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Why Every Site Needs RSS

By Andrew J. Morris

RSS or ‘Really Simple Syndication’ is not just for Blogs and News sites. Every website can benefit from this newly popular technology. The term ’syndication’ is what throws a lot of people off the track. Syndication is like news articles, isn’t it?

Well it can be. But think of it like this. If you had a bricks-and-mortar store and decided to carry a new product line, how would you let people know? You could advertise of course, but a better and free alternative is to send a news release to the local paper. Their business section may carry your announcement free of charge.

Now back to our cyber-store in virtual space. If you add a new web page, or make substantial changes to existing pages, how do you let your customers (both former and future) know? You can email your former customers, but spam blocking software will prevent half of them from getting your message. And keeping track of mailing lists, unsubscribe requests and address changes is nothing short of a nightmare.

Instead, post a news release using RSS. Interested customers will have their newsreader programs watching for your announcements, and will get the news as soon as you send it out. The announcement will include a link to the new or changed page, and your customer can click on it if they are interested. True, fewer will click through than might read an email from you — but those who do will arrive at your site in a much more receptive frame of mind. And those email readers still need to click through to your site to see your new page anyhow.

If you make frequent additions or changes to your site you should have your own RSS feed. Check out these sites to learn how to make your own feed:

Making An RSS Feed http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2175271

How To Get Your Web Site Content Syndicated http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com/How_To_Get_Your_Web_Sit e_Content_Syndicated.htm

Or you might want to try these programs to format your information, so you can post it to your website:

ListGarden RSS Feed Generator Program Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux, open source http://www.softwaregarden.com/products/listgarden/index.html

RSS Headliner Create RSS Feed file on-line to copy and post to your site. http://www.webdevtips.com/webdevtips/codegen/rss.shtml

But what if you don’t often make changes or additions to your site? There is a new site that offers a solution to that problem. Shared RSS provides feed by TOPIC rather than publisher. So you simply post your message in the appropriate topic category (there are thousands to choose from) and share your feed with others publishing on the same topic. It is a free service that you certainly should use if you do not publish your own feed.

http://www.sharedrss.com/

Wouldn’t that mean (I can hear someone object) that I would be sharing a feed with my competition? Well yes, but that isn’t a bad thing. It’s like all those antique stores that congregate in the same part of town — shoppers flock there and wander store to store, to the benefit of all.

Don’t kid yourself, customers already know about your competition. For every customer of yours who visits their sites because they found an RSS link on your site, you will receive one, two or three visits from potential customers who found your information on an RSS link they discovered on your competitors site, or in a catalog of RSS feeds. The benefit far outweighs the risk.

And RSS feeds are not just for business. If other sites submit to the shared feed they will bring with them more people interested in that topic, who may become your future customers.

No, RSS is not just for Blogs anymore! Start your own or submit to a shared feed, either way you can only benefit.

After battling the sea for nine years, it’s time to move on.
That’s what I told myself when I first stepped ashore to search
for a land job. The decision was not made on the spur of a
moment but after much thought and soul searching.

While I was working aboard ship, many of us talked about working
ashore some day. I heard people saying they were quitting and
then much later, I would find them on another ship. My conclusion
– many have tried to quit, but very few have succeeded.

Whenever I see older seamen on my ship, I feel a bit of pity for
them. I can feel their frustrations. And I know exactly what they
will face over the coming six to nine months.

They will face the rigors of the sea and extreme climatic
conditions, such as huge waves, strong winds, icy cold and hot
weather, the boredom and loneliness when nothing much happens,
seasickness and insomnia when encountering heavy weather for weeks
on end, and of course, missing the home and the family as well as
missing out on the many other things that a normal life can offer.

But it’s not really a bad life at all if you are still young. It’s
a life that can offer many exciting experiences and adventures, a
lot of traveling, and sightseeing in places that can be far off
the normal tourist routes. It can be a very satisfying experience.
I still have fond memories of my experiences while working on
board ship.

When I first started sailing, I collected souvenirs from all the
countries that I visited. After a while, these started collecting
dust and I had to get rid of them. Furthermore, I found that some
of these souvenirs were actually made in other countries.

That made me decide to take photographs as my souvenirs. I now have
almost 3,000 colour slides of my travels.

