<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209</id><updated>2009-10-13T12:27:24.504-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Bluegrass Solutions</title><subtitle type='html'>Freelance Writing Services, Custom Articles, Web Content, Press Releases, Article Directory and Distribution Services, Writing Tips, Internet &amp; Marketing News</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>9</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-4412093533886467362</id><published>2008-03-24T15:05:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-03-29T17:28:39.372-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='buy net audio ads'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='buy audio ads'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='buy ppp'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='buy payperplay'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='buy netaudioads'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='buy NNA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='netaudioads'/><title type='text'>The Sound of Change in the Air</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you could say 15 words to 1 million  people today, what would you say?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Net Audio Ads™&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt; The Worlds Largest&lt;br /&gt;Online Audio Advertiser&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0" id="wasp79359" name="wasp79359" align="middle" height="315" width="400"&gt;&lt;param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://payperplay.voice2page.com/ppp_hosting/video/player/wasp.swf"&gt;&lt;param name="loop" value="false"&gt;&lt;param name="menu" value="false"&gt;&lt;param name="quality" value="high"&gt;&lt;param name="scale" value="noscale"&gt;&lt;param name="salign" value="lt"&gt;&lt;param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"&gt;&lt;param name="flashvars" value="theFile=http://payperplay.voice2page.com/ppp_hosting/video/male4.flv&amp;amp;defaultImage=http://payperplay.voice2page.com/ppp_hosting/video/intro.jpg&amp;amp;startPlayingOnload=no&amp;amp;popUpHelp=no&amp;amp;bufferSeconds=7"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://payperplay.voice2page.com/ppp_hosting/video/player/wasp.swf" flashvars="theFile=http://payperplay.voice2page.com/ppp_hosting/video/male4.flv&amp;amp;defaultImage=http://payperplay.voice2page.com/ppp_hosting/video/intro.jpg&amp;amp;startPlayingOnload=no&amp;amp;popUpHelp=no&amp;amp;bufferSeconds=7" loop="false" menu="false" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="lt" name="wasp79359" bgcolor="#000000" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" height="315" width="400"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" &gt;A New Idea For the World&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"&gt;Internet Audio is the Future:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Everyday we are surprised with new inventions and innovations in technology. NetAudioAds™ is no exception. Using Audio and Voice2Page technology to connect to the millions of users on the internet is the perfect way to get your message or advertisement out into the world.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"&gt;The Target Market:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is no other form of media available in the world that can assure your message has been heard more than NetAudioAds™. It is 100% traceable and 100% verifiable. In today’s society, 97% of computers come equipped with audio, and nearly all have their audio turned on. The best part is, an internet user must open a webpage in order to hear the ad, which means he is sitting right there, listening, when your ad plays. What other form of media advertising can say that?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;Your Ad Spot:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your ad will be played when a listener visits any one of 24 million websites currently carrying NetAudioAds™, and allowed to play for 5 seconds. If the internet user remains on the page for more than 3 min, another ad will play. The best part about NetAudioAds™ is that the internet user will hear your ad, without leaving the page he is currently on. This way both you the advertiser, and the website, benefit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;Why Internet Advertising?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Advertising has been slowly moving away from Radio and TV ads, and into the Internet. In a recent article by: Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com editor at large June 6 2007, stated that, “Online advertising is once again the brightest spot in an otherwise declining advertising market, according to first-quarter figures reported by 2 prominent media research firms.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;TNS Media Intelligence said recently that spending on online display advertising-which does not include search-jumped 16.7% in the first quarter from a year ago to $2.7 billion. By way of comparison, overall ad spending fell 0.7%.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Traditional media categories took it on the chin. Ad spending on television and radio dipped more than 2% while newspaper ad spending dropped nearly 5%, TNS said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also reported recently, the Interactive Advertising Bureau in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that overall Internet ad spending soared 26% in the first quarter to a record $4.9 billion.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;Why NetAudioAds?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Think of it as a breakthrough in media advertising. No other form of media can connect to as many people on the internet as NetAudioAds™.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just like in Radio, repetition is law. If you want someone to remember your ad, you have to make sure they hear it often. What better way to do that than when they are surfing the web.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Using NetAudioAds™ can give you the same audience as powerful as the Super Bowl, only you can have that audience everyday!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We can also make sure your target market is being achieved. Your ad will usually be placed on websites that can relate to the users, such as Ford Truck ads on ESPN sites during football season.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was recently discovered, through initial BPA audit findings, that the NetAudioAds current distribution network has the capability of serving close to 1 billion audio ads on a monthly basis.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;Our Strategy:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Playing your message to millions of internet users.