How a Poster Makes a Box Office Hit

How a Poster Makes a Box Office Hit

by: Julian Yale

A filmmaker creates a film for different purposes: some for money, others for charity, and others for the fulfillment of their childhood dream that one day, they will be able to create a movie. But there is always one thing common for every given reason making it to the box office.

But what makes all the difference? POSTERS. Advertising your movie through posters will definitely create a major effect to the result of your movie being a boxoffice hit. The reason is that posters attract attention. And attention makes the market respond. Posters are great media tools to share and introduce your film to the public.

A movie poster is not just a standard paper stuck to a board. An effective movie poster uses a totally different, visual language. It is one big showandtell medium. It expresses your points in graphical terms. It avoids visual chaos, with many jagged edges or varioussized boards that distract the viewer. Instead, it guides the viewer by using a visual logic, with a hierarchical structure that emphasizes the main points.

It displays the essential contentthe messagesin the title, main headings and graphics. It indicates the relative importance of elements graphically: each main point is stated in large typeface headings; details are subordinated visually, using smaller typeface. The main headings explain the points, rather than merely stating ‘resultsก and letting the viewer hunt foror worse, inventthe message within.

And the beauty of it all, because of its size, all elements, such as the figure legends, are visible from even four feet away. With larger prints, images are more visible even from miles away.

However, it is a fact that there are those that catch your attention immediately, and still those that do not at all. Thus, having posters does not assure a box office hit. You should remember that there are some principles in making a good poster that sells.

Promoting a movie through posters should always have the marketing objective. Take for example the poster of the 2003 animate movie กFinding Nemoก. Posters like these stir up a lot of attention for the younger audience since they are the target market. It communicates well to the kids and thus encourages the parents to go and watch the movie with their kids. Such is the effect of a poster making it to the box office.

กOcean’s Twelveก, the sequel of the 2001 hit, กOcean’s Elevenก, would not have made it to box office if not for the promotional merchandise like the movie poster. What makes this poster different is the highlight of the actors and actresses involved in the film. This is also a great approach to make the people watch the movie.

Did you ever wonder why the กLord of the Ringsก made it to box office? Aside from the movie trailers being shown on television, posters in movie houses add to heighten the interest of the moviegoers.

Different people react to different situations. Similarly, different people make different reactions to a poster. Your objective should then be to generate attention enough to encourage and tickle your target marketกs curiosity from the posters you have created for your movie. In order for your movie to make it to the box office, your posters should be able to draw attention and interest.

About The Author

Julian Yale

For comments and questions about the article and the author you may contact The Large Format Posters Moderator at 888 888 4211 or visit http://www.largeformatposters.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 20

by Julian Yale

How to Grab Attention with your Headlines

How to Grab Attention with your Headlines

by: Charlie Cook

Youกve got just a few seconds to grab your prospectsก attention, spark their interest and motivate them to keep reading whether they’re looking at your web site, your letter or your brochure. Headlines are the first thing your prospects read. Four out of five people determine whether they keep reading to learn about your products and services on the basis of your headline.

Do your headlines capture your prospectsก attention or do they confuse them and send them away?

Are your headlines prompting prospects to learn about your products and services or click to another web site or throw away your letter?

Avoid the three following headline mistakes.

Don’t Emphasize Obscure Company Names

Most small businesses and many not so small businesses names aren’t household words. Unless your name is among the top ten most recognized brands such as, Craftsman, Waterford, Rolls Royce, the Discovery Channel, WD40 or Crayola there is a very good chance people won’t associate your company name with anything.

Have you ever visited a web site or read a print ad where the companyกs name covered the top part of the page and it was something like, กPharos Partnersก? Unless the name of your company describes what you do, it is not going to grab prospectsก attention. Move it to the side and make room for a creative headline.

Avoid Welcome Statements

On many web sites the first line you read is, กWelcome to our Siteก. There is a reason you don’t see these in print ads. Welcome statements are a waste of time in marketing materials; they do little to help prospects understand what you do.

Delete Vague Descriptions and Statements

Statements like, กOur purpose is to connect you with information and resources to achieve your maximum potentialก, could apply to a number of different professions. It could refer to a cooking school, a management consultant or an eldercare program.

Are you wasting valuable space where your headline goes to feature a company name that doesn’t describe what you do?

Does your headline include กbusiness speakก terms your children or motherinlaw can’t explain?

Is your description of product and services specific or is it so generic that it could apply to other types of businesses?

Does your headline focus on the selling points that distinguish your products and services from the competitions?

Writing Headlines that Get Your Prospectsก Attention

People look at web sites the same way they look at magazine ads. They scan the page quickly to see if the product or service is something they want. On the web or in a marketing brochure, if you capture their interest, theyกll keep reading.

The best way to do this is to give them a clear idea of the problems your products or services can solve and/or the benefits you provide. Use a few carefully selected words such as:

Leverage your expertise to attract a steady stream of clients

Reliable Office Supplies, free next day delivery.

Inhome sports training for exercise enthusiasts

Web and print design that helps your business grow

Costa Rica Travel, Unique offthebeaten track tours to jungles and beaches

Your page headline should communicate clearly what you offer clients, which problems you solve and the benefits you provide. Do your headlines:

Clarify what you do?

Describe the problems you solve?

Define whom you do it for?

Explain the benefits?

Emphasis a key selling point?

Compel your prospects to keep reading?

Imagine that you worked at an exercise facility and wanted to attract clients for your massage business. Here are some possible headlines you might use for your flyer and associated critiques.

