Jig Jag Blog – Random Pieces of Text

South India has a multitude of beautiful things to buy. The region produces fabulous textiles including the famous Kanchipuram silk. It’s also known for woodcarving, especially sandalwood, and various forms of metalwork. Fort Cochin in Kerala has one of India’s foremost antique bazaars. Orissa has a wide selection of handicrafts. Some of the best devotional kitsch in the world is available from temple bazaars.

Every town has a bazaar, and big cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai have many bazaars that seem to merge into each other. Bazaars are like a world apart, with specialist areas set aside for particular goods (shoes, saris, jewellery etc).

For the traveller, bazaars are more about looking than shopping. Here you’ll see acres of unbelievable plastic kitsch alongside fine silks and cottons as well as mountains of cooking implements. In many towns Tibetans have set up their temporary bazaars of woollen clothing. These are especially popular around the hill stations. In all the tourist centres, Kashmiri vendors sell nearly identical wares of carpets, sandalwood elephants and lurid batik and tie-dyed cloth. Much of it is mass-produced and tacky, but if you persist they often have better stuff stored away. Pilgrimage towns have shops selling religious artifacts to Indian tourists, including beads, statues, ash paste and amazingly bright posters. The food stalls present an olfactory as well as a visual delight.

Official emporiums can be found in major cities and usually stock a large range of local crafts. Prices are fixed and are a little higher than you would pay in the bazaar, but for novices who don’t know the going rates for crafts or who are inexperienced in judging quality, the emporiums are a reasonably safe bet.

Be careful when buying items that include delivery to Australia. You may be told that the price includes home delivery and all customs and handling charges. Sometimes this is not the case, and you may find yourself having to collect the item yourself from your main port or airport, pay customs charges (which could be as much as 20% of the item’s value) as well as handling charges levied by the airline or shipping company (up to 10% of the value). If you can’t collect the item promptly, or get someone to do it on your behalf, exorbitant storage charges may also apply.

Metalwork
Bidriware is a craft named after the town of Bidri in northern Karnataka where silver is inlaid into gunmetal. Hookah pipes, lamp bases and jewellery boxes are made in this manner. Bidri employs the technique of sand-casting. Skilled artisans make a mould from sand, resin and oil and then pour in the molten metal.

Small bronze figures of various Indian Gods are available in Tamil Nadu, especially in and around major temple towns. The bronze makers still employ the centuries’ old lost-wax method of casting, a legacy of the Chola period when bronze sculpture reached its peak in skill and artistry.

A wax figure is made, a mould is formed around it and the wax is melted and poured out. The molten metal is poured in and when it’s solidified the mould is broken open. Figures of Shiva as Lord of the Dance, Nataraja, are among the most popular. Small copper bowls, cigarette boxes and paan containers are still handmade in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Bell metal lamps are a good buy in Thrissur (Kerala).

Jewellery
South India’s most important jewellery-making centres are Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty and Thanjavur. Hyderabad is a major centre for cultured pearls. Cuttack in Orissa is a centre for delicate silver filigree jewellery andornaments. Tirunelveli in southern Tamil Nadu is a centre for many types of jewellery, particularly large chunky pieces. South Indian jewellery is generally distinguished from that made in the north by its use of motifs inspired by nature -lotus buds, flowers, grass stalks and in Kerala. birds.

Woodwork
Mysore (Karnataka) is South India’s main centre of sandalwood carving, and while sandalwood was once reserved for carving deities, these days all manner of things are made, from solid pieces of furniture to keyrings and ornate fans. Rosewood is used for making furniture and carving animals. Carved elephants are a speciality of Kerala.

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Thirty million years ago, before Britain was an island, the Thames river was a small branch of the Rhine. By A.D. 50 it had changed course and it gave Britain its capital after the invading Roman armies established Londinium as a port at the highest point of the tide. (it now reaches farther inland due to rising sea levels and the fact that Britain is sinking into the sea at a rate of 15 centimeters every 100 years.)

