Quast

The turn of the Millenium has brought about a small change in the conscience of mankind as a whole. We're finally starting to focus more on the true value of life and it's real meaning. We're slowly losing our taste for corrupt governments, terrorism, warfare and all the associated pain and hardship. It looks that mankind, at last, may be heading for a brighter future.

Part of this growth has been the realization that smoking is bad for you. This coupled with numerous high profile court cases against tobacco companies has seen smoking become less and less popular amongst the general population. It's no longer seen as being polite or acceptable and there are now numerous extremely graphic television adverts to reinforce the message - "Smoking Will Kill You".

As part of this "War Against Smokerism" smoking cigarettes, cigars or pipes is being banned in more places each day. Initially it's just been in bars and in large shopping malls. Then the ban moved to the workplace and all shops, gas stations and most other places you can think of. The next step is the banning of smoking in all outdoor public areas such as parks and beaches for example.

This is where the problems begin. We now have extremism coming into view. A sensible proposal like the banning of smoking in the workplace and public venues is then taken by the moral minority of the world and abused. Like any extremists they'll push the laws as far as they can to get their own way - just to prove they can.

We now have employees crammed into airtight smoking rooms to have their breaktime cigarette. How long before one of them sues for prejudice against smokers? Or sues because they got cancer at a massively accelerated rate due to being exposed to toxic levels of secondhand smoke?

Is it right to do this? Smoking is a nasty habit. Does this mean that you lose all your civil rights as a human being just because you smoke? What about the massive pollution caused by cars? For example police on the streets of Bombay in India have to use oxygen masks every 60 minutes to flush their lungs out - the pollution is that bad. Is there any possibility that cars may be banned soon? Not likely.

Reformed smokers (there's no such thing as an ex smoker) can be the worst of the lot. They're far too fond of standing on soapboxes and letting their vapid opinions be known. They love coughing as loudly as possible when walking into a room with any smokers and dispensing random medical and statistical facts to people who couldn't care less if their head was on fire.

Smoking is a filthy, disgusting and unhealthy habit. Smokers, however, do still have the right to smoke and be treated like human beings. To treat them as any less than equal human beings is at best prejudicial and at worst borderline Nazism.

This article was provided courtesy of QuittersGuide.com where you can find more help to stop smoking in the form of articles and advice for quitters everywhere.

Whether you just published your first book or your tenth, whether you write poetry, fiction or non-fiction, the key to book sales is marketing and promotion. Poetry is not going to make a writer rich. However, being recognized as a published poet can lead to paid gigs. There are a number of things you can do as a poet to market yourself. Many of these tips also apply to writers of all genres.

I know of a number of authors who "say" that they never make an appearance, write an article, etc unless they are paid for it. I dont know whether this is true, but if it is, these people are missing out on some extraordinary opportunities. As in any profession, it can be difficult to get your foot in the door as a writer. Once your foot is in, you can generally manage to sneak in your whole leg and eventually your entire body.

If you know where to look, there are many opportunities for poets to self-promote. Take advantage of them all, because one can often lead to another, more lucrative one.

For example, I started a local poetry writers group in 2003. No one pays any fees and I don't earn a single penny from it. In 2004, someone in the group referred me to a local library that participates in the Inside Writing & Publishing series for the North Suburban Library System. In March and April every year, they sponsor 10 or so local writers to present a variety of writing-related workshops. They pay the writer $50 per hour for each workshop. The library contact called me and asked if I would present a poetry-publishing workshop.

I developed a 2-hour workshop, presented it at four libraries in March/April 2006, and earned a total of $400. I put together a flyer stating what was covered in the workshop, listed a number of the comments from the workshops (which were all extremely positive), and added a new workshop I was asked to develop - an introduction to poetry writing. I started sending that out to park districts, writing groups and other places that teach writing classes in the Chicago area, and already have commitments to present my workshops to various places starting this fall.

Below are a few ideas to get you started. Some of them do not pay, and some of them do pay. Remember, doing something you are NOT paid for can easily lead to something you ARE paid for!