George Jenkins Massage

(Itกs your name but so what)

Are You Bothered By Back Pain

(Better, it defines the problem)

7 Ways to Get Instant Back Pain Relief

(Defines the problem and a solution)

How Computer Users Can Banish Back Pain in One Hour

(Defines who your target market is, the problem and the benefit)

Grab your prospects attention in the first few seconds with your headline. Then follow with compelling copy that clarifies the value of your products and services and youกll generate many more sales.

2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

About The Author

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Guide, ก7 Steps to Grow Your Businessก and the กMore Businessก newsletter, full of practical tips you can use at http://www.charliecook.net

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 22, 2004

by Charlie Cook

The Critical Importance of Good Web Graphics to In

The Critical Importance of Good Web Graphics to Internet Marketing Profits

by: Ross Storey

There’s an old saying: ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, but this hardly applies to the science of designing web graphics. Everybody judges web sites by their ‘cover’ or home page, have no doubt. Is your site giving out a professional, visual aura, or is it telling visitors that you built it yourself, because of bad design?

Ask yourself: Of the many thousands of web pages trying to sell you something, which are the ones that keep your interest? Which ones have convinced you to depart with your hardearned cash?

If you are honest, you will say the ones with the most attractive and professional graphics – the pretty pictures. Human nature determines that what catches your eye, and is pleasing to view, keeps your attention. Subconsciously or not, you make a judgment within seconds, on how professional is the website you are viewing. If the appearance of a site is amateurish, the owner can kiss goodbye to any potential buyers bothering to purchase.

Visual appeal is critical. Sure, current thinking is that you should focus more on the content, than on the pretty ‘bells and whistles’ for your website, but you must have professionallooking graphics. Like branding a business, your web site graphics, headers, footers, buttons etc. should all be in the same theme, the same colour scheme and consistent design.

If you want proof of the importance of this consistency, check out the ‘livery’ (a fancy word for the logos, design, colours and badgeing) of corporate giants like Microsoft and Nike. Most people in the western world know the Nike ‘tick’ logo instantly, almost as well as they know the slogan ‘Just Do it’. And the Microsoft logo and colour set must be the most familiar visual environment on the planet. Want to bet that Bill Gates’ people spent many millions on developing this set. In today’s digital publishing world, you can’t see the ‘bits’ and bytes’ so digital products must be represented by pretty ‘boxes’ and with carefully matched colour schemes for their sales sites. That’s why web designers produce those very familiar eBook covers and Program boxes, with the shadows and reflection effects.

Why do you think that hard copy book publishers make sure their covers are in well matched colours, and have good pictures and dramatic fonts?

Why do you think that so much work goes in to covers for videos and DVDs in your local video hire store? In the visual flak of such a store, there are hundreds of covers competing for attention, visually asking you to hire them. Check out your newsagent and see what effort magazine publishers put into the design of their front covers.

One the web, there are many millions of sites clamouring for attention.

And, despite the vast number of programs now available, like Adobe PhotoShop, and Jasc PaintShop Pro, good design is hardly a DIY skill. It requires creativity, expertise and, most importantly, time. This is why web designers, and their close cousins, banner, header and footer designers, can charge up to $50 for one good web page header, and more for a complete set. You’ll notice that there are many schools and colleges offering courses and degrees in design, so it’s not something that you will be able to pick up without study. So there’s the dilemma. You need good design, you’ll probably have to pay for it, but doing so will likely pay dividends.

About The Author

Ross Storey [email protected] is a completely bald (it’s fashionable), 52yearold public relations and marketing consultant who has been involved in web marketing and design for more than a decade.

http://bestprographics.zapz.biz

http://www.quokkaSoft.com

(Please feel free to publish this article, so long as you keep this resource section complete)

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 03

by Ross Storey

How To Get Your Clientsก Attention

How To Get Your Clientsก Attention

by: Alan Matthews

ข Sorry, I was miles away ข.

How many times have you said that?

It happened to me just the other day. I was walking down the High Street, thinking about the things I needed to do ( go to the bank, buy some milk… ) and trying to decide whether to treat myself to a sausage roll for lunch ( this is a fascinating glimpse into my daily life, isn’t it? )

Anyway, I was lost in a world of my own.

I was vaguely aware of people around me. I could hear voices but I wasn’t taking in anything they were saying. I assumed they weren’t talking to me so it didn’t matter. I was so involved in my own thoughts that I didn’t realise that someone was trying to get my attention.

I gradually became aware of a voice right next to me saying, ข Alan…ALAN…ALAN!! ข

Eventually the voice broke through my daydream and I realised it was a friend of mine standing next to me. I don’t know how long he had been calling my name but, from the look on his face, it had taken him a while to get me to hear him.

What does this have to do with the price of fish, you may ask?

Well, it occurs to me that this situation is marketing in a nutshell.

My friend was having the same problem we all have when we try to attract the attention of potential clients. Most of the time, they’re just like I was the other day, lost in their own thoughts, oblivious to most of the messages we’re trying to get across to them.

If we’re speaking, they may be vaguely aware of our voices but, for the most part, we’re just part of the background noise. They assume we’re not speaking to them so they don’t have to listen.

Unfortunately, most business owners don’t seem to realise this. For example, take networking events. So many people seem to think that, just because a person’s eyes are open, they must be listening. They go on and on about themselves and what they do, completely ignoring the fact that the other person is far away in their own little world. Nothing they say actually gets into the consciousness of the person they’re talking to.

