Ask anyone what their primary sales strategy is for selling their products or services and their response might seem shocking to you. Why? They make harmonious bonds with their customers!

Simply put, these are advertisements which represent the hidden benefit to reinforce the need for a desired outcome. The consumer makes an emotional connection, whether it’s your customer service, your product, or other factors of human behavior.

Before you develop this style of ad, you must understand the five basic needs or motivating forces from a consumer’s point of view. The theory is that until a lower ranking need is satisfied there is no desire to pursue a higher ranking need.

Below are the five human motivators, beginning with the basic or lowest ranked need and continuing to the highest.

Physiological needs - Include hunger, thirst, reproduction, shelter, clothing, air, and rest.

Safety-security - The need for security, stability, dependence, protection, structure, order, law, tenure, pension, and insurance.

Love-belonging - The need for belonging, acceptance, love, affection, family, group acceptance, and friendship.

Self-esteem - The need for recognition, respect, achievement, responsibility, prestige, independence, attention, importance, and appreciation.

Self-actualization - The need for satisfaction, the desire to achieve fulfillment through reaching self-set individual goals or aspirations.

If you can become familiar with this theory, then you will understand that motivation is always an individual act. The most your advertising message can hope to do is to present an appeal strong enough to stimulate action toward satisfying one of the basic human needs.

If there is one rule that will be most helpful in preparing effective advertising, it is this: The message must put the desire of the potential customer before the advertiser’s desire. Please read that one more time! The rule may sound like a simple one to follow, but frequently advertising messages take the form of a plea to customers to respond rather than solve the advertiser’s problem.

The buying decision is seldom a purely rational one. Emotions always influence behavior. As you explore various techniques for presenting your advertising message, do not ignore psychological and harmonious appeals.

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Preparing for an oral book report can be a daunting task. A thorough research on your book of choice might seem endless at best, however, it’s not as difficult as many make it out to be.

Most educational institutions allow you to pick your book of choice, but some do not. If you fall into the category of choosing your theme, then you’re in for a shocking surprise.

Pick a theme that you absolutely feel comfortable with and one that stays within the realm of your class subject. Read the book cover-to-cover and write out the following:

1. Title, author, and copyright date.

2. Type of book – fiction or non fiction.

3. Intended audience.

4. Name the most outstanding personality traits of the major character(s). Explain how this was apparent and important in the story.

5. Setting, time, and place.

6. Summarize the complete plot.

7. Grade the book.

8. Source of the book.

The best part of this entire project is to perform your book report into a role play. Dress up like the main character, or author, and provide similar items depicted in the story. Present it like the real person is standing in your shoes.

The key to putting all this together will be in your written script outlined in the 8 steps. Write out each step and speak to the class in the right order. This works better if you can memorize the script, but have it nearby in case you forget.

For example, let’s say you choose Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. You find a gray haired wig, mustache, and a white medical uniform to wear. You have illustrations, charts and maybe some home made devices resembling his equipment. You enter the class, layout your items, and present your oral book report.

Not only will you impress your classmates, you will hit a home run with your instructor!

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1. Direct object.
2. Object of the preposition.
3. Indirect object.

a) I don’t object – answers the question what? After an active verb (she swam the channel), (he gave it to him).

Indirect object tells to whom, or for whom something is done. Remember, you must have a direct object before you can have an indirect object.

a) She gave ‘to’ him the cake.
b) He bought ‘for’ her the present.

Object of the preposition or prepositional phrase consists of two things; a preposition and its object.

a) He gave the purse to her.
b. The book was written by him.
c. It was given to her for him.

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Principle parts are:

1. Present participant which always end with “ing.”

2. Past tense which express completed action in the past.

3. Past participle use in the perfect tense with a helping verb “had gone.”

4. Infinitive used with “to” (to live, to pass, to conquer)

Regular verb

1. Form their past and present participle aims by adding “d” or “ed” to the infinitive (chose, chosed), (pass, passed).

Remember, that the plural “e” of the infinitive is sometimes dropped when writing the present participle “to use” infinitive “using” present participle.

Note – The past participle or past endings “d” or “ed” firms up past particples or past tenses.

a) Incorrect – “I ask him the question.”
b) Correct – “I asked him the question.”

Irregular verb

These firm up past participles by changing the vowel on the consanant by adding “en.” If in doubt about the past perticiple or past, firms are irregular verbs, then consult the dictionary which lists the past and past participles of the irregular verbs.

