USE CAPS ON THE FIRST LETTER OF EACH WORD – EVEN THE “SMALL” ONES TO MAKE THE TITLE STAND OUT A LITTLE MORE FROM THE BANNER BELOW. eg: The Dog Jumped Up And Ran Into The Room.
IF YOU NEED TO CHANGE THE TITLE OF THE POST –
NOTE THE PERMALINK BELOW THE TITLE – HIT EDIT AND MAKE THE CHANGES HERE ALSO – IF YOU DO NOT - THE SYSTEM WILL NOT RECOGNIZE THIS POST WHEN YOU PUBLISH.
REMEMBER TO HIT SAVE – AND CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR NEW TITLE IS NOW SHOWING AS THE PERMALINK.
DATE STAMP
THE SYSTEM WILL AUTOMATICALLY PUT YOUR NAME AND THE DATE WHEN YOU PUBLISH.
eg: January 19th, 2009 by Judy Berg
Our world in good hands click to enlarge
BANNER
CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE BANNER FOR YOUR SUBJECT AND DAY OF THE WEEK. THESE ARE IN THE FILEBOX AS “DAVID’S TEMPLATES”. COPY THE BANNERS AND TEXT BOXES YOU WILL USE AND CREATE YOUR OWN TEMPLATE FILE.
FROM THE TEMPLATE FILE, COPY THE BANNER AND CONTENT DOWN TO THE HEADER SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE THE RIGHT SPACING FOR THE BANNER, PHOTO, TAGS AND THE FIRST HEADER.
TAGS
Consciousness: inspiration
THESE TAGS REPEAT 2-3 OF THE TAGS YOU WILL CHOOSE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS FILE ADN REFLECT THE KEY THEMES OF YOUR POST. THEY ARE ITALICS, LOWER CASE, SEPARATED BY COLONS.
PHOTOS
ALL PHOTOS ARE 150PX
DIV TAGS ARE 150PX
CLICK ON THE HTML EDITOR AT THE TOP OF THIS FILE AND CHANGE THE SIZE OF THE DIV TAG, IF NECESSARY. IF YOU HAVE COPIED A SAMPLE FROM THE TEMPLATE FILE, IT SHOULD ALREADY BE SET TO 150PX.
TO CHANGE PICTURE, CLICK ON THE PHOTO AND ON THE IMAGE BOX THAT APPEARS.
THE URL FOR YOUR NEW PHOTO IS PLACED IN ADVANCED SETTINGS AT “SOURCE.”
REMEMBER TO REMOVE ANY ESIXTING NUMBERS IN THE SIZE BOX.
CLICK ON THE OPEN IN A NEW WINDOW IF YOU PLAN TO HAVE A LINK BEHIND THIS PHOTO.
ANY LINKS FOR A LARGER PHOTO, OR OTHER SITE BEHIND THE PHOTO, IS PLACED IN THE “LINK URL IMAGE” ON THE EDIT SCREEN.
ALWAYS NAME THE PHOTO USING THE “EDIT IMAGE TITLE” BOX – THIS TITLE WILL LATER APPEAR WHEN THE CURSOR IS DRAGGED OVER THE PHOTO ON THE POST.
PUT THE TITLE OF THE PHOTO - (DIFFERENT FROM HAVING NAMED IT ABOVE!) – AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX – IN ITALICS (THAT IS DONE BACK HERE AT EDIT POST)
INSTRUCTIONS – SUCH AS “CLICK TO ENLARGE” – ARE IN STRAIGHT TEXT
USE SHIFT/ENTER AT THE END OF THE PHOTO TITLE, TO MAKE JUST ONE ONE SPACE BETWEEN THE TITLE AND THE DIRECTIONS – THAT KEEPS THE SIZE OF THE PHOTO BOX AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE
HEADERS
ONE MANS LIFE WORK ABANDONED – FOR HIS VALUES
HEADERS ARE IN ALL CAPS – AND IN THE RED COLOR THAT APPEARS IN THE COLOR TEXT BOX ON THE FAR LEFT – SECOND FROM THE TOP.
