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Choosing the correct pram or travel system for your child is one of the biggest purchases you will make when your new child is born. Prams, Pushchairs and Travel Systems can cost well over a hundred pounds and will be used by you for many years, and if you have more children in the future a good quality pram will last as long as you have children.

One of the first main considerations to think about is your lifestyle, do you like walking a lot? Will you be walking over rough ground? Or do you prefer to use the car more? Will you be travelling on public transport with your child a lot of the time?

There are several options to think about these include Traditional Prams, Two in one, Three in One, Pushchairs, Buggies/Strollers, Three Wheelers, Travel Systems and Double/Triple Buggies and Pushchairs.

Traditional Prams

These are suitable from birth, they are large bodied or smaller soft bodied but do not convert to pushchairs. They tend to be large wheeled chassis with full spring suspension. The carry top is detachable from the chassis and has carry handles, carrying these tend to be best over short distances as they can be heavy. They tend not to be easily transportable by car or public transport.

Two in One Pushchairs

A 2 in 1 pram is a lie flat pushchair and separate chassis. The pushchair unit can be used from birth, facing you or facing away. There is normally a choice of chassis, fixed wheel with suspension for walking or swivel for easily manoeuvring in busy places. A two in one pram comes with a removable washable liner and when used with a mattress creates a carrycot.

Three in One

A 3 in 1 pram is a carrycot, separate pushchair unit and chassis. The carrycot is suitable for overnight sleeping (with a safety mattress) from birth until around 6 months. Then the pushchair unit can be used facing you or facing away. The pushchair unit has a reclining back rest and adjustable footrest. There is a choice of chassis available, a larger wheel chassis with fixed wheels and suspension is ideal for walking giving more comfort to you baby and yourself. A swivel wheeled chassis will be lighter in weight, fold smaller, easier to manoeuvre and convenient for the car. Most chassis have adjustable handle heights.

Pushchairs

A lightweight pushchair or stroller is ideal if you will be using public transport, going on holiday and using the car. Some models are suitable from birth. The normally have a lie flat facility with a 5 point harness, lockable swivel wheels and a shopping basket.

Buggies and Strollers

These tend to be quite varied but will have a combination of the following features.

Fully reclining seats will be suitable from birth.

Others are suitable from 3 months or 6 months

Between 1 and 5 position reclining seat.

5 point harness.

Lockable swivel wheels.

Lightweight frame.

Umbrella fold for easy storage

Optional car seat

Three Wheelers

A 3 wheeler pushchair is perfect for walking, whether on city streets or on rougher ground, some models have an optional first stage car seat and carrycot, this gives you a flexible choice. Consider the size of the pushchair folded and whether you have sufficient space in your car or home.

Travel System

A travel system offers a lie flat pushchair suitable from birth and a Stage 0+ car seat, a travel system is ideal for the car, as the pushchair folds compactly to fit in the boot, the baby can be carried around easily in the car seat, the car seat then attaches to the pushchair unit. The pushchair unit is
always facing away from you, the car seat when fitted into the pushchair allows the baby to be facing you.

Double and Tripple Buggies/Pushchairs

A fully recling side by side double buggy is suitable for newborn twins/triplets or a baby and a toddler.

To find the right pram for your child at a discount price visit Quality Prams.

Dolphin Design and Promotions are a web design and SEO company. We help our clients reach their targets and make the most money they can on the web.

Your mind is so powerful that what you focus on happens. Your intent bends reality, creating vibrations in the quantum field.

Your mind has enormous creative power. You have the power to think, feel, imagine, and intuit. But, even more, you also have the power to focus and attract.

When you focus on something, you emit thought-energy. This thought-energy interacts with the energy in the quantum field and you attract things similar in pattern to your thoughts.

Most people, unfortunately, do their focusing unconsciously.

They are NOT choosing with awareness what to focus on.

They allow their minds to run them. Their minds, obsessed with a problem, focus on the circumstances that distress them.

They then attract what they DO NOT want.

Why? Because they focused on it.

They allow their brain to focus on what it has been programmed to focus on.

They get the result of that focusing, usually negative.

Reality is not partial.

Reality is the dance of atoms that interact with your thoughts.

Reality is what you draw to yourself through your attention.

If you want your life to be better, you have to be better. In particular, you have to be more aware of how you think.

What you think matters. It creates your experience.

Resource Box

Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, Ca., 15 years ago and now resides in Denver, Colorado. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life

Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this
article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or
newsletter. It’s a shareware article.