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;How it Benefits you:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your ads are heard by attentive internet users all around the world as they surf the web.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;Audited By A 3rd Party For Accurate Reporting:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NetAudioAds footprint will be verified by an independent third party auditing service by the name of BPA Worldwide. BPA will verify our reach to our advertisers. NetAudioAds 3rd party BPA audit is continuing to scrub porn, hate and crime type websites as well as websites that use questionable tactics to obtain traffic (bots, auto surfs, etc.). There is no other online media source (that plays audio ads) that is 3rd party verified. This is a very important to anyone considering the purchase of online advertising. NetAudioAds takes pride in the fact that the company is using a 3rd party to audit their reports and guarantee that advertisers get an accurate picture of where their adlets are being played.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* With current advertisers on board (Feb. 2008) NetAudioAds has the ability to serve 7 – 10 million ads per day, 7 days a week.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;* The NetAudioAds servers are clocking 9,000 hits per second triggered from audio ad code in the distribution network.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" &gt;                             HUGE Market Coverage!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"&gt;Take Action NOW!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;If you are ready to take advantage of our innovative service and have any questions&lt;br /&gt;(pricing, placement, availability)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"&gt;Please visit us at: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.bgsadvertising.com/net_audio_ads_sales.html"&gt;BGSAdvertising.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BGSAdvertising | Copyright 2008&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-4412093533886467362?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/4412093533886467362/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=4412093533886467362' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/4412093533886467362'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/4412093533886467362'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2008/03/blog-post.html' title='The Sound of Change in the Air'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-1164450408471654200</id><published>2008-01-03T14:51:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-12-11T03:20:18.733-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='demographics'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='trends in the market'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='viral marketing'/><title type='text'>Choosing Demographics for 2008</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CkF22vNGm2Q/R31r0EP07gI/AAAAAAAAAIo/3i06RWRC6fc/s1600-h/mtnsunset.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CkF22vNGm2Q/R31r0EP07gI/AAAAAAAAAIo/3i06RWRC6fc/s400/mtnsunset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5151392091019210242" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The sun has set on another year and in the morning it will be time to consider the months ahead. It's always a good idea to know where you have been and where you are at before deciding where you are going. As the Internet fluxes and morphs it's way through cyberspace, this can prove to be a considerable task. I came across this article over on the article directory and thought it provided some good insight as a "jumping off" point when planning your 2008 marketing strategy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;2007 Marketing Year End Review: Top Marketing Trends&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By: Charlotte Buelow, 2008-01-03&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As 2007 comes to an end, it's time to look back on what went on in business through the past year. Entrepreneur.com took a look back with a list of some of the top marketing trends. Here is a look at some of the trends.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;College grads:&lt;/span&gt; College graduates became a hot trend in 2007 by raking in big bucks to marketing media. Due to the computer savvy nature of these recent grads, the internet was a primary source for catching their eye in a number of businesses.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not only is the internet recent college graduates favorite place for entertainment, but it is also their favorite place for shopping, and college grads need a lot now that they are out in the real world. The top purchase by college grads in 2007 were professional clothing, travel/airline tickets, health insurance and furniture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Affluent Working Women:&lt;/span&gt; This is a group that has increased through 2007, thus making it more of a money maker for businesses. Also, the best way to reach these working women is online, just as with college grads. According to entrepreneur.com, working women with total family incomes of over $75,000 or more have increased their access to the internet approximately 94% on average per month in 2007.This increase in internet users has also been counter balanced by a decrease in radio, television, newspaper and direct mail users.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Word of Mouth Marketing:&lt;/span&gt; This popular form of marketing was just as successful in 2007 as in past years. Also, it seems women are more likely then men to share their good product experiences with others, thus making them better candidates for WOM marketing. Also, full-time employees make more daily contacts than those not in the workforce or employed part time, making them yet another great target for WOM.&lt;br /&gt;Finally, it seems those making more than $100,000 a year were also more likely to tell friends about products or services they enjoyed as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Simultaneous Media Usage:&lt;/span&gt; It may come as no surprise that in 2007 consumers were increasingly using multiple forms of media at once. For example, BIGreserach's "Simultaneous Media Survey" found seventy percent of those who use the internet watch television "regularly to occasionally" while they were surfing the net. Also, almost sixty-five percent of TV watchers were said to read in front of the tube. Finally, a little over half of those who listened to the radio said they would read the newspaper at the same time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This multiple media usage opens gateways for marketers, giving them a variety of outlets to reach consumers. However, the messages marketers used during 2007 had to be brief due to the halved amount of attention consumers would pay to each media they were using.