What can I do with these? Well, some of the images have been
accepted by a stock photo agency, but this is just a small portion
of my collection.

I was seriously into photography at that time and even bought an
expensive SLR camera with a set of interchangeable lenses so that I
could take good quality photographs. I even sold a few photographs
to some magazines during that time.

When I realised that my photographs were being published to support
articles in the magazines, I started to take up writing.

After that my articles were published in the local newspapers and
magazines. But that was a very long time ago when computers were
practically unknown.

Even after I quit the sea, my experiencees on board ship made a
lasting impression on me. I still wanted to explore new places. I
was fascinated by computers when they made their debut in 1987.
These had the 80286 processor, I remember.

A colleague taught me how to use the Lotus 1-2-3 software and I was
delighted with what I could do with it. I was able to created graphs
with this WYSIWYG program.

But computers were expensive and not very affordable at that time. I
still had to hammer on the keys of my trusty portable typewriter to
produce any work.

I moved on to other jobs later, but my fascination with computers
continued. Being an engineer, I was very much interested in creating
engineering piping diagrams. I learned to do AutoCAD drawings that
were very much better than the ones I had to do during my college
days with pencil, T-square, eraser and paper.

Later on when I was introduced to the Internet, my interest
practically shot right through the ceiling. There was so much
information available. At about that time, I decided to build a boat
for myself. (It was a dream that I had been keeping in my head since
the time I took up sailing during my college days.) So I began to
search the Internet and discovered how other people built boats. The
whole project took about three months of research and manual labour.

The result was a custom-built kayak that was carefully crafted for
speed, manoeuvrability, portability, and durability. And specially
built to suit my weight and the length of my legs.

I had experienced the power of the Internet. And I love it.

Being trained in marine engineering enables me to be flexible in
using technology or any other tools available in order to get the
job done. You see, when working on board a ship, we were expected to
make do with whatever materials were available to solve problems.
There were no contractors that you could call in to help, in the
middle of the ocean.

Anyway, I later decided to learn web designing. I found this quite
interesting. And once I delved into web designing, many other subjects
also caught my attention. Search engine optimisation, designing for
fast loading, html language, marketing, affiliation, advertisements,
writing effective sales copy, etc, just crept up along the way.

I even made my own website about marine engineering at
http://www.free-marine.com

Then I stumbled into e-books and e-zines. I found some of these very
interesting, and I started to mess around with them. Eventually, I
produced my first e-book. That’s how “Sign Off — A Guide to Career
Success on Shore” got started. Anyone can download it for free at http://www.free-marine.com/exseaman.htm

Now I am into self-publishing and I can publish whatever I want. I
shall not receive piles and piles of rejection slips anymore. As an
author-publisher, I can also design my own illustrations and layout
in whatever way I think best, and most important of all, I don’t
have to spend money on printing, paper, binding and whatever else.

I can also pass around my e-book to people in the form of downloads
and e-mail attachments or even CDs. Unlike webpages, people don’t
even have to be online in order to read my book. I believe that we
are in this world to be a blessing to others. Whatever experiences
that I have gone through need not be wasted but can be used to help
somebody somewhere. That’s why I wrote my e-book.

Also, being involved in a 34-week “Becoming Disciples through Bible
Study” programme for the past three years, I have come to realise
that by giving we receive. I have even made a website on that at http://disciplespenang.tripod.com

With that in mind, I searched through the memory bank in my brain,
and also my notes, and found that I have many things to share with
people. After going through many years of working experiences on
land, I think it is worthwhile to share some of the experiences I
have with those who are contemplating switching jobs.

Just like the photographs that are gathering dust in my home, these
experiences should not stay in my memory or storeroom and be lost
forever. I should leave something behind to benefit future
generations. So I quickly got my stuff together and started writing
the e-book. It took me about three months of free time to complete.

Most of the visitors have an interest in life on board ship, but
the e-book I wrote is about working ashore. So that makes the
information relevant to anyone else too.

E-books have the potential to spread marketing messages to potential
buyers. They can also be instruction manuals for users, for
displaying products as catalogues, for publicising services, and a
thousand other uses. The outcome of any tool depends on the one who
wields it. It only takes a good writer with a flair for IT,
marketing concepts and visual communications copywriting and design
to make it work.