Broadband is ultra fast speed worldwide web access, and is noticeably quicker than dial-up access over a modem. If you yourself are looking over this internet guide then you are possibly looking at acquiring net access for the first time, or thinking to increase the speed to broadband.

The primary perk of high speed internet access is users are able to downloading films over the net, all this has became extraordinarily popular with the BBC launching their new software which will allow people to view the latest shows of Roseanne. With fast internet access users will often also get rock music and Hollywood movies at a much better speed than slow dial-up access.

High speed broadband is effortless to put in. The very first thing you yourself will need to do is sign up with an ISP, of course known as an Internet Service Provider, and the corporation will supply surfers with a high speed connection via your home line. If you yourself already have an Internet Service Provider then make sure people make use of an internet provider comparison online website for impartial advice on the very best high speed internet deals. You may quickly find the cheapest deals with an internet provider comparison site by simply putting in your street and house number and then the website will return a list of internet packages in your location. You yourself will be under no contract to sign up with any fast broadband while surfers browse the wireless broadband deals.

Once you have signed up with your ISP the broadband firm will often arrange a date for turning on the connection and supply surfers with any necessary hardware and connection software. The hardware and CD software will probably come with step by step instructions and the majority of internet businesses may offer clients IT advice if needed. Find the best broadband package by using Compare Broadband UK.

Once surfers have successfully connected to the net you will probably start to rejoice in the extremely fast speeds of broadband. If you are going to download music, TV shows such as The Simpsons or action movies please be aware of any download limits you yourself may have on your package. Dance music and telly downloads such as Family Guy can often take up a lot of your ‘download allocation’ as the internet business are massive in file size.

What to Do When “The Dog Ate Your Kid’s Homework”

Poor dog! According to your kid, the family pooch ate their homework yet again. It’s amazing you don’t have to go to the vet more often!

In all seriousness, homework is one of those “hot topics” for parents. Many moms feel it is their life purpose to ensure their child completes homework correctly and on time. When a child falls behind, Mom sometimes gets very anxiousand resorts to using all the homework motivation techniques she can find!

Guilt Trips, Lies, and Short-Term Homework MotivationTechniques That Don’t Work

The following three homework motivation techniques lead to more aggravation and only achieve short-term results (at best).

1. Fear TacticsTelling your children they will get nowhere in life without school is an ineffective lie.

Your kids will call you on it as soon as they find out people like Bill Gates were school dropouts!

2. Guilt TripsWhen parents place too much pressure on their children to succeed in school, kids often rebel by skipping class, taking drugs, drinking alcohol, or even dropping out of school.

In chapter twelve of my book When You’re About To Go Off The Deep End, Don’t Take Your Kids With You, I mention Amanda, a past counseling client who was driven to get straight A’s in school while her parents groomed her for a career in medicine. Meanwhile, all Amanda wanted to do was act. When I met her during her second year in college, Amanda was on antidepressants, battling suicidal thoughts, and falling behind in school. Although guilt trips may work in the short-term, they often backfire in the long run!

3. Bribes”We’ll give you $20 if you get an ‘A’ on this test.”

This type of pressure can very quickly put a strain on your household budget, especially when your child demands a raise for that “A”!

Your children will rarely feel proud of their accomplishments if they’re only getting good grades to appease or please you. Positive long-term results require a better approach.

How to Best Support Your Child

Not every kid on this earth can be a doctor or a lawyernor should they be! We need a variety of skilled adults for a healthy, functioning economy, and the true “success stories” are the ones who are doing what they love.

One of the best things you can do for your child is to see what they are truly passionate about and then support them in it. Encourage your children by helping them to succeed at the things they love best!

Consequences: The Best Teacher

So how do you get your children to do their homework? You don’t! Instead, you leave homework up to your children, and let them deal with the consequences directly.

Here are four effective ways to inspire your children to do their homework:

1. Let your children experience poor grades.

When report cards come out, sit down with your children and ask how they feel about their grades. Discuss which areas they want to improve in and which areas they are proud of.

2. Pay attention to the subjects they are interested in.

Ask them about their interests, hobbies, and projects. Support them in their activities any way that you can.

3. Attend as many of your child’s school events as possible.

Go to the parent-teacher interviews, the concerts, and the games, and demonstrate your interest, caring, and support.

4. Stop reminding them about homework.

Leave the responsibility for their homework to them. In order for your children to do well in school over the long-termand ultimately in life!they need to care about their homework and responsibilities more than you do.

