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** Tip Of The Day –  Should Virus Warning Emails be Forwarded?

** Today in History –  Battle of Shiloh concludes

** Trivia

** Quote of the Day

** Woman in Business –  Six No-Hype Copywriting Techniques:  How to Be Lively, Appealing and Truthful in Sales Writing by Marcia Yudkin

** Grins – Leaky Pipe

** Publications of Interest

** "Cooking for the Empty Nest" –  Lemony zucchini-squash saute

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Should Virus Warning Emails be Forwarded?

Whenever a significant new virus or other computer security threat emerges, it is not unusual for various warnings about the threat to begin circulating via email.

While the willingness to let others know about a potential computer security threat is commendable, forwarding a "virus warning" email may not be the best way to approach the issue. Like other email forwards, they tend to mutate as they travel from inbox to inbox. Even if the original message was accurate, ongoing modifications can mean that the information can quite quickly lose its relevance. The perceived danger can be significantly exaggerated and important details can become false or misleading. Also, such messages often continue to circulate for months or even years after the described threat has subsided.

The Current one circulating the net is called the "Life is beautiful Hoax.  This hoax started circulating in early 2002 and it has been passed around ever since. In spite of a great deal of online exposure, the hoax tends to resurge from time to time and its rate of circulation increases dramatically for a few months. As hoax emails go, this is one of the most "successful". Perhaps because of the apparent destructiveness of the "virus" and the urgent tone of the warning, people are apt to forward the message without much forethought. Like many other hoaxes, it capitalizes on the recipient's desire to help other Internet users by warning them of a perceived threat.

Bob

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Battle of Shiloh concludes

Two days of heavy fighting conclude near Pittsburgh Landing in western Tennessee. The Battle of Shiloh became a Union victory after the Confederate attack stalled on April 6, and fresh Yankee troops drove the Confederates from the field on April 7.

Shiloh began when Union General Ulysses S. Grant brought his army down the Tennessee River to Pittsburgh landing in an effort to move on Corinth, Mississippi, 20 miles to the southwest. Union occupation of Corinth, a major rail center, would allow the Yankees to control nearly all of western Tennessee. At Corinth, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston did not wait for Grant to attack. He moved his army toward Grant, striking on the morning of April 6. Throughout the day, the Confederates drove the Yankees back but could not break the Union lines before darkness halted the advance. Johnston was killed during the first day, so General Pierre G. T. Beauregard assumed command of the Confederate force.

Now, Grant was joined by the vanguard of Buell's army. With an advantage in terms of troop numbers, Grant counterattacked on April 7. The tired Confederates slowly retreated, but they inflicted frightful casualties on the Yankees. By nightfall, the Union had driven the Confederates back to Shiloh Church, recapturing such grisly reminders of the previous days' battle such as the Hornets' Nest, the Peach Orchard, and Bloody Pond. The Confederates finally limped back to Corinth, thus giving a major victory to Grant.

The cost of the victory was high. Grant's and Buell's forces totaled about 62,000, of which 1,754 were killed, 8,408 were wounded, and 2,885 were captured or missing for a total of 13,047 casualties. Of 45,000 Confederates engaged, 1,723 were killed, 8,012 wounded, and 959 missing for a total of 10,694 casualties. The 23,741 casualties were five times the number at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, and they were more than all of the war's major battles (Bull Run, Wilson's Creek, Fort Donelson, and Pea Ridge) to that date combined. It was a sobering reminder to all in the Union and the Confederacy that the war would be long and costly.

Six No-Hype Copywriting Techniques:  How to Be Lively, Appealing and Truthful in Sales Writing
by Marcia Yudkin

A lot of my clients shrink from using hype in their marketing messages.  Hype is a style of overexcited, exaggerated writing that can fire up the eager reader, but at the cost of trust or credibility in the eyes of someone who is temperamentally or professionally skeptical.

For instance, here is a hype-y headline of the sort found all around the Internet:   "If You Can Write Your Name, You Can Write and Publish a Book in 7 Days - Guaranteed!"  Having been a writing teacher, I know that the only way such a claim could be valid would be to play games with the accepted meanings of the words "write" or "book."  People who can write their name cannot necessarily write a coherent sentence or paragraph ­ much less have enough ideas in their head to fill a book of average length.  Because of its implausibility, such a headline is all the more appealing to those who feel impatient for results.

Many copywriting experts hold that if a headline or marketing pitch sells and is not downright illegal for some reason, it’s the right way to write.  However, I support my clients’ instinctive recoil from hype and help them with more truthful yet still lively and appealing persuasive techniques.  You can create vivid, powerfully persuasive copy without crossing the line into hype by learning these techniques.

No-hype Technique #1:  Create rapport with the reader.

Think your way into the mind of your ideal customer and express what they’re thinking and feeling.  Then build on that.  This wins over readers by connecting with where they are and showing them the next logical step.  For example:

Wishing that your book in progress could just finish itself already?  Writing a book can be an exercise in procrastination, frustration and roadblocks.  But when you use the "Two-a-Day" Method, your book gets completed easily, steadily and finally.

No-hype Technique #2:  Use emotional words and phrases.

Dry, matter-of-fact language isn’t as persuasive as wording that acknowledges and expresses what’s at stake in the customer’s situation and the feelings involved.

BEFORE:  Our database offers detailed listings of more than $3.7 billion in available scholarship funding. AFTER:  Access to our members-only database of more than $3.7 billion in free, no-strings-attached scholarship money means you can attend the college of your dreams without enslaving yourself to future loan payments.

