Creating a Corporate Writing Style
Developing a corporate writing style will unify your company’s communications and create a unique ‘voice’ that enhances corporate recognition and brand awareness. To ensure that your corporate writing style is applied consistently, you need a style-guide.
Writing style refers to the words and expressions - as well as to the spelling, grammar and punctuation - a person uses when writing letters and memos. Each of us has a personal style of writing which, like our speaking voice, is usually recognizable.
To distinguish itself from its competitors your company also needs its own writing style, one that will make it recognizable and enhance brand awareness.
The problem is that corporate communications are written by many people, each with their own personal style. This is especially true where particular documents, such as newsletters, technical manuals and corporate brochures, websites and ezines, contain contributions from several people.
Thus there is a need to create a company writing style that unifies written communications and reflects corporate identity and image.
If you examine the brochures and websites of major corporations you’ll see that the style of writing varies - sometimes subtly but always distinctively - from one company to the next. You will also notice that the corporate literature of each particular company reflects a unified style, as if it had all been written by the same person, ie the same corporate personality.
The best way to achieve a unified writing style that is stamped with your corporate personality is to create a document called a style-guide.
A style-guide is a booklet that covers word, phrase and sentence usage, and approaches to be taken in structuring particular types of communications, such as brochures, technical manuals or ezines, as well as common errors in grammar and syntax. It lays down the ‘rules’ to be followed when writing corporate literature.
A style-guide should provide your corporate communications with a distinct vocabulary and cadence that is appropriate to your business. Obviously a writing style that is suitable for a financial services company or bank must differ greatly from the style of a fashion house. An appropriate style-guide will provide your company with the overall tone and word-quality you need to communicate successfully with your target audiences.
When devising a style-guide, an independent consultant is essential to preserve objectivity. Giving the job to an in-house executive may result in writing style that is contentious because everyone within your company is likely to have views on what is an appropriate and ‘correct’ style. An external writing consultant will have the experience needed to devise an appropriate style - it’s his main job after all.
The consultant will begin with an examination of your company, its marketing efforts, communication channels and target audiences. He or she will also peruse the company’s marketing communications and other corporate literature. This getting-to-know-you phase must be done thoroughly which can take time.
Once he understands your company, its communication objectives and typical audiences, the consultant will be in a position to draft a corporate style manual and agree its content with senior management. To illustrate the value of the proposed writing style, he or she should rewrite some of your recent corporate literature and show how the proposed style will enhance corporate recognition and branding.
You should always ensure that the final guide is delivered in electronic format so that it may be printed and distributed among your staff without restriction. Once it has been issued, you will also need to take steps to ensure that the writing ‘rules’ are followed in all communications with markets and stakeholders.
A well-thought out writing style-guide with clear understandable rules, which are applied consistently to all corporate literature - print and electronic - will ensure clarity and harmony in your corporate communications and reinforce corporate personality. It’s just as important as your logo and visual imagery.
About the Author: Paul D Kennedy is a business consultant and writer. His writing services solve corporate writing challenges and imbue business communications with clarity, impact and persuasiveness. http://www.writingservices.eu
10 Profitable Reasons To Add A Discussion
Board Or Chat Room To Your Web Site
http://marcandmartypetrizza.com/t/10485377/649011/211295582/2/
1. You’ll be able to communicate with your visitors.
They’ll begin to trust you and get to know you on a
more personal level. People will purchase products
quicker from somebody they already know and trust.
2. People will revisit your web site to participate on
your discussion board or chat room. They will meet
other people with similar interests and your web site
will become a hang out were they can chat.
3. You can learn important information about your
visitors by reading the conversations they have. They
may chat about your web site or products. With this
information you could learn to market your products
more effectively.
4. You could answer the questions your visitors ask
in your online communities. You’ll become known as
an expert by giving the answers to their questions.
This will give you and your business more credibility.
5. You could teach a free online class using your chat
room. This will give you an expert status and increase
traffic to your web site by offering the free class.