1. Start and run a poetry-writing group.
2. Host poetry reading open mics.
3. Join the local arts council.
4. Give away audio books to visually impaired people and organizations - word of mouth may lead to book sales.
5. Sell audio books of your poetry book that you create yourself.
6. Lead poetry-writing workshops.
7. Become a teacher for middle-school through college level classes.
8. Teach an online poetry course.
9. Become a book editor, offer to proofread/edit other author's books.
10. Write a column for a newspaper or a writer's magazine.
11. Write a column or articles for a writer's magazine (print or internet).
12. Network, network, network! Join writers groups, arts and other literary organizations, both online and in person.
13. Offer to host a poetry reading for your city's next Arts Fair, Festival or Taste of the City event.
14. Offer to set up a table and sell your books at local community, school or synagogue/church events. In lieu of paying a fee, tell them you will donate $1 to them from every book you sell.
15. Make good use of press releases. When you have a new book coming out, promote it with a press release. When you are going to host a poetry reading, send your local weekly newspaper a press release. Eventually they will see you as an upcoming presence in the local literary scene and will interview you!
16. Contact local radio stations that have talk shows about local literary/arts events and people. Offer to talk about your new poetry book and other literary activities.
17. Do poetry readings at libraries, schools, senior/retirement centers, nursing homes, etc. and do not charge a fee for these, with the understanding that you retain the right to sell your books after the event.
18. Go to as many poetry readings as you can to read your work and sell your books
19. Participate in local literary festivals, book fairs and other events where you can read your work and sell your books
20. Participate in multi-author events where you can all read your work and sell your books
21. Use your email signature as a marketing tool - list the names of your poetry books and your website, which should have purchasing information and links to any sites where people can purchase your books.
22. Make the most of your website - have links to all the websites where your books can be purchased.
23. Offer personally autographed copies at a 10% discount when bought directly from you. Set up a PayPal account to make it easy for people to buy from you.
24. Forty percent of all poetry book sales occur in the fall. In September, offer discounts on your books for the upcoming holidays.
25. If you have more than one book, offer a 20% discount if people buy all of your books instead of just one.
26. Offer free gift-wrapping year-round.
27. Leave a copy in your doctor or dentist's waiting room for patients to read while they wait. Put a library card "checkout" pocket in it with some business cards so they know where to order their own copy.
28. If people buy books from you to give as gifts, offer to gift-wrap them and also to ship the books directly to the person for whom they are buying it.
29. Leave printed out copies of your poems (either individually or stapled together) on tables at coffee shop for customers to read make sure to staple business cards to the front page so they can pull it off and be able to order a copy.
30. Have one page devoted to links to other writers' websites and do link exchanges. The more websites that link to your own, the more opportunities you have to make a sale. Do not limit it to just the genre(s) you work in.
31. Subscribe to writers newsletters and authors newsletters. They are often a wealth of marketing and promotional ideas.
32. Create a newsletter of your own - send out not only recaps of your recent writing achievements, upcoming appearances, etc., but include tips that other writers will be interested in.
33. The more you get involved in, and the more you network, the more opportunities you will have to tell people about your books and this will lead to more sales.
34. Always help other writers when you can and if you can. It will somehow come back to you.
35. Carry your business card everywhere, and pass it out to everyone you can! Leave it on restaurant tables, on bus seats when you get off. Hand it to cashiers when they give you your change and/or receipt. Hand it to the person at the post office, the car repair shop, the clerk when you pick up your dry cleaning, the delivery person the next time you order in pizza or Chinese. Leave some with your doctor, dentist or veterinarian. Put them in envelopes when paying your bills.

About the Author: Michelle True writes poetry, non-fiction and memoir. She is a published and self-published author, facilitates writing and publishing workshops, leads poetry-writing and memoir-writing groups, organizes and hosts an annual multi-author event, mentors high school students, publishes a newsletter for writers (groups.yahoo.com/group/writeonnewsletter) and is on the Steering Committee of the Chicago Writers Association (www.chicagowrites.org). She has also hosted an Internet radio talk show podcast and published an internet poetry magazine. Her website is www.michelletrue.com. She can be reached at michelleailenetrue@yahoo.com

A web site is the reflection of your business. If your web site does not look professional or even easy to the eyes, then this says much about the company. Probably this is an indication that the company is just small and does not offer much to customers. There are also times that a web site may look really professional but it takes so long for it to load. Read this: time is valuable to your clients. Do not let them wait too long or else you might lose them in an instant.

Of course another very important factor to consider is your content. As much as possible, you need to provide information and entertainment to your customers. Do not bore them with flooding them out with information. You also need to make sure that your contents are conversational so that they would be able to understand any information you provide.

Here are the common mistakes that web sites commit. Check them out and make sure not to commit them or else you are on your way to the downfall your business online.

1.Longer loading time

2.Spelling and grammar mistakes

3.Not providing contact info for the customers

4.Nonsense content

5.Very poor web site navigation

6.Links not working

7.Browser incompatibility

8.Graphics that are large enough which may interfere with the quick loading

9.A number of animated images

10.Audio that auto play

By this time, you might want to check if your web site has all these mistakes. Let go of any of these and you are sure to reflect in your web site a professional business or company that is ready to offer information to your clients.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Do you want to write a book? It is a big task so you need to be ready for it. If you are inexperienced you may want to gain valuable skills by writing short articles or stories first. Writing a book can be a monumental task which can stretch you time, energy and nerves to the limit.

You can gain experience before you settle down and write your first book, by submitting work to print publications to see if you can actually sell your writing. Then if you want to write books, this will gain valuable experience and exposure which can help you with such tasks as querying and submitting longer works. You may need skills to enable you to deal with rejection - it will happen! Most writers experience more rejection than acceptance.

Perseverance is important. Talent counts, of course, but by dealing with rejection then asking "why" you will grow a thicker skin and be a better author in the end. Not everyone will like your standard and style of writing. Don't give up as you receive each rejection - persevere until you get it right. Pick yourself up and try again. Sometimes over and over again.

You will have to adapt and become comfortable working with an editor to get your story or ideas into a format that will sell. Publishers are not in the game for fun - they are in it for profit. They have more experience than you. You are the author but the editor knows the audience. He can help you progress - listen to what is said. The alternative is self-publication but there are issues with this, not least of which is not having the backing and muscle of established publishing houses.

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