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another point of trends in 2007 can be found in the world of business. Vistage, one of the world's largest executive leadership development companies, came out with its own top trends list giving the business trends for 2007. Here is a sampling of some of the trends Vistage found to be at the top:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Small businesses turning to global markets:&lt;/span&gt; Vistage CEO Rafel Pastor saw the global economy as "increasingly being fueled by small businesses." This once large business dominated market saw some small fish in the big pool in 2007. Small businesses in 2007 may not be fully enveloped in the global market, but many were testing the waters and seeing great opportunities, such as great growth and more money in the bank.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mergers and acquisitions expanding to small businesses: Small businesses make a trend again by not only extending to global markets but to acquiring and merging with other companies as well. According to Vistage, many of their members in the $50-$100 million rage were in the process of or had merged with or acquired a business in 2007. More than 50 percent of these companies said they were considering a merger or acquisition in 2007.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Culture Clash Between Baby Boomers and Generation Y:&lt;/span&gt; Now that baby boomers and genYers are working together, there is bound to be a clash of generations. In most cases, baby boomers in 2007 were dealing with genY employees and having trouble retaining these employees due to the generation gap. However, many boomers have been able to overcome to gap and found ways to work with the younger crowd by mixing the younger creativity with the older skill.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;About the Author:&lt;/span&gt; Charlotte Buelow is a contributing business writer for Goliath. Goliath is one of the Internet's largest collections of business research, news and information. Learn more about &lt;a href="http://www.goliath.ncnext.com"&gt;Goliath&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Article Source:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;Bluegrass Solutions Article Directory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-1164450408471654200?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/1164450408471654200/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=1164450408471654200' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/1164450408471654200'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/1164450408471654200'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2008/01/choosing-demographics-for-2008.html' title='Choosing Demographics for 2008'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CkF22vNGm2Q/R31r0EP07gI/AAAAAAAAAIo/3i06RWRC6fc/s72-c/mtnsunset.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-6460547435165350082</id><published>2007-12-30T14:11:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-12-11T03:20:18.972-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spelling'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='grammar'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='importance of good content'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='article marketing'/><title type='text'>It's All a Game of Fundamentals, Really</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CkF22vNGm2Q/R3gezUP07fI/AAAAAAAAAIg/0LBW1lHmW6o/s1600-h/surprised+mice.bmp"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CkF22vNGm2Q/R3gezUP07fI/AAAAAAAAAIg/0LBW1lHmW6o/s400/surprised+mice.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149900040855416306" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How many of you would buy a house built by a carpenter that couldn't drive a nail? Or read a tape measure? Would you go to trial for your life with the attorney that failed the bar exam twice and barely squeaked by on the third try? Of course you wouldn't! Who would? The same thing applies to our written work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why some people think that publishers will publish and readers will read their work is beyond me. How am I supposed to believe a person is an expert in their field when they can't even convey their information to me without poor grammar and misspelled words? It kind of throws credibility and confidence right out the window.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;The bottom line is this:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;If you want to win the confidence and loyalty of your readers, show them enough respect to use good grammar and spelling in your written works. Many people are put off by a poor display of language skills and take it as an insult to their intelligence that you would put it before them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you lack the basic language skills to write effectively, acquire them. It's not that hard, really. It just takes a little work and practice. If you find that you need something written and simply don't have the skills to do it, hire a professional that will provide you good, well written content. It is well worth the small investment to prevent any damage to your reputation in the business community.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I came across this article and thought it made some good points. I hope you benefit from it as much as I did.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Writing an Article - Basic Rules of Grammar&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By: Hans Hasselfors, 2007-12-17&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some would-be writers think they can dash off an article without bothering to learn the basic rules of grammar. But just as any craftsperson spends time honing his skills to make the perfect piece of craft, so must a writer work hard to present an article that will be a pleasure to read and not shame him for its sloppy grammar and punctuation. True, some errors are typos, but doesn't that reflect a certain laziness on the author's part? An article should be closely examined for typos before it is sent off or uploaded.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Don't trust your spell checker. No automated spell-checker can alert you to every error. Whose and who's, lose and loose, quiet and quite, its and it's are all legitimate words, so there will be no red line under them. Spell-checkers are not clever enough yet to tell which one you meant to use. And if the error is not due to a typo, it means you need to keep a dictionary on hand to check anything you are uncertain of.