6. When your discussion board or chat room becomes
popular, you could sell advertising space on them. This
will give you an extra income stream for your web site.
7. You can network with other businesses by having
a chat room or discussion board. You could exchange
business ideas, leads, advertising, etc.
8. You could allow other web sites who don’t have
a discussion board or chat room to use yours. You
will get free advertising by allowing them to link to
your online community.
9. When you have a discussion board or chat room
you can get free advertising by listing them in online
community directories. You can also join web rings
with similar discussion topics.
10. You can make money by advertising your own
products and services on your discussion board or
chat room. You could also join other people’s affiliate
programs and make commissions advertising them.
Quote of the Day:
“How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.” — William
Shakespeare
Thank you for being a valued subscriber!
Sincerely,
Martha Petrizza
http://marcandmartypetrizza.com/t/10485378/649011/211295582/2/
P.S. Making money online is easier than you think… Start
NOW with The Home Biz Guy’s Plug-In Profit Site service at:
http://marcandmartypetrizza.com/t/10485377/649011/211295582/2/
Martha Petrizza
1012 Aquia Drive
Stafford
Virginia 22554
United States
Here are the latest updates
“Internet and Businesses Online: Traffic Building Articles from EzineArticles.com” - 13 new articles
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- What is Website Traffic?
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
Since Twitter launched, there was one question to rule them all: What’s the point? The point of Twitter is still debatable, but a few hundred thousand people funneled in anyway, people from all kinds of backgrounds and interests, people with all kinds of connections. Only one problem: To find people, you had to depend on luck, or at least stumbling through a maze of faces and followers with the hope of finding someone interesting or relevant.
We love feedback. Check out Twellow, and let us know what you think in the comments section.
Enter Twellow.com, WebProNews’s Twitter people search and directory platform, a yellow pages for Twitter, or, as blogger David Risley has described it: this is awesomesauce. We don’t want to brag, especially since we made it, but it is kind of, well, awesomesauce.
Here’s the basics: Based upon Twitter’s open API, Twellow allows Twitterers to search for people on Twitter or, if they don’t exactly know who they’re looking for, they can search by categories sorted by keywords related to such things as industry, interests, or hobbies. If a user is looking to connect with someone in publishing, for example, Twellow will bring back Twitterers who have indicated that on their profiles, ranked by number of followers.
It even brings back what they’re most recent tweet was. Maggie Mason, for example, author of No One Cares What You Had for Lunch, a book on better blogging, tweets about her struggle with tissue paper and gift boxes, which suddenly becomes a metaphor for death. Not bad for a 140 characters. Call it flash non-fiction.Though we’ve been quietly nudging people about it for a little while, once the blogosphere got a good look at it, this new Twitter directory saw a spike in usage of over 600 percent in under 16 hours.
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“It kind of got out of the bag before we intended,” said Twellow lead developer Matthew Daines. By “we,” he means himself and WebProNews publisher and iEntry, Inc. CEO Rich Ord. And by “before we intended,” he means Twellow’s still at the alpha stage, just two months after conceptualization.
Nonetheless, Profy.com’s Leslie Poston blogs that despite its alpha status, Twellow “is surprisingly complete.” Once people started talking about it, and they did talk about it at sufficient length on blog after blog, a chorus of “one more thing” came spiraling through our blogospheric ear canals: Now that I can be found and indexed, how do I control what Twellow says about me?
Because Twellow pulled from how people had categorized and named themselves on Twitter before there was a Twellow around, some were surprised or dissatisfied with how they were now appearing in public, as though caught picking up the morning paper off the porch (nice slippers!). Not a problem, users can now edit their own results.
See, we’re swell. As Twellow grows, those wishing to come out from behind their shrouds of anonymity and obscurity would be wise to complete their profiles so Twellow and. . .Twellowers? . . . know what to make of them.
After the jump, more awesomesauce: What bloggers had to say about Twellow, and an interview with lead developer Matthew Daines.