FIRST PARAGRAPH
THE WRITING STYLE IS MORE JOURNALISTIC, WITH THE KEY POINTS IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH… PERHAPS 5 W’S – BUT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT IN THAT THE FIRST APPROX 150 CHARACTERS MAY SHOW UP IN A TWITTER OR OTHER SUMMARY, SO YOU WILL ALSO WANT THE FIRST 1-2 SENTENCES TO CATCH THE ATTENTION OF THE READER…WITHOUT HAVING TO GIVE ALL THE USUAL 5 w’S DETAILS -
THIS MEANS YOU MAY NOT BE WRITING IN A “LOGICAL” WAY TO INTRODUCE THE TOPIC BUT INSTEAD JUMP INTO WHAT WOULD GRAB ATTENTION AND COME BACK TO EXPLANATIONS OR BACKGROUND INFORMATION LATER.
WIIFM – THE STYLE IS A LITTLE MORE OF AN ADVERTISING STYLE – RECOGNIZING “THE WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME”
CONTENT IS USUALLY BETWEEN 500 – 1000 WORDS.
OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE A SITE WITH AN UPBEAT, POSITIVE TONE. THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU CANNOT DRAW ATTENTION TO THE PROBLEMS – BUT WE LOOK TO PROVIDE SOME SOLUTIONS OR POSITIVE OUTLOOK, ALONG WITH AN HONEST, FAIR DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEMS.
SHORT PARAGRAPHS WITH LOTS OF HEADERS, TEXT BARS, INSIGHT TABS, AND WHITE SPACE.
BLOGS ARE OFTEN CHATTY, AND NOT RESPECTFUL OF GOOD WRITING/GRAMMER – WE WANT TO HAVE A PROFESSIONAL WRITING STYLE - BUT KEEP THE TONE CHATTY – AND EASY TO READ QUICKLY.
DAVID HAS A FOG INDEX POST TO TEST YOUR WRITING LEVEL – S/B ABOUT A GRADE 7-8 LEVEL – (RECENT RESEARCH IS EVEN SAYING GRADE 5!) – NOT THAT OUR READERS ARE NOT BRIGHT – BUT IT REFLECTS THE AMOUNT OF TIME PEOPLE WANT/HAVE TO SPEND READING AT YOUR SITE.
RATHER THAN USING A BLACK TYPE WITH BOLD IF YOU WANT TO DRAW MORE ATTENTION TO THE TEXT – USE THE RED COLOR BUT DO NOT USE CAPS.
Would you walk away from ten years of your life work and passion – because your conscience now tells you, your work is not safe for the environment? Well, that is exactly what our Friday Enlightenor just did.
John Lacy, astronomy professor at the University of Texas, has had the courage to stand up for what is right, and has walked away from awards and accolades and future success for his life work for NASA, because it is the right thing to do. With people like Lacy, our world will be in good hands…
Have you felt inflatable park frustration this week? Get inspired. Watch the video of Andy Mackey. Now get out there and follow your own passion.Jumping house for sale
We are all feeling the pinch of the recession. Times like these makes everyone look at their spending and see where the can cut back and conserve. One inflatable theme park noticeable changes individuals can do to save money is to cut back on their weekly grocery bill. Clipping coupons, choosing wisely on their meal plan or just being aware of what you buy could save people hundreds of dollars in a year. However, being aware doesn’t mean cutting corners.
Click to find if a Vino Volo is in your local airport
Food & Design: Vino Volo
A few weeks ago, I was traveling back to Pittsburgh from Philadelphia, when I was stopped in my tracks. Heading out of the newly renovated security terminal in the Philadelphia International Airport, I was greeted by Vino Volo. Derived from Italian for “wine flight”, Vino Volo is a retail store mixes its fresh boutique style with the elegance of a wine bar. Featuring bouncy castle wines from around the globe, locally grown cheese and a imported meats to suit their clients taste buds, this bar currently does more than give Vino Volo is not so much as creating the concept of the wine bar in airports, they are just RECREATING it.
ATMOSPHERE AND LOCATION OF AN AIRPORT WINE BAR(more…)
Ever drive past a billboard and get frustrated because inflatable obstacle course for sale you can’t figure out what it says? I do. Billboards can be an extremely effective method of advertising when done right. When not done right, they can be an enormous waste of time and money.
