod, the reason that I moved down to the Cape was simply that it’s a
much more beautiful place to live and work creatively. My husband was a lawyer up
in Boston so I was going back and forth a lot, but for me to work down here was
such a gift. I was able to get up in the morning and walk my dogs on the beach and
it was a real source of inspiration. It’s perfectly quiet in a way the city never is. It
was really very, very peaceful.

CS: Why specifically did you decide to use Chatham as the setting for your latest
novel?

NS: There was a very deliberate reason for choosing Chatham with the book. Even
though everyone says it’s so scenic I think Chatham is really very wild. When you
walk on the beach and the wind and the salt in your face… I remember just coming
back feeling totally exhilerated. I wanted that kind of natural turmoil for what the
heroine’s experiencing. This is why I choose Chatham for this book specifically. My
other books weren’t set here.

CS: Now that you’ve moved away to New York, did you actually makes trips down to
visit certain locations again or was this mostly drawn from memory?

NG: Mostly drawn from memory.

CS: Really? When did you first move to the Cape?

NG: My husband and I started coming to the Cape together. We sort of ended up
here by accident. He had had a huge case in Singapore and he’d been gone for two
months. And so when he came back I made a reservation at the Chatham Bars Inn
for four days of vacation. We were down here and it was the middle of winter and it
was so beautiful. We were walking around and he said, “Why don’t we just go into a
realtor’s office?” The next thing we knew we were down here every weekend and
Chatham was part of our life . We first bought our house in ‘93, I was here full time
by 1998 and then I moved in 2001. It was very sad to go. I will never forget the day
that we had the closing. My husband and I had separated and he had returned to
Boston. I had this carload of dogs and sort of the last minute stuff that hadn’t been
packed and a brand new baby. I showed up at the closing, and I just… I don’t know,
it was very weird driving off the Cape that day. It felt like I was really saying goodbye
to something. I think there was something about Chatham and the house that we
were in. It’s just a very special, wild place.

I remember, once the furniture had been moved out I had something called a
champagne and Similac [A brand of baby formula] party and invited people over just
to say goodbye. Someone at that party said to me, “You’re never going to live in
such a nice place or in a nice house like this again.” And it’s true. It was a very
special house in a very special place. So I do miss it.

There really is something about driving across the bridge and smelling that salty air
for the first time, and the moment that you roll down the windows.

CS: So you are also beginning your fifth novel right now?

NG: I’ve just started, although it’s kind of interesting because I entered into contract
with my new publisher without them even seeing a proposal. So I’ve been working
on a novel but they haven’t even seen it. I’m going to meet with them in September
and see if they actually want the one that I’m working on or whether we’ll come up
with a new idea.

CS: This one is along the same lines?

NS: As Being Mrs. Alcott. It’s certainly not a sequel, it has a younger heroine and
totally different issues and it’s set in Westchester where I live now but it’s not a
suspense.

CS: So it sounds like it will be interesting to see if you core readers are mystery
readers or Nancy Geary readers.

NG: I’m hoping they’re Nancy Geary readers, though we’ll see.

CS: Can they predict how changing genres like that will effect the book sales?

NG: I don’t think they know. I was at a Book-Span party and a man from Barnes &
Noble, who is a big buyer for them, said, “You know, you’re making a huge mistake
because they won’t know how to shelve you!” On the other hand, the Barnes &
Noble editors picked Being Mrs. Alcott as their favorite read and that was a huge,
huge deal. I figure we’ll see what happens. I think this is the direction I want to go. I
couldn’t be a lawyer when I really wanted to write, ultimately. I just can’t write being
worried about where I’m going to be shelved.

Photos for this article can be found at www.MyChatham.com and freely used.

- Nancy Geary Bio -

“I was born in New York City. Other than a year at boarding school when I was
constantly homesick, I was educated in Manhattan and graduated from the Spence
School, an all-girls school on the upper east side. Because my parents were
divorced, I split my summer vacations between Southampton, New York, where my
father had a home, and Manchester, Massachusetts, where my great-grandmother
lived.

I graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 1987 where I studied
American History and “Law, Ethics and Public Policy.” My honors thesis on AIDS in
the pediatric population won the Minnie Helen Hicks prize. I then went to Harvard
Law School where I represented indigent defendants through the Harvard Defenders
program, taught constitutional law at a nearby public high school, and was a
teaching assistant for an undergraduate ethics course.