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About the Author

Many years of working experience in Marine, Facilities,
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More information at Marine and M & E

If you are having problems thinking up a subject to write about or wondering how to express it, just think of the last time you had a lively conversation with a friend. You were comfortable, you were natural, you were inspired and you were satisfied with the experience. Now, conjure up this friend in your mind and think of something that has been on your mind, and imagine yourself directing it toward that friend. This is the model you can always refer to when you are in a block.

The reason it is so easy to talk to friends is because we feel accepted ahead of time, so we can focus more energy on the subject itself instead of the presentation. You can always go back over the words you write down while using this technique, and correct the grammar later. The important thing is that you were unfettered sufficiently to put out an entire concept and come to a conclusion. It is a process which requires a continuity of energy. We learn what we have to say as we say it.

If you enjoy making conversation with people, you probably already are in the habit of sounding off to imaginary listeners. It is the way we choose what words to use which will help us understand even our very own thinking. It defines what we want to say. Once we have a clear path for what is to be expressed, the momentum alone will carry through to the finished thought process, and then all that remains is to go over the mechanical aspects of the writing.

What recurring observation has been present for most of your life? What is your reaction to the things you hear on the news, or read about in magazines. Where has your analytical mind taken you regarding a number of topics? What makes you mad. What are you interested in researching. The time has never been better, with the internet, to instantly access and learn about anything we choose.

When we write fiction, there are rules about showing the reader instead of telling, and so it is necessary to create a metaphor to communicate any idea. With non fiction, we can just get right in there and tell it like it is. It is a liberation for us, and a reinforcement to ourselves of who we are. Think of a friend, think of something that is or was on your mind, take up the keyboard and talk to that person. You will surprise yourself. Hey, at least no one is going to disagree with you.

Olga Moe, age 59, lives on an island in the Puget Sound. She is recognized mainly for her contributions to literary e-zines but recently has begun writing articles as well. http://zelda253.tripod.com

If you are a professional writer or public speaker perhaps you might consider discussing or writing about hurricanes, as they make great writing material and help illustrate a point during public speaking. Many a public speaker will dramatize a hurricane disaster in order to make a point about perseverance, commitment or an inspirational point of contention.

Many great writers have hurricanes and hurricane stories woven in to their literary works. Have you consider ways to use hurricanes to make your writing or public speaking material better or to help you bond with your audience or to illustrate a point that you wish to make in your presentation? If you haven’t perhaps you should.

If a hurricane named storm creates a huge amount of destruction and devastation then it does become a popular topic of that time period. The literary works of famous American authors of the past often have hurricane stories in them or mention of them.

In keeping with this tradition of honoring Mother Nature’s incredible force and how it impacts human society and human civilization, it behooves you as a writer or a speaker to continue this tradition, as it will work well for your audience and readers. Please consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

“…Life is a gift. I don’t think anybody will argue on that with me. But after it’s given no one can take it away and it becomes the responsibility of the creator. Can a human be responsible enough to give life? If we look around we’ll see a lot of families where parents gave life to “new people”. And not only had they given life to them but really showed responsibility… So it’s all about responsibility…” – these were my first thoughts after I read Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.

Victor Frankenstein’s parents were very much in love with each other, and for the first five years of his life he was their only child. They gave him life and filled his days with immense love and gentleness. It is him who says “…they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love to bestow them on me…”(p.24). They thought that his future “was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery”(p.29). It even seems that they felt like they owed something to him because he appeared into this world: “… With this deep consciousness of what they owed towards the being to which they had given life, added to the active spirit of tenderness that animated both, it may be imagined that while during every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self control, I was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me…”(p.67). “…We felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our lot according to their caprice, but the agents and creators of all the many delights which we enjoyed…”(p.75)- this quote shows exactly the way Victor Frankenstein grew up. Victor Frankenstein had a childhood full of love. But is love by itself the only ingredient of the recipe of becoming a decent man? Shouldn’t parents give their children lessons about what is right or wrong, morality and so on? This is one of the questions Marry Shelley raises in her book.

