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Hello everyone! The Dot Com Mommies Contest is going great guns! Most of the entries are for 'Mommy Knows Best' (Parenting Tips Contest) The Kids Talent contests have very few entries. Please hurry up and send all the talented work of your kids. To visit the contest website, click http://www.dotcomwomen.com/dcm. Also, please help me in promoting the contest. You will find banners and text links at http://www.dotcomwomen.com/promote.html Let's make this contest a BIG success!

Tracey Smith's column is a great success!! Thanks to everyone who sent in their lovely feedback to me as well as Tracey. Please keep sending in your feedback. I love reading your emails! Owing to the awesome response to her column, Tracey has decided to make her column a WEEKLY column. The column is updated for the week. Click here to read the latest offering from Tracey http://www.dotcomwomen.com/tracey.shtml

Our other famous columnist Debra Weaver of 'Dining With Debra' now has her own website! Visit her at http://www.dinnerasyoulikeit.com Read her updated column at http://www.dotcomwomen.com/debcol.shtml
 

3. Contests
4. Useful Info

The month of July is 'Purposeful Parenting Month'! Let's celebrate it with a BIG contest - The Dot Com Mommies Contest!
Contest for Moms and their Kids! Prizes worth $1000 to be won! Contests for You and your Kids! Many photo contests and talent contests to enter! All participants receive free prizes! http://www.dotcomwomen.com/dcm

DCW Member Caroline Lashley helps us with this dilemma. Read this featured article at http://dotcomwomen.com/beauty/fashion1.shtml

Send in your answers to weeklycontest@dotcomwomen.com with your Name and Website url (optional). The first two correct entries will win the ebook 'The Baby Web Ebook'. Winners will be notified immediately and will be announced in the next issue.

WE ALSO HAVE A CONTEST GOING ON AT THE FORUMS. Visit http://www.dotcomwomen.com/forums for more details on the 'LOVE QUOTES CONTEST'.

LET'S TALK BUSINESS

The Write Formula
By Linda Offenheiser (DCW Member)

What's the difference between effective sales copy and
copy that will fall flat on its face? There are a lot of
ingredients that go into good sales copy. Here are just a
few of them:

Put Yourself into It!

You should know who your ideal customer is - write to
that person. Write your copy as though you're speaking
to a friend. Write in a conversational tone - don't be too
formal. Forget all of the multi-syllable words! They aren't
going to impress your reader; in fact, they may have just
the opposite effect. Let your personality show in the words
you write. If you do, your reader will place a lot more
credibility on what you have to say.

Describe Benefits NOT Features

The goal of your ad copy is to tell the reader how he will
benefit from what you have to offer. Consider your ads to
be pre-sales letters. All you want to do is tell the reader
what your product, service, business opportunity, etc. will
do for him. How will it make his life easier? How will it help
his business? In other words, what's in it for him?

The object of the sales letter is to create interest and
make readers want to look into your offer. It puts them
in the right frame of mind to purchase once they know all
of the features. Your web page should do the selling.
Your sales letters or ads are just setting the stage for the
final act.

Give it Some Punch!

No one wants to read long technical sales copy. Less is
more when it comes to good copy. Especially on the
Internet people want to read something quickly and then
go on to the next task at hand. Keep your sentences short
and punchy. Don't use 10 words if 5 will do. Also keep your
paragraphs short - just a couple of sentences will do. If
the reader glances at your copy and sees line after line of
text he probably won't bother to read it. Use sub-headings
to get his attention and draw him to important points. Make
good use of white space to break up your text and make it
look less daunting.

That All-Important Headline

Develop a headline that catches your reader's eye and
interest. Make it unique and catchy but make it honest!
Don't try to lure a reader by making outlandish promises or
by using a headline that has nothing at all to do with your
text. Your headline should introduce your text, not disguise
it. As with text, short headlines work better than long ones.
If your headline doesn't get the reader's attention the rest
of your copy will never be read. So work on that headline
until it reaches out and grabs the reader's eye!

And finally . . .

Sales Copy is Never Finished!

You may write your copy many, many times. There are
always little ways to tweak it to make it better and you
should! Don't let it become stagnant. The best sales copy
changes and adapts . . . it evolves!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Linda Offenheiser is the owner of Stress-Free Copy, a
budget-friendly copywriting and editing service
specially geared to the needs of the small home business.
Visit her at http://www.stress-freecopy.com  or
To contact her mailto:linda@stress-freecopy.com
 

BEAUTY

Hair-Care

For squeaky clean hair, use a teaspoon of Baking Soda (bicarbonate of soda) mixed in your palm with your favorite shampoo. Shampoo as usual and rinse thoroughly. The Baking Soda helps remove the build-up from conditioners, mousses and sprays to give you naturally clean hair.