The Romans consolidated the river as an international port (trade with the Continent had started in the Bronze Age), constructing mills, wharves, and bridges. The iconic London Bridge was the first water crossing, lined with houses and shops; it has been replaced several times, most recently in the 1960s when the previous one was taken apart and shipped to the USA. There are now 14 bridges in central London, the most recent being the Golden Jubilee footbridges built in 2002.

About 100km (60 miles) from the sea, the Thames becomes tidal, flowing “the wrong way” toward its source twice a day as the sea pushes up the estuary. As the tide falls, the riverbed is disclosed, and in the mud and slush you can discover fascinating clues to London’s past, including clay tobacco pipes and pottery fragments.

The Thames was most splendid under the Tudors and Stuarts, when the river-loving Kings and Queens lived in lovely waterside residences at Hampton Court, Kew, Richmond, Whitehall, and Greenwich, using the waters as a “royal highway.” Fittingly, the Thames saw many monarchs’ final journeys in the form of stately funeral ceremonies, including that of Elizabeth I in 1605, and that of Henry VIII in 1547. Its said that during the overnight stop at Syon House his coffin came apart and dogs licked at his body.

Today you can travel the same waters on passenger ferries or tourist vessels from Westminster upriver to Hampton Court via Richmond and Kew, or downriver to the glittering stainless-steel Thames Barrier via Greenwich. Alternatively, you can walk all or part of the Thames Path from the river’s source at Thames Head down to the Thames Barrier, or meander along the South Bank with its riverside attractions, restaurants, pubs, and shopping malls. (Note that a walk along the Embankment on the other side can be frustrating for little kids because of its high walls.)

When you’re on the Thames, try to picture in your mind’s eye the Lord Mayor’s processions that took place from the 15th century to the middle of the 19th, in barges covered with gold leaf, some rowed with silver oars. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Frost Fairs were held on the river during winter freezes, complete with fairground amusements and stalls, performing clowns, and ox roasts.

Today, The Mayor’s Thames Festival is a fantastic family-oriented celebration of the Thames, including the transformation of part of the shore on the South Bank into a temporary urban beach. The river also hosts a variety of annual regattas, including the famous Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.

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Australians on holidays love a big breakfast to get them ready for the day’s adventures. Many Australians also adore Indian food. In South India breakfast foods also appear at other times during the day as snacks. Everywhere in the south you will come across idlis (spongy, round, fermented rice cakes), which are accompanied by chutney (chatni, often coconut) or sambar and frequently both. Usually, idlis are served in portions of two to three at a time.

Also popular, and often eaten with idlis, are vadai, which are deep-fried dhal and vegetable cakes (sometimes called ulundu vadai in South India). These come with a sambar and fruit chutney. Less common is uppuma, which is a savory dish made from semolina, pounded rice, vegetables and spices. Puttu is a sweet breakfast dish made of pounded rice and coconut.

Equally popular throughout southern India, eaten as lunch or breakfast, are the wafer-like pancakes called dosa. Dosas come in a number of different forms: masala dosa (a lentil-flour pancake stuffed with a potato masala); uttapam (a thicker dosa topped with chopped spiced vegetables); and paper, or semolina, dosa (lacy, thinner than other dosa and with no filling). Dosas usually come with coconut chutney and a sambar, and are generally about the size of a dinner plate, but sometimes they are larger. Think of them as southern India’s answer to pizza ! Udipi in Karnataka is considered the home of the masala dosa.

In Kerala especially you will come across appams, which are pancakes made from fermented rice flour and coconut. The final product is crispy at the outsides and rather like a pancake in the middle. Appams are often accompanied by a hard-boiled egg in a curry sauce and this is a snack you’ll find in chai shops everywhere. Idiyappams come in vermicelli strands which are often served with milk and sugar as a dessert.

