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At the end of each Article Marketing submission is a bit of author information and marketing copy known as the resource box or bio box. This is the key to turning the potential energy of interest you’ve created in your article into the kinetic energy of sales, name recognition or website traffic – whatever you’re engaging in article marketing to achieve. There are three main components of a resource box:

• Author name and brief professional information.
• USP (unique selling proposition), laser marketing statement or some other form of short and snappy sales copy.
• A call to action with links.

In addition to being finely tuned individually, each component of your resource box needs to be an integral part of the overall finished product, pull it’s own weight and move the reader steadily toward taking whatever action you want him or her to take. In total, your resource box should be no more than 2 or 3 sentences long. Less than that and you risk leaving out important information. More than that and it becomes a solid mass of text that will be skimmed over by the reader.

Here are 5 tips to help you create an effective resource box:

1. Know what you want from your readers. What do you want your readers to do once they’ve read your article? There is no right answer to this question, but there are wrong ones. And the worst possible wrong answer is “I don’t know.” The whole point of Article Marketing is to generate content that results in a specific action. Have a clear purpose in mind when you write and make sure that purpose is reflected in your bio box copy. And don’t forget to update your box as your offers and information change. An out-of-date bio box is better than nothing, but not by much.

2. Know why your readers should care. Your readers are busy. They have jobs, families, hobbies, friends, a 3-month TIVO backlog and the attention gravity well that is the Internet, all vying for their time at once. If you want them to initiate any action on your behalf, whether that is clicking through to your site or downloading a resource, you have to give them a reason to bother.

3. Ask for the action. Don’t just put a naked link out there by itself. And don’t use boring, “Click here for blah blah blah” link text. Yawn. Instead, create descriptive link text that clearly indicates what’s at the other end of the click and that compels the reader to click through. One marketing truism is that pain has a stronger effect than reward on the human psyche. So a pain-point call to action like, “Are you flushing money down the drain by overlooking these 12 commonly missed deductions? Find out in this special free report!” will always outdraw the reward-based version, “Drop by my site and download my free report on 12 commonly-missed tax deductions.” (PS – don’t put a period/full stop after a link. It can mess up auto formatting of the link on the user end. Just double space and start the next sentence normally.)

4. Be specific. Unless you only write in one exceedingly narrow topic targeting the same, equally narrow market, don’t create a one-size-fits-all bio and slap it on every article you write. Have several resource boxes that target specific niches within your Article Marketing strategy. For example, if you specialize in tax advice for small businesses and solopreneurs, then create a bio box for both markets plus one for general interest pieces, and use them according to which market the topic of your article is targeting. Doing this means that you can prescreen readers and direct each prospect to precisely the right web page, resource or product for them.

5. Less is more. Mark Twain once wrote, “I’m sorry this letter is so long, but I didn’t have time to make it shorter.” It takes time, skill and lots of practice to turn 200 words of rambling information into 3 sentences of tightly coiled laser-marketing copy. Nonetheless, it is a skill you should work hard to perfect. Don’t make your reader sift through a ton of chaff to find a cup of wheat. Present them with an already prepared, warm-from-the-oven marketing cookie in a perfect bite-sized portion.

All of the quality writing and insightful content in the world won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t follow through with a dynamic and compelling resource box that leads to a specific call to action. Without it, your article is just so much dead-end copy. Interesting, sure, and probably quite informative. But not much more than that.

Take the time to craft your resource box with care and intent. Remember to go back and update it regularly with new offers and fresh information (see if your directory will do a “find and replace” to exchange the old resource box for the new one on existing articles). Make your call-to-action clear, compelling and specific. Then finesse and trim and tighten it all up until all you have left is a pure, concentrated shot of Article Marketing rocket fuel, ready to boost your business into the stratosphere.

Author Info:
Soni Pitts is a professional freelance writer and editor, with experience that ranges from short web articles to full-length ebooks and beyond.

“Need professional quality writing, but hate to write – or just don’t have the time to do it all yourself? Don’t let less-than-perfect writing skills or a tight schedule leave you at a loss for words. Query writer (at) sonipitts.com for a free consultation, samples and a quote.”

Online writing is really self-publishing made easier and potentially much more lucrative with much less cost and investment to be made. But what is self-publishing and what does it have to do with online writing?

Self-publishing is older than America and through the centuries great fortunes have been made by folks who opted to privately produce and market their own writing. Yet all the amazing stories of great success in the past pale when compared to what has happened online already and what is to happen in the days, months and years to come.

