The 4 Worst Things You Can Do As An Investor
Number one: don't stop reading. Too many investors see these common failures and simply brush past them, thinking "How could I possibly fall into the category of the average investor? I'm smarter than all of this; I can't be subject to these kinds of mistakes..."...WRONGMore investments go sour from these different 'mistakes' than any other obstacle you'll face in your investing career. So please, do yourself a favor and keep reading. And keep an open mind too.Number two is fear. There are two ends to the spectrum here so you have to find a middle ground. The most common is being a

How to Rate Your Favorite Uranium Company
Many investors invested in the Great Uranium Bull Market with little rationale behind their speculation. Through the robust rallies of the past two years, it was easy to play the momentum of a newsletter writer’s recommendation. Quite a few did so, often employing the ‘greater fool strategy’ and hoping the last and dumbest investor would provide an exit strategy for the early and nimble speculator.We have created a 7-point ratings system to help you in determining which companies might be best suited for your degree of investment risk. It’s a guideline you can use, and we’ve not assigned a weigh

Hunting Down Testimonials
If you're not a “guru” yet, you may have to work a bit harder to get your testimonials. But it’s still possible, and even more essential! Here are many ways you can get more testimonials than you can shake a stick at:1) Ask, ask, ask!If you don’t ask for testimonials, they probably won’t come! Some people feel like testimonials should always be unsolicited, but the reality is that 90% of testimonials tend to be solicited in some form or another. It won’t be a chore- people like having their opinions heard, so they will tell you what’s on their mind if you show them you’re listening.content short reports, targeted at a specific market which you would like to add to your subscriber base, and give it away free just for subscribing to your newsletter. With content, and the word "free", many people will flock to subscribe. Best of all this is a win-win situation: You pick up valuable subscribers to interact with on a weekly basis, and your subscribers receive valuable information from you.

So, how is it done you ask?

Report Ideas

Almost any idea you have can be made into a short report. However, not every idea is in demand.

Try this out.

Sit down with pen and paper in a quite location. Yes, you read correctly. I said pen and paper. It is easier from a work perspective to sit in front of your monitor, but past experience has taught me that the creative side of my brain works better with pen and paper. Of course it is up to what ever works for you.

Now, write down a short list of topics that you are semi-familiar with. I say "semi" because you can always perform a bit of research to learn more. These topics can be on anything: gardening, cooking, computer programming, specific hobbies, construction, research, medicine, etc.

After you have made your list, weed out the topics that are not associated with your business. For instance, if your business is computer programming, you probably don't want to focus on creating a short report on gardening. The reasoning here is to target your market. Gardening info is not targeted to the computer programming market.

Now pick one or two topics, open a word processor, or even your notebook, and start writing every little bit of information you know on the subject.

Putting It Together

I recommend structuring your report similar to a book report. Remember writing those in school? Why a book report? The focus here is short and informative. This isn't creative writing. You don't want to go off on some tangent about literary prose. Short, concise, and highly informative information to guide others is what works here.

Format And Packaging

Format is somewhat of a personal preference. But, keep computing platform in mind. There are numerous e-book compilers, many free, that can be used to create a small exe file of your report. The advantage here is that it can be created in web page format and then compiled with links that when clicked will actually open in the e-book window. One downside however is that as far as I have been able to tell they only compile in PC format. So, anyone with a Mac will not be able to view the file.

I have used Easy e-Book Creator for several short reports. It is simple and easy to use. I create the pages in HTML format using Microsoft Frontpage and then compile. If you want the full version without the Easy e-Book Creator logo and with added security features, you can purchase a license for about $20. The resulting e-book is in exe format. e-Book Compiler also has a free trial version. I however was not as happy with it.

PDF is essentially universal. Just about anyone these days can open a pdf. The problem is that pdf file creators are rather pricey. An alternative is the Microsoft Reader plug-in for Word. Microsoft is attempting to comp

e of my brain works better with pen and paper. Of course it is up to what ever works for you.