Gimmicks, lies, guilt trips, and similar homework motivation techniques don’t help. Instead, choose to make a small investment in your kids’ future success: Give them the support and encouragement they need now. They’ll ultimately feel more confident about making their own choices and taking responsibility for their achievementsand then you won’t have to motivate them to do their homework again!

Kelly Nault, MA author of When You’re About To Go Off The Deep End, Don’t Take Your Kids With You inspires moms to put themselves firstfor the sake of their children. She shares time-tested tools that motivate children to want to be well behaved, responsible and happy! Sign up for free online parenting course here.

You are free to print or publish this article provided the article and bio remain as written and includes a link to http://www.mommymoments.com as above.

© 2005 www.UltimateParent.com All rights reserved.

Recently I was engaged by a client because he was unable to take action. He had so much going on in his personal life and in his company that he was paralyzed with fear.

In the past, he made some bad decisions and he was afraid that history would repeat itself. We talked about this for several hours and I got a good understanding of his challenges. This person was successful by all standards and he had a successful company. No one could have guessed at his mental turmoil.

He lacked direction and focus and he was emotionally over extended. He lost his reason for starting his own company; he lost his reason for going to work every day.

I gave him a simple assignment. I wanted him to be selfish. I wanted him to figure out what kind of life he wanted and how creating his own business helped him create the life he wanted. I then asked him to make one decision that would move him towards his ideal life. Sometimes being successful requires being selfish.

The next morning I received an email from him and he outlined two decisions he made that required action. It was like a door opened for him. Frankly he just needed permission to be selfish and some support to make a decision. Someone to tell him it was ok to make a mistake in his selfishness. Almost any mistake can be corrected. Inaction can never be corrected except through action.

I told him that when I am in this space, and all of us are there at sometimes in our lives, I imagine that I am in a blizzard. I make one simple decision, take one step. When I take that step there are only two things that happen. The first is that you will hit something solid. When that happens, you can take corrective action and make another decision. The second thing that can happen is that you move through the blizzard, come out of the storm, see bright sun and blue skies. The simple decisions that you made move you through the storm. These simple decisions are what lead you to blue skies and sunshine.

What simple decision can you make to move into the sunshine and blue skies? Make one decision, take one action, and take one step. Don’t worry about how things will work out. The purpose is to take small steps, make small decisions. Just know the universe will conspire to help you but the universe requires you to take action.

Every one of needs help: a coach, a friend, or an advisor, someone to listen. Find that person, trust them, and take action. It all begins with one step.

Ron Finklestein
Small Business Success Expert
330-990-0788
info@yourbusinesscoach.net

I was so embarrassed for her. After a grueling 45 minutes on the Stairmaster, Kathy rewarded herself with a bag of Ruffles and a Diet Coke. Yet still insatiable, she drank two breakfast drinks and finished off little Emily’s last five Oreos.

Kathy’s post workout binges are nothing new. Neither are the extra 10 pounds living around her hips that she can’t seem to lose. But once Kathy puts these simple three steps to good use, she smile gaily as her last 10 pounds melt away.

Step 1: Eat at least 45 minutes before you exercise.

Ok, if you are now envisioning guilt eating and compensation exercising stop. This is not about eating a chocolate bar now and exercising it off later. It’s about, giving your body the energy it needs to sustain a good 45-60minute workout.

Eat a light snack consisting of 300-500 calories. This could be a bagel, with a slice of turkey and a whole tomato. Or it could be a protein bar.

The point is to get some carbohydrates, proteins and fats in your system now so that it has something to run on later. With this pre-workout meal, carbohydrates are critical because you want energy for your workout.

Eating 45 minutes before a workout will not make you fat. If anything, it will spend up your metabolism if you do this regularly.

Step 2: Drink lots of water while exercising

Your body should be 70% water and it knows this. When exercising, you could easily lose up to three pounds of water during one exercise.

Please don’t beat yourself up if you don’t lose three pounds. I watch women get upset at the gym everyday after their post-workout weighting ritual, if they haven’t lost weight. The weight will come off.

If you drink while exercising, you may be able to exercise longer. But more importantly your body will not have to cry out for water after you finish exercising.

Also, water can give you the sensitive of fullness so that you can calmly wait for your post workout meal without getting ravenous.

Step 3. Eat a meal at least 45 minutes after you workout.

Even if you are not hungry after your workout, you should train yourself to eat within 45 minutes of exercising. The body is patient and it will take a lot of mistreatment up to a point.

The problem with waiting until you are hungry to eat is that the body continues doing gazillion operations until you decide to eat. This usually when you get the “Gosh, I hungry now!” feeling.