If you want to get someone’s attention, you need to break into their reverie and make them listen. You need to stop them in their tracks, smack them between the eyes, interrupt their train of thought.

Think back to the day when I was walking down the street. How did my friend get my attention ( eventually )? By saying my name over and over until I realised that he was talking to me. How does this apply to marketing? Well, you need to make sure that anyone you’re speaking to ( or writing for if it’s a letter, brochure or website ) knows that you’re talking to them specifically. You need to break through the background noise so they hear you.

You can’t use their name, unless you have some weird sort of business that only applies to people called Kevin or Angela. But you can identify them in other ways. You can identify their situation, the problems they have, the way they’re feeling, the thoughts going through their heads. And the more closely you identify these things, the more likely you are to get their attention.

One way you can do this is by using rhetorical questions. These are really powerful for two reasons. Firstly, they force people to respond in their heads. It’s hard to ignore a question, we’re programmed to answer. That’s why so many public speakers use them to engage their audiences.

Secondly, they identify the people you’re talking to. For example:

ข Are you a solo professional, running your own business with no – one else to help you? Do you seem to spend more and more time every week on admin and less doing what you really want? Are you getting frustrated by the amount of time you’re losing, submerged under paperwork? Do you wish there was some way you could break out from it and spend your time doing what you’re best at? ข

This approach can break into a person’s thoughts because it taps into them. If you get it right, it’s like saying, ข Is this who you are? Is this what you’re thinking? Is this how you feel about things? ข As the person hears the questions, he thinks, ข Yes, yes, yes, that’s me, that’s exactly how I feel! ข

Not only does this get people’s attention, but it also shows that you understand them perfectly. That can have a tremendous impact. It immediately gives you credibility.

Of course, you do have to get it right. If you ask the wrong questions, you’ll miss the mark and the person you want to speak to will think, ข No that’s not me ข and they’ll switch off again.

This depends on how well you’ve identified your target market and how thoroughly you’ve thought through their problems and concerns.

So, have a look at any written material you use for marketing. Think about what you say when you talk to people at networking events. And make sure you have a message and a delivery that will really get the attention of the people you want to speak to.

Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your time talking about your business when all they’re thinking about is sausage rolls!

About The Author

Alan Matthews is a Marketing Coach, Trainer and Speaker. He helps business owners to prepare and deliver a clear, compelling marketing message to get more clients with less effort. To receive his free report, ก Why Isn’t This Working? How To Get People Interested In your Business ก email mailto:[email protected]

Alan Matthews

email: mailto:[email protected]

website: http://www.trainofthought.org.uk

This article was posted on February 07

by Alan Matthews

How To Write Email Messages For Phenomenal Result

How To Write Email Messages For Phenomenal Results

by: Ewen Chia

Would you be interested in getting 10 times better results from your current email marketing campaigns?
While the above is a hypothetical figure, it sure got your attention didn’t it…
Though most successful marketers use email marketing as an incomegenerator, only the ultra successful are truly maximizing their profits with it.
What sets them apart? And more importantly, how can you create profitpulling solo emails that put thousands more into your bank account fast?
It’s no rocket science. You’ve basically got to get your readers excited and give them a reason to respond quickly.
There IS a simple formula to achieve this. It’s nothing revolutionary, in fact it’s…
..the same darn formula for writing good copy!
Look, if you want to experience increased sales from all your email promotions, start writing your solos based on the ageold formula known as…
..AIDA!
The basics of copywriting must be applied anywhere words are used to gather responses, especially in your emails.
Here’s a quick look at how you can structure your messages using AIDA as a guide:
1. A Attention
Create subject lines that get your emails opened. Think of this as the headline of your ad as any good copywriter would tell you.
Grab the attention of your rea.ders by using curosity, fear, happiness etc.
An example : ขHave you heard about…ข
Heard about what? They’ll want to find out…
Extend such attentiongrabbers to the first sentence or paragraph of your message body to encourage further reading…
2. I Interest
Once you’ve got their attention, it’s time to get them interested in your message.
An easy way to do this is to simply highlight or ‘create a problem’ they may be experiencing. This puts them on alert and peaks their interest.
For instance, you could highlight the pains of how getting hundreds of spams daily could affect their business, and how there’re no good solutions in sight…
3. D Desire
The ‘desire’ section of your message is where you introduce your proposed ‘solution’ to the problem stated.
Fact is, people need solutions to problems. To be an ultrasuccessful email marketer, your job is simply to give them what they want!
4. A Action
Getting your rea.ders to take positive action, to act on your message, is probably the most important part of your entire campaign.
But a high response rate is only possible if you’ve created the flow of Attention, Interest and Desire successfully.
To encourage immediate action, you should tie a specific deadline or give ‘scarcity’ to the solution you’re offering. For example, a 40% discount for the next 2 days only. Let them know that if they miss this dea.dline, the discount would end and they would have to pay a higher price for the same solution.
Hereกs another tip to squeeze more mileage from all your email promotions: http://tinyurl.com/2soof
Use the AIDA formula today in all your email campaigns, you’ll love the phenomenal results and extra profits from doing so!
Copyright 2004 Ewen Chia

About The Author

Ewen Chia is a successful information publisher and Internet marketer who spits out marketing secrets with fiery passion! Learn how you can instantly get more traffic, sales and increase your profits by visting his various websites here:

http://www.MarketingMakeMoney.com

http://www.InstantMarketingSecrets.com

http://www.MarketingEbookReview.com

This article was posted on May 16, 2004

by Ewen Chia

Writing Powerful Effective Solo Ads

Writing Powerful Effective Solo Ads

by: Steven Boaze

Everybody wants to make more money… In fact, most people would like to hit upon something that makes them fabulously rich! And seemingly, one of the easiest roads to the fulfillment of these dreams of wealth is writing effective solo ads and using them correctly

The only thing is, hardly anyone gives much real thought to the basic ingredient of selling by email the writing of profitable solo ads. If your online business is to succeed, then you must acquire the expertise of writing solo ads that sell your product or services!