It’s strange how his mother introduces Elizabeth into their house. She believes her to be a “pretty present for my Victor” and, of course, little Victor took it as it really was like that: “…she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally, and looked upon Elizabeth as mine-mine to protect, love, and cherish…”(p.95). This moment was very important and basically was one of the things that led to the future outcome for it was the moment when he learned to take a living being as his property. And it wasn’t only that. He also learned superiority. Later on Frankenstein gets taken away by “thirst of knowledge”: “…My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned, not towards childish pursuits, but to an eager desire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately…”(p.115). He starts studying Cornelius Agrippa and begins following the wrong path. And what do his parents do with it? They continue enormously loving Victor, but don’t even take a chance to explain to him that the principles of the works he’s studying “had been entirely exploded”.

Looks like they didn’t even take a little notice about what he was doing. They just “loved” him. Victor Frankenstein himself came to the conclusion that if his father cared enough to explain him the uselessness of everything he did: “…It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin…” (p.104). He was self-taught, which is strange for children and in the first place – dangerous. Frankenstein’s life was cloudless, until his dear mother died after she saved Elizabeth from a severe illness. “My mother was dead, but we had still duties which we ought to perform; we must continue our course with the rest, and learn to think ourselves fortunate, whilst one remains whom the spoiler has not sized…”(p.119). Though he did talk about pain, but mostly it was the understanding that he won’t be ever able to see her, whom he saw every day of his life.

He left to study to Ingolstadt, and there, after he discovered that everything he learned before was of no use anymore, he started his studies all over again. Later he gets to the moment when he learned everything he could owe himself and his tutors. “… more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation…”(p.127).This was the moment to make this words come true. He decided to try to create life by scientific methods. He isolated himself from his tutors, family, and his friend and worked all on his own. He never stopped for he believed he will achieve his goal. “…After days and nights of incredible labor and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter…”(p.141). Before starting talking about the main point of the novel – the creation of the Creature, it’s interesting to sum up what kind of person was Victor Frankenstein back then.

What were his personal qualities at the moment he brought his creature to life? He was a selfish kid of his parents, an obsessive child. He was not mature, though he was intelligent in a scientific kind of way. He was a person who grew up without guidance, who didn’t know what’s wrong or right, a person who got used to feel superior. He grew up in the world of science, all isolated from real life. His parent made an enormous mistake by bringing him up the way they did. I consider these to be the main reasons he wasn’t ready to take full responsibility for what he did. Finally his work was done, and the creature he wanted to be the master was alive. But what he felt terrified him: “… I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart…”(p.161). He got scared with what he created. He spent so much time creating it, and at the moment the Creature came to life he realized that he didn’t know what he is supposed to do with it. And he did a thing that all little children do when they get scared – he ran away. There’s no need to prove his immaturity by any other deed. It is just enough! Frankenstein left his creature. What he saw in it was : “he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.”(p.169)

But think about the Creature… Did it know it was ugly? Did it really have cruel intensions towards its creator? It was still pure inside. All he did was he came into this world, or I should better say he was brought to life and the first thing he met with was rejection. How would it feel for any living being to be rejected? Afterwards, when Victor Frankenstein came back to his apartment and found out the Creature had escaped he “clapped his hands for joy”. So easy just to forget about something that needs to be solved. Out of sight – out of mind.

And what about the Creature? It got rejected by everybody, his master, by townspeople… and he didn’t even understand why. It suffered a lot, it was lonely and nobody even cared about it. He was guilty of nothing! Frankenstein forgets about what happened until the desperate, lonely living being he created kills his little brother William. The Creature follows Frankenstein and begs for a mate and companion. Everything the Creature asked for was somebody to love. But the only thing he gets – are words that hurt even more than silence: “…Devil … do you dare approach me? … Be gone, vile insect! Or rather, stay that I may trample you to dust! … Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! you reproach me with your creation; come on then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed.”(p.182) Frankenstein destroyed all the good feelings that the “miserable creature” had inside and his own life turns to misery too. Victor decides that the best answer to the Creature and his only reason for living in this world would be revenge. essays in 24 hours

