As you would surely be aware after some time in the Internet marketing business, submitting your articles and getting them re-published on others’ websites and newsletters/ezines is one of the most powerful Internet marketing strategies. Your articles will start working as a free advertisement for you forever. And you do not have to pay even a dime for such advertising space. You will continue to enjoy free traffic driven to your website for a long, long time!

Assuming you have decided to venture into writing your own articles, the following checklist should offer you as a very useful guide to help you overcome some common problems all beginners find in writing articles:

1) Decide on a Specific Objective

Always begin with a clear objective of writing an article. Is it a solution and answer to a particular problem faced by many? Is it an article expressing one’s experience in certain field? Or is it an article to attract prospective customers.

2) Target Your Audience

Before writing an article, ensure that the targeted audience is big enough to make your effort worthwhile. Ensure that this target is relevant, meaning they would find your article beneficial. For example as I write this article the target audience is the Internet marketers who want to drive or improve traffic to their sites by submitting articles to directories etc and are looking for a good guidance to do so effectively.

3) Give a Brief Description of the Article

With a quick glance the reader would immediately know the gist of the purpose, the important points and benefits of this article.

4) Create an Attention Grabbing Title

Perhaps we need some tips from the Advertising experts. One has this to say:
“People that sell products to help you stop smoking don’t sell the “stop smoking” part. They sell the part about making your breath better, improving your health, living longer, getting better-looking dates, having whiter teeth”

Hence your title must grab the reader’s attention and prompt them to start reading at least the introduction of your article in order not to miss the benefits by ignoring your article!

5) Write as if You Are Talking to Somebody

There is no need for big and bombastic words and jargons that only would lead to confusion to some. You must write with simple English and in a manner that the reader feels that you are actually talking to him or her.

6) Re-read and Re-Write Your Articles

After you have finished writing, safe it and put it away for one day or two. Open it and read again. I bet you would find some weaknesses or mistakes that need your correction and amendments. Repeat this once or twice at least. If possible get somebody with experience of the same subject to proofread for you.

If with all this and your initial enthusiasm of an eager beaver, you still failed to become a writer, do not despair. Although you are ready to resign to the fact that you just don’t have the flair for writing and may be writing is not your forte, there are ways you could create your “own” writing with your name as the author in the “resource box”……………without having to write.
In fact there are three ways from which you can choose one or use all of them:

1)Hire a Ghostwriter.

You could hire somebody to write on your behalf on any subjects of your choice and he does not even take any credit despite his effort hence he is called a “ghost” writer. However a ghostwriter could be expensive. If you could afford this, it might be the best and easiest thing for you to do.

Visit http://www.elance.com/ where you can search for a writer who can help you create your own articles.

2) Buy Private Label Rights to a Collection of Articles

You could get hundreds of pre-written articles for a small enrollment fee. From these you could choose articles discussing subjects related to the content of your website. These are referred to as the “Private label articles” which you have full permission to use and also put your own name to the resource box as the author.

Although this method also costs money it is less expensive than ghost writing. The obvious disadvantage is that if the Private Label Articles are being sold in large numbers, there could be many purchasers using the same content at the same time unless of course you are good enough to do a considerable amount of editing.

3) Get Someone Else to Write for You… Through an Interview!

This is a free method. You get someone else to create the article for you through an interview.
Very often, interviewees are put in the limelight that would improve their image as experts in their fields. Hence people are glad to be interviewed, even if it’s free. If you know of any experts, a face-to-face interview in person can be conducted. Otherwise interviews through phones and e-mails could also be carried out. The article cold then be sold and distributed either as a text or audio format!

In conclusion, whether you are cut out to be a writer or you are hopeless as a writer, you now know how to get the articles you require and distribute them to articles directories, e-zines to start driving traffic to your websites. Getting your own articles published on the Internet is one of the very best Internet marketing techniques in existence.

Copyright© 2006 John Woon
http://www.johnwoon.com

About The Author: John Woon (Sung-Liang Woon) is a Latex Consultant with about 30 years of experience.