What Bloggers Are Saying about Twellow.com
“Straight from the ‘why didn’t Twitter build that’ category. . .” Scott Clark, Finding the Sweet Spot. Clark’s own interview with Matthew can be found here. “. . .could fundamentally change the way people use [Twitter].” Adam Ostrow, Mashable.com.
“Once I started using it, I was hooked. . . .A lot of folks, myself included, make sure to use useful key words in their Twitter profiles, and now there is a reason other than SEO. You can be indexed in Twellow!” Michelle Lentz, bub.blicio.us.
“The site is actually as much news service as directory. . .a godsend for specialist journalists who can quickly build up a list of twitterers in their field.” Online Journalism Blog.
“I think you will find this invaluable for building a solid network of people who are interested in what you have to say - personal or professional.” RSSApplied.
“Twellow has absolutely made my bookmarked list of Twitter tools.” Leslie Poston, Profy.com.
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About the Author:
Jason Lee Miller is a WebProNews editor and writer covering business and technology.
asas
6 Qualities of a Good Domain Name
Choosing a good domain name is crucial to the success or failure of your business. You may wonder how something so small and slight could have an impact on your business, but the best way to compare this is to think about how important location is to an offline business? If you do not have a good location, you are likely not going to get many visitors. The same holds true for a good domain name as well.
Here, you will discover the six qualities that a good domain name must have to ensure maximum success.
1.) Memorable
A good domain name must be memorable. Yes, we have the option of bookmarking a site that we enjoy; however, the hard truth is that many people do not take advantage of bookmarking. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that your domain name is one that is easy to remember and makes an impact. It should be easy, memorable, and straight forward.
Avoid complexity and it is usually a good idea to avoid initials in most cases. The only exception to this rule would be if the letters represented the website name or business and was still easy to remember.
2.) Short and Sweet
Twenty characters is the maximum that you should use for a good domain name, ten is even better. A long and complicated domain name is not going to help you. Your best bet is to keep it short and sweet. A great domain name is less than ten characters; a good domain name is less than twenty characters. A bad domain name goes over twenty characters.
3.) Be Choosy On Your Extension
There are several domain extensions available to you such as .com, .net, .org, .tv, .info, .gov and so on. However, some of these work better than others and are more memorable at the same time. It is important to understand that some extensions also have restrictions such as .gov is reserved specifically for government websites. The .com domain name extension is the best by far, because it is the most widely used.
The .net extension is the second best, but be prepared most people will type .com before they will .net if they cannot remember which extension you use. The type of extension you use might also have a bearing on the type of website. Some people have come to expect certain things when a particular extension. For example, .org is typically used by not-for-profit organization and educational websites. The .info extensions are generally used for informational websites.
4.) Spelling Means Everything
Having a difficult to spell domain name could cause you some trouble. Again, many do not even make use of bookmarks; therefore, if your domain name is hard to spell, they may end up at a competitor’s website.
A good domain name contains only words that are easy to pronounce, have a good combination of words or letters that are used in every day language, and does not contain foreign words that may be difficult to non-native speakers.
5.) Tells a Story
A good domain name should be descriptive and tell a story. In other words, when your visitors, customers, or potential customers see your domain name they should instantly be able to tell what they are going to find. For instance, if it is your business, a business name is good.
6.) Avoid Fancy Symbols
It is never a good idea to use numbers or hyphens within your domain name. Even if your domain name is memorable, many people will not pay attention to the symbols, which could lead them to someone else’s website.
About the Author: Joseph Nyamache has the worst domain name. Learn not to make the same mistakes at expired domain names blog.
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Test Your Way To Greater Conversions and Internet Success!
Testing your website pages, especially landing pages, squeeze pages and sales pages is one of the most profitable things you can do to tweak your pages and gain higher conversions. On top of that, you can learn more about copywriting though split tests and other means of testing your web pages than any other way.
Back in the days of mail order marketing, testing sales letters and catalogs gathered more real information about new concepts and ideas than through most other methods of research at that time. In these days of the internet, the bell even rings louder.
