Did you ever notice how every project that you’ve ever worked on with a team has experienced some type of delay or another?

The reason these delays happen has to do with the fine art of buck-passing.

I’ll give you an example that happened to me today.

I’m working on a team of three: me (I’m functioning as the copywriter/web designer), the client, and the VA.

I finish up every part of the project that is in my power, and make ready to attend to other clients on my list. Before I shift my focus to the next client, I write an email to the two aforementioned parties. In the email, I explain to the VA that once I get the updated shopping cart/ezine signup form code from her, I can pop that in the page templates and then we can go live with the new website.

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Since we’re all about breakfast over here at EntrepreneursBreakfast.com, I thought I’d let you know about one entrepreneur who’s serving up something tasty for business owners.

Leesa Barnes the Podcasting Diva is hosting a Podcasting for Breakfast Seminar at a city near you. The event includes:

- 2 hours of live instruction on how to make money using a podcast
- Leesa’s self-authored Podcasting for Profit Book and handouts
- A savory continental breakfast
- And much more!

Fresh, hot and tasty… that’s how we like our marketing at Wordfeeder.com and that’s what Leesa Barnes is dishing up at a major city near you.

To find out more about Podcasting for Breakfast with Leesa Barnes, go here.

Leesa is someone who I have known in an “around the internet business scene” kind of way for several years now, so it’s cool to watch her taking her gig on the road. She has no idea I wrote this and I am not an affiliate of her program and have no intention of becoming one.

(Lately I’m getting this oogy feeling about affiliate programs - as though being involved with one implies that you’re just in it for the money and not because you believe the product can deliver real value.)

I know Leesa and I believe she’s doing a bangup job teaching the internet world about podcasting. You have my word on her worth - no affiliate fees attached.

- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

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If you own your own business, then you know the value in receiving written testimonials from genuinely satisfied customers. Likewise, you may want to express your appreciation to someone who’s made a difference in your life by providing a great product or service.

The good news is, you don’t need to have been blessed with the gift for perfect prose to create a testimonial for someone. But you may want to kee your digital camera handy!

Yes… a picture is worth a thousand words. Think of how much cooler you can help to make someone else’s website, simply by snapping a photo of yourself enjoying using the product, with simple thank-you note attached.

Here is a testimonial that was sent in by “Rascal” to Nikki’s Barkery at http://nikkisniknaks.com - where you’ll find homemade, all-natural doggy treats available by mail order.

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I thought I would share a job resource that was a great source of revenue for me when I was doing offsite freelancing five years ago.

(I no longer travel to clients - Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing operates as a strictly telecommuting freelance enterprise).

When I left my corporate job in 2003, I got my advertising portfolio together and headed to The Creative Group in the hopes that they might help me break into pharmaceutical advertising. The Creative Group is a job placement firm (a subsidiary of Robert Half International) specializing in freelance creative positions such as copywriting, web and graphic design, and proofreading.

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For the past week or so, I’ve had numerous Firefox crashes that I’ve had a sneaking suspicion are related to the newly downloaded version of AVG Anti-Virus (Version 8).

Today I researched the matter and came upon this article which I found quite helpful. Basically, you fix it by doing the following:

1. Launch AVG Anti-Virus Free.

2. Go to the top menu and click TOOLS.

3. Click on Advanced Settings and then look at the list to your left.

4. Click the fifth choice down - LinkScanner.

5. With LinkScanner clicked, look to the right and you’ll see two boxes that are checked off. Uncheck the boxes. With these extensions disabled, you’ll no longer enjoy the privilege of having links pre-scanned for viruses before you click them… but unless you’re exploring uncharted territory where you’d want your virus alert way up high, I’d say it’s worth it.

Good luck - here’s to hoping this solves the crashing problem with Firefox!

- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing.

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Your client just emailed you to say that the check will be late (again), your dog ate your only copy of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style and your significant other stomped on your last nerve hours ago. It’s enough to make any blogger hit the rant button. But if you’re thinking of venting your spleen on your professional blog, stop for a second and reconsider.