1) Multiple Internet business opportunity SECRETS: http://easyhomebiz.blogspot.com

2) Hypertension and the Heart: http://hypertension2.blogspot.com

3) Diabetics’ Valuable ONE-STOP Guide: http://diabetics-guide.blogspot.com

Article marketing has become very popular of late, especially with the explosion of a couple major article sites and publishing of some serious tools and resources that will better help marketers to use article marketing in their repertoire. For myself, I use article marketing exclusively to drive traffic to my website and to generate business.

Because of its sudden popularity, some misconceptions exist about the reasons why someone would engage in article marketing. (To be sure, article marketing has always been popular and in use, but only of late has it really hit the mainstream.)

For example, you have read that the most important reason you should incorporate article marketing into your marketing arsenal is because, in article marketing, you have the potential to generate hundreds, if not thousands, of backlinks to your site. As you know, solid backlinks are what drive many of the search engine spiders. That is, if your website links appears contextually (i.e., not in a “link farm”) on someone else’s site, you are often rewarded for that in terms of search positioning.

Thus, the more articles you submit to article sites, and the more your articles are reprinted from an articles site onto another site, the more backlinks you get. Certain article submission software programs even allow a provision for you to alter your resource box so search engines don’t consider your articles to be link spamming.

But this is not the real reason you should be marketing with articles. There is a far more important reason: To establish yourself as an expert. Everyone’s business service a niche, even internet marketers (that, in itself, is the niche). While the backlinks are great for your site, what’s more important is that a reader of your article, whether they found the article through a search, at an articles site, or in someone else’s ezine (who reprinted your article), reads your opinion and your understanding of your business topic/niche.

Think about it: In the “real world,” when you need a service, who do you want to buy from? The service provider who looks like an expert and has been around for a long time, or the one working out of his garage with used and dirty equipment? If you need a how-to book on building a deck, do you buy one by an author just out of high school with no credibility, or do you buy one by an author who has his own deck-building TV show and has published three other books on the subject? In both cases, you probably buy from the expert.

This is the real reason you should be marketing with articles. Backlinks are great, but it is more important that you establish yourself as an expert, as the go-to person in your area of business.

Jeremy M. Hoover is an online freelance writer who specializes in writing 300-500 word content articles for your website or ezine, or for article marketing. Order articles from Jeremy at his website, http://www.jhooverwebcopy.com. Read more of his marketing articles at his blog, http://www.jhooverwebcopy.blogspot.com.

Malignant mesothelioma is a uncommon cancer of the tissue that lines people’s inner organs. Nearly two thousand brand new cases are recognized every year in the whole United States. Out of these, almostthree out of four of instances concern the sac that protects the lungs, named the pleura. This is known as pleural mesothelioma. In nearly ten to 20 percent of instances, mesothelioma could affect the tissue that envelopes abdomen organs, named the peritoneal membrane, generating what is then recognized as peritoneal mesothelioma.

Introduction to asbestos is positively the primary cause for this uncommon sickness. After exposure to asbestos, the time period to progression of the mesothelioma disease could be two to four decades. Due to job related introduction, mesothelioma is nearly three times more likely in men, than in women. Due to the amount of occurrences moves upward with age, there are around ten times more instances in the men over age 64 than in the males in their midlife.

Having Malignant mesothelioma is a weighty cancer, that, at the current time, has a decidedly poor rate of overall endurance. Although, if it is recognized soon, regimens are then obtainable that might considerably prolong the patient’s life. Advanced therapies continue to be and are being tested through the use of clinical trials.

Much has been written about women and women’s issues throughout the ages – by women themselves, and about women by men. Books and poems about women’s mastery and mystery, their beauty and perceived lack of it, the ties that bind them to good men, the lies that bind them to bad men. Millions of words have been written about women’s tight-knit bonds with other women, their co-dependency on men, the wondrous bliss and fulfillment of being a new mother. Writers throughout the ages have turned ordinary women into legends, pariahs, or superheroes being equally vilified, vindicated, or honored in their society for their perceived weakness, overcoming the odds, or simply because they are beautiful.

