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7 Essential Tips For Reviewing Copy

Nothing can turn strong copy into a 97-pound weakling faster than a flawed review process. The result is severely handicapped marketing efforts and, alas, fewer sales.

How can you avoid this dire marketing situation?

By having a smart and consistent review process that preserves the selling power of your marketing communications. Following are 7 essential tips for reviewing and approving copy.

1. Review the copy from the customers’ perspective.

On the first pass, read the copy (all of it) without your red pen in hand or editing hat on. That’s how your customers or audience will read it. Now, what do you think? Does the concept work? Did the headline grab your attention? How was the tone? Does the copy flow? If you begin by editing the first sentence or sweating the details, you will do your clients or customers a disservice.

2. Don’t get hung up on grammar and usage.

If you think the copywriter broke a writing rule, 9 times out of 10 there was an excellent reason. Copywriters are sales people in print, so if we take liberty with the English language, it’s for effect. Plus, be aware that copywriters (and proofreaders) review and correct the copy before you see it. For example, I consider spelling, grammar, style issues, trademark usage, and more to ensure the quality control of every piece of copy I write.

3. Avoid copy by committee.

There’s that old joke that says if you want to kill an idea or project, start a committee. Copy by committee is no different. Conflicting and misguided comments put the copywriter and creative team in the awkward position of trying to please everyone except who matters most — the intended audience. One way around this is to circulate informational copies to people who would like to see the copy. They can make comments without being part of the formal approval process.

4. Minimize the rounds.

Provide complete feedback on the first round, forwarding all your comments, suggestions, and changes to the copywriter. That way the copywriter can consider everything when he or she rewrites the copy and you can shorten the review cycle. Copy is typically stronger when it’s created in three or fewer rounds.

5. Provide specific comments.

When you provide specific comments, the chances of succeeding on the rewrite improve dramatically. For example, instead of saying, “This isn’t strong enough,” say, “The tone needs to be more authoritative” or “These are additional benefits the copy should cover.” Often times putting your comments in writing will help you be more specific than if you just provide them orally.

6. Let the copywriter rewrite the copy.

Instead of trying to “write” the changes yourself to be incorporated, tell the copywriter your concerns and let him or her address them. The copy will benefit when the copywriter does the rewriting.

7. Judge the copy based upon your objectives.

In the end, the copy was written with particular objectives in mind: to build your brand, generate leads or sales, inform about your company, products, or services, and so on. Make sure the copy is technically accurate and factually correct. Then critique the copy based upon what you want it to accomplish, not on the number of superlatives, your competitor’s latest ad campaign, or how it compares to your previous brochure.

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Digital Video Recorders – Changing The Way You Watch Television

The new High Definition TV science is amazing, and has vastly improved the appearance of our favorite TV shows and movies. Nonetheless, nothing can be done about one fact, and that is the quality of television shows remains horrible. When the programs are bad, it hardly counts whether you are seeing them through your high definition or standard TV and perhaps you ought to think about DVRs, if you’ve reached this state of frustration.

The DVR is known by various names: digital VCR, personal VCR of PVR and performs the same use as the familiar Video Cassette Recorder, which is to record from television broadcasts. Plus it’s constantly recording what you are watching, so you’ll be able to pause a live broadcast as if it were a recording, then come back to it later without missing a thing.

Traditional models have been around since about 1999, but recently they have had to be changed to handle high definition content. The technical capacity is impressive, the HD-DVR is run by a hard drive, which holds more than your desktop PC and can store 35 hours of high definition content or 300 hours of general material. The most recent models are loaded with other features too, for example, the TiVo Series 3 not only upgrades general definition content for quality improvement, it can also record two channels simultaneously, while the viewer might be busy viewing the third channel.

A quick way to get a HD-DVR is to take one on hire or lease from the cable company by paying only – per month, but most users feel that the memory is not enough which ranges between eight to ten hours of HD content and the hardware they receive is not very comfortable to use. The best answer to this problem right now is the TiVo Series 3 HD-DVR, which costs about six hundred dollars but is vastly superior to the typical cable company boxes in transmission quality, storage, and ease of use.

The benefits of utilizing such recording devices are enormous. You could program it to record any program of special pursuit to you, even if you aren’t conscious of its existence. For instance, program the TiVo to record all movies starring John Wayne showing in any channel anytime. No more insignificant channel-surfing, and of course, it can be used to skip over commercial messages, which can eliminate several hours of wasted time per week.

This could have a great effect of television publicizing as recently seventy percent of advertisers said that with the increasing popularity of DVRs, the thirty second spots would soon become history. And about a fourth of admen said they would respond by cutting down the amount of money spent on TV ads and concentrating their energy elsewhere. At last with the connection of your High Definition TV with a Blu-Ray DVD and a HD-DVR, the days of annoying TV commercial messages disturbing your TV viewing pleasure are finally over.

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Water4gas Scam 100

One of the most popular methods of making money online is by affiliate marketing where a person becomes an unpaid (commissions only) salesperson for a company, internet or otherwise and is paid for sales, or on occasion leads. Affiliates don’t have to endure the stresses and strains of running that company but still have the opportunity to earn a cut of it. The hardest part of this is finding a company you know will be there in years to come so you can enjoy a good relationship with them and not have to keep swapping companies. Affiliate revenues vary tremendously with some programs paying as much as seventy five percent on each sale with others (Amazon is an example) who only pay a few percent. This is of course the best of every world because making money online as an affiliate means that you do not have the worry of promoting products that you have invested in.