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Remember that when a word ends in " 's" it means there is a letter missing. "It's" means "it is". If you are unsure which one you should be using, try saying the sentence both ways.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For instance...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;" It's a good day today/ It is a good day today". The latter example makes perfect sense, so it is okay to use "it's".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Here is a rabbit. Its burrow is over there."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Does, "It is burrow is over there", make sense? No.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course if you said, "The rabbit's burrow is over there," then the apostrophe denotes possession (and only one rabbit), not a missing letter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The rabbits burrow is over there," (with no apostrophe) means there are several rabbits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And just for the record, "loose" means not tight, while "lose" means you've lost it.&lt;br /&gt;"Who's" is short for "who is", but "whose" is the possessive form of "who" (as in "Whose is that car?")&lt;br /&gt;"Quiet" means "hush", while "quite" is an adverb (which should usually be left out).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I felt quite silly," sounds better as, "I felt silly".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I felt like an idiot," may be even better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sometimes rules of grammar get in the way of good writing. If this is the case they can and should be broken, otherwise your writing will become pedantic and even mechanical. One such rule is that a sentence should not begin with a conjunction. Both "and" and "but" can certainly be used to begin a sentence, or even a paragraph, but not to end one. Using either of these conjunctions to start a sentence can be a natural transition to carry the reader forward.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A rule of style tells us to never use the same word twice in a sentence, but if you have to search for several other clumsy substitutes to do the job, then please repeat. Repetition of someone's name is a little different. It can easily be replaced with "he" or "she" as the sentence progresses.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A persistent myth masquerading as a rule tells us not to end a sentence with a preposition. Winston Churchill is supposed to have made fun of this by stating, "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put." Of course a sentence may end with a preposition. A good rule is to write the way you speak. But unless you have grown up speaking English, ignore this rule too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A few more pointers...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· When writing an article, watch that you don't repeat information unnecessarily. Even if you use different wording, it still gives the reader the impression that you think he was too dumb to get it the first time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· Use short sentences more than long ones, but do vary the length.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· Break up the text by using bullet points, or asking a question. Why? It will add interest and prevent your reader falling asleep - or simply turning the page.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· Use short paragraphs too. This will make the job of reading it all seem much easier. In this fast-paced world readers are mostly in a hurry. If they come to a huge block of text with no white space, they'll usually skip most of it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you keep these tips in mind, your articles will keep both editors and readers happy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;About the Author:&lt;/span&gt; Hans Hasselfors is the founder of &lt;a href="http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com"&gt;http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com&lt;/a&gt;. Learn about the many benefits of using our &lt;a href="http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com"&gt;article directory&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Article Source: &lt;a href="http://articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;Bluegrass Solutions Article Directory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-6460547435165350082?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/6460547435165350082/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=6460547435165350082' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/6460547435165350082'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/6460547435165350082'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2007/12/its-all-game-of-fundamentals-really.html' title='It&apos;s All a Game of Fundamentals, Really'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CkF22vNGm2Q/R3gezUP07fI/AAAAAAAAAIg/0LBW1lHmW6o/s72-c/surprised+mice.bmp' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-7006309434616366504</id><published>2007-12-29T09:54:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-12-29T10:09:37.864-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='importance of good content'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='content for affiliate marketing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='affiliate marketing'/><title type='text'>The Importance of Fresh, Well-Written Content</title><content type='html'>This blog is concerned with &lt;a href="http://www.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;writing all manner content for the web &lt;/a&gt;and for businesses at large. Nothing will draw more visitors to your websites on a consistant basis than good content; be it articles, blogs, emailers or newsletters.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Content is instrumental in acheiving successful SEO page ranking with the search engines, establishing your expert status with potential customers and piqueing their interest in your topic to learn more. Good content is the driving force behind visits from viable, targeted web searchers to your sites. More targeted visitors = more conversions to sales.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The following article highlights the importance of a good content campaign to increase traffic to affiliate sites you operate. Content is king no matter how you use it or where you apply it. Give the readers what they want and they will follow you home everytime.