Significant works of literature by women like Germaine Greer, who authored a ground-breaking and controversial book called The Female Eunuch in 1970, echo still within the hearts, minds, and sexuality of many women over fifty. This one work was so compelling and controversial that the women of the time were confronted with an ‘in your face’ force that propelled them beyond any place they otherwise would have more comfortably inhabited. Some of them embraced the message and passed the passion down to their daughters. Anti-feminist critics accused Greer of being a bitter man-hater. Some feminists accused her of catering to men and castigating women for the sexual disabilities of society.

Many women did indeed rise to the challenge of that rallying cry way back then to break free, to empower themselves! It was called ‘women’s lib’ in those days. But, here we are more than half way through the first decade of the 21st century and women have a considerable journey ahead. Still women must persist and strive for that peaceful place where their accomplishments are recognized and ultimately their needs are met – where their souls, spirit, and value as human beings are defined by themselves and no one else.

Today, with the women’s liberation movement almost entirely demobilized, women’s lives are actually getting harder. Social services are de-funded, wages and working conditions are eroded, and women once again are working round the clock, on the job and at home. Ironically, Greer’s most recent book, The Whole Woman, documents this new turn and angrily refutes the claim of some feminists that women have achieved their liberation. She states: “Fake equality is leading women into double jeopardy. The rhetoric of equality is being used in the name of political correctness to mask the hammering that women are taking. When The Female Eunuch was written our daughters were not cutting or starving themselves. On every side speechless women endure endless hardship, grief and pain, in a world system that creates billions of losers for every handful of winners. It’s time to get angry again.” Books such as this, whether you agree with their message or not, will keep track and gauge women’s progress.

Women writers have given us bibles, road maps to navigate the passages of time, how to turn roadblocks and detours into new roads – they have told us how to avoid crashing. But, men too, often with great sensitivity and understanding of their subject, write perfectly eloquent treatise ode to women. Thus many poets and authors have played a key role in advancing the society of women. Others, sometimes unintentionally, have aided women’s regression. Others still, have elevated women to goddess and queen who rules all, their mellifluous poems and stories an unabashed celebration of WOMAN. Awestruck they have created for women’s hungry hearts and minds, female characters who like birds on the wing, are fluid, magical, flash-dancing bolts of warm liquid lightening whose very existence makes man’s world go ’round. And writers from every age have felt compelled to chronicle that sparkling, and ever so scary dance of love and desire, that men and women either wickedly or heartfelt, engage in every day of our lives.

Literature is the mirror that reflects our society. It is unforgiving and completely accurate. Books and poetry have given us an in-depth exploration of women and their journey, how they fit into the complex tapestry of time – how far they have come, and where they need to travel next. The written word teaches us that mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and life partners make rich contributions to their loved ones and to the world. Through reading, we sense their power and become acutely aware of the elegance they possess – even beyond their own imaginings.

Thousands of women throughout the world overcome adversity every day, rise above their circumstances to create beauty, share their boundless love, and lead the way for others. Literature records it all. The essence of women resonates through the poetry and stories of women themselves and those who love and appreciate them. Ample proof that courage, strength, perseverance, and vision can and do change laws, scare the hell out of the powers that be, give children successful role models, and ultimately make for a better world. Read the books, welcome poetry into your soul, write your own story! Because sometimes, putting it in writing is the only voice we have that can really be heard.

Susan Dorling is a freelance writer and poet, copywriter, and web designer who lives in rural Ontario with her furry and feathered family of dogs, cats, ducks, and soul mate, Gary. She writes articles on a wide variety of subjects including web design, small business, personal development and success, Internet marketing, jewelry collecting, animals and nature, environmental issues, and pest control.
http://www.focuscreativeservices.com http://www.focusonanimals.com http://www.northcountrygroup.com

How many books have you read about “understanding the magazine market”, “writing a book proposal” or “how to make your articles sell”? It isn’t easy for unpublished authors to break into the market. Even trying to get an agent to represent you is difficult.

You know you can write, though. You know there is a market for what you have to say.

There is an avenue, however, that is virtually untapped by many writers and it is open to EVERYONE who wants to see their works in print. You can finally take control over your own writing destiny. The best part is that you don’t have to share the profits from your works with anyone else. You keep it all.