But let us stop right here. Life is a gift! Who dares to take it away? Victor brought his creature to life, didn’t even care enough to give it a name and even more that that – he hated it. But can we accuse the Creature in anything? The only thing it did was it just appeared into this world and didn’t get any sympathy at all. It was unhappy. It just was Victor’s toy! But doesn’t that sound familiar… Wasn’t Victor a toy of his parents, too? Can we blame him for not knowing what it is to be responsible? If his parents would’ve taught him that and supported it with their own example things would’ve been different. Seems life Victor is a creature, too, a creature of his parents. Mary Shelley gave us an impressive example of how important is parenting and some mistakes can have terrible consequences. A life – is not a toy to play with! buy essay

I won’t dare to call neither Victor Frankenstein nor the Creature a real monster. They are just victims. Victor is the victim of the mistakes his parents did, and the Creature is a victim of Victor’s ill perception of reality. It’s like an iceberg – we see only the top, yet the biggest part of it stays under the water. The top is Victor’s creating a monster that killed all his dearly loved people and what we see under the water – is real reason of things. What I would really like to call a monster is the people’s blindness. Blindness to mistakes, to the pain of other people, even to love. What I learned from this book is that things are not always the way they appear to be. And what seems terrifying may turn out to be just the pain of someone’s heart. Just like Frankenstein, just like his creature…

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Nearly all of us have it in us to write even thou we have never written and have never thought we could-ALEX F. OSBORN
Writing can do much to train imagination and help individuals to earn money as a part time job or full time business.

To become a freelance writer you need inspiration,you have to be innovative, creative, enlightened and well organized. Here are five tips to help you become a freelance writer-

(1)Read-reading gives your imagination some thing to feed on, it enables you to be well enlightened.

(2)Write a lot-practice all the time so that your writing skills can be well developed. Train your self to have multiple writing styles. Write articles on various topics and develop confidence in your skills.

(3)Proof read-take time to read your articles to correct mistakes in spelling and so on.

(4)Market your self-tell people that you are a freelance writer, talk to your business associates, tell your formal and current employees, inform every business owner in your community, tell your family, friends and neighbours.

(5)Run your business-manage your time and paper work effectively and efficiently. Reply to all enquiries within 48 hours, make sure there is effective communication between you and clients. use these tips as your guide to becoming a freelance writer. surveys have shown that a huge percentage of people are trying to writer for money. For every person that hits the jackpot in writing and accumulate richies, there are at least 30 or 40 who make comfortable incomes. I wish you success in your freelance writing career.

Victor Okhueleigbe is a freelance writer/ghost writer. He has years of experience, a passion for clear and effective writing, enthusiasm for projects, he is commited to communication and prompt.

I want to relate a story of a presentation I gave recently to an audience of over 200 people.

The night before the presentation I had the thought that I should at least have the bare bones of my talk down so that I wouldn’t feel like I would stumble once I got into it.

The more I pondered this however I began to feel a strange sense of discomfort inside. As I reflected on the feelings I realized that the outline I had drafted for myself felt too rigid and constraining.

Now let me make something perfectly clear. It’s not as if I had a complicated outline to follow. All I had written down were 6 main points and how I thought I would present them.

So why was I feeling this way? Well it was largely because I couldn’t possibly know what the flow of the presentation would be until I was right in the middle of it. I knew that if I was too married to something that I “needed” to follow i.e. my outline I would run the risk of appearing too rigid and disconnected from the audience whose attention and participation I wanted to enlist.

So many presentations I have been to over the last 25 years have left me feeling bored, tired and sleepy. This was largely because the presenters were working from such a rigid outline and needed it more to assuage their own anxieties than to energize the audience to the message.

So rather than work on my outline I decided to have a nice relaxed evening and to get up early then next morning and go for a brisk walk. As I did so I allowed myself to reflect on how I wanted to feel as I was presenting my material to the audience.

I saw myself appearing energized, passionate, joyful relaxed and focused. As I did this I began to get myself into what some call “The Zone”. Throughout all of this I wasn’t focusing much on “what” I was going to say.

When I later arrived at the room where I was to present I just relaxed and got a feel of the energy in the room. As I did so I was flooded with the same positive feelings as well as preliminary thoughts of how I would begin my talk.

As I started I allowed myself to relax and feel the flow of the audience’s interest as well as the opening up of my heart as it guided me through the right channels.

It was only by allowing myself to relax into this experience that was emerging from within and added to by the people around me that I was able to know how to proceed.