Other snacks that you’ll find in chai shops everywhere are samosas (triangular pastries stuffed with curried vegetables), namkin (spiced nibbles), bhaji (bite-sized pieces of vegetable dipped in chickpea flour), bonda (spiced potato or vegetable balls dipped in batter and deep fried), pakora (deep-fried vegetable cakes), sundal (spiced whole chickpeas), purr (deep-fried rounds of bread usually served with spiced potatoes) and paratha (flaky, pan-fried bread usually served with spiced vegetables including onion),

For the Meat-Eater

Although South Indians are predominantly vegetarian due to the expense of meat, carnivorous meals are widely available, eaten mainly by the Muslim and Christian communities. Goat (known as ‘mutton’ since the days of the Raj even though it isn’t sheep), lamb and chicken are the mainstays (religious taboos forbid Hindus from eating beef and Muslims from eating pork).

You’ll find biryanis (rice-based dishes made with meat, dried fruits, nuts and with added spices), kebabs, chicken tikka (succulent pieces of marinated chicken on a skewer) and the ubiquitous tandoori chicken (marinated with a blend of spices called tandoori masala and cooked in a special clay tandoor oven). In Mumbai, you can sample the Parsi’s signature dish, dhansak (a one-pot wonder consisting of meat and vegetables in a spicy puree of several dhals).

Goa, with its Portuguese and Christian influences, is famous for the eye-watering vindaloo, a pork curry made in a marinade of vinegar and garlic. Be warned it is hot. And remember there is a difference between Indian hot and Australian hot!

Other pork specialities include chourisso (Goan sausage) and a pig’s liver dish known as sorpotel. Xacuti, a spicy chicken or meat dish, is another Goan speciality. Chicken sukka is made with grated coconut and coconut milk.

You will never run out of interesting foods to try in India. It’s imaginative, affordable and very, very tasty.

If you’re looking for inexpensive international flights visit studentflights.com.au. Student Flights have outstanding round the world flights packages that means value-for-money travel for young people and the young at heart. STSF3010083

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An integral part of hospital hygiene is the health-care waste management. Inadequate management of the waste could result in the transmission of microorganisms by direct contact or by a variety of other vectors. Hospital hygiene in fact, is a broader connotation, which encompasses broader environmental health considerations such as sanitation and adequate water supply for not only patients, but also for visitors, and health-care staffers. It also depends a lot on the quality of autoclave equipments and the autoclave sterilisers.

Hospital hygiene should ideally start from doctors and nurses at the coal face level. Certified infection control practitioners should be contracted in for teaching the hospital workers on hospital hygiene measures and autoclave sterilisers. Communication campaigns can be taken in this regard and the constructive role of media can play an important role in maintaining hospital hygiene. Hospital contamination can come in from food, water distribution system, air-conditioning systems, pharmaceuticals and people, both workers and patients.

Hospital hygiene actually begins with hand hygiene. The hands of the health-care workers can be the source of nosocomial infections. So proper hand washing and hand disinfection have become preventive measures to minimize infections and ensure proper hospital hygiene. After cleaning terminal sanitization products provide additional protection to autoclave equipments or surfaces in an environment where the spread of bacteria is a possibility.

The choice of an autoclave steriliser for the maintenance of hospital hygiene should depend on factors like it should be gentle on people but hostile on microbes, and is biodegradable. The microorganisms notably bacteria and fungi degrade cloths and mops which cause stains on floors and tables.

Certain products from autoclave Australia available in the market incorporate a silver anti-microbial treatment, and have been proven successful in combating infections and maintaining hospital hygiene standards. The hospital environment houses a large number of medical equipment that are used either for tests or for curing purposes.

Some equipment like syringes, scalpels, and so on enter the blood stream or below the skin and if adequate caution is not exercised, they can be a primary source of infection. Proper autoclave sterilisers should be used for medical purposes for transforming non-sterile items into sterile ones.