In truth, at this stage, you’re not hungry, you’re famished and you have no time or patience to be judicious with what you eat. What’s more, you’re more likely to overeat.

So, feed your body with a 300-500 calorie meal within 45 minutes of exercising. Again, make sure that this meal has carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

For the post-workout meal, eating a lean protein proves critical because your body is in repair mode and it needs protein to rebuild your body.

If you can avoid post-workout binges for the next five weeks, you can certainly melt away those last 10 pounds. Here’s the secret to never having an excuse for not eating your pre and post-workout meals: Make your meals simple and place them in your purse or gym bag.

On occasion your can even replace a meal with a well-balanced protein shake. Now, no more embarrassing post-workout pig fests, you know what to do instead.

Are you a pro at yo-yo dieting? Let Naweko show you how to go from slob to sexy using the secret mind tools that even fitness models won’t tell you about. Get the real scoop on how to lose weight and keep it off at http://www.Noixia.com, home of “Skinny Fat Chicks: Why We’re Still Not Getting This Dieting Thing” ISBN:0974912212.

Laying your bathroom tiles with a dynamic flooring pattern or a deep wall color can make the difference as you remodel your bathroom floor. A nice bathroom needs a ceramic tile floor.

Before laying the bathroom tiles, start by removing your old carpet and carpet strips. Use a cutoff saw to make room for the bathroom tile to slip under the doorjambs. Place a portion of the tile pattern starting at the doorway to set up a centerline and then strike a chalk line.

Cut the bathroom tile with a wet saw or tile snips. Work your way up one side of the room and down the other. Allow 1/8″ for grout lines; spacers can be used for consistency. Mix the thinnest using an electric drill with a mixing bit.

Mix small amounts at a time, adding water slowly to maintain the right consistency. Mix enough to lay down a dozen or so bathroom tile at once, and be ready to go to work as the thinnest dries quickly using a trowel to apply the thinnest to the floor.

When the bathroom tiles are all in place and some-what dry, use a grout saw to scrape the excess thinnest out of the joints where the grout will go. A shop van will clean most of this up, but use a wet sponge to get the surface clean. Once dry, begin applying the grout with a rubber trowel.

One more sponge cleaning will be required to get up the film once the bathroom tiles is dried completely. It’s recommended to apply a grout sealer after about 48 hours or so to help avoid any staining problems that occur during normal use.

About The Author:

Roger King is a successful author and publisher of www.1st-home-decor.com Bathroom tiles and ideas to showcase your homes.

We all know how important air quality is, if you have ever spent a few hours on a plane you probably know that poor air quality has very negative effects, and that in some cases air quality has a very significant effect on general health.

But most of us don’t know much about the air in our homes and houses, we have no idea how much cleaner, or sometimes even how much worst it is from the outside air, in you live in a big city, or even close to one you should start thinking about this seriously. Air quality today, with a few exceptions, is not at its prime, and that you can significantly improve your quality of air, and your family quality of air.

Most of us have heard about air purification system, and air purifying products, most of the people believe that these products are extremely expensive and that the overall worth of this is not enough to justify spending so much money, but the times have changed, there are a lot of products in the air purification system market, and if you put some work into researching and studying the subject, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised as you walk away with an air purifying system that didn’t cost as much as you initially thought it would.

You can get an air purifier that will help you in many ways, improve your health, give you some peace of mind as to your children health and breathing, and even help you clean the house a little… yes, that’s true, the dust and dead skin that is a part of the problem in the poor air quality issue will be taken care of by the air purifier.

Living in a city, or in a air pollute area, have its tolls and they are not easy to avoid, the air purifier does help in preventing some very uncomfortable situations, and it is a shame that a lot of people think that is just an expensive thing without much use, it can help you in your daily lives, and improve the quality of your life, you can sleep better, breath better, your kid can avoid some diseases with greater ease and your house will be overall cleaner and the air in it, fresher.

There are different types of air purifiers on the market, the difference is mainly in the way the air purifier system filters that incoming air, and what it used in it process to clean the polluted air. The solutions that are the most common in the market are mechanical filters or air cleaning filter that use special materials to filter the incoming air, life charcoal for example. The more recent development in air purification systems is the air ionizer, which used electricity to clean the air.

Most effective for eliminating particles in the air the air ionizer burns those particles in the process of filtering thus reducing risk of many different kind of allergies significantly.
The best tip for someone in the market for an air purifier is to research the different products and consider his needs first, before even thinking of using, you will also need ot research the maintenance and overall costs, like buying new filters, and the places in which you would want to position your air purifier.