You have a very short amount of time to get your message across on a billboard. You have anywhere from 3-6 seconds, if you’re lucky and traffic is reasonably slow. That’s not a lot of time. I constantly see businesses trying to cram in all their information on billboards. inflatable obstacle course Address, phone number, a picture of the owner with his dog, the product, a customer testimonial, the product logo … it goes on and on. The message gets lost and nothing is remembered as the driver tries to drive and read through the jumble.
I spent a week in Chicago many years ago. I attended a school put on by the Giant Killers, a marketing instruction company. The first question they asked us was… What’s your USP? Inflatable Water Slides Well, we all looked at each other, shrugged and developed blank stares. Our instructor continued to explain that a USP is a “Unique Selling Position”. Basically, what makes our product the best buy.
Years ago I represented a Chevrolet car dealer. He was reasonably successful, but wanted to take the dealership to next level and he hired me to accomplish this. One Inflatable Slide of the things he wanted to do was sell Chevets, a good solid second family car. It’s low price made it a great car for the blue collar family.
I produced a nice TV spot featuring the car and inflatable water park for sale proceeded to map out the running schedule for the ads. When I presented the budget to the dealer he immediately threw out all the 11:00pm news spots. I protested, but he wouldn’t budge on the ads.
THE SCHEDULE WAS PRODUCING RESULTS, BUT NOT TO THE DEGREE I WAS LOOKING FOR.
One of my favorite new food trends that have been hitting the commercial grocers is Israel couscous. However, it may be a bit late for me to say that this is a new truly trend in American Commercial Bounce House culture because chefs have been experimenting with this type of pasta since the early 1950s. Over the past few years there has been a sudden boom to explore this culinary favorite which is why I put it at the top of my culinary trends for the summer.
I hear the same comment over and over…”I can take the product shot. I’ve got a digital camera”.
A few years ago, I was walking through “Ace Bargain Center”. Ace was a combination of connecting buildings that went for an entire city block. This store had every kind of used merchandise you could possible imagine. It was like an indoor junk yard (but clean and safe). As I parc gonflable pas cher was walking by one of the rooms I noticed that it contained all the materials for a complete operating suite; gurney, cabinets, lights, autoclave and even some surgical utensils. I realized that for the paltry sum of a couple of thousand dollars, I could set up my own operating room. I would have the equipment. The problem was, equipment doesn’t make you a surgeon, talent does. The same thing goes for photography.
A GOOD PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER IS MORE ARTIST THAN PHOTOGRAPHER.
A pro realizes the effect of lighting, positioning, backgrounds and even the image your product conveys. Lots of people can take “good” photos with a digital camera and they can be the hit of the picnic, but the professional photographer takes it the extra mile to make your product shine.
You’ve put a lot of time into developing your product and you’re proud of it. Put your best foot forward and show it in the best possible way. I think you’ll find that most photographers can work wonders and are a lot less expensive than you’d think.
Another tip: Don’t dictate to the photographer, let him ask questions and give you his best possible recommendations. If you let an artist use his vision, chances are you’ll get something much better than you had hoped for. In my 35+ years of experience, it’s worked every time.
Next week: The Car Dealer and TV.
Always let the artist make the suggestions!
Bob Martin is principal of Martin Creative Consultants, providing advertising consulting and services to manufacturing and retail businesses. His MCC VoicePros division creates audio voiceovers for radio, TV, internet ads and presentations.
Truth in advertising is one of the most important rules in business. It’s what drives the ridiculously long disclaimers in automotive advertising and the list of tente gonflable pas cher discouraging side effects when the pharmaceutical companies hock their latest medical miracles. I don’t know about you, but every time I hear the side effects of some of these meds, I wonder if the ailment isn’t better than the cure.
So, I enter my favorite fast food restaurant and order that perfect cheeseburger pictured so deliciously over the counter. I take my treasure to the table and unwrap my sandwich to find a squashed bun, most of the melted cheese sticking to the wrapper, catsup all over the place and a pickle stuck to the underside.
The average housewife or stay-at-home mom has changed greatly in the last 50 years. Before, women were expected to always keep the house scrubbed and clean. Now, women are happy if things are just organized and tidied up. The pace of our lives has sped up and we are all trying to fit more into our 24 hours.