So what makes a solo ad good or bad? First of all, it must appeal to the reader, and as such, it must say exactly what you want it to say. Secondly, it has to say what it says in the least possible number of words in order to keep your operating costs within your budget. And thirdly, it has to produce the desired results whether inquiries or sales.

Grabbing the readerกs attention is your first objective. You must assume the reader is กscanningก the page on which your ad appears in the company of two or three hundred solo ads. Therefore, there has to be something about your ad that causes them to stop scanning and look at yours! So, the first two or three words of your ad are of the utmost importance and deserve your careful consideration. Most surveys show that words or phrases that quickly involve the reader, tend to be the best attentiongrabbers. Such words as: FREE… WIN… MAKE BIG MONEY…

Whatever words you use as attentiongrabbers, to start your ads, you should bear in mind that theyกll be competing with similar attentiongrabbers of the other ads on the same page. Therefore, in addition to your lead words, your ad must quickly go on to promise or state further benefits to the reader.

In the language of professional copywriters, youกve grabbed the attention of your prospect, and interested them with something that even they can do.

The next rule of good solo ad copywriting has to do with the arousal of the readerกs desire to get in on your offer. In a great many instances, this rule is bypassed, and it appears, this is the real reason that an ad doesn’t pull according to the expectations of the advertiser.

Think about it youกve got your readerกs attention; youกve told them itกs easy and simple; and you’re about to ask them to do something. Unless you take the time to further กwant your offer,ก your ad is going to only half turn them on. theyกll compare your ad with the others that have grabbed their attention and finally decide upon the one that interests them the most.

What Iกm saying is that here is the place for you to insert that magic word กguaranteedก or some other such word or phrase. So now, weกve got an ad that reads: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. Guaranteed!

Now the reader is turned on, and in their mind, can’t lose. You’re ready to ask for their money. This is the กdemand for actionก part of your ad. This is the part where you want to use such words as:

Limited offer Act now! Write today! Only and/or just… Putting it all together, then your ad might read something like this: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. Guaranteed! Limited offer. Send $l to:

These are the ingredients of any good solo ad Attention Interest Desire Action… Without these four ingredients skillfully integrated into your ad, chances are your ad will just กlie thereก and not do anything but cost you money. What i have just shown you is a basic solo ad. Although such an ad could be placed in any leading publication and would pull a good response, itกs known as a กblind adก and would pull inquiries and responses from a whole spectrum of people reading the publication in which it appeared. In other words, from as many ‘timewastersก as from bona fide buyers.

To give you an example of the kind of solo ad you might want to use, say to sell a report such as this one… Using all the rules of basic advertising copywriting, and stating exactly what our product is, our ad reads thusly:

MONEYMAKERกS SECRETS! How To Write winning solo ads. Simple & easy to learn should double or triple your responses. Rush $1 to BC Sales, 10 Main Anytown, va 75001.

The point i am making is that:

Youกve got to grab the readerกs attention…

Youกve got to กinterest themก with something that appeals to them…

Youกve got to กfurther stimulateก him with something (catchphrase) that makes them กdesireก the product or service…

Demand that he act immediately…

Thereกs no point in being tricky or clever. Just adhere to the basics and your profits will increase accordingly. One of the best ways of learning to write good solo ads is to study the other solo ads out there try to figure out exactly what they’re attempting to sell and then practice rewriting them according to the rules Iกve just given you. Whenever you sit down to write a solo ad, always write it all out write down everything you want to say and then go back over it, crossing out words, and refining your phraseology.

Generally speaking, readers respond more often to solo ads that include a name than to those showing just initials or an address only. However, because advertising costs are based upon the number of words, or the amount of space your solo ad uses, the use of some names in solo ads could become quite expensive. If i were to ask our ad respondents to write to or send their money to The Research Writers & Publishers Association, or to Book Business Mart, or even to Money Makerกs Opportunity Digest, my advertising costs would be prohibitive. Thus we shorten our name Researchers or MoneyMakers. The point here is to think relative to the placement costs of your solo ad, and to shorten excessively long names.

The important thing is to know the rules of profitable solo ad writing, and to follow them. Hold your costs in line. once your solo ad is written, now is the time to use it wisely know the basics…grab their attention… the rest is up to you.

About The Author

Steven Boaze (Chairman) is The Owner of The Corporate Headquarters Boaze.com Which houses and controls four companies (Web Development Technology www.webdevelopmenttechnology.com) (Boaze Publishing www.boazepublishing.biz) (Business Marketing Guide www.businessmarketingguide.com) (Ezine Remedy www.ezineremedy.com). Steven is also the author of กHidden Secrets To Business Marketingก Ebook along with numerous articles on Marketing and Advertising published by Boaze Publishing. Copyright © 19982003 Boaze.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 23, 2003

by Steven Boaze

Attention Grabbing Web Design Will Kill Your Sale!

Attention Grabbing Web Design Will Kill Your Sale!

by: Per Strandberg

In the ofline marketing world it is all about trying to get the attention of the potential consumer to a commercial message.

