How To Write A Press Release That Makes News
Writing a press release (or news release) AND getting it published is not difficult.Remember, though, good press releases -- i.e. press releases that get published and make news -- can provide invaluable marketing for your business or website. So it is worth understanding the mechanics of writing a press release that makes news.Namely:1) Have a story to tell 2) Think like a journalist 3) Format the press release properly 4) Keep your press release short! 5) Promote your press release onlineLet's look at these press release guidelines a bit closer.1) Have A Story To TellYou must have a story to tell, a hook, or an interesting angle. Whilst demand for news is great, the news must still be interesting.So, find your story and develop it; position your press release, somehow, to be different. And try and incorporate the following:- holiday and event tie-in articles - internet innovations and developments or unique products - unusual events or unique personal accomplishments - humour and wisdom, or fun and tragedyAlways remember the human interest angle.2) Think Like a JournalistA 'story to tell' must be told with the person looking to tell that story in mind; i.e. you must think like a journalist.So what reasons would an editor want to publish your news? What benefits would their readers get? Is it relevant and timely?Write a compelling headline. If you don't then the journalist (or editor) will simply not read any further. Use words like YOU, NEW or HOW TO to achieve this.Always write your press release for scanability and in a way that means it can be published (in a magazine, for example) with as few edits as possible.Write short, punchy paragraphs and remember to answer these questions: "Who? Why? What? Where? When? & How?"3) Format The Press Release ProperlyHere is an example press release layout. Use the following as a guide.[START] - (a)For immediate release<

The Facilities Audit
“It’s too hot!” “It’s too cold!” “It smells!” “I can’t do my work!” “We need more space!”...the list goes on and on...and your company’s bottom line suffers because the place where you work is not supporting the purpose of your business.Let’s start with an example. You’re planning a cross country trip from Norfolk, Virginia to San Diego. The only problem is, you don’t know where you are, so you can’t plan how to get there. Fuel costs and other -- expenses are too high to just start out on a road trip. Oops.The same problem exists for your business. You want it to grow and become more profitable, and cut operating costs where it makes sense. But to do this, you need to know what you have that works, what you have that doesn’t perform to design specification, and where it makes the most sense to make changes. Maybe you want to add new product lines, equipment, or personnel. Where are you going to put them? What kinds of support do they need? Perhaps you’re not even sure if your buildings support the core purpose of your business. How can you find out? Can you fix the problem for a reasonable cost and in a way that improves your bottom line? Are there other uses for your building? What do you look at? What are the questions you need to ask? Who do you ask? How do you start?A facilities audit is a planned method of collecting accurate information about current functional performance and maintenance conditions of your buildings, and providing this information in a format that helps you make these important decisions, develop a budget, and plan an effective course of action.A well designed audit will:-- Provide a detailed inspection of facilities and identify deficiencies. -- Develop and refine maintenance requirements. -- Determine if equipment is operating to designed parameters. -- Identify safety, security, and handicapped access issues. -- Determine if the facility is both functional and serviceable for the company’s purposes. -- Use life cycle and other facility financial analysis tools to determine the best course of action to corre

Step by Step Guide to Internet Success Part 1--Introduction
In this article series, I am going to show you step by step one incredibly successful method of creating an ongoing online income. There are many ways to make a profit online. You can open a retail store, become involved in a network marketing company, become a broker of some kind, use the internet to boost your offline income, trade stocks, sell products, become a catalog wholesaler, become an affiliate marketer, or perform any number of services that will benefit the online market, such as web design, lead generation, traffic specialist, software engineer, or teach people how to do any of those things for themselves.Some of those methods require considerable upfront income, some do not. Some are available in a franchise format, where you pay upfront and possibly long term, but you have the stability of a proven system. Just about all of the methods outlined above would require education; perhaps not a formal education, but each of the tasks would require a basic set of skills just to do them perfunctorily, let alone to do them with enough skill to be paid a fulltime income while working from home.You see, working from home in your underwear and making a fulltime income is a privilege, not a right. It is a privilege to write this from home, at my desk, on my schedule, not anyone else’s. But with every privilege, there is responsibility. I have the responsibility to provide my readers with the very highest quality information. Why? Because I am paid when you are learning. I am paid when you are successful, unlike the chap that collects 20 bucks an hour, 9-5, whether he is productive or not.If you are still working fulltime and dipping into internet marketing part time or spare time, ask yourself this before you make the plunge: Are you willing to be paid what you are really worth? You see, online you get paid what the market will really bear, what you are really worth. At your current job, you may or may not be paid what you are worth. Some days you are probably overpaid. Others, you are sure you are underpaid. Online you are always paid for exactly what yo