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Basics of Affiliate Marketing - A Guide for Beginners&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By: Jerry Leung, 2007-12-25&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You should never jump into a business causally. This is also true for affiliate marketing, although there are people who can really make a lot of money with it. In fact you will need to do extensive research before you decide to join this business. You have at least to know what the potential earnings are and how much you may probably earn. You will also need to work and wait before you can really make money with it. Below is a list of issues you will consider.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You may probably know that you need to set up a website to promote the affiliate products. However, even if you find the finest products in the world and set up the most attractive website, you can do nothing if no one visits your website. You will not able to make money if no one can find your website. As a result, you will need to advertise your affiliate site. To this end you will need to spend some money and you will take time to learn how to manipulate the advertisements before you can really make money.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are different tips on affiliate marketing out there. However, if you just follow the tips you find, you may be in fact using techniques which are saturated with different websites. You should only take the tips on the internet as references and you will need to find your own techniques and combinations to attractive customers, and essentially making money. However, there are some basics you can treat them as some golden rules. You need to have quality content in your websites and you have to believe in the products you are promoting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A lot of affiliate marketers creates beautiful websites and write quality content for it. However, they may leave it abandon after it is created and hope that they can make money out of it. However, another golden rule is that you have to update your affiliate websites regularly, at least twice a month. Of course you still have to write quality content for the updates. You may even need to change the layout and theme of your website regularly. For example, you may make your website with a holiday theme when Christmas is coming. By doing this you will have a higher chance of attracting visitors to visit your website again in the future.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are a lot of potentials for affiliate marketing. However, you have to work hard in order to succeed. You need to have the patience to wait and research until you are able to make a living with it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jerry Leung is an author. You can learn to Make Money Online Now in his website. He also runs a blog concerning Email Marketing. You can also find Website Analysis Tools from his website.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-7006309434616366504?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/7006309434616366504/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=7006309434616366504' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/7006309434616366504'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/7006309434616366504'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2007/12/importance-of-fresh-well-written.html' title='The Importance of Fresh, Well-Written Content'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-6035214063355175788</id><published>2007-12-29T08:46:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-12-29T09:38:17.879-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='business plans'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Bluegrass Solutions business plan preparation'/><title type='text'>Preparing a Business Plan</title><content type='html'>If you don't know where you going, how will you know when you get there? This is a fundamental tenent of any business undertaking. You must know where you are starting from and have clearly defined goals of where you want to be. This is the idea behind a well thought out and developed business plan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not only do you need it, but your backers are going to want to see it as well. Most people are reluctant to write blank checks while blindfolded. &lt;a href="http://www.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;There is help available&lt;/a&gt; to you if you need a business plan developed and professional prepared for you. It will more than pay for itself in the long run.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The 5 Step Plan for Creating a Successful Business Plan&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By: Josh Stone, 2007-12-29&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While there are some who are easily able to do this, many business owners find themselves scratching their heads when it comes time to develop a plan. It can be confusing when it comes to deciding what is important, what is not and how to formulate this into something that is useful. The best method for developing a great business plan is to simply take 5 steps and walk through them. If you do this, you will create a successful business plan. The 5 steps of creating a successful business plan are listed below.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 1:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Evaluation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You've got to start somewhere, and the best place to start is to simply look at your business from the inside out. Closely examine your business, as this will help you to see what kind of things to tackle with your business plan. You should look very closely at the fiscal statements for your business, as these, obviously, determine the success of a business. You should also observe the overall attitude of your business and its employees. For instance, notice if your employees are enthusiastic, bored, angry etc. Their feelings will need to be taken into consideration when creating the plan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 2:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Get Help&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Creating a whole business plan all on your own probably wouldn't be the wisest decision, as you may completely miss out on some very important areas. Thus, it is advisable to get help when creating your business plan. You may consider hiring an outside consultant to observe things much like you did in step 1. After they've done this, the two of you can go over what you've found and start developing solutions to any problems that exist.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 3:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Solutions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next, you need to look at the problems you have found with your current business strategy and think of ways to solve them. Again, you may want to consult with an outside consultant in order to see the most efficient solutions for your problems. This step is probably the most crucial of all the steps in developing a business plan, as a good business plan solves existing problems. Make sure you take your time and really see what to do to fix any problems your business may have.