You see, there was absolutely no way I could have predicted or prepared for that moment until I was in it.

The trick was “being in the moment” so that I could intuitively, and I must emphasize, effortlessly convey what was to be conveyed.

After the talk I realized that it had come off extremely well as I was held over for more than an hour for questions afterwards.

So what I’m trying to say is that a speech is more than simply about preparation it’s about being in the moment with you heart, your intuition, and the audience.

Unfortunately the anxiety that most public speakers experience makes it impossible for all this to occur.

What’s more, some public speaking coaches advocate that preparation will diminish the anxiety. In my view it only gives the speaker a false sense of security. They may feel secure as they “hang on to” their outline while they are losing the audience along the way.

In the last 10 years I have perfected a new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) (MRP) that allows individuals to tune into and surrender themselves to this immense intuitive inner wisdom.

MRP has allowed hundreds of individuals express their views in successful presentations in ways they could only have dreamed of before.

If you would like to unleash this ability in yourself then kindly visit the web link below and join one of my public speaking teleclasses or arrange an introductory consultation.

Dr. Nick Arrizza is trained in Chemical Engineering, Business Management & Leadership, Medicine and Psychiatry. He is an Energy Psychiatrist, Healer, Key Note Speaker,Editor of a New Ezine Called “Spirituality And Science” (which is requesting high quality article submissions) Author of “Esteem for the Self: A Manual for Personal Transformation” (available in ebook format on his web site), Stress Management Coach, Peak Performance Coach & Energy Medicine Researcher, Specializes in Life and Executive Performance Coaching, is the Developer of a powerful new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) that helps build physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being by helping to permanently release negative beliefs, emotions, perceptions and memories. He holds live workshops, international telephone coaching sessions and international teleconference workshops on Physical. Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Well Being.

Web Site: http://www.telecoaching4u.com/PublicSpeaking.htm

A survey of America revealed that people are more frightened of speaking in public than of dying!

How incredible is that? To be more frightened of talking to a few people than of having your life ended.

It’s particularly surprising when you realise just how easily you can overcome your fear of public speaking. Using a program such as Unlimited Confidence can teach you tools to overcome this fear and be able to speak out when you need to.

When you talk about public speaking, people instantly think of standing on a stage in front of a huge audience presenting a lecture. However, public speaking is much more than just that. It could giving a speech at a wedding, doing a presentation at work, speaking out in a meeting, or for a club or society you belong to.

Being able to speak in public will help you to feel better about yourself and can help you get ahead in your career too. If you think about it, as you get higher up the ladder in your career, so you find you have to talk to more people and present; so this level of confidence becomes even more important.

This fear manifests physically before having to speak. It starts off as an anxiety, and then becomes a dry mouth, trembling muscles, rapid breathing, and a need to run to the bathroom. In worst cases it can involve sheer panic and the desire to run away.

So how can you get rid of this fear and feel more comfortable with speaking in front of people?

Firstly, you can practise. The more you do something the more confidence and comfortable you become doing it. You can join a group such as Toastmasters International which allows you to develop your communication and leadership skills. You can also volunteer to speak in front of any group of people too.

The Unlimited Confidence course teaches you some valuable tools to help you become more confident not only speaking in public, but in any situation. You will learn how to

* Instantly boost your confidence in seconds without anyone knowing what you are doing

* Learn how to use body language to convey confidence

* Discover how you can attach confidence to absolutely anything

* And many more practical and effective techniques

You will also learn in this course how to use mental rehearsal to program yourself for more confidence, and this can be applied very easily to public speaking. You probably currently run a mental movie of you falling on your face and embarrassing yourself when you speak in front of a group. If instead of running that movie you saw yourself speaking really well, the audience enjoying it and you get applauded at the end, what do you think would happen?

Of course, I am sure you could think of a number of different areas of your life you could apply this technique to, couldn’t you?

Speaking in front of people is actually extremely easy with just a few small changes to the way you think – and you never know, you might even enjoy it!

Jason E. Johns is a personal success coach specializing in helping you become more confident and raise your self esteem through an innovative and compassionate approach. Discover how you can become full of confidence at his self confidence website, http://www.UnlimitedConfidence.com

Imagine you’ve inherited the rights to a screenplay. You wouldn’t be alone. In fact, it’s trending — understandable since forty thousand plus screenplays were written per year for the last twenty-five years. It was only a matter of time before they were resuscitated as last bequeaths.