You can test whole concepts of your pages to find out what emotional triggers and core desires your market truly respond to. Simply test two or three versions of your sales page that each focus on a separate theme or slant on the product or service. The page that pulls the most conversions will give you the answers you are looking for.
In this day of fierce online competition, testing is something you should, no MUST do to gain the highest conversions from your website and pages. If you’re not actively testing your pages, your competition will soon pass you by.
What Exactly Should You Be Testing?
The simple answer is: Everything! Everything on your pages and in your sales message is a contributing factor to your conversion rate. This includes your headline, opening paragraphs, body copy, your offer, post scripts, background color, font, font colors, images and every imaginable component of your page in between.
Volumes of information have been written about what to test and how to test your web pages. This work is extensive, so when you begin to test, I suggest you concentrate your first efforts on the three areas that have been shown to have the most impact on your sales page, the headline, the first three (or four) opening paragraphs, and your offer.
In this article, I will focus on Headlines as they are the critical element of your page.
Testing Headlines
Headline changes can have the most impact on your conversion rate and response of these three components. 75 - 80% of your visitors will never read past the headline. It doesn’t matter how wonderful you have written your sales page, if the headline doesn’t work correctly and do its job of getting people to read on, your page will be a failure.
In order for your headline to be effective, you have to discover the biggest core desires within your market to feed. The best headline test are based around the different core desires and motivating reasons why people would be interested in your product or service.
Testing different headlines around different concepts will tell you which one is more appealing to your market audience. Once you have the key concepts and desires tested and you have discovered which one works best, you then go to work tweaking your headline in more alluring and persuasive ways.
Split testing is generally used to test headlines. In the beginning, you will probably want to use simple A/B split testing but if you are dealing with high volume traffic and high price sales, you may want to consider speeding up the process with multi-variate testing. You can find out more about these tests by going to: What Is Split Testing?.
What Type of Headline Format Do You Test?
There are some classic headline formats that have been shown to be effective over time that you can begin with. There’s the “If/Then” headline, “Amazing Secrets of …” headline, the “Who Else Wants to …” headline, and of course the classic “How to …” headline.
Test as many headlines as you can think up for your web page. In fact, you should never stop testing different headlines on your page. A simple 10% increase in your conversions could result in hundreds to tens of thousands of dollar or more. Testing your headlines could bring an increase of 50%, 100%, or even 200% or more in the response your web page brings.
The next time that you feel that your landing page, sales page or squeeze page should be converting better, think about testing the component of your page to increase the effectiveness and response that it should be eliciting.
Continue reading more about this fascinating arena of online marketing by going to: Testing Your Web Pages.
About the Author: Jim Bruce is a SEO Web Consultant and writes frequently about search engine optimization techniques and search marketing. You can find out more about these topics by going to Ristvin Marketing.
Top 20 Contributing Factors For Google SEO
Websites are quickly becoming one of the most popular ways of advertising. Whether it be a business, its product or service or something completely different, everyone of all ages are turning to the web as a method of getting their message out there. With the popularity of this marketing medium increasing and the number of websites always growing, it is obvious that everyone wants to appear at the top of Google’s search engine rankings. Achieving such a task is never an easy feat, however with a bit of perseverance, one can definitely increase their chances of reaching that glorious first page result.
Given that there is a heap of websites out there who are on the first page, what is their secret? It is a little industry term called “SEO” and it stands for Search Engine Optimisation. SEO basically consists of the customisation of your website, its content and its internal and external links to assist in the overall indexing and ranking of your website in popular search engines. There are many contributing factors that are used in determining a website’s ranking and every search engine is different. This makes trying to optimise your site for Google, Yahoo, Live and the many others quite a pain staking task.
As most of us are aware, Google is currently the most popular search engine for the majority of Internet users. As such, it is only normal that we’d want to focus our sights on achieving a higher ranking within Google first with a hope that the rest will follow. To do this, we must start a journey that could potentially take months before we start seeing any real change, however we have to start somewhere.