The right choice of the autoclave steriliser is of prime importance when it comes to maintaining the hospital hygiene standards. The type of microorganisms and decide as to what kind of autoclave steriliser would be appropriate. The autoclave steriliser has rapid heating, is inexpensive, and is dependable and non toxic.

If you are looking for autoclave equipment or an autoclave steriliser, contact autoclave Australia. BSVV241108

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It is said that an attempted suicide by a woman thousands of years ago gave birth to wine. This article looks at the fascinating history of wine.

While the origin of wine is still unknown to the world, ancient Persian fable credits a woman as the discoverer of wine. According to the fable, the woman lost to the King and wished to end her life by eating spoiled table grapes stored in a jar. The suicide attempt did not go as she planned; instead she got intoxicated and eventually passed out. When she woke up, she felt as if all her troubles had vanished and this event encouraged her to continue taking the spoiled grapes. So going by this pleasant story, one can say that wine is not an invention of man but was rather found by luck.

The history of wine is as old as the civilization, the agriculture and the man himself. Archeologists suggest that wine was discovered accidentally during 6000 and 5000 BC. in the Fertile Crescent area, a region in between the Nile and the Persian Gulf. Archeological evidence has uncovered the earliest European wine production from crushed grapevines in Macedonia 6500 years ago.

From the time of discovery of wine to this present date, wine has played a very crucial role in many rituals and customs of the society. . In the ancient Egyptian period, wine became an integral part of ceremonial life, mainly funerary ceremonies. Only the wealthiest Egyptians like the Pharaohs were able to enjoy wine. Wine was also common in ancient Greece and Rome and in many other Western European countries.

The Egyptian Era

Though scientists have identified a wine jar from Hajji Firuz Tepe in the Northern Zagros Mountains of Iran, the widespread knowledge of wine cultivation is believed to have come from ancient Egypt. The wine- making process was represented on tomb walls dating back to 2600 BC. Maria Rosa, a master in Egyptology says that wine in ancient Egypt was of great importance and only the upper class people and kings had access to wine. Rosa further points out that the ancient Egyptians labeled the wine jars with product, year, source and the vine grower’s name, but there is no mention about the color of the wines. A recent discovery has shown that the wines in ancient Egypt were predominantly red.

The Greeks

Arrival of wine making process in ancient Greece is not well documented; many believe that wine- making tradition was introduced to Crete by the Phoenician traders. Strong evidences of wine production have also been collected from Minoan Mycenaean cultures.

Wine was a very important trading article in Greece commerce. The Greeks were able to set up their colonies throughout the Mediterranean and this in turn eased the export of Greek wines in the region. The Greeks learned how to prevent wines from spoilage by adding different herbs and spices. Wine in ancient Greece was stirred in a bowl before drinking.

Apart from trading, the Greeks used wine in the field of medical sciences. One of the well known medicine practitioner, Hippocrates, also known as the “Father of Medicine” studied wine extensively for its use in medical sciences, specially to cure fever, convalescence and as an antiseptic. It must be mentioned here that the Greeks were equally aware about the negative health effects produced by drinking wine.

The Roman Empire

The Romans developed the viticulture (cultivation and study of grape growing) and oenology (the science of wine and winemaking). In the Roman Empire, wine formed a vital part of their daily meals as water could not always be trusted to be safe and healthy. During this period, wine- making technology became more established with a significant impact on the Roman business. The Romans developed barrels to store and ship wine, while bottles were used for the first time in the history of the wine world. The Romans are also known to have dissolved pearls in wine for their better health.

With the expansion of Roman Empire, wine production expanded to all of its provinces. During the Dark Ages when Roman Empire fell and when Europe passed through social and political turmoil, wine production was kept alive by the efforts of monasteries. Churches are known to have developed some of the finest vineyards in Europe.

Wine in Ancient China

Although wine was not much of a favorite of the ancient Chinese people, its production and consumption was popular in three different periods, mainly the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty. In ancient China rice wine was not as much popular as the grape wine.

