2/15/2007
Top 25 words that make you look like an idiot when you mispronounce them
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who mispronounces a word or says a common phrase wrong? I have, and for me (even though it sounds pompous to say) if I don't know the person well, my impression of their intelligence is lowered at least a little bit. Taken from the Top 100 most commonly mispronounced words list, these are the top 25 that can make you look like an idiot if you say them wrong. Digg this you would like to help out your friend who still says fustrated instead of frustrated.
Twenty-six letters. Tens of millions of words.
We write the words that allow your business to sell, inform and publicize. We work with you or your clients as copywriters, project managers and strategists. We serve as copywriters on part of a larger marketing team as well as project coordinators for entire marketing campaigns. View our copywriting services, SEO copywriting packages, blog ghostwriting, optimized press releases and ghostwritten articles sections. Meet our team, download our brochure or read some of our recent tips and articles. Or, go directly to our portfolio. |
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2/14/2007
8 people living the REAL American dream through the Internet
1: Markus Frind: PlentyOfFish.com - $300,000 per month
6: Joel Comm - $24,000 per month
8. Various Affiliate Marketers $160,000+ per month. All of the various AdSense earners listed here are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to individuals making huge amounts of money in the internet marketing game. Affiliate marketers account for some of the biggest earners in the business. Over at vmcsatellite.com their top affiliate earner makes a reported $169,300/month. So how does this all fit into our business? While the examples given here are certainly something to aspire to, it is unlikely that many individuals or businesses will reach that kind of success. This does not mean, however, that there is not something we can learn from these internet money making superstars. So what is it that allows these individuals and their companies to reap such exceptional monetary benefits from the web? The answer in a two words are CONTENT and COMMUNITY. Content Players David Miles Jr. and Kato Leonard's Freeweblayouts.net ; Tim Carter's askthebuilder.com ; and Joel Comm's What Google Never Told You About Making Money with AdSense, are three excellent examples of great content leading to great revenue. These individuals were able to bring Information to a niche community. While there is more to it than the simple equation (Great Content+Niche in need = Huge profit) this is certainly a great place to start. The rest of the equation includes: 1. Positioning yourself as the expert through: -Great Copywriting -Inside Knowledge -Innovative Ideas 2. Gaining visibility and becoming viral: -Embedding yourself in the target community -Contributing quality content on a regular basis -Staying current and relevant -Offering something interesting/noteworthy/linkable Community Players Shawn Hogan of Digitalpoint.com; Jason Calcanis of Weblogs.com; Markus Frind of Plentyoffish.com; and Kevin Rose of Digg.com are four internet marketers who's sites have used the idea of Community as a basis for generating revenue. The unique aspect to these sites is that instead of offering expert content from an individual or small group of individuals, the content comes from the community itself. Each of these sites takes a different approach to this "content through community" approach. DigitalPoint.com - Niche forum Weblogs.com - Blogging Plentyoffish.com - Social networking Digg.com - Social bookmarking These lessons of Content and Community are essential to businesses striving to set themselves apart in the overcrowded internet world. As copywriters, our expertise is content creation. We write interesting, articulate, informative copy that projects expert status. This ability to write this type of custom copy gives many of our clients a significant edge. One of the services we are most proud of at Get It In Writing is our blog ghostwriting service. For companies interested in producing great content with the additional community level benefit of blogging the ghostwriting service is an excellent choice. Blogging's interactive nature allows not only for discussion, but also for member contributions, making it one of the most invaluable and essential tools any business can have. |
2/12/2007
Alliances and connections ~ Why no small business owner can make it all alone
| ♫♪♪ Companies … companies who need companies are the luckiest companies in the world … ♫♪♪ Okay, maybe that’s not the way the song goes, but it does help make a point: Businesses – especially smaller ones – can’t make it on their own. Okay, some of them do make it, but probably not to the level they could if they allied themselves with other business people. We’re talking about mutually beneficial business-to-business alliances… an arrangement in which two or more participants work together for the benefit of both groups. Nowadays we see real estate firms aligning themselves with mortgage companies, ad agencies teaming with market research firms and – in writing, our business – links with web developers, graphic designers and other communications professionals. The notion has even engendered a new buzzword, “Co-opetition,” to describe cooperative competition. While cartels are well-known examples of companies working together in order to limit competition, co-opetition focuses on cooperation between companies in competitive markets, for example Apple and