Writing e-Newsletters - Tricks of the Trade

Follow 10 simple rules of thumb, and you'll soon be writing great e-newsletters and reaping the rewards.

Company e-newsletters can be an amazingly successful marketing technique. Whether you want to up-sell or cross-sell, establish your brand or establish your authority, or simply reach a wider market, an e-newsletter can do the job for you. You just have to make sure you write it right.

Television, radio, and print advertising are often too expensive for many businesses to justify - especially small businesses. Fortunately, there is an alternative. Today's internet and email technologies make company newsletters a very inexpensive, yet surprisingly effective, form of advertising. When it comes to newsletters, big companies and small are finally competing on a level playing field.

So what is an email newsletter?

An emailed newsletter serves much the same purpose as a traditional company newsletter. Think of it as a short newspaper - but instead of relating to a town, city or country, it relates to your business. You can include articles on new products or services, awards, recent success stories and case studies, promotions, specials, share price rises, company events, research... And if it's a quiet month, you can simply write articles that might help your customers out.

10 Steps to Success

Follow 10 simple rules of thumb, and you'll soon be writing great newsletters and reaping the rewards...

1) Keep It New! Your readers won't waste time reading something they already know, so make it news they can use.

2) Keep it personal: Always use your reader's name. Make sure when someone signs up, you get their name, then use it in the subject line, in the greeting, and anywhere else you can.

3) Know your reader: Find out what your reader is interested in. Do some pro-active research, invite response, or find an email marketing solution such as Ezemail** that tracks the links your readers click on and keeps a history of their activity.

4) Let them know you: Let your personality shine through. Readers are far more likely to become loyal if they feel they know you. Always include a bit of you in the newsletter, whether it's humour, personal details, personal anecdotes, or personal views.

5) Subject is Headline: The subject line of an email newsletter is like a front-page headline in a newspaper. You need to draw the reader in, so make it engaging and relevant (maybe promise a benefit) but no more than 25 characters so your reader can see it all before opening the email.

6) Use a Title bar: Make the most of the title bar to add visual appeal and establish brand awareness.

7) Make it 'scannable': Most people don't read online - they scan. Make sure you use easy-to-read bullet points and sub-headings. Don't lose your reader's attention. Reading is physically more difficult online, so make sure you're concise. Use links to other places instead of writing long articles.

8) Use White space!: If your page is too busy, you'll lose your reader. Give them a chance to absorb valuable information by dedicating about 30% of your screen real estate to white space.

9) Easy unsubscribe: Make your unsubscribe easy to find. If it's obvious, they'll feel safe and can then appreciate the content. To many people, the ease of unsubscribing is an indicator of the integrity of your company.

10) Forward to a friend: Include a link to encourage readers to forward the newsletter on to their friends and colleagues. Find an email marketing solution which allows you to do this and sit back and watch your database grow!

** Ezemail enables you to create, manage, deliver and track your email marketing and sales communication. Email kathpay@ezemail.com.au or visit [http://www.ezemail.com.au].

Is It Time to Retire Your Old-school Affirmations that Don't Work?

How long have you been affirming something like:

-I am rich and happy

-I am my perfect ideal weight

-I have the ideal mate

-I love my job and it pays me great

... or something along those lines only to wind up feeling more frustrated and stuck. I've known about affirmations for over 20+ years and I've known they don't work for me for about the same amount of time. I could ask what's wrong with me and why don't they work for me? But upon closer look, a better question might be, why do some self-help experts keep promoting them as a primary change tool when they clearly don't work for most people.

Let's debunk the expert myth right now. Just because the "experts" tell you something works and just because many of the "experts" all say it works but it doesn't work for you ... who cares what the experts say! In truth, affirmations, as we have been taught them, don't seem to work because we have a built in resistance to the very thing we are affirming.

Here's what I mean by that: Let's use a fictitious person named Nun for our example. If Nun says to himself, "I have avalanches of money flowing to me now!" His inner critique is most likely going to chime in, after it stops laughing at him ... "if that's the truth, why couldn't you pay your cell phone bill this month?"

In fact, the affirmation is working because what Nun unknowingly affirmed with his "tail-ender" was lack and more lack. Even if his inner-critic's tail-ender didn't surface to the level of conscious awareness, his subconscious mind has its own built-in resistance to change. So when Nun looks around and sees lack, his eyes take it in and his mind says ... "what I see is the truth and there are no avalanches of anything but bills and more bills which I am struggling to pay".

Okay, we can replace the fictitious character with a real one, ME! I was so frustrated and disappointed and I felt like a failure because I couldn't seem to transform my life with these flowery affirmations no matter how I tried. But to my credit, I am relentless and by George, who ever he is , I knew in my heart that transformational change was possible and more importantly, it was possible for me and for everyone.

Transformation sales-hype can mislead you to think you can undo a lifetime of stinking-thinking in 30 days, and although it is possible, most people have way to much resistance going on to let it be that easy. I had to come up with my own approach which I call Releasing Technology to help me peel off the layers of resistance. I then came across EFT which led me to something called EFT Choices Affirmations. BLING, the lights went on for me. WOW, this was the missing piece for me and when combined with my Releasing Technology, I had a solid transformation tool set to help me get to the next level.

