PCADSL BLOG

Over the years, wine consumption has become more and more popular. With more and more money going into wine both as an investment and for later consumption, the history of the wine will always be important. With the increased interest, many people often wonder how they can properly store and take good care of their wine collection.

How you store your wine is extremely important. If you store it correctly then you will certainly reap the benefits. When you open a bottle of wine that has been stored properly, you will be able to tell the difference immediately from a bottle that has been poorly stored. Drinking a poorly stored bottle of wine is much like drinking vinegar.

To store wine properly, you need to consider several factors, including humidity, temperature, lighting, the cleanliness of your storage area, the angle the bottle is stored at and the vibration of the bottle on the rack. The temperature is the most important, as you should aim to keep it around 50 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. This way, the lower temperature can help to age the wine. If there are any fluctuations in the temperature, you should make sure that it happens slowly. As long as the temperature does not go too high and the fluctuations are slow, then your wine should be okay.

The proper level of humidity for storing wine should be around 70%, although it is perfectly acceptable to keep it 10% above or below the 70% level. If you have too high humidity the labels can easily rot or mold, which can affect the wine’s value. On the other hand, if the humidity goes too low, around 50%, the cork could shrink and bring air into the wine, which would ruin it in little to no time at all.

The angle that wine is stored is important as well. If the wine stays in contact with the cork during storage, the cork will not dry out. If the wine does not stay in contact with the cork, the cork could dry out and allow air into the wine. You should also strive to keep the wine out of the light, as light can ruin any type of wine. Light causes the wine to age prematurely, making it in your best interest to store wine in a dark location.

To prevent damage to the wine from sediment, you should also store wine in a location that is free of vibration. If you store wine in places that are free from vibration, it will give the sediment in the bottle ample time to settle. Vibrations are never a good thing for wine, as the sediment becomes unsettled and can ruin the wine or shake it to the point where it tastes horrible.

To protect the quality and investment of your wine, storage and care is very important. Storing it in a proper location will also bring the best taste. In the world of wine, nothing is more disappointing than waiting several years to open a bottle of fine wine, only to find that it is nothing but vinegar. You can prevent this from happening though, by taking care of your wine. Wine isn’t hard to care for or store, it just takes the right conditions and location.

I am the daughter of an obsessed writer. My father, a math teacher by vocation, a writer by avocation, brought me up believing that writing is a fine passion and that the highlight of a writer’s life is being published. He gave me his love of the English language, great literature and great writers. He instructed me on the importance of realistic dialogue, creating characters we remember, and good plot twists. I was drawn to his typewriter before I could spell. In fact, one of our memorable photographs is of me at about age three, kneeling on a chair at the table where he wrote. My little hands are poised above the keys of his sturdy, black Underwood. My expression is thoughtful and fixed. By the side of the Underwood is a bottle of Schaefer beer.

When I was a child, I breathed in my father’s passion for his own writing and being published. Before I was old enough to read his stories, I filled the manila envelopes with his manuscripts (the onion skin carbon copies ceremoniously filed away), pasted on the stamps and, holding the precious envelope in one hand and his hand in my other, walked to the mail box where together we slid the envelope into the slot. Then the wait began, ever hopeful, for the news that his story had been accepted. I’m not sure I knew what would happen when it was accepted, but I knew it would make him, and thus me very, very, very happy. Invariably, what happened, of course was that the manuscript was returned. I felt his dejection as if it were my own.

“Don’t worry, Daddy,” I remember telling him. “When I grow up, I’m going to put all your stories into a book and publish them myself.” It was a palpable dream for me.

When my father died, he left suitcases filled with short stories, only two of which had been published, both in Esquire. In addition, he’d written three novels about a private eye named Michael Oliver O’Toole, who remained his companion during his final years in a nursing home. Even when my father couldn’t remember who I was, he talked about Michael Oliver O’Toole.

This durable friendship with Michael Oliver O’Toole is one of my favorite memories of my writing father, and I have come to the conclusion that it is better to have a friend like Michael Oliver O’Toole than the memory of signing a fat publishing contract.

I wonder if Dad would agree with me.

I’m not so sure he would. He wanted so desperately to be well-published. He wanted fame and fortune and, I believe, felt terribly despondent for not having had them. He was a victim of the ‘publish or perish” syndrome as surely as if he’d been a college professor.