Microsoft building closer ties on software development and the cooperation between Peugeot and Toyota on a new city car for Europe in 2005. History’s a great teacher. When discussing the role of business alliances, many people have studied and will bring up a general named Sun Tzu, who lived in northeastern China about 2,500 years ago. He’s considered an expert in military strategy – and now business strategy – because of his many victories on the battlefield. To this day, successful military leaders and business executives credit their success to application of Sun Tzu's principles, which included speed, knowing strengths and weaknesses, successful market capture and alliances. Why alliances? Easy…it just makes sense. Firms hook-up with each other mainly to give customers what they want and need in a one-stop shop that combines the best of two – or more – worlds. Alliances come in all shapes and sizes, but they share the belief that – as partners – both sides can reach goals that might otherwise lie beyond their individual reach. About Get It In Writing, Inc.: Whether it’s a website, articles, blog, newsletter, advertorial, e-zine or e-book, let our copywriting tell your audience about your company in the best possible way. See why our words mean business. Visit us online at: www.GetItInWriting.biz or call toll-free at 877-989-8555. Labels: collaboration, small business, working with others |
2/09/2007
The Secret - Thoughts become things
Mind control
If you haven’t already, I URGE you to buy a copy of The Secret on DVD. This movie changed my life (and I was always someone on the cynical side) for the better. You can also pick up a book companion to the movie (here) or the audio CD (here) (thanks to my buddy, Margie Fisher, of Zable Fisher Public Relations for giving me a copy of this awesome book!). Here is a segment that has been hosted by someone else on Youtube if you want to watch a bit before you buy. |
2/02/2007
Why learning cursive is bad for your kids.
| Closing in on my 23rd birthday, it has been almost 15 years since I was taught how to write in cursive and about 14 years since I stopped using this pointless antiquated style of writing. So why are so many kids still having their time wasted on learning to write in cursive? Modern cursive writing has its roots in professional correspondence of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It became popular because cursive was fancier looking than traditional print and thus projected a higher class status. This eventually led to the adoption of the cursive style as the only style taught in public schools until the 1940’s (that’s why your grandparents always wrote in cursive). In the 1940s, as a part of education reform, standard print or manuscript as it is officially called, was taught in conjunction with cursive. For many schools the progression goes something like this. Teach students the alphabet - IN PRINT. Teach students basic words -IN PRINT. Teach students basic sentences - IN PRINT. Finally, once they have learned to read and write in print, introduce a completely different looking alphabet and an entirely new system for combining letters. Think back to your own early education. I still remember my confusion and frustration at the prospect of learning to write all over again, I had just gotten good at print! So what is going on here? Surely there must be a reason for learning cursive today. Can something students spend literally months learning in school really be completely pointless? The proponents of cursive writing put forth the following as their key arguments for teaching it: 1. Cursive may be especially useful for certain students with learning disabilities such as dysgraphia because it has fewer letters that are mirror images of one another, such as the printed b and d, and so may be easier for students who are prone to mixing them up. In some schools, students with such learning challenges are taught cursive before print (Zieman). 2. Cursive is easier and faster once mastered. There is no need to constantly pick up the pencil point and put it down again. (Learning Disabilities Support 2007). Addressing the first point: If cursive is in fact easier to learn for students with learning disabilities, why are all students taught print first? Why are early reading books in print fonts instead of cursive fonts? Any value that cursive writing can give kids with dyslexia or dysgraphia is essentially erased by the fact that they learn it second to print. For kids who already have difficulty differentiating between letters, how can introducing yet another confusing style make anything more clear? Addressing the second point: There are two problems I see with this argument. First, I would concede that cursive writing has the potential to be faster than print once mastered, but students have already spent three or more years writing print. It is certainly not beneficial to spend the time it takes to develop mastery of cursive writing just for a slight speed advantage. Additionally, the huge speed advantage of typing which is taught soon after cursive makes the entire argument moot. Now let’s take a look at some common criticisms of cursive: 1. Cursive writing can’t be used to fill in official forms. 2. Cursive presents greater difficulty for left handed writers. 3. Cursive is soon abandoned by 85% of all students. 