After graduating cum laude, I spent four years as an Assistant Attorney General in
the Criminal Bureau of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. I initially did
appellate work, but later prosecuted public corruption, insurance fraud and financial
crimes. I also spent six months in the Lowell District Court as part of the Urban
Violence Strike Force prosecuting primarily drug and domestic violence cases. I had
the chance to work with a wonderful group of assistant district attorneys and
dedicated police officers, including one cop who pursued a fleeing felon on a
tricycle and caught him! As difficult as the work was, the days were exciting. Lowell
District Court is still the scene of my most vivid legal memories, both successes and
failures.

I went into private practice briefly at a large Boston law firm before quitting my legal
career to try to write. I enrolled in several graduate seminars, participated in
workshops on various aspects of writing, wrote lots of short stories and read
constantly. Then one day on a vacation in Turks and Caicos, the idea for Misfortune
came to me. I couldn’t sleep and scribbled notes in a travel guide and on pages of
my day planner. I completed the book about a year and a half later and, in the
process, came to think of Frances Pratt as a real friend. Misfortune was published in
2001,Redemption in 2003, Regrets Only in 2004, and my latest novel, Being Mrs.
Alcott will be released in July 2005.

I live in Westchester County with my son, two Labrador retrievers, and two rabbits in
a house built in 1790. It has crooked floors, uneven walls, and a basement that fills
with water every time it rains, but we love it. I teach creative writing at the Northern
Westchester Center for the Arts and am currently at work on a new novel.”

Author and interviewer Christopher Seufert runs MyChatham.com (http://www.MyChatham.com) Chatham, Cape Cod’s Online Guide, and
ChathamGifts.com
(http://www.Chatham.Gifts.com) Chatham’s Online Store.

By giving the best presentation of your life you will expand your skills and abilities in public speaking. The expectations you have of yourself will be increased. Your progress towards greater confidence, a broader network base and a widened field of potential clients will be realized. Winners stand out from the pack. They are looked up to and people who are looked up to become leaders. You will be viewed as a leader. People follow leaders.

If you are reading this article then obviously you want to improve your presentation skills. You realize that these skills are important not only in business but in other walks of life as well. You’re not content with your present status quo; you seek improvement, growth and positive change. You are to be congratulated. Just be prepared to work for that improvement - hard work, and lots of it. Paradigms are not broken and reset by slackers.

Do you need to excel? To continually improve and develop? Would you relish change or do you harbor a certain uneasiness about it? Improvement means growth. Growth means change. Approaching change often triggers apprehension. Apprehension though, is not necessarily a bad thing. It can cause us to pause, think and reflect on a course of action we’re about to embark on. Jesus Christ himself said, “Who of you that wants to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the expense, to see if he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14: 28) That is, consider in advance the outcome(s) of what you’re planning. Embrace the positives. Minimize the negatives, if there are any. Then proceed.

America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln said, “Whatever you are, be a good one.” You should be proud that you aspire to be the best. But giving the best presentation of your life goes far beyond that. You want to exceed all now established limits - to break the mold so completely that a whole new standard is set. Your paradigms will be forever changed to a new and higher level. Be proud that you want to be skilled at such an important level. “Have you beheld a man skillful in his work? Before kings is where he will station himself, he will not station himself before common-place men.” (Proverbs 22:29) You’re now headed for higher ground. It’s time to get “gussied up”.

The challenge of giving the best presentation of your life will involve work and preparation on your part. How to speak in public and presenting well requires attention to aspects such as:

• Poise and grooming

• Natural use of relevant language

• Application of quotes, anecdotes and humor

• Overcoming any fear of public speaking

• Knowledge of presentation programs and techniques

• Mastery of your presentation topic material

With proper preparation and perseverance there is little you cannot accomplish in time. If you genuinely think you’ll succeed, you will. It’s up to you and you alone. In upcoming articles we will discuss things you can do and techniques you can apply to ultimately give the best presentation of your life - again and again and again. You have my backing and support.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is a bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He lives in Colombia and teaches at a university in Cali. Want lots more free tips and techniques to improve your presentations and become a better, more effective professional, speaker and presenter? Then go now to: http://bettereflteacher.blogspot.com

Did you know, that television — the persistent purveyor of pop
culture here in America — shapes a LOT of your prospects
behavior patterns?