The primary goal is to get noticed by the public.

It doesn’t matter if it is for radio, TV, magazines, newspapers or posters.

It all comes down to getting noticed.

On the Web this doesn’t work!

The reason for this is that on the web, the net surfer is actively searching and looking for information from this gigantic data repository and database that we call the Internet.

They are scanning and reading text on web sites and they are mostly blind to graphics and pictures.

In the ofline world the potential target is mostly passive and experience ads in a state of relaxation among other stimulations. Here you must scream out your message to market your product or service.

Offline people are passive!

On the Web people are active!

What does this mean for your web site?

For one thing, when anyone visits your web site, you at that moment already have their full attention. So, there is no need to get visual attention to attract your visitors.

They are on your site, already!

But, you normally have their full attention only until they have decided if your site is what they are looking for or not.

If your site is not what they are looking for or they don’t understand that your site is what they are looking for they quickly leave your site, never to return.

The time between they arrive at your site and decide to stay or leave is very short.

Normally around 10 seconds!

If you use flash or large graphics, which take to long to load, most people leave without figuring out what your site is about. The attention span on the Net is short!

The web surfers don’t look at graphic so much as they are reading the information you present.

When they arrive you need to keep their attention and inform them about what your site is all about and describe its benefits.

You need to keep their attention, but not by an attention grabbing web design!

Instead, use attention grabbing text!

The most important attention grabbing text is the headline!

The headline will break it or make it!

Does this mean that the web design can look sloppy or amateurish?

No!

It just means that the design of a site should not be made with extensive graphics or flash presentation. This will just confuse and take to long time to download.

If you make a clean and easy navigational web site you are much better off!

Yet, what one see on the Internet is to often sites with advanced web design that to often leave you asking what its all about and what its creators are thinking!

If website owners and webmasters concentrated much more of their effort on text information and less on design they would see much better response from their potential customers.

There is no need to hire a web designer and pay them several 1000 of dollars to make a site attractive and to make it commercially viable.

In most cases this is contraproductive.

The web designer often will kill your sale by creating attention grabbing web design.

Instead, put your effort on the text information on your site!

About The Author

Per Strandberg is a software designer and web site maker! He has a web site which offer data backup information at http://www.databackupandstorage.com. Visit his site with web traffic generating tips at http://www.catchtraffic.com

This article was posted on February 09, 2004

by Per Strandberg

Software Companies, Don’t Sabotage Your LongTerm

Software Companies, Don’t Sabotage Your LongTerm Success!

by: V. Berba Velasco Jr., Ph.D.

Over the years, I’ve paid a lot of attention to how companies recruit computer programmers. During that time, I’ve noticed how managers frequently make hiring decisions that seem to make sense in the short term, but which result in longterm chaos. I’ve seen the kind of havoc that this can wreak, and how devastating it can be to the company’s future.

I’d like to say a few words about that today.

The companies that I’ve observed typically pay attention matters such as industry backgrounds, years of experience, and so forth. They want to know what types of projects the applicants have worked on, which compilers and operating systems they’re familiar with, which communication protocols and software packages they’ve used, and so forth. Many also want to know about the employee’s work ethic and personality, but in the end, the hiring decisions frequently boil down to the employee’s work experience and how much training that person would require.

All of those are important, sensible considerations. As I observed these companies though, I noticed that most of them—about 80% or more—paid little or no attention to whether the applicant had a clean, readable programming style. They were deeply concerned about whether the applicant could get the job done, and didn’t seem to care much about whether their software could be easily understood and modified by others, years down the road.

To some extent, this is understandable. After all, the immediate goal of most companies is to develop working products that they can sell. What many forget, however, is that they are supposed to be marathoners, not sprinters. They need to think more in terms of finishing the entire race, and less in terms of achieving shortterm victories.

It also betrays a certain naivete about the immediate damage that can result from poor programming style. After all, even the best software is rarely bugfree. A programmer who writes clean, legible software will be able to debug his own work more reliably than someone who writes patchwork code. The latter may arguably provide fixes more quickly (and even that’s debatable!), but the results will be unreliable—and when time is short, that’s a luxury which companies cannot afford.

Employers should also remember that good programming style is not something that’s easily taught. Any competent programmer can learn the mechanics of language syntax and function calls; however, someone who understands little about the artistry of structured programming or proper object orientation is unlikely to master these things on the job. I’ve seen this happen (or rather, fail to happen) time and again. This, despite the abundance of books and journals which discuss this matter at great length.

I also think that companies should pay greater attention to the prospective employee’s technical writing skills; after all, external documentation (e.g. user manuals, design documentation) can be critical to the software’s maintainability. Besides, in my experience, programmers who write well in English are more likely to write software too. And why not? Programming languages are ultimately just that—languages. Someone who can express himself well in English is more likely to communicate clearly and effectively in his source code as well.

For these reasons, I urge any company that’s hiring a programmer to ask incisive questions about an applicant’s coding style. How does he name his variables? How many lines of code should a function occupy? Does he use global variables, and if so, when? What kinds of books has he read on programming style? Ideally, companies should also ask for samples of an applicant’s source code and technical documentation, to verify that these lessons are put into practice. This takes a little extra effort, but it can help a company avoid sacrificing longterm success for the sake of dubious shortterm gains.

About The Author

V. Berba Velasco Jr., Ph.D. is a senior electrical and software engineer at Cellular Technology Ltd (http://www.immunospot.com, http://www.elispotanalyzers.de, http://www.elispot.cn) where he serves with great pride. He has seen how proper attention to software usability, maintainability and elegance can spell the difference between mediocre products and great ones.