4. Cursive is a remnant of tradition, and of no value to the learning experience. Addressing the first point: Ironically, the form of writing that began with professional correspondence can no longer be used in most official or professional forms. Cursive is simply too messy. The style lends itself to exaggerated letters that can be difficult to differentiate or even recognize. Official and professional writing needs to be exact and without errors. Only print is sufficient for this purpose. Addressing the second point: For lefties, the “never lift your pen” aspect of cursive writing is what causes the difficulties. When left-handed writers are force to write in cursive, their left hands drag behind each letter, leaving them with smudged words and an ink-stained palm. Addressing the third point: Recent College Board statistics from the SAT writing sections show that only 15% of students consistently write their essays in cursive. Additionally, research has shown that many of those who do use cursive, use a modified half cursive/ half print form of writing that connects only the easiest letters and leaving spaces between others. (Berninger, Weintraub) Addressing the fourth point: In a 1960 study, administrators and teachers admitted the reasons cursive was still included in the curriculum: “Public expectancy and teacher preparation probably are our main reasons. We doubt that there is significant advantage in cursive writing.” (Groff) So here we are almost half a century later, still teaching something deemed unnecessary in 1960? In the end it is up to administrators, teachers, and those who set curriculums to decide the worth or worthlessness of cursive writing. With this said, it is our responsibility to speak out against teaching our kids pointless, antiquated skills like cursive writing. Let’s face it, the world is changing, things are evolving, and there are many aspects of the written and spoken word that are going to change. In a public school system with so many problems, do we really need to be wasting our kid’s time with this? As someone who works in the copywriting industry, I see the emphasis on handwriting as a hindrance to the development of the writing abilities in kids. Instead of focusing on the act of hand-writing, our schools should focus on what is being written. -Chris Tynski References: Zieman, Gayle. "Nonverbal Learning Disability: The Math and Handwriting Problem". Retrieved January 14, 2007 from Graham, S., Berninger, V., & Weintraub, N. (1998). The relationship between handwriting style and speed and quality. Journal of Educational Research, volume 91, issue number 5, (May/June 1998), pages 290-297. Groff, Patrick J. “From Manuscript to Cursive-Why?” The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Nov., 1960), pp. 97-101 About Get It In Writing, Inc.: Whether it’s a website, articles, blog, newsletter, advertorial, e-zine or e-book, let our web copywriting tell your audience about your company in the best possible way. See why our words mean business. Visit us online at: www.GetItInWriting.biz or call toll-free at 877-989-8555. |
Does your mood affect your copywriting?
| The wishy-washy answer is: maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t; it depends on who you are and who you ask. But the fact that we are all emotional beings makes us believe that the answer is: Absolutely! External factors can cause our focus to shift to the bad stuff that happened in our day and writing becomes just about the last thing we want to do. If you get up (very likely on a gray and dreary day) feeling kind of down, you may have more trouble than usual getting started. If gloomy weather, an argument with your spouse, a poor night’s sleep or whatever other reason leaves you feeling stressed and anxious, take note. Frequently, an anxious mood can easily translate to nervous copy. On days like this, your writing takes no real direction, meandering hither, thither and yon without a clear destination in sight. It’s hurried and erratic. And readers looking for your message would probably be hard pressed to find it. Another mood that can creep into all of our psyches – not just writers – is self-doubt. Who knows where this (hopefully temporary, not permanent) insecurity came from? The point is it tiptoed into our intellect without even a hint that it was coming and it’s slaughtering our copy. Self-doubt makes us switch into people-pleaser mode, creating timid copy that fears insulting readers. Instead, the copy takes absolutely no stand on anything and ends up being, above all, quite forgettable. On the other hand (of course there’s another hand), over-confidence can go too far in the opposite direction. So if you’re feeling in that “I’m so hot” mood, watch out. This warning tends to take on special significance in sales copy. It’s good to feel good about yourself and your subject, but don’t let that feeling appear in your copy too overtly. Instead of proclaiming, “Look what I can do,” tell your prospects “Look what you will get.” Remember to focus on benefits, not features. You’re building rapport. Your copy needs to connect with strangers, so leave your ego at the door. So we all have moods. They’re part of what makes us human. The bigger question is: What can we do about it? The trick is to keep our human failings from occupying our web copy. Start by distancing yourself. Take a hike. Literally. Get up and walk around. Have a friend or colleague read your copy and look for signs of your mood. And ask yourself a few questions: • What is my copy’s real goal? • What are the goals of my reader? • Have I guided them on a logical journey or is their trip though my words erratic? • Then, sleep on it. Again, literally. And look at your copy with fresh, rested, anxiety-, self-doubt- and ego-free eyes in the morning. Labels: copywriting, mood |
2/01/2007
Our Blog Has Moved!
| Our Blog has moved to a new location. We are now on our own domain at: |