For more information visit http://air-purifier-pro.com/

David Evermon has been involved in many home improvement construction and maintenance projects, David writes articles about air purifier systems and maintenance for ZupaTips.com

This is an often-asked question that can have many answers. I’ll try to touch on a few more common things to check when your broadband slows down. (Keep in mind it could be your ‘computer’ that is slowing down and ‘not’ your broadband connection)

The first thing would be to run an online speed test. This helps to get a general idea of the current speed of your internet connection. It’s only an approximate, but certainly ok for a starting point. To find a broadband speed test utility, you can perform a google search with a search string of ‘broadband speed test’. This should pull back a number of options for you.

Another way is to visit our web site and check the utilities section. We’ve gathered up a few different links to a few different speed tests. This way you can run a few different tests and compare your results. When you execute these tests, your browser should be the only thing running on your computer. Close down any games, email clients, etc. you may have running.

Ok, the next thing to keep in mind is the type of broadband access you’re using. If your using DSL, then the further away you are from the telephone company central office, the weaker your signal will be. If you’re using cable internet access you’re sharing your connection with others in your neighborhood using the same cable internet access. These are a couple of things that, unfortunately for residential users you have no control over. But let’s get to some things you do have control over.

First up spyware. These are the nasty little (’almost’ invisible) programs that find their way onto your computer. Some malicious, some not, but in either case they take resources away from your computer. Resources are things like your CPU (processor), memory, hard disk space, etc. You can be proactive here. We recommend using Spybot. This is a free utility you can install and execute on your computer. Its job is to hunt down and destroy these resource hogs. Again, do you google search using ‘Spybot’ as your search term.

Viruses are another problem. You should ‘always’ keep your virus protection software running and up to date. These are usually configurable for auto-update capabilities. It is imperative you keep this running so it can protect you from malicious computer virus attacks. A slow computer is one thing; a computer that crashes is completely different.

If you tend to install and uninstall many programs, there is the chance that your computers hard drive is fragmented. Simply, the hard drive needs to search more when trying to piece together a file, etc. Hard drives do not store information sequentially. A file can be stored at many different locations throughout your hard drive and your computer works harder to find and put together the file you’re accessing. For windows users, you can click the start button (lower left corner) then select Accessories, then select System Tools. In this program grouping, you will find a utility called Disk Defragmenter.

Running this utility will tell you whether or not you even need to de-fragment your hard drive or not and if you do, there is a button to click to begin the process.

Before you get to worried or geek out to much, check your current broadband speed, clean up any spyware, protect yourself from viruses, clean any viruses found and check your disk space and fragmentation level to determine whether or not you need to de-fragment your hard drive.

These are just a few things that you can check. We’ve left out things like memory capacity, firewalls, proxies and modems.

Our intent was not to discuss each possibility, as there are many. Our intent was to point out a few basic things you could do yourself today.

If you see that your broadband connection itself is the culprit due to bad speed tests, contact your internet service provider (ISP).

If your broadband connection speed is fine, chances are the problem is with your computer. Follow the steps outlined above and test again.

If the problem persists you may need to upgrade your computer. However, before I would upgrade anything, I would first attempt to get more information from the internet, friends, family or someone knowledgeable to diagnosis the issue further. Running out and buying new equipment is fine if you can afford that. I think it’s better to identify the problem first. After all, it may be something easily fixed. Better yet, once you understand what it was and how it happened, it may be something you can guard against the next time.

FullService Broadband provider. Our free service is possible through Try Right Technology, Inc. We providoe unbiased and informative information on broadband and communication products and services.

Web Design, as design in general, is subject to changes and trend influences. Words like “fresh, modern, innovative” seem to conquer the world of design while artists strive to discover new directions. Websites are different: objectives, resources and users are the factors shaping the profitability of a site.

The truth is that web design is not easy. There are several factors shaping the web layout and the architecture of a site, some see them as rules, others believe there are no rules at all. Yet, as far as business websites are concerned, there are some guidelines.

About Us and Contact Us

The role of a business website is to represent a company and its products on the web, describing the company’s objectives and providing enough information for the users. Users want to know who they are dealing with. The “about us” area should enclose general information about the management team, company history and company philosophy. This is also the right place to display photos of the team and the managers for a simple reason: pictures enhance credibility, as people believe that you are not trying to hide.