I am as much heir to those longing as I am the recipient of his love of writing. The disparity between these two inheritances has made for a lot of angst in my own obsessive drive to be “well” published.

I did publish, often, well and once very, very well. I was thrilled that my father was still alive when I sold my novel Petersburg to Putnam for a lot of money. I usually don’t talk about the money I have received for my books, and surely doing so seems antithetical to a column such as this; however, the memory of what happened because of the sale is vital in my memory and cannot be told without reference to the dollar amount of the sale of Petersburg. For as if by the kindness of the Muse herself, even though my father lay lost in a fog of dementia, I was able to make him understand. Leaning over his bed in the nursing home, I said over and over, “Dad, I did it. I sold my book for $250,000!”

Finally, he turned to me, his blue eyes more vibrant than I had seen them for a long time. He opened them wide to show delight and his mouth formed a big O shape. “A quarter of a million dollars! OHHH!” His smile was wonderful. For that moment, I had my father back-he’d even, amazingly, translated $250,000 into a quarter of a million! But the light soon vanished, the O of his mouth deflated and he turned away. He was gone, lost behind the shroud of Alzheimer’s Disease.

I was ecstatic though. I’d gotten through to him. He’d understood. I’d done it! For me and for him. Fame and fortune were on the way. Nothing was going to stop me now.

But it did. Several months later,

I proposed my next book to my editor, a novel set in the Middle Ages and she said, ” Don’t write this book, Emily. You don’t want to follow up Petersburg with something like this. It will never sell. No one wants to read a book set in the Middle Ages.”

I wrote it anyway. It was a book waiting to be born. In one way-commercially-it has been difficult. Although I had a couple of near sales, I haven’t yet been able to sell the novel. (Although I now have an agent who is very excited about its sale) Were these rejections difficult for me? Anguishingly so. Am I sorry I wrote the novel? Absolutely not. Mistress of the Labyrinth had to be written. For me. I would be sad if I had never written Petersburg; however, I would not be the person I am today-a person I am very glad I uncovered!-if I had not written Mistress of the Labyrinth. (I further explore my experiences with Mistress of the Labyrinth in my book, The Art of Fiction Writing.)

Through the journey I am taking with Mistress of the Labyrinth, I have come to understand that a far truer aphorism than “publish or perish” is “write or perish”. Am I free of “publish or perish”? Not completely, I still have days when I cannot face going into bookstores or bear to read a highly regarded best seller. There are days when I lament, “Why me? Why isn’t my book published?” But those days are increasingly more rare. In my heart and my gut-it is my mind that sometimes has trouble with this-I feel that the journey I take in being a writer is far more exciting and valuable than the experience of being published. Which is not to say that I believe it is unimportant to be published. When one of my students completes a story or book, I do everything I can to help her or him find a publisher. And I still hope that Mistress of the Labyrinth as well as the novel I am currently writing will be published. However, I no longer fear, as I once did, that I will give up writing and fall into hopeless depression if this doesn’t happen.

If being published were the main reason that we write, then very few of us would be writing. (It is my suspicion that today writers far outnumber readers.) Yet many writers are haunted by the feeling that the only way to gain validation as a writer is to be published.

“If only I were published, my husband, wife, children, I myself, the world, my high school English teacher, college roommate, ex-boyfriends, etc. etc. would take me seriously.”

“If only I were published, I would quit my job and write full time.”

“If only I were published, I would ___________.” (You fill in the blank.)

And when we are published, as exciting as it can be, the experience rarely lives up to our expectations. As Anne Lamott says in Bird By Bird, “I tell you, if what you have in mind is fame and fortune, publication is going to drive you crazy. If you’re lucky, you will get a few reviews, some good, some bad, some indifferent. Don’t get me started on places where one is neglected…”

To this, I would add: When we hand over our validation as a writer to the industry of publishing (which today is, by-in-large, hopelessly incompetent both as judges of good writing and as business people) we hand over our creative passion, and are in mortal danger of losing our connection to the joy of the journey.

Part 2: The Journey of Being a Writer Is the Biggest Payoff of All!

I’ve rarely been accused of over thinking a situation. My “code of the west” mentality has been good to me through the years, rescuing me many times from the temptation of unnecessary thinking! Unnecessary thinking can ruin a perfectly good plan, but no thinking at all can be hazardous to your health! A good case in point is a situation I witnessed last year.

