Only very careful choice will garner success. Without the best host your publication will not flourish as well as it would.

In fact, videos have turned out to be a valuable tool for business or self-advertising. The following are some tips to circulating your own Web video clips.

Firstly, you can post your Internet video clips on your own website; however this would entail you to make your own video hosting arrangements. Instead, ask your web hosting solutions supplier if video downloading or video streaming services are supported.

Video downloading is where your visitors need to download your Web video clip to their hard disk. They need to store the professional video to their own workstation before they can play it using their workstations video player or a downloadable video player device. There are loads of video downloading service providers that are reasonably inexpensive. There is also a progressive downloading mechanism where your Internet visitors can play the Internet video clips whilst downloading them. Vidify’s business video solutions are focused on maximising your business revenue cost-effectively.

Whereas video streaming on the other hand absolutely does away with the need to download the online video clips & allows instantaneous playback so it offers the most convenience to your web viewers. Of course, getting a video hosting company that supports video streaming can cost you a pretty penny.

Finally, the more popular way to distribute Internet video clips is by posting your sites to video distribution sites that have their own video hosting infrastructure. These web sites cost you nothing at all to become a member & will on occasions give you money post video material. They also have a wide audience base & reach; for example, YouTube receives about twenty million Internet users each & every month.

Prentice Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage (2003) says that “a” is used before consonant SOUNDS, not just consonants. Use “an” when the word following it starts with a vowel or an unsounded “h.”

The Gregg Reference Manual, Ninth Edition, concurs.

Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, University of Chicago Press, says: The indefinite article a, not an, is used in American English before words beginning with a pronounced h.

Examples: a hotel – an honor – a historical study – an heir.

Associated Press Stylebook 2003 says: A historic event is an important occurrence, one that stands out in history.

Many people say, “An historical occasion,” but “an historical” isn’t idiomatic in American English. Using “an” is common, but not universally accepted by experts. Here’s how to figure out which article to use:

Before a word starting with a pronounced, breathy “h,” use “a.” Examples: A hotel; A happy time; A historical day; A healthy, happy baby.

You attend a history class, not an history class. Same with “historical.” It was a historical occasion.

Honeymooners go to a hideaway, not an hideaway. The donkey carried a heavy burden, not an heavy burden. “Historical” is no different.

Use “an” with words beginning with an unpronounced “h.” Examples: An herb garden; an hour; an honor; An heir.

Now, let’s combine them: “Look! An herb garden in a historical setting. Let’s stay an hour, then find a hotel.”

In the UK and other countries with British influence, the “h” in “herb” is often pronounced. See what I mean about confusing? We’ll almost always find exceptions to every rule. No matter. Just do your best to be a good communicator and move on!

Judy Vorfeld
Webmaster, Writer, Editor, and Photographer
http://www.editingandwritingservices.com
http://www.ossweb.com
http://www.digifeld.com

For an example of a completely written Acknowledgement Letter, take a look at…

Acknowledgement Letter of Receipt ~ appreciative of gift or donation.

To write and Acknowledgement Letter, follow this outline…

Format

1.) Use the Full Block format arrangement for Acknowledgement Letters:

a. to the left margin of the letter header place the return address
b. make two carriage returns
c. directly below the return address, place the date
d. make two carriage returns
e. directly below the date, place the reader’s address
f. make three line feeds
g. if necessary, include a reference line
h. begin your letter
i. begin each paragraph at the left margin
j. place the closing, signature and typed signature at the left margin.

Wording

1.) Remove your emotions when writing this letter…but remain positive.
2.) Restate the basis of the event to which you are acknowledging, i.e., application for employment, request for information, etc. In our example, we are acknowledging with gracious words the receipt of the gift/donation.
3.) The second paragraph, as we described above, needs to convey a positive message without divulging too much information. An acknowledgement in response to a gift/donation given without any expectations can say almost anything without consequence. In our example, we used words that safely offered a positive message to the reader but didn’t commit the writer to future dealings.
4.) We closed the letter by sending our appreciation.

Tone

1.) Be positive
2.) Remove emotion from your writing
3.) Depending on the situation, be formal or informal; formal is recommended.