Wine in the Middle Ages and Modern Life

Wine became popular in the Middle Ages, it was considered as a social drink for all occasions. In the northern regions of the Europe where no grapes were grown, beer and ale were predominant and in the Eastern part Vodka was the preferred drink.

America, Chile, Argentine, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand that produce wide varieties of wines are considered as the New World Wine Producers. The products of these countries were not well known to the wine lovers until late in the 20th Century.

The industrial revolution in the 20th century has provided wine manufacturers with new technology and innovation that has made production much more efficient. Considerable R&D advances in viticulture and oenology have helped the present day manufacturers to produce more varieties of wines of much superior quality.

Southbank Institute of Technology (SBIT) conducts the government approved responsible service of alcohol Brisbane Queensland and an RSA course Brisbane. Visit today for details of online and classroom RSA courses.

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Sports situations in which athletes have an opportunity to display physical prowess (i.e., in training or competition) activate their task or ego involved goals. They might be either highly task involved or ego involved in that situation, or they might even switch between the two, because their perception of what they need to feel could change from moment to moment.

For example, imagine yourself as a young soccer player in a grudge match. You’ve felt great during the game because you’ve worked hard, made some great tackles and accurate passes, and your work on your concentration skills has paid off by allowing you to refocus quickly. You’ve spent most of the game in a highly task-involved state of mind and have received praise from your teammates.

The game is tied and goes to a penalty shoot-out. You are the last player of five selected, and the score is 2-2. As you make that long walk to the penalty spot, how does the situation and its potential consequences affect your view of success and skill? Will your feelings of competence depend entirely on scoring or missing? And, if you do become ego involved, how might it affect your chances of getting that winning goal?

All athletes have an innate preference for task or ego involved goals in sport. These predispositions, referred to as task and ego goal orientations, are believed to develop throughout childhood largely due to the types of people the athletes come in contact with and the situations they are placed in.

If children consistently receive parental praise that’s contingent on their degree of input and recognition for personal improvement from their coaches, and are encouraged to learn from their errors, then they are likely to engender a task orientation. It becomes normal for them to believe that success is associated with mastery, effort, understanding, and personal responsibility.

The behavior of their role models in sport also affects this development. Such an environment is far different from one where children are shaped by rewards for winning (alone), praise for the best grades, criticism or non-selection despite making their best effort, or coaches whose style is to hand out unequal recognition. This kind of environment helps an ego orientation to flourish, along with the belief that ability and talent, not effort and personal endeavor, earn success.

Goal orientations are believed to be somewhat stable and enduring characteristics that are largely formed by mid to late adolescence. Hence, coaches and parents should attempt to shape a child’s development as early as possible during the 6- to 14-year-old phase.

In this developmental period, children’s cognitive abilities start working overtime as they begin to understand that effort isn’t the sole reason for success at a task. At about 11 or 12 years of age, they begin to realise that regardless of effort, some kids simply have more ability than others. That’s when the fantasy of being the next super-star comes under obvious pressure for some children.

The strength of a goal orientation influences whether a player will adopt a task or ego involved goal in a specific sport situation. It is also perfectly feasible for evolving athletes to develop both high task and ego orientations if they have been exposed to an assortment of task and ego oriented situations and people. However, never underestimate the power of a particular situation.

The evolving athlete might be quite high in task orientation, but in a competition with a high degree of public evaluation, judgment, criticism, or comparison based on who’s best, with rewards and benefits for winners and negative consequences for losers, he or she may become ego involved. Competitions accompanied by high perceived expectations and consequences arguably form the natural spine of professional sport.

Factors such as the stage of the event (e.g., final or qualifying match), whether selection is at stake, previous head-to-heads, financial rewards, age of the opponent (e.g., playing a talented younger player), representing the team or country for the first time, and the support of the audience can make a match a natural ego-involving laboratory.