The World Wide Web was really made for self-publishing in more ways than one. For example, in the offline days a self-publisher would have to raise hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars to produce their book or special report for sale. Then they would need to look for more money to advertise and market their information aggressively in newspapers and opportunity magazines. Finally they would have to ship their information out, usually using the postal service (snail mail).

If Joe Karbo (the greatest self-publisher of all time) were alive today, he would quickly become a billionaire many times over by going online. Today the self-publisher uses blogs to avail their information at a cost of virtually zero. Then there are numerous effective advertising and marketing tools online, including the very blog itself that can be used to market the self-published information. Self-published special reports can be instantly emailed to clients. Not to mention the fact that the self-publishers market is now enormous covering virtually every corner of the globe.

Who Was This Self-publisher Joe Karbo?

Joe Karbo was on the brink of personal bankruptcy when he self-published his classic, Lazy Man’s Way to Riches in 1973. Using his amazing knowledge of human behavior, he created tiny ads to advertise his self-published book available via mail order. His ads remained the same for years and later he graduated to bigger ads in newspapers and magazines from coast to coast.

By the time Karbo died at the age of 55, he was a millionaire many times over and his place in the self-publishing hall of fame was guaranteed. His techniques are still used by mail order self-publishers the world over, many of whom have successfully moved their operations online.

The arrival of the World Wide Web has not changed human nature and this is the reason why Karbo’s techniques and way of thinking have transferred so well to the Internet.

The Huge Advantages Of Online Self-publishing

While it is true that the rules of the game are a little different for the online self-publisher, the truth is that things have never been better. In the old days, the offline publisher had only one source of revenue that came from selling copies of his self-published information. The online self-publisher can still charge for copies of his special report, newsletter or ebook but he or she now has other amazing sources of revenue. They can post ads like Google Adsense ads, not to mention the dizzying choices of high earning affiliate programs he can sign-up for.

What all this means is that an online writer who understands that they are self-publishers capable of making serious money from the information they provide in their blog, email newsletter or special report, will have a distinct advantage. To take advantage of an opportunity, you need to “see” it first.

Let us take a closer look at the various self-publishing opportunities available online for writers.

Blog Power Works Wonders For The Self-publisher

Blogs or web logs as they were originally called is a self-publishers dream come true. The most profitable way to use a blog is to use it to promote a website or product available online.

Christopher Kyalo earns a living writing online. To read the rest of this article visit his blog at http://100grandonlinewriters.blogspot.com. His free email course on making money from online writing can be obtained by sending a blank email to writertips@freeautobot.com. He can be reached at strongwallafrica at yahoo.com

Get Healthy with Purity12

Using Purity 12 system is a way to flush out your bodies poisons the natural way via colon cleaning. An unclean colon will definitely lead to a toxic waste build up in your colon, increasing your body’s toxin level. It also makes you feel much less tired and fatigued. Parasites may cause loss of appetite, poor vision, sleep issues and irritation. With this colon cleaser, you can reverse these toxin side effects by making sure that you cleanse your colon on a regular schedule.

Poisons are obviously not a pretty thing, not something that we want to have in our bodies. These toxins can be exposed via pollutants in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and, including but not limited to, the foods we eat. Not only is harboring doubtless damaging poisons in your system an unhealthy practice, but having this poisonous waste build up can end up in other stuff too. These poisons can be discovered in the pollution of the air we breathe, in our water supply, and, including but not restricted to, in the different types of food we consume. A poisonous colon frequently leads to constipation and comprehensive pain. One cleaning system for removing poison would be Purity 12, a colon cleaning system.

The act of colon cleansing has been going on since the beginning of time, or at least since the beginning of recorded history. In fact, colon cleansing has been documented to have been practiced as early as 1500 B.C. in Egypt. However, now, many years, centuries, even a millennium later, colon cleansing is still practiced all over the world. Recently in fact, colon cleansing has become one of the most popular, as well as one of the most necessary, therapies in today’s society. It worked ages ago, and it still works today. Purity 12 Cleanse is a great colon cleansing system of which you should try.The methods of colon cleansing have obviously changed, advancing with the times and becoming more user friendly.

Recently someone who disagrees with reason and reality had gone to a site where I have about 5000 or so articles posted and started down the list rating them with the lowest possible rating. One Star. It seemed like a silly person with nothing to do, who apparently found them selves in disagreement with something I wrote; Too funny indeed.