Your imaginary benefactor’s eulogy glorified the dedication, the passion and the sacrifice with which words were capture to the page. Words, which in a unique style, voiced muses, meanderings and observations on life. Words which were this aspiring playwright’s most valued possession. Words which, for whatever reason, you now own!

Every writer has experienced the curse of an untold story. Haunted by one’s own ideas is aggravating enough. But to be reminded of a legacy-in-waiting at every family function is insufferable. What were once whispers of time ill-spent, have gossiped into a responsibility to the family name. ‘It’s a shame to think that the only credits her work earned were in her will’ will shadow you when all you want is more potato salad.

Whichever befits your character, a stoic answer to the call of duty or a dramatic capitulation with arms in the air, be prepared for the onset of reality. Your pen has just written promises it can’t keep. If you’re a writer, time is already rationed amongst personal projects. On the other hand, if you’re ‘narrative challenged’ (as she was) the task is a bit more foreboding.

So . . . who ‘ya gonna call? Ghostwriters!

Don’t dismiss the idea too fast. Appreciate that ghostwriting has been a guiltless yet respectable option for centuries. For as long as there have been speeches, memoirs or sequels, writing has been outsourced. The cultural handiwork of ghosts has not been limited to literature. Music and painting have a history of contributions by ghosts as well.

Does it honestly matter that ‘co-authored by’ or ‘as told to’ appears on the jacket, as long as the story is engaging? Odds are the book is better on account of it.

At the next visit to your favorite online bookstore, make a point to browse the memoirs. Much of the work has been penned on the condition of anonymity. Ask yourself these questions: ‘Do you really think as many were self-written as claimed?’ ‘Is it reasonable to assume that celebrities and sports figures whose success resulted from a lifetime of practice, were suddenly as equally adept at being proficient authors?’ Picking up a scalpel would be beyond belief, so why isn’t a pen?

In the publishing and film industries, ghostwriting is ubiquitous. The Development Editor identifies extensive revisions necessary to make a manuscript marketable. On a larger scale, teams of unnamed professional writers do the same to major Hollywood releases. A script reversed from the finished production would rarely resemble the original.

Don’t let partial notions prevent further consideration of ghostwriting when you cannot do it yourself. If a qualified writer can be found at an acceptable price, is it not worth it to break the curse and free the story?

Assuming the decision to proceed, the next step is to find one. Rather than searching ‘ghostwriter’, post the writing project on a freelance database. The first approach will list services charging $10K to $30K and the project will have to fit into their schedule. The second will return multiple bids ranging from $500 to $1000 from an international wealth of eager writers.

At these rates, your scribe will be scrambling. Consequently, even the most efficient writing can hide serious problems between the lines. It may be bland without inspiration. Characters may be stereotypical or weakly drawn. Backstory and exposition may be information dumps disrupting story flow. The style may be rift with distractions causing the reader to disengage. The potential for flaws is considerable. Therefore, expect to dedicate some time for editorial review. Lean on friends and family to critique it as if it were your own. Use a standardized critique from writing sites or an editorial filtering service.

Before posting a project description, understand the differences between a screenplay and a manuscript. Any screenplay, even one nominated by the Academy is not publishable as a novel. Few people would purchase a copy of a screenplay for a good read.

Other than the directing instructions, the story content of a screenplay is essentially a subset of a manuscript. Both have a hook, characters, dialogue, a problem, a goal, conflicts, a climax, character growth and an ending. In addition to this, the manuscript has narratives which elaborate on the setting, the backstory, the characterization, the action and the emotional depth. Without these, a screenplay is mostly dialogue. In a manuscript, dialogue typically comprises 40% to 60% of content.

Therefore, the project is basically to approach the dialogue of the screenplay like the plotting or the skeleton of the story. To this, narratives consisting of the missing elements are fleshed or layered in.

The project description also has evaluation and promotional components. It is appropriate to request a sample chapter on spec, as well as, a pitch, a synopsis, and a logline.