In the 1950s, women wouldn’t dream of having their cleaning product in the line of sight for others to see. Today, Clorox is trying to change the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. Clorox, through their redesign of their disinfecting wipes is pushing the question, “Why wouldn’t you want others to see your cleaning products?”
A lifestyle of the rich and famous is a common image projected by many network marketing leaders. It is extolled in video presentations. It is acted out at “major events” held in exotic resorts. It is seductive…a heady experience. We attend in droves, in hopes of an epiphany on the road to riches. We listen to the dream, with hopes the dream now includes us.
These sessions do inspire and encourage…but, if what follows is financial and relationship stress arising out of unreasonable business expectations and overextended expenditures, the inspiration backfires. A promise of vast, easily-acquired wealth, is seductive and destructive; both for the new person, and for the leaders who are under pressure to uphold the persona.
Bob Martin’s career has spanned almost 40 years of media, marketing and ad agencies, including 19 years as Manager of STI Creative. He’s kindly offered to provide us with weekly articles on advertising for the small to medium size business. I’m pleased to welcome him to Thinking Big Works.
Yes, it’s Monday and Bob’s posts will show up on Thursdays. So look for a bonus this week – two posts instead of one.
It’s nearing the end of winter here in the northeast, and that means Spring Cleaning is upon us. As the weather gets warmer, new cleaning products are popping up to be used in apartments and homes across the region. Perhaps this was Clorox’s intent when it hired design team Brand Engine. The “counter top” design that Kleenex implemented raises an interesting question about up and coming trends: will common mundane products try to push out from beneath the cabinets?
In that post I outlined 10 behaviours I believe need to be changed for network marketing to undergo the revolution I know will occur when we discover the potential this economic model has to lead business into the future. For the ten weeks following that initial post, I have expanded on each of those 10 behaviors. (click for a complete listing to all posts on this subject).
IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A BUSINESS THAT PAYS YOU FOR NOT DOING ANY WORK?
It seems like the new trend for products is to go organic these days. Or at least trying to find a more eco-friendly or natural approach to their products. So one would think that this would be an interesting approach for a cola company, PepsiCo. to switch over to the “natural” ingredients that nature has to offer.
IN THE UK
At first, Pepsi tried out the “natural” approach to its United Kingdom customers. Calling their new recipe Pepsi Raw, PepsiCo. introduced a cola made from sparking water, cane sugar, apple extract, tartaric acid, which comes from grapes, just to name a few. This is such an interesting idea for a cola company -remove the high fructose corn syrup and market it as the natural cola.
Now, on this side of the pond, American customers will find three similar Pepsi products sweetened with natural sugar in March and April: Pepsi Natural, Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback. The two throwbacks will be available nationally April 20 for eight weeks. To complement the name, the throwback packaging will have a retro-look. As for Pepsi Natural, the glass bottle, sold in a four pack will have a sleeker, simple design showcasing the three main ingredients: sparking water, sugar and kola nut extract. In addition, Pepsi is labeling this as the “all natural cola”.
Barak Obama made Canada his first international state visit and that pleases this country. Our population is small but we are the largest trading partner of the US. Protocol suggests each new US President will visit our country first, since we are its closest, most stable neighbor. But giving Canada that honor has not always been the case, as when George Bush chose Mexico for his first state visit.
Some media think Obama has an even greater adoration factor in Canada than in the US. His espoused social values are in alignment with those of Canadians but does adoration equate to an ability to govern?
This should be the shortest post I have ever written…of course you have to sell…end of story!
Sadly, I have heard this “pitch” all too often. “Join our company. It is great. You don’t have to sell anything. Because we know how much people hate selling, we have set it up so you won’t have to sell a thing.”
First of all…anyone making this statement is rather foolish if they haven’t figured out that what they are doing is trying to SELL you on the idea that you can make money by just sitting around…and uh… watching the grass grow… I guess.
If you did sign up, it is unfortunate they did not realize what great sales people they are!
Entries
Our world in good hands
Food & Design: Beyond the Survey, 1 of 2
Always let the artist make the suggestions!
Ending the culture of financial PRETENSE
Just sit back and I will build you a multimillion dollar business!
Have I got a deal for you!