CRAFT-CORNER

HOW TO MAKE A GIFT BASKET
- Angel Luckel

Let me start by saying that there are many ways to make a gift basket. Everyone has to find what works best for them. Sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error to find the method you're most comfortable with. So having said that let me tell you how I make my gift baskets.

I think it's important to find creative containers, not just baskets. Be creative. I have used bags, boxes, baskets, wire containers, ceramic containers, plant pots, hats and buckets just to name a few. After you've decided on the container, the next thing would be to choose the products that you'll use.
You should pick products that fit the occasion, color scheme, age, religion, sex, dietary restrictions, etc. of the recipient of the gift. You would then need to fill the bottom of your container with newsprint (newspaper without the print) almost to the rim of the container. At this time it would be a good idea to add a piece of floral foam to one side of the container to anchor the enhancements you'll be using. Then you need to add shred to cover the newsprint. Shred comes in many different colors and styles, so be sure to look around before making your selection.

Your next step would be to add the products. I like to add the biggest or tallest products in the middle of the container and work my way forward. I have found the easiest method for me is to use skewers and strong packing tape to anchor the products. When you get to the back of the container, face your products outward so the back of the basket looks nice also.

When you are done adding products, you would then use silk flowers, tulle, decorative tissue paper, balloons, etc. to enhance your baskets and fill in any bare spots you may have. After you have finished enhancing the gift, you need to decide if you will shrink wrap or cellophane the gift basket. I choose to cellophane most of my designs, I just think it looks nicer. But, if you decide to leave a basket at a business for people to see, I would recommend shrink wrapping to prevent people from sampling and pulling apart the basket.
When you start to cellophane the basket, it might take a few times before you can get comfortable enough with the process of making the cellophane tight enough to look nice. I use curling ribbon the hold the cellophane in place and fan out the top.

You should include a handmade bow, in my opinion it just looks a lot better than a pull-bow. There are many ways to make handmade bows. I use the bowdabra. It's very easy to use and comes with complete instructions. Ribbon comes in many different widths and colors. Remember to stay with the color scheme so everything flows together.

Ideally, you should leave three forms of advertising on the basket. These should include a gold-foiled sticker at the top of the cellophane fan, the enclosure card and your business card. These should all be subtle and should not take away from the gift itself.

=======================
Angel Luckel is the proprietor of 'Baskets With Distinction' ( http://www.basketswithdistinction.com ), an online store for Gift Baskets. You will find in her store, lovely gift baskets for all occasions. And if you want one of those lovely baskets for FREE, sign up for her newsletter 'The Basket Bulletin' and get a chance to win a Gift Certificate worth $25.

CONTESTS

DOT COM MOMMIES CONTEST The Dot Com Mommies Contest is LIVE now! The month of July is 'Purposeful Parenting Month'! Let's celebrate it with a BIG contest - The Dot Com Mommies Contest! Contest for Moms and their Kids! Prizes worth $1000 to be won! Contests for You and your Kids! Many photo contests and talent contests to enter! All participants receive free prizes! http://www.dotcomwomen.com/dcm Weekly Contest - Here's the question for this week: What is the name of the photo contest for Moms and Babies at the 'Dot Com Mommies' contest? Send in your answers to weeklycontest@dotcomwomen.com  with your Name and Website url (optional). The first two correct entries will win the ebook 'The Baby Web Ebook'. Winners will be notified immediately and will be announced in the next issue. Post your favorite 'Love Quotes' and win! http://www.dotcomwomen.com/forums Send in your Beauty tips and win personalized E-Books 'Beauty Boosters'. Visit the contests page for more details on the above two contests. http://www.dotcomwomen.com/contests.shtml The Ultimate Contest has begun! Don't miss your chance to win $6,000 in prizes that will help you create your own successful online business! Simply visit http://www.mydigitaladvisor.com/entertowin.htm  and subscribe to any - or all - of the participating newsletters. For each newsletter you subscribe to you'll receive an entry in the draw. Subscribe to them all and increase your odds! If you have a contest going on, send me the details and I will publish it on the Contests page. Send me your entries at lata@dotcomwomen.com Subject - Contest Listings.

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