As the bids trickle in, the evaluation process resembles the role of an H.R. dept. Desirable skill-sets include the abilities to:

- make the author’s words jump off the page in their original voice and style rather than what they personally publish;

- experience and interest in the subject matter;

- package the concept so that an agent can sell it;

- proofread and polish their own work;

- collaborate;

- research;

and of course,
– write.

The ability to negotiate will depend totally on the number of the bids. Concerning quality, there are no guarantees at any price. One tactic, however, can hedge your investment. Try to negotiate a progressive payment agreement. Request to have performance advances released upon remittance of predetermined chapters/pages. If the writing does not meet expectations at pre-established milestones, no commitment to continue will exist.

A second tactic to enhance the caliber of writing is to fully disclose collaboration with the term ‘co-author’. With the ghost’s name on the jacket, more effort will probably be invested. The glory or celebrity given up in exchange is fleeting anyway.

Finally, offer splitting any proceeds 50/50. Few experienced writers will accept projects on spec. If a talented novice does, it may motivate writing as if it were for a bestseller.

The services of a ghostwriter is worth considering whenever a story is trapped in a screenplay and either time or ability is scarce. If the screenplay is your own, don’t leave it until the reading of your own will. Forget about naming beneficiaries because of interest once expressed in your writing. They’re family. They were just being polite. Do it yourself while you’re alive. Let them enjoy the potato salad!

Copyright 2006, Matthew Evans

Matthew Evans hosts http://www.changingmediums.com, a resource for playwrights interested in developing their screenplay further into a manuscript for the purposes of self publishing as a novel. Ghostwriting and freelance databases are examples of the topics discussed in more detail. Matthew reads for the editorial filtering service http://www.4gatekeepers.com.

If you’re reading this article, you’re most likely in the preparatory stages of writing an academic thesis: a substantial academic paper written on an original topic of research, usually presented as one of the final requirements for the Master’s or Ph.D. degree.

It is important to note that an “academic thesis” should not be confused with a “thesis statement”. A thesis statement is “a basic argument” that clearly articulates what the Master’s thesis/dissertation is expected to demonstrate.

One of the initial building blocks to your immense writing project is to prepare a thesis statement: a sentence or paragraph that summarizes the argument you plan to make in your thesis/dissertation, as well as the supportive evidence you plan to use to back up that argument. In short, it provides a “road map” for the reader of where you plan to go with your thesis/dissertation. Most importantly, it must convince the reader that the claim is important to your academic field, and that it is likely to be true based on the evidence provided.

A good thesis statement should:

• Make a knowledge claim that purports to offer a new approach or idea in a particular field, and to explain why it is new. The purpose of any academic thesis/dissertation is to add to the existing pool of knowledge in a particular area, or to “fill in the gaps of knowledge.” As such, your knowledge claim should clearly state why the information/knowledge that you have to offer is new within your field, and should also convince the reader that your claim is likely to be true based on the evidence provided.

• Make an argumentative assertion that summarizes the conclusions you have reached about your topic after reviewing the literature. This assertion should be focused and specific enough to be “proven” within the boundaries of your paper. It should also identify the relationships between the pieces of evidence that you are providing.

• Outline the scope, purpose and direction of your paper. After finishing your thesis statement, the reader should clearly know the essence of your intended project, and also the boundaries you intend to place on it. Your thesis statement should not make the reader expect more than you are prepared to present in your final document.

Keep in mind that your thesis or dissertation topic should address an unresolved problem or knowledge gap in your subject area that needs to be explored and that concerns society as a whole. Your thesis or dissertation topic should be unique in that it should add something new to the existing literature. Merely digging up answers that already exist does nothing to contribute to an academic or professional field of knowledge. Simply put, a thesis or dissertation topic should be based on new knowledge and new solutions to existing problemsnot on simply churning up old answers. However, conducting research on questions that have already been answered is considered part of the literature review and is a useful exercise to find out if someone has already conducted research on your proposed research topic.

About the Author: As a single mother, professor Wendy Y. Carter, Ph.D., completed three masters’ degrees and a PhD. Her motto is a Good Thesis/Dissertation is a Done Thesis/Dissertation. She is the creator of a new innovative interactive resource tool on CDTADA! Thesis and Accomplished. To learn more contact the author at drcarter@tadafinallyfinished.com. Or visit http://www.tadafinallyfinished.com