It’s self-publishing, but on a whole different scale.

Millions of people will have access to your authored pieces. Will publishers come looking for you? It’s a definite possibility. Will you have more credibility in the publishing world? Oh, yes. You will also have solid proof of your ability to reach your target audience, too.

Before I tell you how successful you can be, let me tell you the caveats.

First, it takes some time and effort. If you are a serious writer, you already know what that is all about, though. Second, you will be writing more than you otherwise would. In fact, you will very likely be writing every day for the next couple of months. At least that is what I found myself doing. If you love to write as much as I do, though, it will not be an issue at all.

Last, it will most likely become your favorite thing to do. (Read: Prepare to become obsessed with your success) I am absolutely serious when I say that you will enjoy it so much you won’t want to do anything else. My kids can’t drag me away from the computer some days. I just love what I’m doing. I have spoken with many other people, just like you and me, who have done this and they have had the same reaction. It’s just plain fun.

So, those are the pitfalls.

Now, I can tell you the good news. You have a myriad of ways to earn money with your writing. For less than $1 per day, you can reach hundreds of thousands of potential readers “buyers” of your works. You can also sell your material in a variety of ways. In addition to this, there are a variety of other ways to make money that don’t even have anything to do with writing.

Ok, enough of that. You can read more of the details if you’re interested. For now, let’s focus on how you can accomplish this.

If you’re like me, you have probably been writing for awhile. I have two books, both of which have been rejected by big-name publishers. I can handle rejection pretty well, so that’s not a real problem for me. What bothered me was that I knew I had good material and no way to reach my intended audience. Sound familiar? You have probably been there, too.

Why should I be limited in what I can do just because someone else doesn’t see things the same way I do?

My answer? Find another way to reach my audience. That’s exactly what I have done, too. I created a web site dedicated to one of my books. I intend to do the same for the other book, too.

I am living my dream of being published. Not only am I reaching my target audience, but I am also having numerous articles published on other sites. I have been contacted by two other sites to write for them as well. A third site asked (and I agreed) to provide advice to the members of its site on the very subject I wrote about. I am an instant expert.

Less than $1 per day and I am published, in demand and am starting to receive checks from my site.

It is a work in progress. My book, which will soon be available on the site, is being turned into an e-book. Guess who gets to keep all the profits? Yes, that would be me.

Just think about it. It might work for you. I just know that as writer, it is extremely hard to get your name out there for the right people to see it. This gives you one more opportunity to make a name for yourself.

Best of luck.

~Carla Vaughan

This link takes you to my website where you can read more: Professional-Resume-Example.com

You can contact me via the “Contact Us” page if you would like more information.

Carla is the proud owner of a web site devoted to assisting candidates in the job-search process. She holds a B.S. in Business from Southern Illinois University and has authored several books.

You can also visit her Professional Resume blog at: Professional Resumes

START WITH AN IDEA:

When you start writing a manuscript and an idea pops into your head [for me] it is an annoying buzzing that will not quit. It takes over my thoughts until I either dictate into a tape recorder or go directly to my computer and start typing. Immediately, my head stops buzzing and I can concentrate on other matters.

Once it is in my computer I can go back to it on a daily basis and add and delete to my hearts content. If my brain is really cooking, my story takes on a life of its own and somehow I am happy with the results.

TRUST IN YOURSELF:

Trust in yourself. When you start showing your manuscript to other people for their opinion, you will be overwhelmed. But you are the author and you make the final decision.

Once the manuscript is written a decision needs to be made. What am I going to do with it? Does it sit in my computer until it crashes or am I going to try and sell it? or self publish.

An author said to me once and this has stuck with me to this very day. “Only you can make the decision to publish your work. If you don’t have confidence in yourself, nobody else will.”

WRITING CAN BE EXPENSIVE:

After trying the conventional way to sell two (2) of my books to a publishing company, I decided the expenses were too high and added up fast.

Publishing has changed over the last few years. Publishers are interested in self-help books, or nonfiction manuscripts. My children’s books did not interest them.