But Guess what? I really could care less. They started down the list and got to about article number 20 out of 5000? Wow, a lot of commitment to their anger and belief system there? Talk about “Weak” they did not even get past 20 articles? Ha Ha Ha. Consider this, they had enough hate to get started and do that persnickety thing of under rating articles one after the other without reading them, but not enough commitment to read them or keep going? Somewhat typical of the detractors of civilization, the rabble-rousers of the peanut gallery. Well personally I think such folks are pathetic and worthless scoundrels with no real strength of character at all. The lowest form of human life in fact.

Many writers are so concerned that people will approve of what they write, well myself, now the all-time most prolific online article writer, I simply am not bothered by what anyone thinks of my writing. Why? Well, to tell you the truth, I have been observing mankind for over 40 years now and well, I am not so impressed.

You see humans are so caught up in their little linear thought processes that what they think is highly irrelevant. Most humans run around spouting the party line of their belief system. Run around dictating why they are so wonderful and why their opinions are correct and everyone else’s wrong. Seems rather silly to me, like don’t you people have anything better to do these days? Humans? Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

[From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters and sitcoms....; 188 stages of the Hero's Journey you need to know about...]

The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero’s Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

and more…

The Trials and Transformation

The Trials and Transformation make up the “Road of Trials” and can be one of the most confusing yet critical parts of the story / screen writing process.

There are various ways to break up the trials in order to make them manageable:

a) Passive, Active and Proactive: In Elizabethtown (2005) Drew meets his father lying in a coffin; then meets his other family and engages with them and then finally saves the relative in the car.

b) Tending back to the Old World, Threat of the Old World and Pushed to the Old World: The essence of the vast majority of stories is transformation [movement from an Old World to a New World] e.g. In An Officer and a Gentleman, Meo is annoyed at having to use martial arts (representative of his Old World), then the threat of being pushed back to the Old World is made explicit in the underwater test sequence and then Meo is forced back to his Old World by Foley.

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

It is the perfect period to obtain some discount London theatre tickets. The West End of London is the heart of entertainment! The Theatre area of London is up there as one of the most chosen visitor holiday-makers of London. Subsequently, it’s of no amazement that tourists queue up for a ludicrous amount of time at the ticket office without even a small scowl on their faces to procure West End theatre show tickets For consumers that hate standing in a queue, the internet or the telephone are always accessible to acquire theatre show tickets

It is achievable to obtain London tickets at a reduced rate. You can go to fantastic theatre shows like that of “Lion King,” “Mamma Mia,” & other famous shows without paying a silly amount money. In addition to these musical shows the other musical shows currently on comprise of “Chicago,” “Wicked,” “Sound of Music,” “Les Miserables,” and “Phantom of the Opera.”

Subsequently, if you’re on a summer break to London, then you are gonna have the best time of your life! Do not fail to remember to keep in mind the West End in your list of visiting places. The Capital is the hub of theatre plays. It includes over forty top-quality theatre productions screening at any one given time. and this is not all. You can also get hold of access to ticketing services that are experts in offering you with the finest seats in the theatre. They are here to make your theatrical break a truly excellent one.

As well ringing the ticketing services, you can acquire London theatre tickets from the Leicester Square Box Office (more traditionally known as LSBO) which is situated in Leicester Square, & from the ticket managers. The theatre box offices are by and large open from ten o’clock in the morning. They close thirty minutes after the start of the evening performance. If you go for the ticket booth at Leicester Square, you can get money off on musicals for the present day’s performance. The stand is open from 10 o’clock in the morning to 7 in the evening during weekdays & weekend. On Sundays, it is usually open from twelve o’clock to 3pm in the afternoon. This is the only sanctioned stall in London. It is controlled by the Society of London Theatre. Although you probably will not get tickets for every show, you can certainly get theatre tickets for the modern hits. You can even log on to the helpful website for valuable info. Enjoy a day out in London with a top West End show. Get cheap tickets here: http://www.lsbo.co.uk

One of the many unavoidable facets of the writing life is the waiting. Writers wait until their prose is polished to perfection. We wait for feedback from writers’ groups and trusted readers. We wait for weeks, months or years for responses to our queries. Even when the ultimate goal of publication is achieved, we wait for galley proofs, cover art, reviews, bookstore releases, and signing tours. And sometimes–oh, the horror–we wait for the next idea to seize our writing muscles and spur us into action.