Remember, the past participle, when used as a part of the main verb, always use the verb to be as a helper.

The past participles, when used as a part of the main verb, always use “have,” “has,” “had,” or a firm of “to be” as a helper.

Lie and Lay

Lie means to recline and does not take a direct object. Principle part are: lie, lay, lain, lying, (he lies down).

Lay means to place or put and it does take a direct object. Principle parts are: lay, laid, laying, laid, (lay that book on the table).

Rise and Raise

Rise means to go up its accord and it doesn’t need help. Rise in transitive. It does not take a direct object. For example, “the sun rises,” “the smoke rose.” Principle parts are: rise, rose, risen, rising.

Raise means to lift and it does need help. For example, “I raised the blind.” Principle parts are: raise, raised, raising.

Sit and Sat

Sit means to be in a sitting position. Principle part are: sit down, I sat down, sit, sat, sitting.

Sat means to place. Set does take a direct object. For example, “set that down,” “I set the table.” Principle parts are set and setting.

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1. Case forms for nouns are alike.

a) The girl in the class gave the girl in the locker room her lipstick. (The girl’s lipstick)

Nominative pronoun - I, you, he, she, it.
Singular object - me, you, him, her, it.
Possessive - my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, its.

Nominative (subject of the verb, predicate nominative).

Subject of verb (She and I, me, have an appointment).

Predicate nouns that follow a linking verb (not action verb) remains the subject.

The pattern will be Noun – Linking Verb – Verb.

a) He is my friend.

Predicate Nominative – comes after a linking verb, ie; some form of the verb (to be) – that is (he, him) – he is (to be). That must have been (she, her). A predicate nominative means the same thing as the noun or pronoun to which it refers.

Plural forms and nouns are used:

a) By adding only “ans.”
b) By adding “es.”
c) By adding “ies” after removing they.
d) By adding “es” to a noun that ends in “o.”
e) By adding “ves” after removing the “f.”
f) By changing the internal spelling.
g) By adding “es” to singular form.

- Some nouns remain the same in plural form.
- Some nouns have secondary plural.
- Some nouns have no plural form or meaning.
- Most hyphenated compound nouns add “s” to the first word.

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1. Subjects joined by “and” take a plural verb.

a) Paul and Jim both like football.
b) Ken and Paul play football well.

2. Singular subjects joined by “or” or “nor” take a singular verb.

a) Neither John nor I work(s) well together.
b) John or Sue read(s) well.

3. When a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by “or” or “nor,” the verb agrees with the closer subject.

a) Neither John nor his friends care about football.
b) Neither his or John care.

4. Don’t and doesn’t agree with their subjects.

a) I (do, don’t), you (do, don’t), he (does, doesn’t), they (do, don’t).

5. Collective nouns can be singular or plural as determined by their meaning.

a) Jury, herd, team, audience, family.

b) When considered as a unit, the subject is singular. When considered as individuals, the subject is plural.

aa) The jury has reached a decision.
bb) The jury are arguing among themselves.
cc) The team plays well together.
dd) The team loves to argue with each other.

6. A verb agrees with the subject, not its predicate nominative.

a) Traffic jams are one problem of commuters.
b) One problem of commuters is traffic jams.

7. When the subject allows the verb “often,” “here,” “there,” or “after” questions, the verb agrees with its subject that allows the verb.

a) Here are the boys.
b) Here is the girl.
c) Where is Sheri.
d) Where are Sheri and John.
e) There are the plates.
f) There is the police.

8. Words stating amount are usually singular.

a) Ten dollars is a high price.
b) Two thirds of the cake was eaten.

9. The title of a word of art, literature, or music plural in form take a singular verb.

a) Great expectation is my favorite book.
b) Porky and Bess is my favorite operas.
c) Every or many before the subject takes a singular verb.
d) Many a worker (at general motors) is ill prepared in the current economy.
e) Every member of the squad is physically ready.

10. A few nouns, although plural in form take a singular verb.

a) Views, news.
b) Diseases, such as measles, chicken pox, mumps, rickets.
c) Words ending in “ics” ie; mathematics, physics, civics, economics,
politics, ethics, athletics.

11. Words indicating “time,” “money,”  “amount,” “measure,” “weight,” “volume,” or “fractions,” are usually considered singular and singular verb.