EXPENSES FOR MAILING YOUR BOOK TO PUBLISHERS:

(1) Double Postage

(2) Copying

(3) Ink cartridges

(4) Double Envelopes

(5) Paper

SELF PUBLISHING:

I decided, I was going to take the expenses for trying to sell my book the conventional method and use the money to self publishing my book.

ALWAYS THINK WITH A BUSINESS HEAD AND NOT WITH YOUR EMOTIONS.

EDITING:

It is not feasible to edit your own work. You are to close to it and you do not see what other people see. Either have a friend edit it or hire a professional editor. Make sure your manuscript is as perfect as you can get it before you publish it. Your name will be on it.

ILLUSTRATIONS:

A children’s book definitely needs illustrations. They give the book life. The illustrations and the written word together
create the finished product. When you are happy with this you have a winner.

EXPENSES FOR SELF PUBLISHING YOUR BOOK:

(1) Editing

(2) Illustrations

(3) Postage

(4) Copying

(5) Blank CD’s or Floppy Discs

(6) Paper

(7) Ink Cartridges

(8) Envelopes

(10)Expenses for Marketing and Advertising

(11)Fee for Self Publishing

BIG EXPENSIVE MISTAKE:

Don’t make the same mistake I did and choose the first self publisher that happened to pop up in your computer search. I paid my money and even went and visited the publishing company, but they never could get their act together and my book was never published. I did receive a portion of my money back but I was stressed and very disappointed. That was my first amateur dealings in the publishing world. I will never make that mistake again.

LOOKING FOR A GOOD SELF PUBLISHER:

The next time, I wanted to publish my book, I went to several classes taught by a published author. They have already been through the steps and they are there to answer questions.

PRINT ON DEMAND (POD)

Print On Demand (POD) makes it easy to order one (1) book at a time or thousands at a time. They do give great discounts when you buy your book in bulk or when other people buy your book in bulk.

PACKAGE DEALS:

Some Self Publishing companies have package deals for marketing your book. They also offer the service of editing and illustrations. Some of the publishers will even offer audio book packages. Check out what is best for you and your budget.

FORMATTING YOUR BOOK:

Formatting is the arranging and presenting of your book in the structural way it will be printed. I had formatted my own book to my own specifications. It made me feel very special.

HOLDING MY BOOK:

I will never be able to tell you how I felt to hold my very own first, published book, in my hands. I gave birth to my book and all my characters. They are now part of my family.

BOOK COVER:

The publishing company created my book cover. I really love it. They did a great job. This was included in the original publishing fee.

GRAB YOUR DREAM:

I am very happy with the final results of my first book. I think the publishing company did a wonderful job in a very short period of time. Go for that dream. Keep writing and self publish like I did if you want to take your dreams to the next level.

When you are a writer you feel special because people treat you special. It is a wonderful feeling. Enjoy it. You earned it!

MARKETING YOUR BOOK:

There are many books on marketing for authors. Try reading a couple of them and you will get some ideas.

FROM PRINT TO AN AUDIO BOOK:

I am working now on narrating my book onto a CD. It is a little complicated but the end results will be well worth it. This is a short list of what you will need:

(1) Software

(2) A good microphone or digital tape recorder.

(3) A good voice for narrating your book.

(4) Being creative for sound effects.

(5) Being able to edit the software.

There are many people who are blind, can not read or do not have the time to read. It is so easy to slap a CD into your car as you are driving along and listen to a wonderful book that absorbs your mind but watch your driving.

E BOOKS:

E books are very popular now. This is another way to publish your book. Anything, you do is a plus to get the word out that you are a writer to be taken seriously.

INTERNET:

Selling your book in bulk on the internet is the next best way to sell your book. This is where your marketing skills are required to get your book noticed and sold.

ARTICLES:

Keep writing. I was very excited when I learned about these Ezine articles. I immediately started writing my first one. The best part of all is my book information is on this article. Marketing and Advertising in one short article – FREE.

PUBLIC SPEAKING:

The best person to market your book is you. Your emotions and knowledge of the subject you have written about is the key to your success. Start looking for places that you can give a talk about your book and sell it in the back of the room.