Email

1.) With time being as critical to everyone as it is, sending an acknowledgement letter via email, once considered a faux pas, is now becoming increasingly more accepted.
a. Send your letter in the same format as you would for snail mail – this conveys to the reader that you took the time to create a professional correspondence.
b. Depending on the circumstances, send the message from the appropriate email account: personal email account for a personal correspondence, professional email account for professional correspondence.

Printing

1.) Before printing, decide on what paper to use. For Acknowledgement Letters, it is best to use common bond paper and envelopes.
2.) Print your letter and envelope on the same printer using the same font and an envelope that matches the stationery.

Signature

1.) Make three carriage returns between the closing and your typed signature. Inside this space, sign your name for professional correspondence. For personal correspondence, there is no need for a typed signature. Simply, sign your name.

Visit www.LetterRep.com for Free Acknowledgement Letters, hundreds of sample personal and business letters and Online Tools for Addressing, Dating, Editing, Formatting, Printing, Emailing and Faxing.

Rob Noyes owns and operates the Internet’s premiere Personal and Business Letter-writing site. LetterRep.com. Contact Rob at admin@letterrep.com for answers and solutions to common letter-writing situations.

Writing articles is easy. Just find a topic that relates to your Website and write what you know about it. Offer informative tips, information or other factoids that may interest the public about your topic. It need not be long; 250-500 words is just fine. At the bottom of your article, you may include a brief bio about yourself and you may include a link to your site. The next step is to search for “submit free content” in your favorite search engine. You will find many sites that accept articles from anyone who wishes to contribute. You usually publish an article by simply cutting and pasting into an online form. The Website where you publish your article shares your article with other sites that wish to republish them. Each time this happens, you’ll get another link back to your Website. It only takes a minute to publish an article, and I have seen additional links back to my site in as little as 12 hours! It works, and it’s free! The more articles you write, the more the links to your Website will propagate throughout the Internet.

But what about hiring a search engine optimization (SEO) company? Can’t you hire someone to promote your site for you? Yes, you can. These companies will modify your site to make it more search engine friendly, and they may recommend some other promotion techniques, such as pay-per-click advertising. Depending on your financial situation and the amount of free time you have, such companies may represent a good investment. Unfortunately, there are also unscrupulous Website promotion companies out there, and there seem to be more of those than legitimate ones. I got a call just last week from one such company that promised to place my Website at the very top of the first page of Google’s search results. They also promised to provide thousands of links to my site. I declined their offer, but did some research on the company. What I found is that they have done business under three different names in the last year, they’ve used hidden link, hidden code and other techniques that search engines don’t like, they’ve built Web pages that plagiarize from other sites and they’ve done work that results in their clients being blacklisted from the major search engines.

These things weigh heavily against their promise of having thousands of links that point to my site. I see no reason to pay thousands of dollars for a service that may obtain links for me or may get my site blacklisted on the major search engines. I’d rather save my money and obtain the links myself by writing and publishing articles. It’s safe, fast, and inexpensive. And it works.

©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing.

Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.com, a site devoted to information regarding home equity loans.

Publishing Guidelines: Permission is granted to publish this
article electronically or in print as long as the bylines are
included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be
appreciated.

WRITING TO EXCEL By Arthur Zulu

“Of all the arts in which the mind excel”, says one writer,
“nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well”. But before we
begin writing our best seller, I will ask you to re- read the
beginning of this book. Or do you still remember those negative
questions often asked by novices?

Well, I would want to assume you have outlived the “nattering
nabobs of negativism” (by Spiro Agnew), and are now set to
write. Some, however, have asked the following questions, and
the answers will help you get started.

What Do I Need to Write? Simple. Use the traditional materials
– pen and paper. I prefer them. The reason is that it is easier
for me to put my thoughts in writing as fast as they come. It
makes the work more natural, honest and unpretentious. And you
also know that a notebook and a pen, are very portable. You
could be doing your thing while seated in a bus, train, or plane
(without the terrorists).

But if you can type as fast as you think, a typewriter or even
the computer is okay. So, what is sauce for the goose, may not
be sauce for the gander. The important thing here is, use a
writing means that can get your thought down as fast as it
comes. Shorthand and pictographs are excellent.