This article was posted on October 29, 2004

by V. Berba Velasco Jr., Ph.D.

Creating A Quality Web Site Design!

Creating A Quality Web Site Design!

by: Martin Lemieux

In this article, I will attempt to cover the basics of creating a great quality web design template for your site. Now itกs a known fact that the layout or กeye candyก as I put it will determine whether your visitors will stay more than 15 seconds or they will just become another statistic.

Thatกs right, if you don’t catch your visitors attention right away, statistics shows us that your visitors will come and go within 15 seconds or less.

That doesn’t leave you with a lot of time to grab someoneกs attention!

Some of you may be asking yourself:

Well why does this happen????

See when you think about it, 15 seconds to the กbrowsing eyeก is like an eternity. In other words, it takes about 15 seconds for the average person to browse your main page and determine whether they will explore your site further!

So with that being said;

How do we grab your visitors attention????

Every new client of mine is asked to perform the same tasks. I ask them to explore their competitor’s web sites and look for specific triggers that would make them want to click on or buy right away. More times than none, my clients will notice specific กHeadlinesก or กGraphicsก that really peek their interest. In doing this, youกll have 1st hand knowledge on what you expect your visitors will see and possibly expect themselves.

Step 2, Iกll ask my clients to do one more process just like the previous one. Iกll ask them to make a list of all the กeye candyก that really caught their attention and write me a little note as to why it caught their attention. In doing this, it will give your web designer a 1st hand knowledge on what to implement within your site!!!

With these great tasks, youกve made your job and the job of your web designer a lot easier to target your audience.

Sites that sell กWeb Site Templatesก :

You may have seen some sites that sell your the right for a specific ‘template Styleก. There are 100กs of resources out there. I need to clarify something for you, these templates are targeted at web designers only!!! Reason being, the files that you receive will no doubt require some expensive and time consuming software just to open them.

Now being a designer, I’m not about to กknockก premade templates but thereกs a couple of things you may want to consider:

1) Although the templates you may encounter are very impressive, you will be sharing your layout template with 100กs, maybe 1000กs of other sites. The reason why they are so cheat is because those กspecific templatesก are sold and resold as much as possible!

2) Iกve noticed that many template examples out there on the web are extremely กGraphic Drivenก. This will result in กslow loading timesก. Iกm sure weกve all come across a site that seemed to take FOREVER to load!! How long did you actually wait for the site to load????

The best way to get a template is to have someone professional design your web site layout for you! This will ensure that your template is uniquely designed for your business. It will be easier for you to make changes in the future. Typically, a template may cost you between $0$500 depending on the intensity and added features!

Now, weกve talked about กSlow loading pagesก. Iกve found a good กnormก to stick with when it comes to size and speed: Web sites are compiled of 2 elements:

1) Graphics & Layouts

2) Programming & Pages

Both of them require memory from your computer when downloading them. If one or the other is too large then this may result in negative results for your visitors.

Hereกs a good norm to stick with, either you or your web designer should stick with these specs:

1) Graphic Design Layout: Should be no more than: 3050K in size

2) Programming Pages: Shouldn’t be more than: 1030k in size

Giving your entire web page no more than 40k80k in size. Anything drastically more will result in the loss of many visitors from slow downloading pages.

Animation: Last but not least, making กsomeก aspects of you page stand out by adding small size animations. PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT overkill your site with graphics and animation!!! I can’t stress this enough, your visitors will most likely get a head ache from it and won’t be coming back very soon.

Instead, try targeting specific promotions or services you wish to attract your visitors to right away! Many sites exchange กanimated bannersก with other sites to exchange traffic. I personally NEVER take part in adding ANY banners on my site. I honestly feel that banners only take away from the design, not add to it! A typical กBanner Dimensionsก is 468px x 60px. There are many other sizes!

What I will usually take part in, if any, is smaller, more unique banners that are geared to complimenting an article or text with it. This is much more effective because study shows us that กContent (text)ก accompanied by a กgraphic imageก is more likely to be read by our visitors than just text on its own.

That about raps it up to having an effective web site template. Please look for my กcontinuedก issues related to this article.

About The Author

Martin R. Lemieux

President

Smartads Information Centre

Advertising, Marketing Resources & Web Design

http://www.smartads.info

Webmasters Playground

Webmaster Awards & Web Design Resources

http://www.flyinggelatingames.com

In partnership with www.xlinternet.com we bring you: The Web Clinic

http://www.thewebclinic.com

Search Engine Tools & Promotion!

WANT TO REPRINT THIS ARTICLE ?

You may use this article on your site as is but you MUST send me a note [email protected] Thank You!

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 06, 2003

by Martin Lemieux

5 Reasons Why Headlines Are Crucial To Your Websit

5 Reasons Why Headlines Are Crucial To Your Website’s Success

by: Robert Boduch

Without a powerful headline, your message stands little chance of being noticed in an increasingly competitive marketplace. If your headline doesn’t capture attention and pull prospects into your sales copy, than your marketing effort is a total waste of energy and resources.

Nothing is more important to getting your message noticed than your headlines. If you’re not allocating a sizable percentage of your time and creative effort to the headline used on each page of your website, you could be losing out on a large chunk of business.

Top copywriters understand this concept well. They know how essential it is to capture attention by literally stopping preoccupied prospects in their tracks.