If you are nervous about speaking in public try joining Toastmasters. I did. I really love it. It is a wonderful way to get your creative juices flowing. When the weekly session is adjourned you feel alive and connected to the creativity bursting within yourself.

FAIRS OR CRAFT SHOWS:

Look for fairs or craft shows. They are a wonderful place to sell your book. You can sell your book in bulk while meeting your new fans. Always keep your eyes and ears open to a new idea to market your book.

Let me hear from you. Post a comment on this article. Check out my other articles.

Copyright 2005 to Linda Meckler

Linda has given you wonderful tips for marketing your book.

Currently she is the author of “Ghost Kids Trilogy,” three books in one book. CHRISTY 12, AND HER BROTHER BRAD, 16 MOVE INTO AN OLD HOUSE ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN AND MEET TWO GHOST KIDS. Meet a Magical Blue Vase. Join Christy and Brad on a Pirates’ Treasure Hunt. ADVENTURE/MYSTERY Love, Family Values and Charity burst off the pages.

Visit my website at http://www.lmeckler.com my email lmecky@tns.net. Order my book at http://www.amazon.com or http://www.buybooksontheweb.com With an order of 5 books = 40% discount. An order of 20 books free shipping and handling. ISBN 0-7414-2273-5.

Whether you need to close a sale, gather end-user feedback, show progress to your customer, or simply explain how your product works, sooner or later, you will need to demo your software product.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to perform hundreds of demos to audiences of various sizes. I’ve also had the chance to attend demos hosted by others. The following represent the top 5 tips I’ve learned over the last decade regarding demos.

Manage Your Audience’s Expectations

Have you ever gone to see a movie everyone raved about and walk out totally disappointed? More often than not, moviegoers feel let down not because the picture was bad, but rather because it was worse than they anticipated. It didn’t meet their expectations.

Similarly, if people show up to a demo thinking they’re about to see a finished product, they expect it to be virtually defect-free, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly. They wouldn’t be impressed for example with a Web-based application that contains typos or JavaScript errors if they’re under the impression it’s going live in a week. However, if they know beforehand that you’re presenting a throwaway prototype, this same audience will be much more lenient. And they will gladly provide much-needed feedback to help you with your work in progress.

Managing your audience’s expectation is critical to a successful demo. If you want them to walk away from your presentation pleased, make sure you set the right expectations beforehand. Be honest with them. Don’t try to oversell your demo. Just sell it, and try to over deliver.

One Bad Apple Spoils The Whole Bunch

All it takes to screw up a demo is one person. If someone starts negatively critiquing every single widget in your application or constantly interrupts you simply because he/she likes to hear the sound of his/her own voice, your demo will be a disaster. It is your job to ensure that these bad apples don’t show up to your presentation.

Unless you’re hosting a closed-door demo, it’s very hard to control who will attend it. Omitting someone from your invitation list doesn’t guarantee they won’t hear about your demo through word-of-mouth and simply show up.

Here are a couple of ways to trick bad apples into not attending your demo:

• Create a scheduling conflict for those bad apples. Make sure they are busy, or better yet, out of the office when your demo takes place.
• Book two separate demos. Invite the people whose feedback you truly value to the first demo and the bad apples to the second. More often than not, each group will show up to the demo they’re respectively invited to. When it’s time for the second demo, go ahead and give it your best shot, or if you don’t have time, simply cancel it.

I’m well aware that these two tips sound like an excerpt from Scott Adams’s Dilbert And The Way Of The Weasel, but unless you feel comfortable telling your peers, superiors or customers not to show up to your demo, these two options are pretty much all you’re left with.

Do A Practice Run

I attended a demo last week hosted by the CEO of a local start-up. After meeting with him at a trade show, he managed to convince me that his company had developed a technology that could solve one of my client’s needs. I therefore agreed to give him 30 minutes of my time so he could demonstrate his product’s capabilities.

I didn’t need 30 minutes to realize I didn’t want to do business with him. All I needed was 30 seconds.

This guy couldn’t even log in his own Web-based application! He spent the first 10 minutes of the demo looking for a password.