Google also has its own program called adsense which uses content relevant adverts on websites and blogs to attract people to click on and is the second main method of making money online. Although the adsense account is free to join, only a small amount is paid by Google for each click that is made on these textual (usually) links they supply. This is the system described very simply but you need huge numbers of visitors to your site (probably a number of sites) to generate an income. While almost anyone can join Google’s program, care is needed as they are continually updating and amending their terms and conditions which will affect your revenue.

While Google may not restrict who joins their program, they do make plenty of restrictions regarding the placing of adverts so keep abreast of their terms and conditions. Most people just want to make money online to supplement their own income or it could be to build a viable long term business but ensure you know why you are doing it from the start. All you need to do is learn how to get people to ‘visit’ your site and because this is not an easy thing to learn on your own, you will need some help that will teach you the best tactics. Much research is available online if you just look but a trusted and respected resource is the www.warriorforum.com where most people who earn a living online go to discuss every sort of topic you can imagine about working on the internet. The great thing about making money online is you do not need to have stock, a computer or even any computing knowledge; where else could you achieve this.

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I Cannot Wait To Watch The New Episode Of Castle

You may wonder how a new mystery/detective series could get you to watch when network and cable TV is saturated with them. For one thing, Nathan Fillion is the title star, playing Richard Castle. Can this really be the same person who played Dr.Pomattor in Waitress? Fan’s of Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly’ and ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along’ will also be familiar with Fillion. Like the great fictional detectives of the past, Castle uses a mix of comedy, romance, and whodunit to craft an engaging story arc that will keep you watching. And female fans will find a lot to appreciate as well. Stana Katic, as Detective Kate Beckett, carries the female counterpoint to Fillion’s Richard Castle. She has earned a role co-starring in her own show, after playing parts in various episodes of other shows. Add to that Castle’s daughter, Alexis (Molly C. Quinn), and his mother, Martha Heath (Susan Sullivan) and a police force filled with well-portrayed supporting actors.

But the best interest-riveting force is the writing. The pilot was well done by Andrew W. Marlowe, Barry Schindel, David Grae and Charles Murray. I didn’t think they could sustain the twist and turns, fascinating crimes, and interaction between the characters for much longer. I was mistaken.

Driving the show is the tension filled drama between the two lead characters, Castle and Beckett. He is a popular author who has been permitted to keep an eye on Beckett, despite her misgivings. Castle redeems himself with Beckett even though he often gets in the way, speaks out of turn and manages to be annoying. Little by little, Beckett is learning to rely upon his input, as well as his risk-taking, and care about him. Beckett’s co-workers aren’t immune to Castle’s charms either. In one episode he perks everyone up with a new start of the art coffee machine.

Adding to the mix are Castle’s mother and daughter who couldn’t be different. His mom acts immature, has entitlement issues and needs to be seen. The young girl is wiser than her age would suggest, supportive of her father, limiting the power of her grandma. Castle is a dedicated dad who frets without reason (so far) for Alexis. She is one of the best actors in the series. Given her youth she should have a long career.

I cannot wait to watch the next episode. Hopefully it will have many more seasons. The next season of TV is particularly exiting for me since I just got the HD Triple Play from Comcast. A short time ago, I finally got my own HDTV so soon I will be able to relax watch all of me favorite TV shows like Castle in high-def sound and picture. I found a terrific plan online where I can bundle Digital Cable, High Speed Internet, and one-price Digital Voice into a single, easy-to-pay, inexpensive plan. Beyond Digital Cable with HD, I can’t wait to try out my new broadband internet service from Comcast. The ancient DSL connection I had was so unpredictable and slow I couldn’t watch any videos online or listen to great new music. With Comcast that won’t be a concern. Comcast Digital Voice means that I never have to worry about those per minute phone bills again. One flat rate bill gives me the opportunity to call local and long distance to whoever I desire nationwide. Don’t wait! Check out the current deals available to customers who can purchase Comcast services. Look into them today before these special promos come to an end.

S.McMahon covers the latest Comcast Cable TV Offers and Specials so consumers could find the very best savings available. If you’re considering Comcast Cable Digital HD Television make sure you check out Suzanne’s reviews.

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Free Energy – How To Build A Magnetic Generator

If someone wishes to tell the solution for cutting power costs that have been making an impact on your monthly bills, you will be very curious to know how to build a magnetic generator. The solution is simple – using a magnetic electrical generator that needs minimal investment and maintenance. You will be puzzled since you had expected to hear about other solutions that use natural resources. This solution is superior to the other solutions as it is immune to changes in the climatic conditions. The advantage does not stop here and you will be surprised more if you consider the other aspects when you prefer to use magnetic electrical generators.

The generators run efficiently without needing your constant supervision as they have the inherent feature of needing minimal maintenance. You have to believe the following fact other users of magnetic electrical generators have noticed and appreciated – you will achieve a 30 percent to 40 percent saving in the power bills with the help of these generators. This single reason should be reason enough for you to get convinced and willing to know more on how to build a magnetic generator.

Though convinced about the above-disclosed facts, you may still have some other doubts. One common doubt that people have is this – the concept seems complex that deters their comfort level. Another doubt is – do they have enough area to spare in their houses. Your worries would be put to rest if you consider the answers – it is easy to get information on how to build a magnetic generator and did you know that you could do it yourself. It does not need a big space and this is another attraction.

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