The EFT Choices Affirmation is designed in such a way that it handles the inner-critics tail-ender before it can cancel out what you are affirming. It allows you to own what is and then to create another reality by making a choice. This form of affirmation is done while using the EFT meridian tools and you are able to affirm your new choice without resistance. Of course, no tool works exactly the same for everyone but the success rate of this is so profound, many Therapists such as Dr. Patricia Carrington are using Energy Psychology to help people make amazing life changes.

So here's what I recommend; if old-school affirmations work for you, keep doing what you are doing. If you have other practices that give you what you need, don't jump ship just for something new to do. But if you are looking for some additional transformation technologies that carry the weight of science and ancient Eastern healing practices, then you will want to click on over to Dr. Carrington's site and download a free copy of her eBook at [http://www.eftupdate.com]. I'm not trying to sell you anything and this is not an affiliate program; it's just something that I personally use and I am really convinced that it can help a lot of people. By the way, EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique and you can learn more about it when you visit the site I recommended.

Is Pet Health Insurance Worth It For My Dog?

Most dog owners in America have not arranged for pet health insurance, and I'm not quite sure why. We all know just how important it is to have health insurance; so it makes sense that we should consider veterinary pet insurance to protect our pets.

It may at first look like just another regular expense; that is until dog owners are face to face with the expensive vet bills after their pet has an accident or gets sick. With everything around us is costing more and more money everyday, it is not surprising that vet fees have also risen as well; of course the knock-on effect has been a rise in pet insurance premiums. That being said, policies are much more affordable than you might expect.

The rising cost of medicine is one point to consider but is there any others to consider? Unfortunately, animals become sick from time to time or are involved in an accident. This can happen at any time and usually does when you can least afford it!

If this situation should occur, sometimes unfortunate choices have to be made; you know that treating your animal will place financial strain on you.

Keeping your dog healthy is a large financial responsibility; when money problems occur, temporary or otherwise, this causes further worries. Been there, done that. The worst of it is when you realized you had an opportunity to make a different decision that would have changed it all.

Don't let it get to that point. Both you and your dog deserve that much, in the very least.

If you love your dog, it should have the best treatment you can afford; owners with pet insurance do not have these concerns because they have whatever treatment they need. A pet health insurance plan does not have cost the earth; for around 20-40 dollars per month cost of medical care is assured. Make sure you research the companies well before making a decision. You want to fully understand what is and what is not covered. You don't want to discover that in an emergency situation. This is for piece of mind, not to create more questions.

Some dog insurance providers can arrange pet health care policies to meet certain needs; perhaps to incorporate more than one pet on the same plan. If you are a dog owner then perhaps this article has given you something to think about. And with a bit of luck this information will have convinced you of the importance of becoming educated on having your pet protected.

How a Book is Born - One Author's Story

Not all books come out whole, all at once. In fact, most books ease out little by little. They have strange and wondrous beginnings. Some come from speeches, some come from articles or short stories. Your book may evolve from a teleclass or coaching experience with a client. The saying goes if you write a page a day, at the end of a year you'll have a book--a big book at that! But then, why think so big? Twenty-five years ago, I gave Speedreading and Memory seminars. I thought of myself as a teacher or trainer, not an author. After joining Toastmasters and National Speakers Association, I learned enough to strengthen my presentations to promote my personal growth skills business. My audiences from corporate and community education wanted handouts to take home with them. Seeing a need I revised and edited my how-to articles, then bundled them into short books. The articles came from my talks, wide research, and my own experiences. I wrote the books I needed and wanted to read. So can you! Check out your files today, and see what undiscovered gems are there. Only 10-60 pages long, these books were quick and easy to write. I priced them for my health and personal growth audiences as well as offering my proven consulting expertise to corporations. Presenting 15 public seminars a month, these simple short books sold well at the back of the room as well as leveraged higher priced corporate training, all enough to make two-thirds my income for the next 15 years. The irony of this story is that I did write a long book--sort of. At 160 pages, Passion at Any Age is complete, but my passion for it has waned. Following the traditional route, I submitted a book proposal to 30 agents. Five liked it, but their limited book tour offers and knowing I'd still have to promote it myself, made me think. Too much time and money down the drain unless I was already famous. I ended up giving away a chapter at a time to my book clients to inspire them. I also realized you can't market effectively more than two or three products at a time. Since my book writing, publishing and promotion knowledge made me a savvy expert, I offer ten new eBooks on Book writing, Online promotion, Web marketing and copywriting, and ePublishing as well as one-on-one coaching and teleclasses, so clients can learn by their preferred style. Remember, your book is your business card and helps evolve your business. Through writing a book, you not only help your audience solve a particular challenge, you share with the world your unique experience to make a difference in people's lives. Your book is an extension of yourself, your skills, and your own style. It will bring you consistent, monthly income as it does for me. My 20 years research and weekly seminars on how to write a book have come full circle. As a book coach, now, I encourage professionals to write a book--just write a short book! Make it an eBook. Think 10-30 pages. You need to write your book and share your unique message, but you also don't want to spend all of your time on it. Begin your book today by writing an article that answers one of your book audience's challenges or problems. You can then, string several articles together. Include more stories, examples, how-to's or exercises in your new book's chapter formats. Before you know it, your book will grow. They always grow longer than you think they will. You will have plenty of pages, and each page will deliver practical, inspirational material to your new clients and customers concisely and directly--the way they want it. Remember, Offline and Online potential book buyers want information. But, they no longer want to read hundreds of pages. They don't want to spend time reading a long book. Will business people buy your book? Yes! They are hungry for information--information that only you have and can say in your unique way. Will your book sell? Yes! With just a few significances such as "presenting useful, practical information," or "presenting material that could change a life," or "creating a deeper understanding of human nature," your book will be a great seller. Feel the sense of completion by writing your book this year. Don't worry about how long it is, its format, how much it will sell for. Remember, like me, you can write your print and eBook at the same time! And keep it going for your lifetime.