Our journey begins by defining some of the key contributing factors that Google uses to determine a website and webpage’s ranking within its results. These factors range from keyword use to manipulating internal and external links and the list goes on. To get you started, we have listed the top twenty factors that you should focus on in order to help get your website that little bit closer to the top of the search engine results listing.
Keyword Use Factors
The following components relate to the use of the user’s search query terms in determining the rank of a particular page.
1. Keyword Use in Title Tag - Placing the targeted search term or phrase in the title tag of the web page’s HTML header.
2. Keyword Use in Body Text - Using the targeted search term in the visible, HTML text of the page.
3. Relationship of Body Text Content to Keywords - Topical relevance of text on the page compared to targeted keywords.
4. Keyword Use in H1 Tag - Creating an H1 tag with the targeted search term/phrase.
5. Keyword Use in Domain Name & Page URL - Including the targeted term/phrase in the registered domain name, i.e. keyword.com plus target terms in the webpage URL, i.e. seomoz.org/keyword-phrase.
Page Attributes
The following elements comprise how the Google interprets specific data about a webpage independent of keywords.
6. Link Popularity within the Site’s Internal Link Structure - Refers to the number and importance of internal links pointing to the target page 7. Quality/Relevance of Links to External Sites/Pages - Do links on the page point to high quality, topically-related pages? 8. Age of Document - Older pages may be perceived as more authoritative while newer pages may be more temporally relevant 9. Amount of Indexable Text Content - Refers to the literal quantity of visible HTML text on a page 10. Quality of the Document Content (as measured algorithmically) - Assuming search engines can use text, visual or other analysis methods to determine the validity and value of content, this metric would provide some level of rating.
Site/Domain Attributes
The factors below contribute to Google’s rankings based on the site/domain on which a page resides.
11. Global Link Popularity of Site - The overall link weight/authority as measured by links from any and all sites across the web (both link quality and quantity) 12. Age of Site - Not the date of original registration of the domain, but rather the launch of indexable content seen by the search engines (note that this can change if a domain switches ownership) 13. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links to Site - The subject-specific relationship between the sites/pages linking to the target page and the target keyword 14. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world 15. Rate of New Inbound Links to Site - The frequency and timing of external sites linking in to the given domain.
Inbound Link Attribute
These pieces affect Google’s weighting of links from external websites pointing to a page and ultimately will assist in the ranking of that page.
16. Anchor Text of Inbound Link.
17. Global Link Popularity of Linking Site.
18. Topical Relationship of Linking Page.
19. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world.
20. Age of Link.
Negative Crawling/Ranking Attributes
There are also some points we should make before you start getting your hands dirty. With any type of SEO marketing, there are some things that can actually have a negative impact on your ranking. These following components may negatively affect a spider’s ability to crawl a page or its rankings at Google.
* Server is Often Inaccessible to Bots.
* Content Very Similar or Duplicate of Existing Content in the Index.
* External Links to Low Quality/Spam Sites.
* Duplicate Title/Meta Tags on Many Pages.
* Overuse of Targeted Keywords (Stuffing/Spamming).
It’s now time to get busy! Start prioritising your tasks, modifying your content and building your internal and external links to meet some of the above guidelines. Keep in mind that improving indexing is mostly a technical task, improving ranking is mostly a business/marketing strategy, what might work now may not work in the future and finally, it takes time. Loads of time. Still, with a bit of trial and error and a good dose of persistence, you can achieve the search engine ranking you’re after.
About the Author: Jon Bergan is the owner of Bergan Blue, an Australian based creative design firm focused on bridging the gap between the online world of the Internet with the offline world of Marketing. Please visit http://www.berganblue.com.au for more information.
Today’s feature article is:10 Motivational Triggers That Make People Buy
http://marcandmartypetrizza.com/t/10286689/649011/211295582/2/
1. People want to make more money. They may
want to start their own business, get a higher paying
job or invest in the stock market. This will make
them feel successful.
2. People want to save money. They may want to
invest for the future or save for a big purchase.
This will make them feel more secure.
3. People want to save time. They may want to
work less and spend time enjoying life’s pleasures.