12. “It,” used as an introductory word is always followed by a singular. Remember, that the word “it” is not the subject in such a sentence.

13. When the word “there” introduces a sentence, the subject may be either singular or plural.

14. The words “several,” “few,” “both,” and “many,” are always plural and take a plural verb.

15. When the word “every” precedes the subject, it is used as an adjective, not as a pronoun. The subject takes a plural verb.

16. Remember that the antecedent of a pronoun names the person or thing to which the pronoun refers. A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number and gender.

Singular Pronouns – I, you, he, she, it, my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, me, him.

Plural Pronouns - We, you, they, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs, us, them.

Note – There are four genders: masculine, feminine, common, and neutral. The pronoun must be the same.

17. Tense denotes the time and action took place.

a) Present tense (I fly, I run)
b) Past tense (I flew, I ran)
c) Future tense (I will fly, I will run)

18. Present perfect denotes habitual action.

a) I have flown, He has flown.

19. Past perfect denotes an action that was completed before another past action.

a) I had flown.

20. Future perfect (I will have flown, I shall have studied for ten minutes when you arrive).

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If a word refers to one person or thing it is singular. Chicken(s)  Ticket(s)  Toy(s)

Agreement of subject and verb:

1. Singular subjects take a singular verb – “I walk”

2. Plural subjects take a plural verb – “They walk”

3. The number of the subject is not changed by a phrase following the subject.

a) The child of the streets is happy…
b) Walter together with John and Tim love movies…
c) He along with Tim and John works hard to achieve…

4.The following pronouns are singular:

a) “one” group – one, no one, anyone, someone, everyone.
b) “body” group – everybody, anybody, somebody, nobody.
c) “miscellaneous” group – each, either, neither.

5. Some, all, most, and none may be singular or plural. If the meaning is singular use a singular verb.

a) Some of the men are working.
b) Some of it was eaten.

6. Identify simple subjects, simple predicates, complete subjects and complete predicates.

7. Identify single word adjectives, single word adverbs and prepositional phrases.

8. Identify complements.

- All can’t win. You must not feel upset because you lost.

- We were standing in the sun. We suffered from the heat.

- John was a tall person. His height quite overwhelmed us.

- Seeing a cowboy lasso a bull that had broken away from the herd was the most thrilling sight of the ride for us girls.

- When he had finished his apple pie, John turned to Jim and me and said, “let’s go down to the old farm house and talk to Jack.”

- As we boys passed the pasture, the cattle began milling around nervously in the darkness.

- As he punched our tickets, the conductor assured John and me that we’d reach Cleveland in time for supper.

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The early Anglo Saxon settlers had no idea their dialects would turn into huge colloquial conversation jargon by the late 19th century. Technology pushed forward without notice for the English language that we have ignored the golden rule of writing or speaking. The mighty gatekeeper of all communication is slowly fading toward initialisms with imaginative new words (BRB, LOL, LMAO, LU4EVER) which encourage speed.

What happened to the Old English style of writing displayed so eloquently in the U.S. Constitution? How did we permit technology to strip away our principles and make such an intelligent decision for human kind?

Over the next nine days I will be sharing with you my brand new version of “Getting Back To English Basics.” For those who have never explored true English literature, or who don’t wish to remember, the following lessons will be an explicit refresher course:

1. Above Average Grammar

2. The Compound Subject

3. Contrast Nouns and Pronouns

4. The Regular and Irregular Verb

5. Objective Case

6. Who and Whom

7. Comparison of Modifiers

8. Friendly Adverbs

9. Paragraph Construction

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Every good poem is worth analyzing to an extent. It helps to look deep inside a poem’s structure and its meaning when it comes to writing a great masterpiece.

First, take any poem and begin to read it slowly. Put pencil to paper or use a PC word program, and begin to layout paragraphs by using a simple outline.

In the opening paragraph, begin with a general thesis statement about the main idea of the poem as a whole. Be sure to include in this statement the name of the poem and the author.

Now proceed to state how the writer had conveyed the main idea by using the following methods:

a) Direct Statement
b) Implication
c) Figurative Language
d) Symbolic Language

Note – A writer may use only one or all these methods.

Next, tell about the major parts of the poem. Each part may or may not include a stanza or stanzas or it may be divided into sections, which only lives in short poems.

Tell what the poet accomplishes (deals with) in each part. In case of longer poems, break this up into shorter paragraphs dealing with each part.

