General – Page 2

5 Useful FREE Tools For Copywriters

The April 2012 edition of “Australian PC User” has as its lead article…

…”Top 140 Freebies”.

That prompted me to share 5 very handy (and free) resources that I find useful.

These won’t help you become a better copywriter…

…but they will boost productivity and make your life a little easier.

Useful Tool #1: YouSendIt

Great file transfer service for those times when you need to send a file that’s too big for normal email. Basic service is free and enables you to send files up to 50 MB

www.YouSendIt.com

Useful Tool #2: Primopdf

Create PDFs from any application via a virtual PDF printer driver. I find this invaluable. This is a very neat program, free and unlike many other free versions doesn’t advertise on your PDFs.

www.primopdf.com

Useful Tool #3: Notepad++

The humble text editor is still pretty essentials and this is a step up from the free tools that come with Windows. Why a text editor? Well, I use it for emails as, of course, you don’t “copy and paste” from Word into your autoresponder, do you?

http://notepad-plus-plus.org

Useful Tool #4: Pixlr

I use graphics a fair amount in my copy work and I often need to resize or perform some quick edits on an image. I used to use “Picnik” which is a GREAT tool but Google has bought it and it’s closing in its current form on April 19. So, now I’ve switched to Pixlr.

http://pixlr.com

Useful Tool #5: Evernote

Great note-taking application that is very helpful when conducting research for a copywriting (or other) project.

www.Evernote.com

5 free applications that should make your life as a copywriter a little easier. Hope you find them useful…

…and please feel free to share your favourites. Just add a comment to this post.

Best Wishes For Christmas 2011!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and holiday season!

Master marketer and copywriter Ted Nicholas sent out a holiday message the other day

With a subject line…

…”Holiday Reflection By Ted Nicholas”…

…it included a piece of writing that Ted especially likes.

It’s the famous piece by Ralph Waldo Emerson…

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

A piece of writing well worth reading and reflecting on regularly.

Best wishes and may you enjoy every success.

Dude! You Changed The Site!

Yes, I have given the site a makeover…

…and changed the theme to the “WordPress Dream Theme”.

Like many online marketers I have…

1) Settled on WordPress as the preferred platform as a Content Management System for websites

2) Looked at, tried out and purchased many different premium themes.

Ironically I bought the “WordPress Dream Theme” a while back and have used it as the platform for a number of sites that I’ve set up for clients.

However, I didn’t get around to using it on this site until now.

The theme is very flexible and easy to use and is packed with useful features.

But the thing I like most is the support and training provided.

There are hours and hours of video training…

…spelling out everything you need to know in great detail…

…and backed up with a great forum for questions.

You can get up and running in couple of hours, but it’s worth spending the time on the training to master both WordPress and the Dream Theme itself.

The Dream Theme is available through GYFDMember.com…

…and yes that’s an affiliate link.

Which reminds me…

…couple of housekeeping matters.

1) There are a whole new set of “legal” pages covering Terms Of Use, Privacy and FTC requirements.

2) You should assume that any advertisements on this site will result in yours truly receiving some sort of remuneration.

3) In blog posts, if I mention a product or service that I would receive a commission for if you were to purchase, then I will make that clear.

Feel free to leave a comment about the new look of the site…

…what you like and what you don’t.

There will be a more changes as I play around with the layout and the features of the WordPress Dream Theme, but the basic layout is in place.

Brief Thoughts On The Royal Wedding…

I confess I originally wasn’t going to watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton…

…(now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, of course)…

…but I did in the end.

And what a wonderful occasion.

Couple of things to note for copywriters and marketers…

1) The enduring power of stories and symbolism

[Read more…]

ANZAC Day 2011

ANZAC Day is arguably the most sacred day in the nation’s calendar…

…and here’s a good article in “The Australian”…

“The next Anzac century.”

…that expands a little on the reasons why.

And on this ANZAC Day 2011, here’s a recently discovered poem written by one of the Digger’s at Gallipoli…

[Read more…]

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