Student Loans - The Perkins Loan

How can you apply for a Perkins loan?

In order to apply for a Federal Perkins Loan you need to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and a Master Promissory Note (MPN). The MPN is a legally binding document showing the borrower owes debt to a school. The note includes information about the interest rate on the loan, the repayment plan and minimum rates of repayment; circumstances for deferment and forbearance, cancellation provisions; credit bureau reporting; late charges, attorney fees, collections costs, and default consequences.

The Perkins Program includes the Federal Perkins Loan, National Direct Stu­dent Loans (NDSLs) and National Defense Student Loans (DL). No new DLs were made after July 1, 1972, but there are some still in repayment. A Perkins student loan must be used only for educational expenses.

What students are eligible?

This program is for students in financial need in order to help them finance postsecondary education at low interest rates (the interest rate for PLs and NDSLs is 5% per year).

What are the maximum loan amounts?

The annual limits are $5,500 for undergraduate students and $8,000 for graduate students. The aggregate maximum loan is $11,000 for undergraduate students (Grade levels 1&2), $27,500 for undergraduate students (Grade levels 3&4) and $60,000 for graduate students.

Who is the lender?

Perkins student loans are given out by the roughly 1,700 participating postsecondary institutions. The school's loan fund is replenished by collections on outstanding loans made and reimbursements from the US Department of Education for expenses in relation to certain statutory loan cancellation provisions.

How can you apply?

In order to apply for a Federal Perkins Loan you need to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and a Master Promissory Note (MPN). The MPN is a legally binding document showing the borrower owes debt to a school. The note includes information about the interest rate on the loan, the repayment plan and minimum rates of repayment; circumstances for deferment and forbearance, cancellation provisions; credit bureau reporting; late charges, attorney fees, collections costs, and default consequences.

What are the advantages?

The advantages of such a loan are that there are no insurance or loan origination fees to pay, there is a nine-month grace period (while for other federal loans it's generally six months), there is only 5% interest rate and the repayment period is pretty long (10 years). Moreover, Perkins Loans are eligible for cancellation for teachers in designated low-income schools, as well as for teachers in designated teacher shortage areas such as math, science, and bilingual education. You can also cancel your loan if you are a Peace Corps Volunteer.

500 Lovemaking Tips and Secrets Review - Does The 500 Love Making Tips Guide by Michael Webb Work?

Are you looking for information about the 500 Lovemaking Tips and Secrets guide by Michael Webb? This ebook is written for couples who want to bring back the urge and excitement for lovemaking into their relationship. If this is what you have been looking for, you definitely would want to find out more about this guide.

Keeping a relationship's passion hot and steamy can be quite difficult, especially for couples with long term relationships. When the passion of love at first sight fades away, it becomes even harder to keep the relationship exciting. Michael Webb has researched and found many ways to help this problem though.

1. My Experience Reading 500 Lovemaking Tips and Secrets

The tips and strategies are all really easy to use, and most importantly, it has definitely reignited my passion with my partner! It feels like when we have just met each other, and the excitement and fun is back in our relationship again. It is hard to put the whole experience of using this guide into words.

2. What Does The 500 Lovemaking Tips and Secrets Guide Teach?

Each tip has been arranged in proper steps, and it is very easy to access and understand each one of them. They are described in clear points, and are able to provide couples with great lovemaking ideas whenever they are needed.

Many aspects of lovemaking are covered in detail as well. These aspects include the importance of lovemaking, lovemaking positions, sex toys and adult films etc. It is definitely not degrading or immoral in any way to both men and women.

3. Conclusion

500 Lovemaking Tips and Secrets is a very comprehensive ebook that covers every aspect of how to enhance the love and passion between a couple. The simple yet amazing tips highlighted inside have made my love life with my partner more fun and exciting, making it a very worthwhile purchase overall.