Here are five good reasons why your site headlines deserve greater emphasis and attention:

1) Headlines Are Natural Attention Getters. The majority of online prospects are quick scanners. No one reads the body copy of a page without first reading and being pulled in by the headline. Headlines are the first thing your visitors see. They jump out visually and command attention. Headlines are leads set distinctly above the rest of the text. Often the typeface, size, and style used for headlines contrasts with that uses in the body copy. It’s a proven approach that naturally attracts eyeballs, virtually forcing interested prospects to grasp the message of the headline and to read on.

According to advertising legend David Ogilvy, 5 times more people read headlines than body copy. Although Ogilvy was talking about print advertising in general, the observation is certainly applicable to websites as well.

With 5 times the readership, headlines have the power and capability to make any message many times more successful.

2) Site Headlines Serve As Valuable Guides To The Busy Surfer. Headlines reveal key details. They tip off readers as to what follows. They provide clear signals to help readers decide whether they should stick around for the full message, or dash off to something else – something better suited to their own special needs and interests.

As a quick summary of the entire piece, headlines either attract continued interest and readership, or they repel it. Without a headline, the reader is forced to wade through a portion of the text to understand the meaning. Forcing readers to do this is to risk losing them altogether. It’s sales suicide. In effect, having no headline will cost you at least 80% of your potential audience.

3) Headlines Prepare The Reader For What Is To Come. Headlines stimulate interest. They captivate, arouse curiosity and stimulate the desire for more. It’s the headline that starts the reader’s motor running. A good headline sets up a feeling of expectation as the reader anticipates discovering more and can’t wait to get it!

Successful headlines address specific audiences. They open prospects minds to new possibilities and expand their level of enthusiasm and interest. The best headlines involve prospects, virtually guaranteeing their sustained attention for the time being.

4) Headlines Simplify The Learning Curve. Every headline serves to introduce whatever follows. As an opening or leadin, the role of the headline is to succinctly communicate the essence of the message it precedes in a n interesting and compelling way.

Effective headlines and subheadings reveal key bits of information often with the added power of emotion. A review of the various headings alone can often provide one with the gist of a given message. This makes it faster and easier to understand, remember, and review.

Use your headings to generate emotional involvement and you increase the chances prospects will go back and read more of your copy. When you make it easier to read and comprehend your messages, you increase the chances of making the sale.

5) Headlines Allow You To Deliver Your Biggest Bang Right UpFront. Capture attention and interest at the outset, by using your most appealing selling point. If your strongest, most desirable product attribute (benefit) fails to pull prospects in, surely nothing else you could ever say would do the trick, either.

The stronger and more compelling your headline, the more readers are likely to read on and spend more time at your website. Create every headline to grab attention and inspire interest. The more alluring and irresistible you can make it, the more genuine prospects you’ll attract and ultimately, the more sales you’ll record. Headlines are powerful marketing tools when used effectively. Take a good look at your site headline. Could you add more intrigue, curiosity, or interest?

Test different headlines by trying various appeals and offer combinations. Keep an eye out for additional headline opportunities throughout your sales letters, as well as on other pages on your site. Make your headlines impossible to miss and difficult to ignore… then, watch your results soar!

About The Author

Robert Boduch is the author of Great Headlines Instantly! How To Write Powerful, AttentionGrabbing Headlines That Pull In More Prospects, More Customers And More Profits, NOW! This fulllength manual features hundreds of helpful tips, techniques, strategies and handson formulas for writing successful headlines of every kind.

Visit the author’s site at: http://www.headlinesecrets.com

Or email him at: [email protected]

This article was posted on May 25, 2002

by Robert Boduch

Can your Powerpoint Presentation Rival TV Advertis

Can your Powerpoint Presentation Rival TV Advertising?

by: Sean DกSouza

Do you ever wonder why some PowerPoint Presentations are so much better than others? Why do some have amazing powers of persuasion, while others simply bore you to death? TV commercials use these marketing strategies to hold and fascinate their viewers. You can too, if you follow these tried and proven techniques.

Step 1: Kaboom Them Into Waking Up!

Ever noticed how most presentations start with, กWelcome to this presentation…blah, blah, blah.ก You don’t see too many TV ads do that. They slam into you at a zillion miles an hour and make sure you’re paying attention.

So How Do YOU Do That When You Don’t Have A Moving Picture?

The trick is to start with something thatกs totally disconnected with the presentation. For instance, you could be selling cars yet you could start with, กOne day in heaven…ก That’s a good wake up call for an audience that’s half asleep.

You’re selling cars aren’t you? What has heaven got to do with cars? The dissonance of the idea has forced their attention. Now that youกve got their attention, you’ve got to gently massage your message into it. For example, you could simply suggest that God created man, woman, and then gave them a car.

And that is only the start.

Step 2: Always Tell A Story

Did you see Titanic, directed by James Cameron? Couldn’t you tell that story with reasonable accuracy? Most people can. All our movie and great TV commercials are in a story format.

Do the same with your presentation. Think it through. Build up a story first, then work your presentation into it. It will not only give your presentation some focus (and storyline), but will make it easier for your audience to remember the sequence of what you’re saying. For instance, where are Adam and Eve going in the car? Did they have a breakdown? How well does the airconditioning work as they drive through the desert?

Step 3: Use Suspense, Not Mystery

Alfred Hitchcock was a master of suspense. He told you who the murderer was right at the start. So you and every one in the audience knew who was going to kill whom. Everyone in the theatre knew, except the hero (or heroine), who was going to get killed.

And that drove you crazy.