No-hype Technique #3:  Add colorful details.

For every general concept you want to mention, substitute or add specific, concrete details.  Abstractions and generalities never hit home as well as statements containing numbers, names, places, stories and other specifics.  Also, general statements have little impact because they sound like things we’ve all heard a zillion times.  Copywriters call the technique of adding detail "dimensionalizing" because it turns a square little statement into a 3-D patterned shape that the reader has never quite encountered before.

In these two examples from Paul Lemberg’s home page, the section in parentheses dimensionalizes the claim just before it: * How to boost sales quickly; (50-100% year-over-year sales increase is not unusual among my clients.) * Escalate short-term profits and build long-term equity; (One client recently sold their company for three times what they had been led to expect by the so-called expert investment bankers...)

No-hype Technique #4:  Pair problems with solutions.

Listing problem after problem that a product solves or prevents can come across as unbelievable and even depressing.  The opposite strategy, listing benefit after benefit from the product, can seem too good to be true.  When you link the problem with the solution and at least hint at a reason for the positive result, customers feel they’re getting something solid and valuable when they buy.

To illustrate this, here are three bullet points from Susan C. Daffron’s description of her book "Happy Hound: Develop a Great Relationship With Your Adopted Dog or Puppy": * The two main reasons dogs generally jump on people and four ways to convince the dog you really don't need that type of greeting * Six safety instructions you must teach your children not to do to avoid dog bites and the four things they should always do if they encounter a dog they don't know  * Three keys for surviving "canine adolescence." As with human children, adolescence is a time when dogs test limits and try your patience!

(By the way, the numbers in those bullets help dimensionalize the book’s content, exemplifying tip #3.)

No-hype Technique #5:  Paint vivid scenarios.  Feed the reader’s imagination with what can realistically happen after they buy your product or service.  You’re not promising this will happen, but by putting the reader into the future, he or she pictures it happening and feels motivated to have the result.

Here, for instance, is how I fed the reader’s imagination in promotional copy for my report, "Marcia's Makeovers: 24 Press Releases Transformed from So-So to Sizzling":

I challenge you to cite a greater return on investment than that produced by a world-class media release that lands you on page 1 of a major newspaper, in a two-page spread in your top industry magazine or in the fluffy final segment of a network newscast.  Just one major score like this, and you can milk the credibility payoff for your business practically forever. Inspire a feature story that gets picked up by the Associated Press, and enjoy people all over the world clamoring to get their hands on what you sell.

No-hype Technique #6:  Incite curiosity.  Reread the bullet points for tip #4, and if you have any interest at all in dog behavior, you’ll find you really, really want to know the techniques that are described there in an incomplete yet tempting fashion.  Reference to the "Two-a-Day" Method has the same kind of effect ­ the reader wants to know "two of what?"  Show a little while holding something back.

Like the other five techniques described here, enticing the reader is a truthful, effective, no-hype way to make the reader want to step forward and buy.

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Veteran copywriter and marketing consultant Marcia Yudkin is the author of Persuading on Paper, 6 Steps to Free Publicity and nine other books.  She runs a one-on-one mentoring program that trains copywriters and marketing consultants in 10 weeks, providing neophytes with no-hype marketing writing skills and business savvy.  For more information, go to http://www.yudkin.com/become.htm
 
 

   A Little Humor to Start the Week 

Leaky Pipe
=-=-=-=-=-=

A lady answered her front door to find a plumber standing there. "I'm here to fix the leaky pipe," he announced.
"I didn't call a plumber," said the lady.

"What?" huffed the plumber. "Aren't you Mrs. Frobisher?"

The Frobishers moved out of this house over a year ago," explained the lady.

"How do you like that," grunted the plumber. "They call you up and tell you it's an emergency and then they move away!"

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Joe passed away. His will provided $30,000 for an elaborate funeral. As the last guests departed the affair, his wife, Helen turned to her oldest friend.

"Well, I'm sure Joe would be pleased," she said.

"I'm sure you're right," replied Jody, who lowered her voice and leaned in close,
"How much did this really cost?"

"All of it," said Helen.
"Thirty thousand."

"No!" Jody exclaimed,
"I mean, it was very nice, but $30,000?"

Helen answered,
"The funeral was $6,500. I donated $500 to the church. The wake, food and drinks were another $500. The rest went for the memorial stone."

Jody computed quickly,
"$22,500 for a memorial stone? My God, how big is it?!"

"Two and a half carats."

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A man walks into the doctor's office.

He has a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear.

"What's the matter with me?", he asked.

"You're not eating properly", replied the Doctor.

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Riddle

Many different types of my last seven letters can be found in newspapers, magazines, & journals. Physicists have built devices to get me moving very fast. What am I?

Do you know the answer? If not, look for the solution later in this newsletter.

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Ever notice how fast Windows runs?
Neither did I.

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"Cooking for the Empty Nest"
Recipe of the Week
by Susan Kemp

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 med. zucchini, 1 pound cut lengthwise into quarters,
then into 1 1/2 inch pieces-about 2 cups
2 yellow squash, 1 lb cut diagonally into 1/4 in slices (2 cups)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

In large nonstick skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add
next 6 ingredients and cook about 6 minutes or until tender,
stirring occasionally. Stir in juice and zest, remove from heat.
 

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If you have a favorite recipe that you would like to share, please send it to mailto:bob@adv-marketing.com?Subject=RecipesBe sure to read back recipes of the week at:
http://adv-arketing.com/business/frtest.htm and Click on ?Recipe of the Week"

Yours in cooking - Sue

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Copyright - 2008