Nevertheless, not all sport is like that; in fact, some sport situations offset the natural importance of superiority by emphasising participation and publicly reinforcing or rewarding personal effort, improvement, and problem solving rather than focusing on comparisons.

An example is a swimming club that encourages all standards of swimmer, with a coach who gives recognition solely based on individual improvements in time or technique. These situations increase the importance and number of task-involving cues. The key message here is that the availability of task-involving cues in sports that are naturally ego involving allows the athlete to develop a more task-involved approach to competition.

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Windows has dominated the personal computer operating system market for the last 14 years. And with every new version of Windows Microsoft releases, it seems there’s a higher price tag to go with it —just look at the retail prices for Windows Vista and you’ll see what I mean. New versions of Windows often means an expensive hardware upgrade just to run the operating system, especially a memory upgrade.

But if you thought your options ended with back-grading to XP, think again. There’s another operating system that’s growing in popularity around the world and it’s not Apple’s Mac OS X.

It’s called Linux and while it has had the reputation in the past of being the geek’s alternative, Linux is quickly becoming a viable alternative to Windows for everyday users.

It is already appearing in PCs and notebooks from Dell as well as the little Eee PC from ASUS, but best of all, Linux is absolutely free. Yes my friends, it’s fast, reliable and free.

There’s an investment in time required, but the actual operating system is free and there’s heaps of free support available via the Internet with Linux support forums offering world-class support and information springing up like weeds.

Welcome to Xubuntu Linux

There are dozens of different versions of Linux available and that’s because Linux is a bit like a Lego set set — you can pick and choose the bits you want and leave out those you don’t.

But if you’ve never tried Linux before, there are one or two versions, or distributions (that’s short for distribution), that are perfect for beginners — they mimic things that Windows does and in many cases, can actually do them better.

The one we’re going to look at is called Xubuntu. It’s a spin-off of Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distribution to date, but I think Xubuntu is ideal for beginners, because it’s almost the ‘Windows 98′ of the Linux world — it has a neat, user-friendly interface, but can happily run on older computers. So, if you have an older computer lying around, now’s the time to flash it up and give it a coat of paint.

Try before you install

Unlike Windows, many of the Linux distributions, including Xubuntu, allow you to use them on an almost try before you install basis, meaning you can actually use the operating system direct from the installation CD without having to install anything on your computer’s hard drive.

This special type of installation CD is known as a live CD, because the operating system is ready to go live on the CD — all you need to do is setup your PC to boot from the CD drive, load in the live CD, boot up and Xubuntu will start up.

It can take 2-3 minutes to finish booting. Not much longer than Windows Vista !

Your Windows hard drive remains intact. All you have to do to get back into Windows is to remove the CD, reboot and Windows will load as usual.

Some people always carry a Linux live CD with them so that if their Windows system breaks, they can at least boot into Linux and recover important files. In many cases they will be able to continue editing these files using applications like Open Office which comes bundled free with many Linux Live CD distributions.

However, Xubuntu is ideal if you have an old computer lying around and you’d like to learn and play around with Linux. It just needs a PC with a lO Gig hard drive and 256M of memory. If it has a 400MHz or faster processor, you’re good to go.

Download your new operating system

The first thing you need to do is download the operating system, which you can do directly from the Xubuntu Web site. Just go to Google and do a search on Xubuntu 8.04 download. Alternatively search on Xubuntu Live CD.

This software is a completely free operating system that you download as what’s called an ISO image, which just means the data of a CD stored as a single file. It’s about 590M of download, but that’s smaller than most similar versions. Your best bet is to set this up to download overnight if you’re on dialup or low-speed broadband.

Once you have your ISO you will need to burn it to a bootable CD. Programs like Nero or Burn4free can help you there.

Setting up your PC

The last thing you need to do before giving Linux a go is to make sure your PC or notebook is ready to boot up from your CD-ROM drive. For the vast majority of PCs this will be the default setting, so the best bet is to try and boot the Xubuntu disk.