This will make them feel more relaxed.
4. People want to look better. They may want to
lose weight, tone their body, or improve their facial
features. This will make them feel more attractive.
5. People want to learn something new. They may
want to learn how to change their car oil or build a
deck. This will make them feel more intelligent.
6. People want to live longer. They may want to
get in shape, eat better or gain extra energy. This
will make them feel healthier.
7. People want to be comfortable. They may want
to relive aches and pains or want to sleep in a more
comfortable bed. This will make them feel
relieved.
8. People want to be loved. They may not want to
be lonely anymore or want to start dating again.
This will make them feel wanted.
9. People want to be popular. They may want to
be a famous celebrity or be more popular in
school. This will make them feel praised and
admired.
10. People want to gain pleasure. They may want
satisfy their appetite or sexual desires. This will
make them feel more fulfilled.
Quote of the Day:
“Loneliness is the most terrible poverty.” — Mother Teresa
Thank you for being a valued subscriber!
Sincerely,
Martha Petrizza
http://marcandmartypetrizza.com/t/10286690/649011/211295582/2/
P.S. Making money online is easier than you think… Start
NOW with The Home Biz Guy’s Plug-In Profit Site service at:
http://marcandmartypetrizza.com/t/10286689/649011/211295582/2/
Martha Petrizza
1012 Aquia Drive
Stafford
Virginia 22554
United States
From MySelf
Geronimo Rubio
*&*
Team Wolf Pack of Wolf Pack Marketing
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!
Here is the video I made about “Making a Video”
with FREE software and FREE Photos
and a link to the FREE eBook I wrote explaining
exactly how to do it.
ENJOY and
Have a GREAT FATHER’S DAY!
“How to!!!” Make Videos (FREE) - Wolf Pack marketing
Uploaded by geronimorubio1
Photo Story 3 Tutorial
Brought to you By: Geronimo Rubio / Mentor - Success Coach &
Team Wolf Pack of Wolf Pack Marketing
Here is the PDF file I promised…TTYL, PEACE!
http://geronimorubio.com/Photo Story 3 Tutorial.pdf
Just click the link, go to file in the top / left side of your browser, click file & save and whala…save it to your HD
First off, I’d like to wish all the Dads a very
happy Father’s Day. We will be watching the
Comrades Marathon today.
Last weekend I gave you 2 sites for wonderful fr.ee
stuff to download. I normally give you a great
membership site on Sundays, but in trying to satisfy
those who are hungry for graphics, I must tell you
about a huge pack of graphics you can have for fr.ee.
This pack contains headers, footers and templates and
is worth $950,but you can have them all for nothing.
Download, Copy, Paste. It’s As Easy As 1, 2, 3
And The Best Part About This Offer, Is That You Won’t
Have To Pay Hundreds Of Dollars For These Graphics
Because They Are Yours……Absolutely Fr.ee!
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Get them here:
==> http://www.dersalsites.com/frgrpak/
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Hope you like them!
Regards and good luck!
Derek Robson
Dersalsites
http://www.dersalsites.com/myblog/
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Dersal, 3 Penny Lane, Pietermaritzburg, KZN 3209, SOUTH AFRICA
Happy father’s day! GIVAWAY
It’s a special day, and I hope you can pass this to all
the father’s you know. It is a day to give thanks for
everything a father has, and to enjoy a day to enjoy
the family and the people that love you.
Here is a special gift that every father will enjoy:
http://referralcamp.com/happyfathersday
All the best,
Jack Sinclair
p.s. you can get everything offered without signing up - just look at the fine
print after you register.
143 Grove Ave, Ottawa, ON K1S3B2, CANADA
“How to!!!” Make Videos (FREE) - Wolf Pack marketing
Uploaded by geronimorubio1
Photo Story 3 Tutorial
Brought to you By: Geronimo Rubio / Mentor - Success Coach &
Team Wolf Pack of Wolf Pack Marketing
Hey everyone,
Here is the tutorial in .PDF format I promised. So let’s get started, shall we.