If your writing career is beginning to seem like an endless stretch in a crowded doctor’s office-only to find out the doctor is on vacation and won’t be back for a week-you are not alone. Other than listening to the Musak of your internal communication system while you’re on hold (which often sounds like this: why did I query that agent–she doesn’t even read thrillers! What if a wild dog ate my manuscript? What should I change my name to when the New York Times rips my debut novel to shreds?), what can we do to hold on to our sanity and stick it out until our sorely tested patience pays off?

To avoid staking out your mailbox, checking your e-mail every fifteen minutes, or haunting your Amazon listing hoping for a boost in your rank, try these tips to get off the waiting train:

1. Write something else. If you’ve just sent out half a dozen carefully targeted, well worded queries to your dream agents or editors, resist the temptation to sit in a lawn chair at the end of your driveway and ream out the mailman for delivering you grocery store flyers instead of used SASEs. Plant your butt right back in front of the computer and start something new. You may find yourself so caught up in your new project that you miss the mail for a day or two–and discover a pleasant surprise waiting for you when you return.

2. Do something non-writing related. Even writers need a break. Sure, we all know going into it that the word “vacation” would soon retreat from our vocabularies until the memory of it became an urban legend. But there is no rule stating you can’t take a few hours to do something you enjoy. Go for a long walk, read a great book, have lunch with a friend you haven’t seen in weeks (because you were immersed in the final stretches of revising your manuscript for the hundred and eighth time), or take up a new hobby. Know that your writing will still be there when you come back.

3. Do some research that will further your writing prowess. As a writer, you no doubt have a score of ideas that have been percolating on the back burner while you slaved over your work-in-progress. Now that you’ve begun the excruciatingly long process of delivering your baby to the world, choose one of those ideas and flesh it out. Dig up as much information pertaining to it as you can online, and then head over to the library to find out more. If you don’t have anything specific in mind, you can simply start reading up on something that interests you. You’ll probably find the kernel of an idea in your research that will spark a whole new project, and soon you’ll be stabbing blissfully away at your keyboard with thoughts of important e-mails clogged in spam filters and evil, query-eating postal employees behind you.

4. Learn a new language. You are in the business of words, after all, so what better way to bulk up your business than to expand your cache of raw materials? You don’t have to write your next novel in Swahili, but your life–and your writing–will be enriched with your understanding of a whole new culture.

5. Vent your frustrations. Write a nice, long letter to a fictitious editor at an imaginary publishing house (or a real one if you prefer–just make sure you don’t actually send it out!) and tell them how all this waiting makes you feel. Reveal your insecurities, question their methods, or accuse them of using the pages of your manuscript to line their hamster cages. This can also help to deal with the pain of rejection. Confidently assure this fictitious person that you are an excellent writer, and won’t they be sorry when Berkley offers you a million-dollar advance and a three-book deal while they’re sitting on your manuscript for months on end.

Writers wait. It’s a fact of life. You can drive yourself crazy mentally listing the what-ifs and the should-haves during your on-hold times, or you can get out there and improve yourself and your craft. Instead of viewing the wait as a specialized form of torture created to punish you for making the stupid decision to try and be a writer in the first place, take action. Learn to see these interminable, unavoidable waits as opportunities to grow.

Most important, keep this in mind: somewhere out there, an editor or agent is waiting for you and your writing. Don’t disappoint them!

Get more writing resources and free stuff when you sign up for S. W. Vaughn’s free bi-weekly newsletter LIT: A Slightly Addictive Newsletter for Writers and Readers, with writing tips, writing markets, book reviews, contests and giveaways, and more. To sign up for LIT, e-mail author@swvaughn.com with the subject: Get LIT!, or visit the LIT Home Page. Also, check out S. W. Vaughn’s main website at swvaughn.com for free fiction, contests, and even more resources for writers.

*Webmasters: This article may be freely distributed and reprinted in its entirety, provided the byline and resource block remains intact.

In this article we’re going to discuss a form of packaging that was once thought to be unsafe for microwaves. We’re talking about alufoil.

One of the biggest problems with microwave ovens is that there are only certain things that you can put in them. Not included in those things are metal and aluminium foil. So packaged products that contain either of these substances can’t be used in microwave ovens. Also, if you wrap up your leftovers in aluminium foil you can forget about just popping them into a microwave until you’ve taken the food out of the foil and put it in something that was microwave safe. At least until now.

