Publishing Perspectives across Borders

Tips to Recycle Publicity Material

Do not be discouraged if you printed some fliers or brochures for an event and find you cannot use them in the way you wanted for some reason. Recently, a friend had this happen to her. She wanted to promote her newly founded non-profit at a conference she would attend, but received notice she would not be able to do so in the manner expected.

I encouraged her with my ideas to put the fliers to use. Don't let those pieces go to waste, and use the tips below to use your printed matter and promote your business at the same time.

1. Ask the hotel reception, where the conference attendees stay, to put them in their mailboxes.
2. Give one to every person you talk to at the event and let them know about your organization anyway.
3. Hand a flier to all the attendees before or after the smaller discussion groups you may attend at a conference.
4. Leave some on a table which is usually provided for attendees to share information about their organizations or businesses. People always visit those tables for searching for information.
5. Mail them to each individual who gives you their name and address. If possible, mail these before you depart.
6. Of course, your flier will also be in jpeg or gif, so you can email them afterwards to anyone who gives you their email address or an email list.

Remember to always recycle your publicity material as an alternative to wasting your time and money. At the same time, respect your fellow conference attendees or others and do not spam individual people or businesses. Permission marketing is the only ethical way of doing business.

For more ideas on recycling your publicity materials, download this great guide from Duke University: http://www.duke.edu/sustainability/documents/Duke%20Green%20Event%20Planning%20Guide.pdf

Business Commitments & Delivery

The other day I was having a chat with someone about Over Commitment and Under Delivery. The idea that we all have a lot on our plates face each of us daily; but when we are in business, we must ensure to under commit and over deliver on whatever services or products we provide to others.

Over commitment usually warns us that we are trying to do too much, but the under delivery of our commitments will negatively impact our business and people will lose their respect for our work. So, as a business person, be on the lookout to under commit and over deliver which turns into a win-win situation for all parties.

Well, I was blessed just today with over delivery. As kismet will have it, I shared a tip with one of my favorite resource professionals and whose products I also make a point of buying. Peter Bowerman of Well Fed Writer fame never under delivers and that's why I just keep buying and learning and earning.

Since publishing yields me my living, I keep up on the best tips, tricks and tools to help me do my job better and to increase the quality of my craft. So, here are three of the best of the best, who have constantly under committed and over delivered. I guarantee that you will benefit greatly if you read their books, buy their products and receive their newsletters or e-zines.

1. Peter Bowerman, creator of the Well Fed series, and whose collections of work grace my book shelves, must be added to the repertoire of anyone who writes for a living. Visit his website at http://www.wellfedwriter.com to sign up for his newsletter and get a free report, Why Commercial Writing? Other goodies too!
2. Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, expands the thought on publicity, and if you aren't tuned into her work and products, you will miss the boat for great publicity ideas to boost your business. She's another one who over delivers in her services and products. Snap up her offerings at http://www.publicityhound.com.
3. Alexandria Brown, the E-Zine Queen, gives you each step on how to create and produce a great e-zine and, at the same time, shows you how to collect those e-dresses to send your e-zine to. There's a lot more on her website at http://www.ezinequeen.com.

There is no question that if you want to build your business and increase your success, these three people can make a difference in your output today. Sign up now!

And thanks, Peter, for making my day and helping me become a "well-fed" writer.

Résumé Seminar in Kadikoy

I am giving a Résumé Seminar at the Greenhouse Bookstore in Kadikoy, Istanbul, Turkey on 27 May 2006 at 1:30 pm. Learn more below.

Changing Jobs?  Switching Careers?  Don’t Know What to Do???

Find Out in How to Create a Sparkling Résumé!

How much is One Great Résumé Worth?  Need Answers? 

w        What employers look for? 

w        How they screen you out? 

w        How to get selected for an interview?

w        How to create a dynamite résumé?

w        What changes your résumé needs for the most impact?

Imagine one great résumé, lots of interviews!

Join Us to learn the essentials of a résumé and get your questions answered. 

BONUS!  Each participant gets an *Individual Résumé Critique* and a copy of “Remarkable Résumé Solutions for Slashing the Competition: Secrets to a Sparkling Résumé.”