Making video to tell people about yourself is one of the most fun and exciting ways I know of. It allows you to show you and your true personality. It ads a personal touch to any story that your telling or any product or service your promoting. It is a great way to also do “My Story Marketing”. So let me show you how to do this for
FREE!!!
Step One: OK, we are going to need some FREE software to work with. Photo Story 3 from Microsft is a great tool for anyone or any Internet marketer. To get this program just go to http://www.download.com and type “Photo Story 3″ in the search bar and click enter like I have showed you on the video I made. Download the software and install it onto your computer. Restart your system because it is recommended to do this after any installation.
Step Two: Now we will need some photos to place into our video. I recommend going to http://www.veer.com - They have a big selection and you can search for the pictures just by typing the keyword in the search box and clicking enter. It is 100% FREE to sign up there and you can download the “COMP” (Where it says “Download Comp” like i explained in my video) version of the picture to use in your video. So these first two steps tell you where to get FREE software and FREE pictures to create your story.
Now lets get started on making that video
After installing the Software and Downloading your pictures, open up Photo Story 3 and you should see a window that looks like this:
Step One:
Highlight the button that says “Begin a new story and click “next”
Step Two: This is where your going to import you pictures you have either downloaded or took your self and bring them into You Story soon to be told. Be sure to put them in the order your story will flow and you should also write a short script for your story as well. This is also the place you will be cropping the pictures of any black borders with the tool they provide you in Photo Story 3. You will see a picture like this:
Click on “Import Pictures”, select your pictures and click OK. You can also color correct, red-eye eliminate or rotate your pictures using the tools underneath each photo. Right below where it says Import Pictures you will see the tool to crop your photos. Go ahead and click on this and you will see the window that looks like this:
The picture on the left is the “Original” and the one on the right is the “Cropped” Picture. This works with most photos but there is the case where some photos are “Odd Balls” and it won’t work completely. Go through each of your photos and get them ready and when your done, click “Next to move on to the next step.
Step Three: This is where you can add text to overlay on each picture as well as add some effects to your pictures. You should be looking at a window similar to this:
Where is says <Type Text to add…> is where you can Title each photo with some capture text. To the left you can add some effects to each picture if you so choose. When you are done, click “next” to move on the the next step.
Step Four: This is where you add your “Voice Over Audio” to tell your story. You should see a window like this:
I hope you have you script ready or maybe you have it memorized like I sometimes do. You will add text to the area you see my text in order to “Record” your voice for each picture within your story. You will “Click” the record button to start, record your voice and then “click” stop when your done. You can click “Preview” to see how it came out and if you wish to re-record just “click” the button with the curled arrow, and it will erase the old recording and you can start new. This is also where you can create “Custom Motion” for each photo to add some “FLARE” to your story. Click “Customize Motion” below each picture to do this. You should see a window like this:
To customize, just “click” the box labeled “Specify start…” and it will allow you to modify where the motion begins and ends. Below you can set the duration (Time) it will take to complete this motion as well. Next in the tab above the photo labeled “Transition”, you can customize the transition that will happen between each photo as they show up in your story. When “clicking” on this tab you should see a window like this:
You will be able to choose from a variety of different Transitions in this window. When you are done, “click” close and then next to proceed to the next step.
Step Five: Now we are going to show you how to create a low playing music in the background. You can import your own music or use the music provided with the Photo Story 3 software, which by the way gives you lots of choices to choose from. You should see a window like this:
You can add a piece of music to each picture or a music selection to span across your entire story. I recommend the latter. I will show you how to use the music provided with the software as it is instrumental, you have a lot of genres to chose from and it is easier in my opinion. To do this, “click” on the first picture in your story and then just “click” on create music… button. Another window pops up like this one:
And here you will make your musical choice. You can preview the music before selection as well. I recommend “LOW Intensity” for better quality and background music. Next “click” ok and it will take you back to this window:
I recommend for background music placing the volume where I have it set (About a quarter way between the first and second bar). You can preview the whole story here by ̶