For starters, what will ranting actually accomplish? Probably nothing, other than to make you feel better. On the other hand, you could alienate your readership if your tone, content or language seems too harsh or critical. Venting on your own personal blog is one thing, but when it comes to your business, you need to stay cool, calm and professional. Here’s how:

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If you’re making the transition from corporate to freelance, how comfortable are you in the new role?

Is it like a new pair of shoes; you’ve stepped in with both feet, but they’re giving you blisters — and you really just want to go back to those old, broken-in, full-time loafers?

I was interviewing a client the other day, for a new business website I’m helping her launch. She was telling me about the vast and varied experiences that led her to desire this new incarnation of her professional self.

She kept saying things like, “So then I had to change jobs again. We relocated to Missouri and I had to start teaching, because we had a family to support!”

My client sounded almost apologetic. Every time she mentioned a new skill that she had acquired along the way, she had to justify the experience as though it was a “bad thing.” Like she shouldn’t have changed jobs, or she shouldn’t have bothered to learn new things.

After hearing her repeatedly downplay her credentials and experience, it occurred to me why this client needed my copywriting support and marketing direction.

It was because *she still didn’t think of herself as a consultant!*

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Facebook, Ryze, LinkedIn, Myspace… what’s the point?

Can social networking REALLY work to get you clients? Or is this just a way for wily webmasters to bring hits and attention to THEIR websites, so they can pull in more ad and membership revenues?

Last week, a fairly new copywriting client asked me the above question. Then he said to me, “I emailed you to work on my project because I remembered you from Ryze.”

I was active on Ryze… oh, three years ago? And yet this person remembered me after three years, sought me out, and here we are doing a website project together.

This is not the first time I’ve gained a new client due to having “put in my time” on the social networks.

In my humble opinion and experience, I would say that the more of a standout social networking experience you create, and the more you put into making your profiles professional… the more thought you give to creating posts that add value and meaning to others’ professional lives… the more you’ll get out of social networking.

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About a week ago, I got a call from the local animal shelter telling me there was a 2-year-old boxer dog available for adoption. I had put my name on their list hoping to find a dog for my parents, who had just lost their beloved boxer to kidney failure.

I got to the pound, and there was a beautiful boxer dog, perfect in every way. Young, healthy, vibrant, with a pretty face and that famously goofy boxer expression. He was shy and bashful when I opened the door to his cage, but he gave me paw when I asked, and covered my face with kisses when I bent down to introduce myself. I quickly called my parents on the cell and encouraged them to “grab this one while they had the chance.”

My parents, being the old fogeys they are, had reservations. “Is the dog good looking?” “Do you think we’ll be able to handle a young dog?” “What if he runs off?”

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If you’re a user of Google AdWords then pay close attention. Google has announced that they will now begin adding landing page load time to your AdWord rank score.

According to Google, people who have web sites with slow-loading pages will be charged more for their Google AdWords advertisements.

There are several ways to reduce the loading times of your pages.

• Cut down the graphics. Graphic files take up a lot of bandwidth even with today’s high-speed connections. If your site depends on graphic intensity, then make sure you optimize your images to minimize load times.
• Take a written approach. While graphics slow down load times, text seems to have little effect, so making pages that are heavy on the copy are to your advantage. They load fast and, if properly optimized, will help your page ranking.
• Avoid Flash animations. Flash animations are definitely cool, but also eat up bandwidth faster than Iron Man eats up WD-40.
• Avoid embedded objects. YouTube videos, photo slide shows and other items that you embed into your pages increase the amount of information that has to be sent, which causes your pages to load more slowly.

Studies show that if a page doesn’t load within 8 seconds, people go somewhere else. So optimizing your web pages for better load times will not only help your Google AdWord bottom line, but will provide a better experience for your readers.

Read the full story here.

Michael Sieber is professional web content writer. Visit his site at prowebwriting.com.

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