If the disk doesn’t boot automatically when you restart, you’ll need to check either the notebook or desktop motherboard manual to locate how to make the CD drive the first priority boot device. This involves getting into the CMOS or BIOS setup of the computer. If you’re not sure about doing this, rope in a knowledgeable mate who can help you. At worst, your local computer shop should be able to set it up for you in about three minutes.

Linux is one of the best value downloads on the Internet. It can make an old PC useful again, help recover a Windows PC and comes with a bunch of powerful applications. You will find that for most Windows applications, there is a free Linux equivalent.

About the Author:
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A good marketing advertisement pays attention to both copy and design. But always, always, write the copy first. The design must reemphasize the strongest points in the copy, and never be created independently of it.

Otherwise, your stuff might look great but have too little substance, or have a visual message that conflicts with the text, or force your most important points into some hard-to-read corner.

Copywriters often have a sense of good design, and prepare a rough layout for the designer to work from (or, if the design is simple, actually create both elements together). But trying to fit text to suit artwork and design is a definite mistake.

The only exception is in a very small piece. In some instances, like a business card with a strong graphic, you may have a very clear idea of the look before you write the words. If the whole idea is to dominate the page with a graphic, such as your company logo, and fit in contact information around it, obviously the words come second.

But always ask yourself if this card is doing the strongest selling job it can. Maybe you need a sales sentence and should shrink the logo down somewhat unless your product, too, is graphically oriented. Make sure the artwork is appropriate to your message and if it is not, get rid of the concept.

Effective Copywriting and Wonderful copywriting:

1. Grabs the reader’s attention with something relevant;
2. Addresses the reader’s fears, anxieties, or aspirations;
3. Stresses benefits to the end user, not the features that lead to those benefits;
4. Offers to solve the reader’s problem, in the most specific terms possible;
5. Provides the reader with a chance to acquire something of clear value, but only for a limited time;
6. Draws the reader toward an immediate action step;
7. Shows the consequences of a failure to act;
8. Backs up claims with comparisons to the competition;
9. Includes solid, substantial proof of your claim by someone else (a customer, an expert); and
10. This should be obvious, make sure you provide the necessary order form, address, telephone number and e-mail to allow the reader to purchase.

You may not get all ten in every marketing creation, but aim to include as many as you can. These group together into several bunches.

Writing promotional material is both a science and an art. Doing your own press release or flier copy is pretty straightforward. But if you’re going to spend a chunk of money doing a brochure or newsletter, make sure the copy is outstanding.

Certainly you can try to do your own, following the principles outlined above. But before you print the final, try out the ad on people who will give you accurate and detailed feedback. Writers who sell are writers who revise, so be prepared to do several drafts. Then leave it for a few days and come back to it with a fresh mind.

Or call in outside help. Either outline the project to a writer and wait for a draft, or write the first draft yourself and then let an editor put the magic in it. Whether you or the outside consultant prepare the first draft, expect to play with it. Make sure each section uses strong sales language. Examine the different sections together, to see if they fit well and are in the right order.

Where do you find writers and editors? Get recommendations from other business owners whose marketing materials you respect. Look in the Yellow Pages under Editorial Services, Marketing Consultants, Public Relations, or Publicity. Or, of course, have a look on web sites like elance.com or getacoder.com

If you’re looking for a Brisbane web site designer, visit johnhacking.com For Brisbane Google Company, visit Search Tempo Pty Ltd. If you want SEO Training, then contact Search Tempo.

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A good marketing advertisement pays attention to both content and layout. But always, always, always, compose the copy first. The design must reemphasize the strongest points in the copy, and never be created independently of it.

Otherwise, your stuff might look great but have too little substance, or have a visual message that conflicts with the copy, or force your most important points into some hard-to-read corner.