One brilliantly blue afternoon in late spring my neighbor Joe was preparing for one of his famous cookouts. He was about to put his brand new brick and mortar barbeque grill through its paces for the first time. A beautiful charcoal grill, he had personally, to the chagrin of the brick masons, supervised every detail of the project. It was a gorgeous fireplace style grill with the chimney almost head high, built of the same brick that adorned his house.

The barbeque pit featured a curved flat black steel hood for enclosed cooking, with a warming tray built into the side of the pit to keep foods from getting cold while others cooked longer. There was even a compartment built on the opposite side to house charcoal and lighter. He was understandably proud of the best barbeque grill in the neighborhood!

Festivities began early with the neighbors arriving around 2:00 pm. By late afternoon many in the crowd were already feeling the effects of the adult beverages supplied by the host, whom was especially enjoying himself. Everyone by now had grown tired of listening to an endless monolog by the host about the virtues of his new grill.

The time had come to fire up the grill! There was only one small problem. With all the preparations he had made for the cookout, Joe had forgotten charcoal lighter! Not to be detoured by such a small detail, he went into the tool shed at the back of his yard and brought back a large can of gasoline. After dumping a huge amount of charcoal into the bottom of the grill, he arranged it into a perfect pyramid. The fire was supposed to burn more consistently this way Joe informed the crowd.

By now the neighbors had begun realized what Joe was about to do and started yelling at him not to use the gasoline to start the fire. Offers were made to run next door to get charcoal lighter to no avail. Joe was determined to inaugurate his grill the proper way; with a large fire! He also assured everyone that he knew what he was doing!

Joy was enjoying himself, being the star of the show as it were. He upended the can of fuel over the charcoal and kept pouring even after the briquettes had been thoroughly soaked. Now came the moment of truth! He lit a match and with a dramatic flare, tossed it onto the charcoal! Whoooomp!

Mortar is very porous and does not always adhere perfectly to a surface without leaving a small crack in the mortar joint between bricks. When a liquid such as water or in this case gasoline fills that crack, it will flow into the base of the structure; in this case the barbeque grill. The vapors from the gasoline that had flowed into the grill did what gasoline vapors do when they come in contact with a flame. The grill exploded!

Bricks and mortar blown into pieces, rained from the sky onto all of us who had witnessed the explosion! No one was hurt because most of the crowd and moved safely away from Joe when they saw what he was about to do. Joe was slightly injured by a fragment of the grill grazing his forehead. Nothing serious!

His beautiful barbeque pit was destroyed! A few seconds before, it was a beautiful example of workmanship; something to be proud of and enjoy for years to come. Now it was just a pile of rocks! Joe had apparently never heard that in some cases, alcohol and gasoline don’t mix! Warning! Drinking and starting fires with gasoline can kill you! Whether you’re drinking adult beverages or not, do not use gasoline for a charcoal starter!

My neighbor Joe has recovered from the disaster of last year. He is now making plans to build and even bigger charcoal cooker than the last one. From the size of the storage area in the barbeque pit, I doubt that he will ever run out of charcoal lighter again!

Remember, friends don’t let friends barbeque drunk!

I heard the story of this person: she was very unhappy, stressed, feeling depressed, anxious, angry, lonely, hopeless, struggling, just surviving, but then something happened, and so the story begins.

She had been told that life was a struggle and she had to work hard to earn money, that everything had to be earned, that nothing was free, nothing was given, that money did not grow on trees, so she was burning herself out.

She had been told she was lucky to have a job and she had better hold on tight to it, but she did not like it, actually she hated it, she was completely unfulfilled.

She was in a relationship where she was not happy. She did not feel loved and she was not treated properly; but she had been told she might not find another person, better that than being alone, but she was so unhappy.

She had been told she could not know what destiny would bring her, that she could not control the future, that she had to live the moment, so she was drinking too much, eating a lot, doing too much, she thought that that was the way to enjoy life. But she was feeling more and more off-centre and her life was more and more out of control, her health was getting poor, she had no energy and she was getting depressed because she could never achieve what she wanted, her dreams. She started to think that maybe she had no right to her dreams, maybe what she wanted was just not achievable.

She had been told life is hard, it is tough, and so she had to be tough, and she could not believe she would ever receive anything for free. She believed that if she did not achieve her goals it simply meant she had not worked hard enough, pro-noia was quite impossible to believe in.