Here, listen to this:

1. The average US home has the TV on for 7 hours and 40 munites
a day.

In case you’re wondering, that means by the time a child is 18
years old, they’ve already been exposed to 50,367.6 hours of
television!

Sheesh!

2. The average amount of television the average American
watches, is over 4 hours a day. (that’s 17% of your life,
by-the-way)

Likewise, this means the average American has actually watched
over 26,280 hours of TV by the time they’re already 18 years old.

3. 50% of all US households have 3 or more TV’s in their house.

4. (And this one was amazing) 45% of all parents say if they
have something important to do, they’ll use the TV to occupy
their children! (Whatever happened to books, or arts and crafts?)

5. 54% of children between ages 4 and 6 said they’d rather watch
TV than spend time with their fathers! (Gosh, I hope my daughter
wasn’t participating in that survey…)

6. 40% of all Americans watch TV while they’re eating dinner.

7. And lastly, on average, sadly… parents only spend 38.5
minutes a week having a meaningful conversation with their
children.

No doubt then, television is a HUGE part of American life. In
some cases, it’s even more important than having a relationship
with your children, for goodness sakes.

You’d have to assume from reading through these statistics, that
people are planning meal times around what’s on TV… they’re
spending a good amount of brain-power trying to make sure “this”
show gets taped or recorded at “that” particular time… and
they’re probably spending more energy watching David Letterman
than making love.

Which is very VERY tragic of course.

One thing TV doesn’t do, is… it doesn’t tax your attention
span.

You get entertained a little… and then you get some relief in
the form of commercials.

You hear a little bit about your topic… and then you go and
grab some ice cream.

Because of this, if your sales pitch isn’t giving your prospect
the same sense of “relief” — either in your story or in your
presentation — then your prospect is going to do the same thing
you do, when what you’re watching, no longer interests you:

They’re going to grab their remote and click to another channel,
which in this case means…

They’re going to toss your sales pitch straight into the garbage
can!

And above all else, you certainly DON’T want them to do this,
now do you?

So next week, to make sure this doesn’t happen to you, I’m going
to tell you “5 Ways To Give Your Prospect A Much-Needed Break In
Your Sales Copy!”

Now go sell something,

Craig Garber http://www.KingOfCopy.com

P.S. Check out all the prior archives you’ve been missing, right
here at: http://www.kingofcopy.com/tips/tiparchives.html

P.P.S. If you know someone who could benefit from this tip, then
do the right thing and forward this tip on to them, right NOW!

Top Ten eBook Mistakes and How to Correct Them
Judy Cullins c.2004 All Rights Reserved.

Did you know that you already have an eBook inside you?
And, like your coach, you can earn thousands of dollars each month?

Even if you are a non-techie like me, you can write your ebook at the same time you write your print book. Or, solve your readers’ problems using other articles and reports already in your files. Expand a two-page article with a story or add other how-to’s.

If you want to double and triple your present book income, check out these mistakes and correct them now.

Mistake 1. You don’t write a short eBook first to test the waters.

Short is in the eyes of the beholder, but let’s say from 15-90 pages. Your future customers will be glad to download these pages and print only the ones they need to.

Your eBook needs to be more concise, easy-to-read, and compelling than your print book. That means you can shorten your analogies and stories. You can use a “success format” that poses a question (a heading) your reader wants answered, then answer it. This formula gets to the point quickly, and always remember, your Online audience is busy and doesn’t want a wordy style.

Mistake 2. You don’t check in with a professional editor or book coach before you sell your eBook.

Yes, it’s good to get feedback from peers, but you need to get a professional look at the final edition–someone who can set you straight about words and grammar that makes your writing vital and original. For instance, you need to drop your passive constructions such as “there is” or any form of “is, has, begin or start”. Limit the -ly adverbs that merely tell rather than show. Your readers want a picture and want to respond with their emotions. Limit your -ing forms of the verbs. Keep your copy in present or past tense.

Mistake 3. You don’t know your audience before you write your eBook.

Emerging authors make this biggest mistake. They have information, so why not write an eBook? Instead think about the audience you will serve. More targeted works well. People who want something quick and easy that will save them time and money–another audience. The best one so far in the untapped Internet or Online audience. Mostly small business people, they are eager to buy what they need to make their life or business more enjoyable, profitable, and easy.