Make a reservation by calling: 0216-550-4961

Sera Kitapevi Kafe (Greenhouse)

Address: Moda Caddesi No 28 (corner of Dumlupinar Sokak and Moda Caddesi)

Libraries & Librarians: What Have They Done for You Lately?

As a little girl, I was fascinated by the library and librarians. I thought what if I could live with all these books and consume all their knowledge. What if I were a librarian and could drown in books all day long.

Well, today, I am still trying to consume knowledge in a variety of ways, mostly through reading and seminar attendance. I do not have the luxury of visiting great libraries here in Turkey because there are few that the public can access. So, I try to share what I've learned through the years with others who need this information.

What I find sad is that our children, no matter where they live, may not even go to a library or know what a library has to offer. Many believe we have the internet and that is all we need. Of course, they would be wrong, and could understand this once inside of a library. You must be careful on the internet to know whether the sources are reliable or not.

So, be thankful if you live in a country where all cities are rich with libraries and easily assessible to everyone, because in the developing countries, you may find few, if any. Usually, if there are none in the community, schools may have at least a room set aside as a library but with limited resources.

A library fills its shelves with material of all sorts to include magazines, journals, newspapers and various media, along with resources which are categorized and archived waiting for your retrieval. What more, you have a librarian who can help you to quickly find the information you need for your articles or papers, and can unlock the mysteries of these sources and guide your way like no one else can.

Librarians are still a vast source of information today, even though, the internet has become king. Don't forget this valuable source which awaits you at every local library. Librarians want to help you access information you would never know about if you did not seek them out. Librarians also can be found as information brokers in your local community and will retrieve documents and material you never knew existed which will help your business grow.

In the meantime, whether you can access a library or not, here are several reliable resources which you may find valuable if you can only search the internet.

Librarians’ Internet Index: http://www.lii.org

Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org

World Wide Web Virtual Library http://vlib.org

Newsletter Headaches

The other day I noticed my email server, which I use only for newsletters, was not downloading my mail. Well, I wasn't too concerned because sometimes this happens for a whole variety of reasons. By the time evening came and no mail came from my account, I thought I would check it out by going online to their website and log-in. Ha! Ha! on me.

When I put in the domain name, a domain seller site came up with a message at the top of the screen that the site (my email server) did not renew their domain name and therefore, I was SOL. Okay, Bea, stay calm and troubleshoot this faux pas. I shot into action checking that all my equipment was working right, going to other sites to see if I could access them, and of course, I had read everything on the domain seller site page which did come up.

Having nothing more to wonder about, I thought I would send off an email to my webmaster and ask him if there was anything I could do. In his usual not-so-humorous tone, he too said I was SOL. Now what? Then, I sent an email to the domain seller site, only to get back some babble from their support center.

I waited another whole day and lo and behold, I checked the following evening and all my blessed newsletters downloaded like a dream. I was so happy, but this is not the end of the story. Being the troubleshooting, alternative plan person that I am, I knew I did not again want this horror of oh my god, all my newsletters and how will I reclaim them now, feeling. So I immediately stepped into action.

If you have as many subscriptions as I have and do not track them when you subscribe, then learn from this lesson. Here are several tasks to do to make your life of tracking newsletters a bit easier in the future.

1.     Make a list of all the newsletters you receive routinely.

a.      List the name of the newsletter and where you can subscribe or unsubscribe and note their email address as well.

b.     An easy way to do this is to open up a document titled Newsletter List and when you receive a newsletter, copy and paste their header from the email into your document. Then you will have the essential information should anything ever happen.

2.     Another way to track your newsletters is to save the Welcome document, they usually send to you after you have subscribed. Create a special folder for it in your email box. Alternatively, copy the Welcome letter and put it in My Documents. Of course, you must create a special folder for it there as well.

3.     Open a free email account to use just for your newsletters. That way you can easily keep track of them and know what you have lost if anything like what happened to me happens to you.

One last loss prevention tip: Back up your files routinely especially if you are running a business. It will save a lot of panic later and keep your business and mind free of technology disaster.