Always do a practice run on the system that you’re going to use during the actual demo. You might know the application like the palm of your hand, but if someone else has access to your demo system, who knows what shape it’s in. They might have removed services, upgraded components or, as was the case with this CEO, changed the user credentials without informing you.

Unless you don’t mind looking like a fool, always do a practice run on your demo system before presenting to your audience.

Pay Attention To Details

The hundreds of demos I’ve performed over the years have taught me that people pay more attention to how the application looks than what it does. You software might be the solution to world-hunger but if a member of your audience notices a typo in your GUI, he/she will point it out!

Readers are especially distracted by readable content – and that’s a fact. Deal with it by carefully reviewing the text on your interface and in your graphics. If you don’t have the time to review and finalize the text, use Lorem Ipsum.

Lorem Ipsum has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, thereby making it look like readable English yet not distracting your readers. I now develop new prototypes strictly with Lorem Ipsum and add actual text when and only when I have time to write content that I know won’t become a subject of discussion at my next demo. I strongly advise you to do the same.

Point Out The (Obvious) Bugs

Software contains bugs. It’s that simple. Anyone who doesn’t agree with that statement clearly hasn’t worked in the software industry for long. Although we sometimes strive for defect-free products, reality is complex systems always contain defects – even when they’re generally available.

Doing a practice run before your demo will allow you to identify and resolve the showstoppers, and using Lorem Ipsum will deal with the nitty-gritty details that would otherwise distract your audience. But what about the other defects attributed to Murphy’s Law?

In the event that an obvious bug does display itself during your demo, point it out!

In all likelihood, your audience will have already noticed the bug. Any attempt to hide it will give them the impression that you’re not being honest. Consequently, they’ll start to wonder what else you’re trying to cover up.

Point out the bug, explain that you have a solution, confidently state that the fix will be implemented by a specific date, and move on. This sincere behavior will reassure your audience that (a) you’re not trying to sweep one under the rug and (b) the defect will be resolved by the time they deploy your system.

I’m not advocating that you go hunting for bugs during your demo. If you can circumvent them by any means, please do so. But if a defect does surface during your presentation, don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. The only person you’ll be kidding is yourself.

Conclusion

There you have it. Five tips for a great software demo.

1. Manage your audience’s expectations
2. Ensure that bad apples don’t ruin the bunch
3. Do a practice run
4. Pay attention to details and use Lorem Ipsum
5. Point out the obvious bugs

Do these 5 tips represent all I’ve learned over the hundreds of demos I’ve hosted? Absolutely not! The hardest part about writing this article was probably limiting it to 5 tips. I could have easily thrown in 5 more tips such as (a) control the situation, and (b) always have a plan B. But the goal wasn’t to point out all the tips that can help you out. Only the very top five!

Luc Richard holds an MBA with a major in high technology. For the past 10 years, he’s been managing the development of software applications. He is the founder of The Project Mangler (http://www.projectmangler.com), an online resource that publishes free articles, stories, and other ready-to-use tools to help developers, team leaders and managers deliver software projects on time, according to specs, and within budget.

How To Pass A Cotton Swab Drug Test

Drug screen has grown into a common phenomena around the earth. Many companies execute drug exams on freshly working individuals or present employees to insure a drug-free environment at workplace.

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Starting a project can be the most challenging because in order to start it you first have to know what the outcome is. You can find yourself working hours upon hours on something and then later question what in the world you were working on that for. Lay out exactly what it is that you want, and find out why you want it, and then do the work. The work is difficult, but what is the main issue is the creation of it. Thinking of what it is you are after and the best way to get there is the main issue.

Often we can get so caught up in the day to day work and not have enough time to take a step back and tap into our creativity. To do this we have to get super efficient at work so that the work can get finished and there is more time for the creativity. The creativity is what will change things for the better; it is the creativity that is the main issue. There is a wide variety of ways in which you can tap into that creativity, and the thing is that it is different for us all. Whatever it is for you, make sure to do it on an ongoing basis. The biggest and best breakthroughs that cause improvement happen in your creative space. Spend the time thinking about the main issue, and make your life and all of those around you better.