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 4:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Putting It All Together&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You know the problems and have the solutions. Now what? Well, it's time to begin actually writing your plan. You're going to want to start by spelling out the problems faced by your business and then writing the solution to each. Then you may want to delve further into your business by sharing the goals you have for the business over the next year (*hint* Yearly business plans are essential. Don't just write a new business plan every few years, do it every year!). If you haven't already, create this list of goals and incorporate it into the plan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 5:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Finalizing It&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After you've written your "rough draft" of the business plan, it's time to take it to those in your business. For this, you may want to set up a meeting with all your employees or as many of them as you can include where you go over the plan and ask for suggestions. You can think of this as a "peer review" session, much like you might have in a college English class. Having this meeting allows you to gage the compatibility of your plan with your employees. If there are no major differences between your employees and the plan, you can finalize it now and put it into action. If there are major differences, you simply need to do some revision. Then hold another meeting and hopefully finalize it then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About the Author:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bestbuyuniforms.com/"&gt;Work Shirts&lt;/a&gt; - Best Buy Uniforms offers the lowest prices and highest quality work uniforms.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.restaurantuniformsonline.com/"&gt;Formal Wear&lt;/a&gt; - Restaurant Uniforms Online offers restaurant uniforms, chef uniforms, aprons, dress shirts and formal wear.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.uniformscrubsonline.com/"&gt;Nursing Uniforms&lt;/a&gt; - Uniform Scrubs Online offers medical uniforms, nursing scrubs, lab coats, smocks, and tunics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Article Source:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;Bluegrass Solutions Article Directory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-6035214063355175788?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/6035214063355175788/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=6035214063355175788' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/6035214063355175788'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/6035214063355175788'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2007/12/preparing-business-plan.html' title='Preparing a Business Plan'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-6183414380867365671</id><published>2007-10-08T21:29:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-08T21:35:52.807-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='AWF'/><title type='text'>BLOG's - They Are Here to Stay!</title><content type='html'>&lt;em&gt;"Whether you love 'em, hate 'em or simply ignore 'em, it seems that the reality is that blogs are here to stay."&lt;/em&gt; - Appalachian Writers Forum &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No longer are they restricted to personal online journals published for friends and family. Blogs have become big business and are used a good bit in big business to enhance the companies that run them. There are quite a few blogs out there netting in the millions of dollars every year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This phenomenon just seems to keep snow-balling and picking up speed. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;a href="http://www.appalachianwritersforum.com"&gt;Appalachian Writers Forum &lt;/a&gt;site, for example, is affiliated with 5 blog sites; all inter-linked and mutually supportive of one another. Of course, the goals of this site and those blogs is not to make money except through residual advertising to offset the time and expense of running them. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The potential is there and limitless, however, to make a killing through this medium of communication. Where else can you publically market, sell, ship and deliver your wares to a world-wide market with virtually no overhead? For about $300/year you can run a large variety of web sites, blogs and e-commerce sites that reach a global market. If you can reach and sell to 1/10,000th of that market, you will be living pretty high up on the hog. All from the privacy of your home or off your mobile laptop. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are probably as many marketing strategies to build a successful blog as there are blogs. The Internet is rife with sites that do nothing but teach you how to be a better, more successful blogger. I have reviewed several hundred of these sites and I have found what I believe to be the common core secret to them all. It's so simple and obvious that a lot of people just overlook it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;People don't visit blogs to look at all the pretty colors and flashing lights or hear the bells ring and whistles blow. They come because they are in search of content; the meat and potatoes.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Imagine, if you will, a fine five-star restaurant you have stumbled upon. They have had a cancellation and usher you in to be seated right away. Pretty good so far, eh? A whole staff of servants waits on you and flutters about while you wait on your menu. It finally arrives in the hands of a smiling server and you open it and are immediately perplexed! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It only offers one thing: &lt;strong&gt;PB&amp;J Sandwich - $40.00 ($50 w/chips and a drink). &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My guess is you would lose whatever appetite you had and let your feet do the talking as you headed for the door! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Blogs, or any other website for that matter, need to offer up the 'meat and potatoes' if they want return customers. And the way you do that is by offering a variety of fine, delectable treats that they can't wait to be served - each and every visit. To sell something to anyone, you first have to get them inside your shop. Window dressing may catch their eye and get them to peep inside, but if they view empty shelves and cobwebs, chances are they will never be back again. You failed to offer the incentive to return. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If there is one truth in the business world, it is this:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;"It is often very hard to gain customers, but it's almost impossible to get them back once you've lost them."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Content. That is the secret thread that holds all successful online sites together. It is no easy task writing good, effective web content, but it can be done with a little study and good practices. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wish you every success in building a successful blog, if you choose to do so. You can join in discussions on this topic at the link provided below if you would like. Blogging is the wave of the future in all manner of commerce, whether you are selling a product, service or even yourself (as a writer). Something to think about. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.appalachianwritersforum.com"&gt;Appalachian Writers Forum &lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Copyright © 2007 Appalachian Writers Forum&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-6183414380867365671?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/6183414380867365671/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=6183414380867365671' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/6183414380867365671'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/6183414380867365671'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2007/10/blogs-they-are-here-to-stay.html' title='BLOG&apos;s - They Are Here to Stay!'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-392039891536152971</id><published>2007-10-03T20:48:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-03T21:02:59.536-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='article directories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='article marketing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='viral marketing'/><title type='text'>Busy, Busy, Busy!</title><content type='html'>We have been extremely busy over at Bluegrass Solutions the past week or so and much good has come of it, too. We are moving right along with our website and hope to have it up and running strong by the end of the month. I'll keep you posted on that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Probably our biggest acheivement over the last week has been the development of an article directory where publishers and webmasters from all over the Internet can come and pick-up free content for their websites, ezines, newsletters and what have you. The best part of it, from a writer's standpoint, is that you can get your work circulated web-wide this way and all with a link back to your website or blog. It's free to submit your articles to the site as well. &lt;a href="http://www.articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;Come by and check it out &lt;/a&gt;if you have a few minutes and learn more about the world of article marketing and the viral marketing craze.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you are thinking about writing some articles or content or need to find someone to do it for you, I would suggest that you visit our &lt;a href="http://www.appalachianwritersforum.com"&gt;Writer's Forum &lt;/a&gt;for some information and direction. Like everything around here, it's free too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hope to have the time this weekend to catch up here and get you some articles of interest posted, until then,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mike&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-392039891536152971?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/392039891536152971/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=392039891536152971' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/392039891536152971'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/392039891536152971'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2007/10/busy-busy-busy.html' title='Busy, Busy, Busy!'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-8508422629887890411</id><published>2007-09-25T08:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-09-25T09:21:50.371-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='writing for the internet'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='writing good articles'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='writing good content'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='web content'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='capturing target audience'/><title type='text'>What Every Writer MUST Accomplish</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Capturing Your Target Audience&lt;/b&gt; by &lt;a href=http://www.articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org/profile/Mike-Lawson/1&gt;Mike Lawson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Four Simple Rules That Will Guarantee Success&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's often a hard task in this Information Age to catch the eye of your target audience. If you are fortunate enough to accomplish that much, then you have really achieved something. Whether it's a catchy title, artwork, photograph or a banner on the Web, it really doesn't matter. The bottom line is that it did the job. You got them to look at your material. But what now?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Statistics show that you have about fifteen seconds to lock their attention in with your content or you lose them. How does your target audience respond to your material? Does your content draw them in and catch their interest? Or do they look at it for several seconds, lay it down and go on to next available source of information? Is your web content SEO compatible? Is your keyword word/phrase density the right mix that lets your target audience find your web page via a search engine without being redundant in the body of the text? Is the next click of their mouse to another page on your site or back to the search engine window? All of these are legitimate concerns for anyone in the business of producing content.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The written word is a wondrous thing, but it is absolutely useless if the target audience doesn't read it! The most articulate piece ever written is not effective if it is cumbersome, inaccurate and difficult to find or presented too late. But there is a simple solution:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;*Capture your target audience and don't let them go until you are through with them!