She had been told to be wary of people, so she could not believe in goodness, she could not trust, and so she could not feel the warmth she desired.

She had been told she had to behave in a certain way to be accepted by society. She tried to do it but she felt so empty inside, as if she was betraying herself, trying to be someone she was not, missing out on the thrill of being herself. So she tried to stop conforming, but then she felt so different. Her self-esteem became very low, as people told her there was something wrong with being her, she was different, so she started becoming socially anxious, and she believed there was something wrong with being her, and she started beating herself up.

She had been told the past determines the future. She was born in a poor and dysfunctional family and she had emotional problems caused by this, and limiting beliefs. She so wanted to be free to be well but she had been told the only way to get free is to struggle, so she was struggling, but the more she struggled, the more she was kept back.

She was very beautiful, but she didn’t like herself; she actually hated herself and kept beating herself up.

She had extraordinary gifts, qualities and talents, but she couldn’t see them, she thought she was nobody, worthless.

She felt so powerless, with destiny out of control.

She felt so lonely and unloved.

And she was struggling to live, to survive, and the more she struggled, the more struggles she met, the more she became convinced that life really was a struggle.

But one day she heard a story, they told her there was an old man in town, extremely wealthy, very successful, in extraordinary health for his age (and he was 98) and he was so happy, with such inner freedom, peace and love. He had been happy all his life and he had a wonderful life, he loved every bit of it. Everything was so easy, so effortless; he achieved everything he wanted, even much more he could have ever dreamt of. He was in town with his wife. They had been married for 75 years, true soul mates, and still so in love.

And as she heard this story something inside her made her think: I must meet this man and ask him his secret.

It was the call to fulfil her dreams, her call to freedom, her call to love, her call to happiness.

She had read that the man was going to give a talk that evening in the centre of town. When she arrived there, there were tens of thousands of people, all waiting, all wanting to know how he did it, how he managed to live such a life.

The curtains opened and he was sitting in the centre of the stage with his wife, smiling, so at peace, so happy.

And when a person asked him how he did it, which special qualities he had in order to live such an extraordinary life, he replied: My dear, dear friend, it is not that I am particularly special, that I have special qualities or powers, the truth is that everyone without exception is very, very special, with extraordinary qualities and extraordinary powers. You just do not know it yet- and he added, -and the secret is to be, love and cherish yourself; it is to be your true essence. You are well-being and love and peace and energy and light and infinite and presence and life and infinite wisdom; it is to ask, because whatever you ask, you shall receive- and he added- you know, you can have and be and do anything, really anything, you want; you just need to choose what makes you most happy in your heart. It is very simple; and he added, ‘And my dear friend, there is something else that I must tell you; there is another thing you need to know: you are loved beyond measure for who you are, and you are beautiful.

And while she was listening to the old man, she cried, because she understood the truth, and she felt liberated and totally empowered to achieve the desires of her heart. And so she started her journey

Personal growth doesn’t have to be a mystery. You can learn and change, becoming the person you dream of being. It just takes paying attention to the ten keys of personal growth.

1. Take time to dream. Personal growth requires investing a little time in exploring your own desires and hopes. How can you know if you are growing if your goals are unclear?

2. Keep a journal. Journaling is a wonderful method of increasing personal growth in several ways. For one thing, it gives you a place to record those rumblings of distant dreams and the achievements you’d like to make. Second, it gives you a way to keep track of progress you’re making toward your goals.

3. Make mistakes. A person who never makes any mistakes can only be a person who never does anything! If you are to grow, you will have to act, sometimes in a risky way. You are bound to make mistakes on the way to personal growth.

4. But, learn from your mistakes. Mistakes can be stepping stones on the way to success if we analyze them to see where we went wrong. If we get prideful and resistant, though, and refuse to admit we messed up, we are likely to repeat the mistake. Therefore, the next key to personal growth is. . .

5. Stay humble. It’s hard to learn and grow if you think you already know everything.

6. Make self-confidence a priority. Gaining self-confidence can be one of your self-development goals, of course, but whether or not it is, having assurance in yourself is pivotal to seeing your other dreams manifest themselves. This is because success usually requires making contacts and interacting with others. Oddly, the best way to feel more confident is to get your mind off yourself and onto others.