We writers have a real dilemma. Modern readers don’t have lots of time for us to waffle on, they want us to get straight to the action. Screenwriters are advised to go in as late as possible and leave as early as possible, and it’s very good advice for novelists too. Readers want things to happen. They don’t want to hang around with lots of description. So, based on this, start your story with the conflict or crisis and go from there. Easy, yes?

Actually, no. Not easy. A problem, actually. Readers want to launch straight into action … BUT … they also need to know who our characters are. They need, above all, to care about our characters. They need to have an investment in whether our character gets what she wants/solves the problem/etc. They need to understand why this conflict or crisis is such a big deal for our character. (This last point doesn’t apply to every crisis. For example, we obviously don’t need to explain why our heroine wants to escape a burning building. But we might need to explain why this pregnancy is a problem. Or why she really, really, needs this job and so the redundancy notice is totally devastating rather than merely problematic).

So we have a couple of choices. The first one is to begin the story with the back-story (as it’s called). Take as long as you need to explain who your character is, where she lives, what her life circumstances are and so on, and then introduce the crisis. The danger with this – and it’s a big danger – is that you risk losing your reader’s interest. They’ll allow you maybe two or three pages to set the scene, but much more than that and they’re likely to get bored and switch off.

The obvious solution is to use flashbacks. Begin your story with the crisis, and then flashback to the back-story. The reader is more likely to remain hooked because she wants to know how the crisis will be resolved, so you’re not risking boring her. The problem here, however, is that you risk frustrating her.

‘Never mind that!’ she might be thinking, ‘is the heroine going to escape the blaze? I don’t care that she was the most popular girl in school or that she wanted to be an actress. I just care if she gets barbecued or not.’

Stories are forward-moving … a flashback is backward looking. It stops the story dead.

A third solution, and it’s my favourite one if the story permits it, is to explain the back story through dialogue. Have your heroine (or hero, of course) tell her or his back-story to somebody. I used this technique in my first novel Looking Good. I had my heroine Grainne and her friends at a dinner party, and there was a stranger there to whom they all told their life stories. Briefly and succinctly as you would to a stranger, giving just the salient points. (Just the facts, Ma’am, just the facts). Because the dinner party was happening in the ‘now’ of the story, it’s not frustrating the reader by going backwards. And I made sure that the dinner party itself was integral to the story, rather than just a device for explaining the back-story, by using it to foreshadow what was to come. It wasn’t very integral to the story – if I could, I would have had more happen at the dinner party, but I couldn’t, and I was pleased anyway with the way it served its purpose.

Be careful with this device, however. You need to make sure it’s not contrived. The information should flow very naturally from whatever situation you’ve created. Avoid, at all costs, something really clumsy, like: “Hello, I’m Jane and I’m 33 and I live alone but I used to have a boyfriend but he left me and I’m very sad about it but I’ve just met a new man and …”

There are times you need to use flashback, however, and also scene-setting. But be aware that each of these has a price, and use them as little as necessary.

So, in summary, there are three ways to provide the back-story:

1. Begin with it (i.e. scene-setting).
2. Flashbacks
3. Current dialogue.
4. A mixture of the above three.

And which one is best? As I have said, for choice I would go with dialogue, but it isn’t always possible.

Apart from this, finding the best solution is up to yourself. It’s part of the balance of writing and outlining your stories. It’s part of the challenge of writing, and sometimes there have to be compromises, and it’s part of the skill you bring to the job how you manage these issues. Wouldn’t it be boring if somebody could tell you: ‘Always use x to get your back-story told’?

Don’t forget, however, that you don’t have to – indeed, you shouldn’t – tell all about your character when we first meet her. Just tell enough to make us care for her and what’s going to happen to her. (And also don’t forget that the reader is on your side. She’s picked up your book and is reading it, she’s predisposed to liking the character and caring about what happens. Just don’t blow it!).

© Tracy Culleton 2006

Tracy is the author of three published best-selling novels (details on http://www.tracyculleton.com). She’s passionately interested in the craft of writing, and in researching and inventing tools which help writers. She invites you to check out http://www.unleash-the-writer.com which details the causes of writers’ block (she has identified nine different categories of block), and offers a step-by-step solution to it.