Tell about the surface meaning in the poem, or its literal significance. Now analyze the words which imply more than on the surface.

Quote lines and cite their members at the end of the quotation. Explain in detail what they imply. Pick out and explain key symbolic words (again quote and cite).

In the concluding paragraph, state what the poem means as a whole, especially what it points out in the way of general truths about the subject.

Once you have this information in front of you, read it over again slowly. You will notice its specific structure to begin writing your own classic poem in a unique way.

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Since the headline is the first contact your readers have with your message, it must reach out to them. Promise them a benefit. Tell them how they will be better off if they read the rest of the ad. Use action verbs. Save ten dollars is a stronger heading than Savings of ten dollars because of the verb.

Headlines can be classified into the following five basic types; effective headlines frequently combine two or more of these kinds.

News Headlines

This form tells the reader something he or she did not know before. Using the word news does not make it a news headline. “Now – a copy machine that copies in color” is an example of this type headline.

Advice and Promise Headline

Here you are promising something if the reader follows the advice in your ad. “Switch to Amoco premium, no-lead gasoline, and your car will stop pinging.”

Selective Headline

This headline limits the audience to a specific group. For example: “To all gray-haired men over forty.” Caution! Be absolutely sure you do not eliminate potential customers with this type of headline.

Curiosity Headline

The intent here is to arouse the reader’s interest enough to make him or her read the ad. The danger is that this headline often appears “cute” or “clever” and fails in its mission. An example: “Do you have trouble going to sleep at night?”

Command or Demand Headline

Watch out for this one as most people resist pushiness, especially in advertising. “Do it now!” or “Buy this today!” This headline generally can be improved by changing to less obtrusive wording such as: “Call for your key to success!”

One common misconception about headlines is that they must be short and easy to understand. This is not always true. Here is a headline that was used extensively in print ads by Ogilvy and Mather for one of their clients: At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.

Illustrations

There are three primary reasons for using illustrations in an advertisement.

- To attract attention to the ad.
- To illustrate the item being featured.
- To create a mood in the mind of the reader.

Everyone has heard, A picture is worth a thousand words; in advertising, the illustration frequently helps the reader visualize the benefits promised. You can almost feel the warmth of the tropical sun when you see the photos in January travel ads. Cost and practicality may dictate whether your ad uses photographs, artists’ drawings or merely canned artwork. Any of these can make the ad more appealing to the reader’s eye.

Copy

If you follow the three principles of good copy, your ads will be effective:

- Good copy should be clear.
- Good copy should be crisp.
- Good copy should be concise.

Clear, crisp and concise . . . the three Cs of copywriting suggest that the words in your advertising message merely do a good job of communicating. Do not use big words when small words can make your meaning clear. Use colorful, descriptive terms. Use the number of words necessary to make your meaning clear and no more-but also no less! Selecting the right words is critical to the success of the ads. Recent research conducted at Yale University found that the following 12 words are the most personal and persuasive words in our language.

You       Discovery    Safety

Money   Proven        Results

Love     Guarantee   Save

New     Easy           Health

Notice the overused word free is not on the list.

REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOUR MESSAGE IS PRINTED IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS INSTEAD OF UPPER- AND LOWERCASE LETTERS, IT IS FAR MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE READER TO FOLLOW AND REMAIN INTERESTED. EVEN IN HEADLINES ALL CAPITAL LETTERS SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

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A typo is not a mistake in a resume, but does make it more difficult to get an interview which is the primary objective of a resume. If you are applying for a specific rare skilled position and your qualifications and experience are stellar, the position may not require writing skills making it easier to be overcome. However, for the  majority of applicants a typo, in most cases, is a mistake that cannot be overcome especially for front line management positions and above.

A resume is suppose to be a carefully planned and well laid out document that is showcasing your best. Thus, having a document showcasing your best with a typo is an indication of failure to proof read material prior to sending out as well as an indication of producing sloppy or unfinished work.

Most positions today have very stringent time constraints for meeting deadlines, and if a typo is present on a document that was produced on your own time with no deadline pressures and contains mistakes, indicates to a potential employer that under pressure most documents will have mistakes. Typo on a resume will also indicate to an employer that communication by email with subordinates, peers, and up-line management will also be riddled with mistakes because of failure to proof read and take the time to conduct a spell check.
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