What is the Best Time and Place to Write? You know what is best
for you. Some write in the morning, others prefer late at night.
Some like quiet, lonely places, while others would not mind the
radio on! Some have even tried to rouse their imagination
through drugs and alcohol! And they say it works fine for them.

Well, I don’t require any intoxicants to write. And I wouldn’t
ask you to take them in order to excel. What you need, however,
is a conducive place and time. As for me, I write anywhere,
anytime I get the muse.

You would have to know that the muses transcend borders and
physical disabilities. Some have written books in prison– ask
Wole Soyinka, the Nobel laureate. He did one in prison, titled
THE MAN DIED.

What About Sources? “Writing is thinking, and thinking is work,”
says Robert Bolt who wrote A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. Yes, you are
going to think– think a lot. You will go into meditation and
see “visions”, (I don’t mean to make you a prophet.)

Now, do you know how Mary Shelley came to write FRANKENSTEIN?
She was holidaying in Switzerland with her husband, Percy Bysshe
Shelley, the poet Lord Byron and another named Polidori. After
familiarizing themselves with ghost stories, Lord Byron came up
with the proposition: “We will each write a ghost story”.

Then each went to dream dreams, and Mary Shelley thought that to
excel, she had to dream up the scariest story ever. And she beat
them all with FRANKENSTEIN, the weirdest story before HARRY
PORTER. Even Joseph, the dreamer, couldn’t have dreamt better.
And her story became a classic!

So, having chosen the genre you want to write about, think of
the best- selling book in that category. And aim to smash its
record! Persevere in your dream, and when it has taken form, put
it down in writing.

But you cannot dream in abstraction. Your first source of
material is reading. Yes, be a voracious reader. You may read
for pleasure, or on purpose. Read anything that interests you –
newspapers, magazines, story, and scientific books.

And as you read, ask yourself: What is the writer saying? Why is
he saying it? How is he saying it? The answers you get will help
you comprehend, interpret and appreciate the book, together with
the writer’s use of language.

You also have another source — observation. How do you observe
things? Do you look at them closely? Or do you just take a
cursory look? You may have missed a great discovery.

Now, come to think of it. Which invention was ever made without
a keen observation followed by an inference — from cause to
effect, or from effect to cause.

Remember Isaac Newton observing a falling apple (gravity),
Achimedes jumping out of a pool of water and solving the riddle
of the king’s crown (Eureka!), or Mungo Park following the river
course and “discovering” the River Niger (I saw with infinite
pleasure the great object of my mission….)

So, in your daily activities, make it a habit to observe
closely; who knows, right in your garden, you may discover the
remains of an extinct dinosaur!

Third, you would have to draw materials from your personal life
experiences — what you have seen or heard of people, places and
things. Who was it that said experience is the best teacher?

He was probably right. People have written masterpieces and
autobiographies based on their life experiences. Like Charles
Darwin. Like Nelson Mandela.

So, what you are as a person, called the “persona”, and your
life experiences must reflect in your work, whether you call it
fiction, or non- fiction. And since books are a combination of
facts and fiction, some have invented the coinage–faction, to
represent the middle ground.

You have another last source of information — interview people,
ask questions.

No man is a repository of knowledge, and if you do not have an
inquisitive mind, you will continue to wallow in ignorance,
which itself is a disease.

So, ask questions to get the information you seek, and follow
with more questions to clarify the answers. Do not be timid,
shy, or proud, to know. Remember that knowledge is power.
Remember also that Socrates, the great philosopher, asked to
know. And remember the words of Rene Descartes: “Dare to know!”

At this stage, I must mention the importance of the diary. Yes,
carry one about, and make a daily entry of materials you like to
use as they come. It may be of what you read, see or hear. And
you must learn to be patient. Writers are the most disciplined
persons on earth. I wrote a book in ten years!

Do not be frightened at that prospect. I wrote one also in six
months. So, have a strong desire, and finish what you start!

Also note as you are going to write, that you are going to be a
philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, all in one.

You are going to invent characters and interpret their actions.
You are going to create, and destroy civilizations. That is the
might of the pen.

And as we now begin to write our best-seller in the next
chapter, remember these words of Sir Francis Bacon: “Reading
maketh a man, conference a ready man, and writing, an exact man”.

I totally agree with him. What about you?

Copyright © 2002, all rights reserved