7. Be honest. What good are dreams if the fulfilling of them is just a big sham? The first (and hardest) person to be honest with is yourself. It’s easy to pretend we have certain standards or goals simply because the people around us do. For instance, have you ever felt like you were supposed to love being outdoors just because your peer group values outdoor activities? Is it possible that you are quite content puttering around the kitchen without ever going outdoors? Don’t take on a goal of being an avid hiker and biker, then! Honestly assess what you love and want to do with your life.

8. Read a lot. Find good books on the topics you wish to succeed in, such as hobbies, health, or business skills. Or start simply with newsletter articles delivered to your emailbox. Don’t feel like you have to invest hours in study, though. Fifteen minutes of reading here and there can contribute much to your education.

9. Don’t forget or devalue others. In your quest to be the best YOU you can be, remember that friends and family are integral to a developed life.

10. Stay teachable. Let yourself learn from others. Even people who don’t seem to have much going for them are likely to have experiences and understandings that you can benefit from if you just listen to them.

Oh, we all know that we can download a load of free stuff from the Internet easily. But the best downloads are the ones that DON’T come with extra features like viruses, worms, adwares, spywares, whathaveyounots. It’s the truth. When you download something free on the Internet, they sometimes come with some kind of a program that will either give you a headache or give your computer a sickness.

You see, downloads are free on the surface. But whenever you download something from the Internet, they want something in return, such as our personal information which is sometimes harmless.

The better way to download things online is to get a download program to help you download things off the Internet. For instance FlashGet which is a program that can help you download large files like mp3, programs, songs, videos off the Internet in an organized way.

And another wonderfully amazing software for downloads is the GetRight download manager. This software not only speeds up the download process but it also allows you to download different files from different servers easily and organize it in such a way that you will be able to find the files that you have downloaded very easily. You can download multiple files at the same time without slowing down the speed of download. If the download is interrupted or connection is severed, you can continue the download process from where you left off without having to start the download all over again. GetRight also works with many different types of Internet browsers, i.e., Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera, Mozilla, Netscape, AOL, MSN, etc. Whenever you download stuff from the Internet using this software, you can get the download without downloading the spywares and adwares that comes with some of these downloads.

Not to be left behind, SpeedBit also provides the same kind of service that GetRight and FlashGet provides, with the speedbit software, you can download files from the Internet at 500% faster than the usual speed, broadband or not. The focus on SpeedBit is to make the technology of Download Accelarator Plis (DAP) more accessible to anyone in the world. There are tens of millions of people who are currently using SpeedBit to download stuff from the Internet. SpeedBit also helps you sift out the adwares and spywares that comes with most downloadable stuff on the Internet.

Of course, the faster your Internet connection, the faster you will be able to download programs and files from the Internet. Hence, it will make a significant difference whether you#re using a Broadband internet connection or a dial-up. Dial-ups are definitely much slower than Broadband. If you’re using Broadband and downloading real media files, it may take anywhere between 15 minutes to 45 minutes. However, if you’re downloading files from the Internet using dial-up connection, you may have to wait around 30 minutes to 180 minutes to download one single media file.

Therefore, if you’re using Broadband and combine with one of these downloading softwares, you’ll have a far more pleasant experience than those without such privileges.

Public speaking is something we cannot avoid in our life. The situation will arise when we are called upon to stand up and speak our minds out. When that situation comes are we ready deliver?

Public speaking is one of the most feared activities in a person’s lifetime. Anxiety and stress will usually attack once you get off your seat and start to speak. Sadly, this fear is the cause of lost promotions, low self esteem, miscommunications and similar situations. But why do some people excel on it? They make it look so easy – I guess through practice one can improve his public speaking skills but in the mean time here are 6 guidelines and questions that you will make your life easier when speaking in public.

Who?

Who are you talking to? Know your audience, their background, values and common interests that may help you in your presentation. If you are speaking to a group of accountants then it will help if you focus your speech on data and statistics, or if you are speaking to a group of teenagers, you should know the latest fashion or in-thing so you can establish rapport and make your speech lighter and simpler.

Knowing your listeners is imperative to a successful speech. It will also help you relax if you know the people who are going to listen to your presentation.

Where?

Knowing the venue and being there early is half the battle. Try to get a feel of the place. Stand on the stage or where ever you are suppose to deliver your speech. Try to visualize your audience listening to your speech.

Check the sound system and the availability of audio-visual aids if you need to use some. Being at the venue early will give you some time to prepare and compose yourself. You can also afford time for a last minute tweaking of your speech.