*&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sounds pretty straightforward and simple enough, right? And it is simple. But never allow yourself to fall into thinking that simple means easy. Picking up a shovel and digging a hole is simple, but seldom easy. The way to capture your target audience is by presenting them with content that they want and need to read. To achieve that end, your content must meet four criteria:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Be competent&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Be concise&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Be accurate&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Be on time&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be competent:&lt;/strong&gt; Content must be well organized, informative and grammatically correct if it is to hold the interest of your target audience. Sentences should come together to form paragraphs that flow into each other as the pages are filled. Content format must match the media being used to convey it; i.e. Internet content should meet density standards for keywords and be SEO compatible, resumes and cover letters should follow accepted formats, articles and essays should contain an introduction, body of text and a conclusion, etc.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be concise:&lt;/strong&gt; Filling your content with unnecessary text can be, and often is, a drop-dead deal breaker for many in your target audience. Many readers simply don't have the time or patience to wade through the muck for a tidbit of content. Others become bored if the pace moves along like pond water. Either way, you have failed. And in this game, second place is just the first loser.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be accurate:&lt;/strong&gt; No information at all is better than incorrect information. If you hope to win the confidence of your target audience, then you must be accurate in your presentation of the material. Even when writing fiction, you must convince the reader that you know what you are talking about. That your are credible. Never lie to your audience; they will know. The whole thrust of your efforts is to win the trust of your target audience and to be trusted you must be trustworthy. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be on time:&lt;/strong&gt; There is not much need to submit your proposal the day after bidding closes or your article after the copy has gone to bed. One thing you can be sure of; the two people less understanding than a college professor about late papers, are employers and customers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whether you are writing a report for your employer, a college term paper, a piece for publication or just for fun, I believe you will be well served to follow these four simple rules. Your ultimate objective should be content that is competent, concise, accurate and on time. If you do these simple things then you will have gone a long way towards capturing that all too elusive target audience.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Mike Lawson is a freelance writer and webmaster of numerous business and writing sites. To learn more about writing good, effective articles, blogs or content visit &lt;a href="http://www.appalachianwritersforum.com"&gt;Appalachian Writers Forum&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;Bluegrass Solutions&lt;/a&gt; websites.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br&gt;Article Source: &lt;a href="http://www.articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;Bluegrass Solutions Article Directory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-8508422629887890411?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/8508422629887890411/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=8508422629887890411' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/8508422629887890411'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/8508422629887890411'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2007/09/what-every-writer-must-accomplish.html' title='What Every Writer MUST Accomplish'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121542734372860209.post-6133894505491836724</id><published>2007-09-25T07:26:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-09-25T08:48:04.939-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='welcome'/><title type='text'>Welcome to Bluegrass Solutions</title><content type='html'>Hello,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My name is Mike Lawson and I am President/CEO of Bluegrass Solutions; a freelance writing and article distribution service located in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. You can learn more about our services by visiting our website, &lt;a href="http://www.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;Bluegrass Solutions&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Are you in need of high-quality articles or content for your website, ezine, newsletter, emailer or blog? Do you write articles and need to get them distributed to publishers, editors and webmasters? Visit our &lt;a href="http://www.articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org"&gt;Article Directory&lt;/a&gt;. We feature articles from the top writers of web content on the Internet. Best of all, it's absolutely FREE! &lt;a href="http://www.articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org/signup.php"&gt;Sign up&lt;/a&gt; for your free account today or go &lt;a href="http://www.articledirectory.bluegrasssolutions.org/learnmore.php"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; to learn more about our directory.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This ezine will feature cutting edge information on writing and distributing your articles across the Internet, industry news and current marketing trends. Also featured will be various sources of information about online businesses and how to successfully drive them to the top. Please be sure to check out the RSS feeds from excellent sources in Internet marketing, technologies and services.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Look around, enjoy your visit and come back often.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yours,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mike Lawson&lt;br /&gt;Bluegrass Solutions&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5121542734372860209-6133894505491836724?l=articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/feeds/6133894505491836724/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5121542734372860209&amp;postID=6133894505491836724' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/6133894505491836724'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5121542734372860209/posts/default/6133894505491836724'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://articledirectorybgs.blogspot.com/2007/09/welcome-to-bluegrass-solutions.html' title='Welcome to Bluegrass Solutions'/><author><name>Mike</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='00203142070095617283'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry></feed>