Now, write down a short list of topics that you are semi-familiar with. I say "semi" because you can always perform a bit of research to learn more. These topics can be on anything: gardening, cooking, computer programming, specific hobbies, construction, research, medicine, etc.

After you have made your list, weed out the topics that are not associated with your business. For instance, if your business is computer programming, you probably don't want to focus on creating a short report on gardening. The reasoning here is to target your market. Gardening info is not targeted to the computer programming market.

Now pick one or two topics, open a word processor, or even your notebook, and start writing every little bit of information you know on the subject.

Putting It Together

I recommend structuring your report similar to a book report. Remember writing those in school? Why a book report? The focus here is short and informative. This isn't creative writing. You don't want to go off on some tangent about literary prose. Short, concise, and highly informative information to guide others is what works here.

Format And Packaging

Format is somewhat of a personal preference. But, keep computing platform in mind. There are numerous e-book compilers, many free, that can be used to create a small exe file of your report. The advantage here is that it can be created in web page format and then compiled with links that when clicked will actually open in the e-book window. One downside however is that as far as I have been able to tell they only compile in PC format. So, anyone with a Mac will not be able to view the file.

I have used Easy e-Book Creator for several short reports. It is simple and easy to use. I create the pages in HTML format using Microsoft Frontpage and then compile. If you want the full version without the Easy e-Book Creator logo and with added security features, you can purchase a license for about $20. The resulting e-book is in exe format. e-Book Compiler also has a free trial version. I however was not as happy with it.

PDF is essentially universal. Just about anyone these days can open a pdf. The problem is that pdf file creators are rather pricey. An alternative is the Microsoft Reader plug-in for Word. Microsoft is attempting to comp

writing every little bit of information you know on the subject.

Putting It Together

I recommend structuring your report similar to a book report. Remember writing those in school? Why a book report? The focus here is short and informative. This isn't creative writing. You don't want to go off on some tangent about literary prose. Short, concise, and highly informative information to guide others is what works here.

Format And Packaging

Format is somewhat of a personal preference. But, keep computing platform in mind. There are numerous e-book compilers, many free, that can be used to create a small exe file of your report. The advantage here is that it can be created in web page format and then compiled with links that when clicked will actually open in the e-book window. One downside however is that as far as I have been able to tell they only compile in PC format. So, anyone with a Mac will not be able to view the file.

I have used Easy e-Book Creator for several short reports. It is simple and easy to use. I create the pages in HTML format using Microsoft Frontpage and then compile. If you want the full version without the Easy e-Book Creator logo and with added security features, you can purchase a license for about $20. The resulting e-book is in exe format. e-Book Compiler also has a free trial version. I however was not as happy with it.

PDF is essentially universal. Just about anyone these days can open a pdf. The problem is that pdf file creators are rather pricey. An alternative is the Microsoft Reader plug-in for Word. Microsoft is attempting to comp

downside however is that as far as I have been able to tell they only compile in PC format. So, anyone with a Mac will not be able to view the file.

I have used Easy e-Book Creator for several short reports. It is simple and easy to use. I create the pages in HTML format using Microsoft Frontpage and then compile. If you want the full version without the Easy e-Book Creator logo and with added security features, you can purchase a license for about $20. The resulting e-book is in exe format. e-Book Compiler also has a free trial version. I however was not as happy with it.

PDF is essentially universal. Just about anyone these days can open a pdf. The problem is that pdf file creators are rather pricey. An alternative is the Microsoft Reader plug-in for Word. Microsoft is attempting to compete with Adobe in creating a new standard. The software is free to download from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/reader/developers/downloads/rmr.asp.

Distribution

After all else is done, its time to get your report to market. Now, there is not a single definitive way to do this. I use e- zine advertising, classified ads, pay-per-click, and traffic exchanges to advertise short reports in the hopes of pulling interested readers to sign up for the e-Kinetic E-Zine. What is great about this method is that it truly is win-win. I gain new subscribers who I get to share interact with through the e-zine, and subscribers receive valuable information at zero cost.

Dan J. Fry ©2004, All rights reserved