Your Day Job Sucks?
Midweek is not supposed to be the depressing workday that Mondays are made out to be. But is it only males that don't want to wake up? I have often noticed that females are at their finest when on their way to work. Some people are just grumpy. Grumpy when they go to work, and grumpy when they get retired? I am sure that there are times when men dance and sing to the new day.I guess I just don't look out for them. Is this when they have cracked it to make an internet money making machine?A common theme in internet money making landing page advertising is that you can learn how to tell the boss to shove it.Is that how my staff think of me?At a seminar for dealing with difficult people,the speaker got us laughing uncontrollably, when she asked if anyone kept a picture of their boss in their wallet! The punchline was totally enlightening though.Maybe this is the dawn of an information age, but the flipside is action. What if, in honing up on online skills,but a person keeps their job.They can help the business into the cyber age.If you work in a panelbeater's garage, and times are tough, parking is an issue,health and safety penalties can become scary.Why don't you feel for the issues your boss faces? Maybe your boss can even subsidise the cost of your e-books, or hosting,or domain name purchase.Then you could make an e-book called "How to make sure you get the best service from your panelbeater!Tips,secrets,and warnings from someone with 40 years experience in the Trade!" Maybe too long a title?But within your own boring workplace may exist the subject matter for that niche market e-book that everyone looks for.What about "How I learned to enjoy working for my Boss!" Obviously there are a lot of people who need this one. The answers may be hard to come by though. Maybe your boss could write that one for you.

Only Pick A Fight You Can Win - The First Rule Of Successful Web Marketing
We're at least a decade into the Internet as a commercial medium. The top sites have been there for a long time, so if you're launching a site now, you have a lot of catching up to do.Aren't a great site and brilliant products enough? In a word, no. Consider the nature of the battlefield. Google is king of the Web - more than 70% of searches worldwide are on Google. And, in the B2B sphere, probably more.Google actually prefers older, established sites - it even largely ignores new sites by 'sandboxing' them for 9 to 12 months. The big hitters have been there for 10 years or more, and they have thousands of mature links, many of them inevitably of good quality. They're the kind of sites that will be entrenched in the top positions on popular searches.Now do you want to take them on? Do you have the budget, stamina and time? Or will you find a better way?Only pick a fight you can winTo pick a fight you can win, you're going to have to operate smart. You're unlikely to want to take on Tesco (Wal-Mart, if you're reading in the US) by setting up a small general store next door, so why would you want to take on the Tescos of the online world in a similar kind of contest?One of the areas we find people trying to pick the wrong fights is in financial services. From time to time we get an enquiry from someone who wants to rank on the first page of Google for 'home insurance', 'car insurance', 'pensions' and 'mortgages'.There's next to no chance (within reasonable budget and patience boundaries) of getting them there because every bank and financial institution has been pouring loads of investment into marketing their sites online.Many have been on the Web for years, and just as many of them have thousands and thousands of links. And, for regulated financial products, the poor financial services business will have government sites to contend with as well - Google loves government sites because they're the ultimate reference for so many matters.Where's your niche? You need to look at what makes you different

10 Secrets to Free Publicity
Public relations is popular because it is very cost-effective and it works. If you send out one press release, for example, and it gets into print, it could generate more interest in your product or service.Businesses that want a leg up on their competition need to focus on boosting their public relations (PR) efforts. This keeps them from going under when the economy is weak, and gets them ahead of their competitors when sales start picking up. Now is the perfect time to get a fresh start on your publicity strategies.Here are ten tips to help you use free publicity to kick-start a business into high gear:1.Articles: Articles don't have to be long; they just need to be informative. Writing articles gives you instant credibility, too. Submitting online, as well as offline, provides another good chance to get your name in print at no cost. Be sure to put your contact information in a contact resource box at the end of the article.2. Press releases: Reporters everywhere are looking for stories, and a press release gives them the information to write that story. Just make sure it’s newsworthy, not just an advertisement.3. Newsletters: Writing a newsletter is another way to keep your name top-of-mind. This can be online or offline. Both contain content valuable to your target market and many times advertise your products and services. The cost of this is nothing, yet the return potential is infinite.4. Business cards: Think of your business card as a small billboard and start handing them out everywhere. Include them in all your correspondence – even in your bills!5. Public speaking: Speaking in front of an audience usually makes you an expert. People like to buy from experts. If they're in your audience, then they'll remember your expertise and come to you when they need your product or service. Speaking is free, and it's just like making a sales call to many people at one time.6. Free reports: Offering a free report online is a good way to get an e-mail from prospects so you may market to them later. This is the whole basis of permission-bas