Copywriters often have a sense of good design, and prepare a rough layout for the graphic artist to work from (or, if the design is simple, actually create both elements together). But trying to fit text to suit illustration and design is a definite mistake.

The only exception is in a very small piece. In some instances, like a business card with a strong graphic, you may have a very clear idea of the look before you write the words. If the whole idea is to dominate the page with a graphic, such as your company logo, and fit in contact information around it, obviously the words come second place.

But always ask yourself if this card is doing the strongest selling job it can. Maybe you need a sales sentence and should shrink the logo down a bit unless your product, too, is graphically oriented. Make sure the graphic is appropriate to your message and if it is not, throw out the concept.

Effective Copywriting and Wonderful copywriting:

1. Catches the reader’s attention with something relevant;
2. Addresses the reader’s fears, anxieties, or aspirations;
3. Stresses benefits to the user, not the features that lead to those benefits;
4. Offers to solve the reader’s problem, in the most specific terms possible;
5. Gives the reader with a chance to acquire something of clear value, but only for a limited time;
6. Pulls the reader toward an immediate next step;
7. Shows the consequences of a failure to act;
8. Backs up claims with comparisons to the competition;
9. Includes solid, substantial proof of your claim by someone else (a customer, an expert); and
10. This should be obvious, make sure you provide the necessary order form, address, telephone number and e-mail to allow the reader to take action.

You may not get all ten in every marketing document, but aim to include as many as you can. These group together into several bunches.

Writing promotional material is both a science and an art. Doing your own press release or flier copy is pretty straightforward. But if you’re going to spend a lot of money doing a brochure or newsletter, make sure the copy is worth the investment.

Certainly you can try to do your own, following the principles outlined above. But before you print the final, try out the advertisement on people who will give you accurate and detailed feedback. Writers who sell are writers who revise, so be prepared to do several drafts. Then leave it for a few days and come back to it with a fresh mind.

Or call in outside help. Either outline the project to a writer and wait for a draft, or write the first draft yourself and then let an editor put the magic in it. Whether you or the outside consultant prepare the first draft, expect to play with it. Make sure each section uses strong sales language. Examine the different sections together, to see if they fit well and are in the right order.

Where do you find writers and editors? Get recommendations from other business owners whose marketing materials you respect. Look in the Yellow Pages under Editorial Services, Marketing Consultants, Public Relations, or Publicity. Or, of course, have a look on web sites like elance.com or getacoder.com

If you’re looking for a Brisbane web site designer, visit johnhacking.com For Brisbane Google Company, visit Search Tempo Pty Ltd. If you want SEO Training Brisbane, then contact Search Tempo.

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I’m a great advocate of article marketing. It’s a great way of building quality traffic, links and credibility. The trouble is there’s tens of thousands of article directries out there. Which ones to use?

Well after 18 months of experimentation I have found the following article directories bring the most traffic and give my sites the best visibility in Google. Enjoy.

If you have any favourites that aren’t listed here, please leave a comment with the url.

www.ezinearticles.com
www.articlesbase.com
www.articlesphere.com
www.goarticles.com
www.a1articles.com
www.articlesfactory.com
www.isnare.com
www.amazines.com
www.thefreelibrary.com
www.goinglegal.com
www.marketing-articles-directory.com
www.wotarticle.com
www.free-articles-zone.com
www.abcarticledirectory.com
www.amazines.com
www.blogola.com
www.article-buzz.com
www.content4reprint.com
www.buzzle.com
www.azarticles.com
www.website-articles.net
www.articlealley.com
www.ideamarketers.com
www.gertbruhn.com
www.articlesbase.com
www.exchange-articles.info
www.articlegarden.com
www.e-topic.com
www.articlesite.co.za
www.articlestreet.com
www.travelsuggestions.net
www.familyfriendsphotos.com
www.articlelistings.com
www.free-press-release.com
www.articlealley.com
www.pokersweden.se
www.articlepedia.net
www.mynewsdigest.com

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