What?

What do you want to say? What is the speech for? If you are speaking to educate and inform your audience, make sure that you have accurate and updated facts in your presentation. It is not enough that you have prepared and have memorized your speech; you should also know what you are talking about and have made a thorough research about it.

How?

How can you deliver your message across? A sound language skill is not enough to ensure success as a public speaker. Choose your words carefully and be sure to enunciate them. Poor articulation and pronunciation weighs much in evaluating your presentation.

Visual aids are helpful to get your message across. You may use handouts or technical presentations to support your points. But the best visual aids are your facial expressions, hand gestures and body language. When practicing your speech, try to do it in front of a mirror to see how you look

Make sure that you have a solid opening, a good transition and a memorable conclusion.

When?

When is the best time to speak and stop? In communication, words are not the sole means of conveying a message. Your pause and stops also play an important role in delivering your point across.

Know when to start speaking and when to stop. Be aware of how long your speech is and tailor it to suit your audience. If you are speaking to a groups of seventh graders, then chances are their attentions span is shorter than that of a twenty something university student.

Why?

Why should they listen to you? Why were you chosen to speak in public? Determine the reasons why you were picked to deliver a speech. It may be because of your educational background, your work experience or your status in the community. What ever it is, they want something from you. Identify the reason and prepare your speech to answer the audience expectations.

Speaking in public need not be a painful experience that you would rather forget and bury in the past. Just answer these basic questions and you have are half way there. There is no substitute for preparation so make sure that you have plenty of time to do this. Knowing what you want to say and saying it right is the perfect equation. One more thing, remember to relax and enjoy the experience.

In years past a garage was a place to park a car or store items not currently in use. They were generally messy detached outbuilding that attracted very little attention. Today they have graduated to being part of the house and homeowners are as interested in a decorative, as well as a functional floor coating.

Whether the garage is used just for parking the car, as an organized workshop or for occasional entertaining, a quality and decorative garage floor coat can give you the look you are after. It can be a single color scheme or have many different designs painted on it, to make it seem more a part of the home than an afterthought.

Painting a garage floor is the easiest and most economical means of updating the look of the garage. With so many types and colors available finding a garage floor coating to do what you want it to do, should be no trouble. Whether you just want a functional garage floor coating to protect the concrete from stains and tire marks, or one that lends itself to being aesthetic, it can be found.

Protection From Damages Is Key

Preparing the floor prior to using a floor coating is the main part of a good-looking floor. A cleaner degreaser should be used to remove surface dirt and grease, thoroughly rinsing before proceeding to the next step. A concrete etching product will remove heavy stains as well as rust and also needs to be thoroughly rinsed and completely dry prior to putting down any floor coating.

Failure to fully clean and remove and grease and stains will cause the floor coating to fail to adhere to the concrete and it a short time the garage floor coating will start to bubble and wear off.

Daily cleaning with a dust mop or light broom is also recommended as dirt brought in on the car tires can scratch and ruin the top finish. It is recommended a weekly, more intense, cleaning schedule is also followed. This time spent caring for the floor will help the garage floor coating last longer.

To maintain the appearance of plain concrete you can also obtain garage floor coating that is clear. Usually this is an epoxy-based product that allows the finished concrete to show through without any color. However, once you have applied the desired garage floor coating follow the manufacturer’s recommended drying time before using it to protect the finish.

Imagine picking up your daily newspaper and fiding blank pages. Or turning on the 6 p.m. news to be greeted by a perfectly coiffed host intoning, “Nothing actually happened in the word today, so in place of our usual newscast, we’re bringing you this rerun of The Simpsons.” You can’t picture that actually happening, can you?

And not because there’s no such thing as a “slow news” day. I used to work as a journalist and let me tell you, we had plenty of days when it seemed like a better idea to just go home and climb into a hot bath. There’s nothing worse than late December when the paper is huge (thanks to all of the extra advertising for the Boxing Day sales) and most of government — from municipal to federal — has virtually shut down for the holidays. Ditto for any business that isn’t retail.

No news doesn’t mean no newspaper

In the absence of “news,” we still put out a paper. And we filled it with acres of what we called “human interest stories.” You know what I mean. Stories about charitable organizations that needed help, or about students who did good deeds or about odd and unusual hobbies people had. As “serious” journalists, we found these stories slightly distasteful, of course. But we did them anyway. Why?