Some websites show within the “about us” category maps and addresses for the company, while others use a “contact us” area where they display contact forms, phone and fax numbers or department emails. For some users there is nothing more annoying than being forced to fill in long contact formularies or registrations. Try to avoid such practices. Let your users decide if they want to fill in all the details or if they’d rather save some time and fill in a short form. Provide options, be flexible.

Products and Services

Depending on what a company has to offer the “products” and “services” areas describe goods or services that are either sold on the website or advertised there in order to be sold somewhere else. The categories should be clearly structured, the descriptions simple and relevant, if necessary illustrated by related pictures or graphics. Too many images though distract users from the content. Use them carefully.

News

This is quite simple: what’s new about your company or products and services? Do you have any recent awards or events worth a web presentation? Write a text and publish it in this category. Keep it simple and try to use as many business related keywords as possible. More: distribute your news and press releases on relevant web outlets and drive traffic to your site.

Try to get testimonials from your clients and display them online. Sometimes even a critique shown online can bring you positive reactions. People will appreciate your honesty, and will trust you more than they trust companies which praise their own success too much. Be realistic, careful and show concern for the users, not for yourself.

Disclaimer or Privacy Policy

This is not a rule: it’s a must! Companies deal with clients; people who wish their privacy to be protected and sometimes other sites can provide illegal or harmful information. Wikipedia defines a disclaimer as follows: “A disclaimer is a legal statement which generally states that the person/group authoring the disclaimer is not responsible for any mishap in the event of using whatever object or information the disclaimer is attached to.” The privacy policy is, according to the same source, a disclaimer as well: “A privacy policy is a disclaimer placed on a website informing users about how the website deals with a user’s personal information.”

Put simply, maintaining audience expectations and delivering usable content are the main factors influencing the success of a business website. But the website architecture has to be followed by a cutting edge design and reliable ways to increase users’ loyalty.

Newsletters

Sites with fresh content that changes often offer users the option to sign up for eNewsletters. These should not be sent too often: studies show that too many reminders become an annoyance for many clients. Due to the fact that they feel more personal than websites, email newsletters will generate different emotional reactions for the users. The subscribe and unsubscribe options allow companies to measure success: how many users are interested in receiving periodic information and how many lose their interest? The key to successful eNewsletter campaigns is simple: DO NOT SPAM! Let people go if they choose to unsubscribe. If your messages become annoying the negative feelings from one client will easily go to another. “Verba Volant!”

As with website design, the newsletter design should be uncomplicated and user friendly. People should be able to find what they are looking for fast. Even the subscribe and unsubscribe processes should be fast: the longer the time needed to subscribe or unsubscribe, the higher the lost of customer satisfaction.

So keep the newsletters simple, useful and easy to deal with. Do not overload clients with information. Just tell them the basics and, if they are interested, they will certainly come to you, email or call, requesting more information. To succeed, write good subject lines that will help users distinguish the newsletter from spam. Each headline has to make sense and preferably be followed by a short abstract of the general content. Plain language is the best approach. People don’t need to get the feeling they are teased or led on. For reference visit Pamil Visions and get the “Writing Newsletters” *.pdf document you can find in the downloads area.

Other Issues

Branding your business doesn’t refer only to stationery and printed brochures. The website is an ideal mean to promote your business visual standards. Include your logo at the top left of all pages and respect your corporate colour scheme. Have a consistent look and feel in all your pages. Again, I encourage you to visit Pamil Visions for advice in this matter, or other branding and public relations related sites.

Consistency is a powerful tool. When things are the same users know what to expect. They will not feel intimidated by new approaches or exasperated by unnecessary artifices. For example Flash collected the bronze medal for annoyance. Let it out. Why should you open your site with an intro most of the users will skip anyways? The same goes for pop-ups!

Make the site easy to read. That means you need choose the fonts and their colours carefully: not too big or too light. The most legible fonts are standard serif and sans-serif (Times, Arial; Verdana). The pictures and graphics should have small file sizes to avoid slow loading pages. Optimise your pictures for the web.

Content you write for the web should be short, scannable and to the point. Some business sites are afraid that users will copy their valuable texts and use them somewhere else, getting commercial advantages. For this reasons they ask the designers to display texts as a picture. Wrong: have you ever heard of print screen? If someone wants to copy your work that will happen anyway no matter if we talk about text or graphics.

Mihaela Lica is the founder of Pamil Visions - http://www.pamil-visions.com/

She is now a freelance writer, public relations consultant and an artist. Previously she used to be a respected TV redactor, working for the Romanian Ministry of Defense. At the moment she works with small and new business helping them in their branding efforts.