Recent tests show conclusively that the myth of alufoil not being microwave safe is just that, a myth. Conclusive evidence that aluminium foil packaging can be used safely in microwave ovens was established by a study from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising, Germany.

The results of this study show that consumer fears of putting an aluminium foil packaged product in the microwave are totally without any basis in fact. As a matter of fact, evidence shows that alufoil packs are more rigid which makes it more useful for duel use heating in both conventional ovens and in microwaves. Also, the use of alufoil enhances the appearance of the food in the microwave when heating it up. For example, when heating something like lasagne in a microwave using alufoil, a brown crust actually appeared on the surface of the lasagne, something that isn’t supposed to happen in microwave ovens unless they have a duel microwave and convection setting.

The test itself was conducted on behalf of the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) with support by the United States Aluminium Foil Container Manufacturers Association (AFCMA) and concluded that, and I quote their finding, “Microwave heating of food packaged in aluminium foil trays or in plastic containers with aluminium foil or aluminium laminated lids is perfectly viable.”

In the test, no hazardous results or damage to microwave ovens were found in more than 200 portions of various foods that were heated in aluminium foil containers or packs that contained aluminium foil. The author of the study, Thomas Pfeiffer, said “The Fraunhofer Institute conducted the heating procedures with the microwave ovens set at maximum power and there was not a single case of damage to the microwave ovens or danger to the users.”

The study did find that when heating foods in aluminium foil packages or packs with aluminium file, the heating times of the various foods did differ slightly. In most cases the heating times were longer than when heating using what are considered microwaveable safe materials.

However, the study also showed that heating uniformity appeared to be better for the foods heated in aluminium foil packaging, meaning that the food had fewer “cold” spots than when using other materials.

While this study is encouraging, it is also very new. It is not suggested that you test your microwave with aluminium foil just yet until an official statement from microwave manufacturers is released.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Packaging
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Mesothelioma is a rare cancer of the tissues that line people’s inner organs. Nearly 2,000 new instances are diagnosed each year in the whole United States. Of this group, almost75 percent of cases affect the sac that protects the lungs, named the pleura. Also known as pleural mesothelioma. In almost ten to 20 percent of instances, mesothelioma cancer might affect the tissue that envelopes abdominal organs, called the peritoneal membrane, creating what is then acknowledged as peritoneal mesothelioma.

Being exposed to asbestos is positively the primary cause for this uncommon sickness. After asbestos exposure, the time to development of the mesothelioma disease could be 2 to 4 decades. As a result of work introduction, cancer of the mesothelium is almost 3 times more common in men, than in women. Because the number of occurrences moves upward with age, there are around ten times more cases in the men more than age 64 than in the men in their thirties.

Getting Mesothelioma is a serious disease, which, at the moment, has a very bad rate of overall continuance. Nonetheless, if it is pinpointed quickly, care are then obtainable that might significantly stretch the patient’s life. New therapies continue to be and are being tested by the way of clinical trials.

Sports footwear is possibly the most vital piece of equipment you’ll get hold of so it is crucial that you elect to choose the proper pair.

A great number of people do not realise that there are several differences in the way in which sports trainers support your feet. It is not good for your feet if you participate in football or tennis in the identical trainers that you use for jogging.

“It has been reported, that sixty five percent of the UK’s recreational men sportsmen and women sportsmen put on the wrong shoes for their elected sports activity,” he says. “Shoes are the most vital piece of sportswear gear you’ll ever obtain & altering what you wear on your feet can stop damage.”

Football can put a lot of tension on the feet, particularly when playing on firm surfaces such as AstroTurf. The football boots can also put stress on your feet, and it’s not unusual for a footballer to suffer from corns, calluses or damaged, thickened & ingrown toenails. A terrific, well-fitted pair of boots is important and there shouldn’t be any signs of pressure on the foot after a football game or training session.

Racquet sports: It is imperative when taking part racket sports, such as table tennis or badminton, to elect to choose trainers particularly designed for the purpose. These sports involve a significant amount of side-to-side movement & jogging trainers won’t provide the required stability. Racquet sport shoes are heavier and more harder than jogging trainers, since their toes are designed for stop-&-go action. Comfort is recommended to be your central priority & it is important to change your sports footwear frequently. Find superb deals on treadmills online today.

Hill-walking is a fabulous way to begin a mild fitness schedule, while the more adventurous go for hiking. It’s terrific for your cardiovascular health but is lower impact and so comes with reduced risk of injury.