How could they be so dumb? You all knew who the killer was. Why couldn’t the hero see it? Thatกs what kept you riveted to the screen the whole 90 minutes. If you establish the characters in your presentation early and work in an element of suspense, you can keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Step 4: Don’t Bore Them with Your Solutions. Bring Up the Problem!

Most communication harps languidly around solutions. You don’t want to do that.

Look around you. People are obsessed with problems. They don’t walk around all excited and happy. Most people walk around with their heads in their hands. When you bring up their particular problem they snap out of their slumber in a mighty hurry, and pay attention to what you’re saying.

What you need to do first is bring up that problem and bring it up in all its glory! Paint a gory picture. You might want to read my article: Is your solution your biggest problem? Only after you have made them feel the pain, should you bring out the solution. The best TV commercials always make you feel the pain.

As they say, ขNo pain, no gain.ข Learn that, and use it.

Step 5: Reduce Risk

Why do people say, ขI’d like to think about it?ข The only reason is because you haven’t reduced the risk to minus fifty. While there is risk, my brain is still doing a RAM check. If there is no risk, I’ve got nothing to lose.

So, how can you reduce risk? TV ads give money back guarantees, trial periods, free test drives. Surely you can be more imaginative than some ad guy.

Get that risk down low, like a limbo rocker. How low can you go?

Step 6: Let Your Audience Know They’re Not Guinea Pigs

Hey! If youกve got a product to sell, and you’re not using testimonials, you’re missing out big time. Even if the product is yet to be launched, you can have prelaunch tests. It all builds up expectations for your final pitch.

This is also another form of risk reduction. If someone else has used your product or service and fallen in love with it, you need to go into the nitty gritty of that love story.

Step 7: Close the #@US$%*&^ Sale!

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen a wonderful presentation that takes me to cloud nine, and leaves me there wondering, how Iกm going to get back to earth.

You’ve got to close the sale! Every presentation should end with a call to action and decision on the clientกs part. There are a zillion books and tapes on closing a sale out there. Brian Tracy has some amazing audio tapes on Winning Closing Techniques (www.nightingale.com). Learn from the pros, and turn a la dee dah presentation into a full blooded sale!

Step 8: Bring on a Quirky Finale!

Every movie and every ad does it. They wrap it up in a way you never expect.

Thereกs nothing worse than building up expectations, answering all the questions, and then having a weak ending. Your end has to be like lightning unexpected, brief and brilliant! It will ensure that your product or service (or quarterly report for that matter) gets maximum attention.

Otherwise you’re just making a point with no power!

About The Author

Sean DกSouza

Wouldn’t you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas onmarketing strategy,psychological tactics and branding. Head down to http://www.psychotactics.com#smallbusinessideas today and judge for yourself.

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 08

by Sean DกSouza

Tricks of the Trade: Design your Booth for Maximum

Tricks of the Trade: Design your Booth for Maximum Impact

by: Patty Stripes

The fight for your customerกs attention at a tradeshow has never been so intense. Budget cutbacks in the travel sector means that buyers spend less time than ever at shows. To make the most of their time, they preplan their agendas and do their best to stick to them. The rules of the game are forever changed.

Since so many buyers are on a tight schedule frequently, they’re only at the show for a day they’re no longer there to window shop or go bargain hunting. The good news is that they’re there to กbuyก the bad news is that if you’re not on their Alist, you may not get the chance to pitch them. But a welldesigned tradeshow booth can change their minds with the right presentation, you can make sure they กseeก you, whether they planned to or not.

Think Outside the Booth

When designing your booth itกs important to think about the impression you make from a distance. Focus on distance viewing first, keeping in mind that at an actual tradeshow, there will lots of distractions between your potential customer and your display. Make sure your lettering is big enough to read from a distance and place it the upper half of your display that people standing in front of the booth won’t block it! Pay special attention to lighting and color as these two features contribute significantly to the overall image you convey.

Whatกs Your Sign?

Nothing is more important than your signage and there are several key elements you should to incorporate it into your design. First, your signกs lettering must be distinguishable from its surroundings. Make sure your text is large enough to be read from a distance and place it over a plain background a textured background can add interest, but it interferes with readability. Itกs not a good tradeoff.

If space is an issue and you don’t have room for lettering as large as youกd like, use lightcolored letters against a dark background. The contrast will make the lettering appear larger and viewers will find it easier to read. Adding a border helps focus attention and helps the viewer read it faster.

Use an accent color to present the information you want your customer to retain. Studies show that the use of a second color for key words increases the readerกs retention of that information by a whopping 78%. Thatกs a huge advantage in your fight to catch the buyerกs eye.

Whatกs your story?

Storyboards have always been an effective tool for conveying the most information in the least amount of time. The tradeshow version of this depicts 10 to 15 photographs of people using your product or service. This is an incredibly powerful way of conveying your message, even if your booth is unattended. The photos give your product a credibility that mere words wouldn’t and ideally, will prompt anyone looking at them to seek out a salesperson to find out more. When selecting the photos to use, be cognizant of the message you want to convey and choose wisely the average viewing time of the entire wall will be around two minutes.

As with anything, a little preparation goes a long way, and this is especially true when it comes to trade shows. But a little กsleight of handก never hurts either. Take advantage of the tricks of the trade to convey your message, and youกll be well on your way to a stand out show.

About The Author

Patty Stripes is an editor for http://www.thetradeshowbooth.com/, an online resource where she has posted various articles including http://www.thetradeshowbooth.com/tradeshowdisplayexhibits.html.

This article was posted on August 06

by Patty Stripes