Simple — we had subscribers who expected a paper every single day, whether there was breaking news or not.

Your word needs to count for something

Just call me an old fashioned gal, but I believe that publishing an e-zine, blog or newsletter is lot like producing a regular newspaper. As the writer, editor or publisher, you have made a promise to your readers.

It’s all about delivery

And what could be a more basic promise than the one about when your publication is going to appear? “When I get around to it,” is not an acceptable choice. Whatever frequency you pick — be it weekly, every two weeks or monthly — you need to deliver. Whatever happens in your life or your company’s life — from computer failures to redesigning your website to the dog eating your paperwork — doesn’t matter. You need to deliver. And, sorry, it also doesn’t matter that your publication is free. You have made a promise — maybe not a legally enforceable one, but a promise none-the-less.

And that’s a promise

And if you fail to keep it, I can promise you this: Your readers will cease to respect you. That’s a pretty steep price to pay. Isn’t it better just to write and produce the darn thing?

All the products that you want to sell online are ready. You have already signed up with the Google Adsense program or with other affiliate marketing programs and you have already prepared the ad you want to post on your affiliate’s site.

Your mind is now set to being the next most successful online businessman. But is there anything else that you might have forgotten to prepare? Maybe none. But how about your landing pages? Are they all set for your business?

Landing pages are simply web pages where visitors are directed to whenever they click a result in a web search or whenever they click a web ad. For affiliate marketing, landing pages would refer to the web page where you, as a merchant, would want your potential customer to be directed after clicking your ad on your affiliate’s website.

Landing pages are, at most times, nothing really different from other web pages in a particular website, especially if the said website is an e-commerce site. Some online businessmen would even use the homepage of their websites as the landing page for their ads. Are these businessmen making a big mistake? Or should you follow their method in creating landing pages for their ads?

Well, you can always follow what most online retailers do, directing their potential customers to the homepages of their websites. But if you want to achieve something more from your online business, and if you want to earn a lot of profits, you better create a special landing page for your web ads. Why? Here are a few reasons why you need to use landing pages for your web ads. And take note, it would do you a lot better if you create a great landing page than a so-so one.

Reason no. 1: It is the only way you earn conversions in an affiliate marketing program.

There are a variety of affiliate marketing programs today, but most of these programs let the merchant pay the affiliate in a pay per click basis. Basically, all you have to do is sign up with the program and submit your ad.

The program owner would then distribute your ad to various affiliates who would then place your ad on their websites. Whenever your ad is clicked, a visitor would be directed to your landing page and you would have to pay the affiliate for his service.

As a merchant, you earn in an affiliate program through conversions that is whenever a visitor that is directed to your site actually buys a product on your site. Without these conversions, you actually earn nothing from the program.

Also, the more visitors that your affiliates have directed to your site, the larger would your expense be. And the only way that you can recover from these expenses is through conversions.

Now, you sure won’t get any conversion if you have posted an ad on your affiliate’s site without an actual landing page for the potential customer to be redirected into. It’s just like advertising a product without actually having a store to sell your product. Your advertisement may be enticing enough to encourage people to purchase a product, but without the landing page, how will they know how to purchase the product

It is therefore important to have landing pages for your ads because it is the only way for you to earn something in an affiliate program. Without landing pages, all you do is spend money paying your affiliates without actually getting anything in return.

Reason no. 2: Other web pages may just not be enough.

Many people make the mistake of making their website’s homepage as the landing page for their ads. The same is true for those who make use of other pages like a “contact us” page or a product page. Homepages are often designed to serve multiple users and contains a lot of links to other pages or to other websites.

The same is with the other two pages mentioned. If you want to be successful in an affiliate program, we’re sure that you don’t want your landing page to cater to the needs of various people, most of which may not be really interested with your product.

When choosing a landing page, you must always have the customer directed into that page in mind. Therefore, your landing page must be relevant to the keywords and the contents you placed on your ad. It is also important that the landing page can induce your visitor to take action that is to purchase your product or at least provide leads for potential customers.

Final Word

You probably entered into an affiliate marketing program with these things in mind: to save on advertising expenses and to gain more profit. But if you get into an affiliate marketing program without actually having a landing page, you’ll end up paying too much without getting anything in return.

So if you still don’t have a landing page for your ads, you better start creating one now. And don’t get us wrong; it isn’t enough for you to have just a landing page it should be a great landing page!