Right now, think of your one or two preferred audiences, and keep their profile of their needs, complaints, or problems as well as their picture by your workstation. Then you will write the book your pre-sold audience already wants!

Mistake 4. You don’t automate your business .

As a newbie or non-techie, at first you may resist learning how to do this. Three years ago I knew nothing about the net, and today I’ve published five eBooks on Internet marketing and eBook writing and publishing. You can too, little by little.

Since each book will not bring you landslides of profit, think about limiting your small priced books. Or, bundle them so that each sale is around $20 and up.

Offer your eBook for sale through an 800 number. One with excellent service is MRC business Support at 800-366-5596. Set up a link for people to download your book. Two companies to investigate are Clickbank.com and Paypal.com.

Delegate some of this work to your computer assistant. Contact your local high schools and technical schools where Online geniuses live. And, the cost is nominal in comparison to the results.

Mistake 5. You don’t have a title that sells well.

A good title is short, clear, and clever. The best title includes your book’s number one benefit. Use words your audience can relate to. Even cliches are OK for book titles. Instead of “How to Market Online” offer a title like a Web site headline:
“Quadruple your Monthly Book Income–Market Online.”

Brainstorm a list of your possible titles with associates through a small marketing survey. Ask them to vote from 1-10 and offer their own title ideas that would make them reach into their wallets and pay $15-20 or more.

6. You don’t leverage your eBook for higher price sales.

When you look at the valuable information inside your eBook and you realize you only make $20 a sale, you may want to investigate putting it into an eCourse. These courses sell for $79 and up. With just a little revising and tweaking, you can set your book up to be a hands-on how to course.

You can bundle several lower cost eBooks and list their singular prices. Then offer a fabulous discount to buy all three or four.

Mistake 7. You don’t add bonus value to your eBook.

Whenever you put 2-4 bonus special reports at the end of your eBook document in Portable Document Format, you make your offer so appealing, that many will buy for the bonuses alone. For an eBook on How to Write your EBook or Other Book–Fast! an eBook that sells for $24.95, the author offered these three valuable bonuses as an incentive to buy. “Titles Sell Books” - value $4.95, 2. “Write Like a Pro Checklist.” - value $3.95, and 3. “How to Get Testimonials from the Rich and Famous” - value $5.95 . That’s $15 of valuable reports added to $24.95–Total value: $40.00 value for only $24.95.

She put a new link on her Web site “Discounts of the Month.” With a limited time offer, from her ePromotion bi-monthly offers, she got many new buyers. Everyone wants useful, original information. Everyone also wants a bargain.

Mistake 8. You put too many topics in your book.

Remember, best sellers focus on one main topic. Each chapter must support that subject. When you try to give too much, your information isn’t organized, short, and compelling. Instead of the end all, be all book, concentrate on one “how-to” and give plenty of details to make it useful to your reader.

9. You don’t market while you write.

Most writers wish someone else would do it for them. Not in this lifetime! It’s so much easier to put marketing into each chapter title, each chapter’s questions you will answer, rough draft of your eBook’s back cover (sales letter), the One-Minute “Tell and Sell,” and knowing your targeted audience, thesis and table of contents before you write a single chapter. Knowing these essential “Seven Hot-Selling Points” before you finish your eBook will have you ready to promote the second you write your last word. .

10. You don’t brand yourself, your business, and your book.

Some people join an affiliate program or set up an affiliate program for others to sell their products and sell many products. As a marketing coach, what I want for you is to think of the overview “umbrella” you can house your products under. Think about your biggest benefit you offer through your service. Think about your book title. Can you put a key word from it into each chapter title? For the book, “Passion at Any Age,” the author put the word passion in each chapter title such as “Passionate Self-Care”. In one client’s book, “Watch Out! Your Relationships Can Be Hazardous To Your Health.” the author included the key words “watch out!” in each chapter title.

The eBook earning curve while short, is important for all writers to conquer. It’s easier when you contact a professional coach or take a teleclass to inform yourself. Stop making eBook mistakes so you can earn the money you deserve.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Judy Cullins: 20-year author, speaker, book coach
Helps entrepreneurs manifest their book and web dreams
eBk: “Ten Non-techie Ways to Market Your Book Online”
http://www.bookcoaching.com
To receive FREE “The Book Coach Says…”
go to http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml
Judy@bookcoaching.com
Ph:619/466/0622