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How to Print an eBook in a Booklet Form

With the digital revolution, eBooks have become a prominent form of literature.  However, eBooks are limited in their scope and reach, as they can only be read from your computer.  In some cases, you may want to take the eBook with you for personal reading, and in other cases, you will want to print its contents to share with the world.  Here is a look at how you can transform your eBook into tangible, physical booklet.

How to Print Your eBook

If you have Microsoft Word, printing up an eBook for your own enjoyment is simple.  Following the below directions will give you a printed book with measurements of 8.5” x 5.25”.  Every printed page will give you four pages of a book, two pages on each side.

From there, you will either need to type your information into a Word document or transfer the information into a Word document.  Give the page landscape orientation with two columns on each page.  Print a test copy, layout the pages in book form, and number them.

Now, you will need to go and open as many Word documents as you have full sheets of paper.  If you would like to have the title of the book and page number in the header or footer, put those in now.  Again, set the document to create two columns, and set the margins to 0.5” at the top and bottom and 1” at the left and right.

Now you have to make sure that your book prints so that it will be readable without a lot of cutting and stapling.  If you look at your sample book, you will see that on the paper that the 1st page is not shared with the second page.  For example, if you have a 12 page eBook, the 1st and 12th pages are on the same sheet, the 2nd and 11th pages are on the same sheet, and so on and so forth.  Using each Word document as a separate layout of pages, copy and paste the proper page contents into the columns.  For example, in a 12 page book, your first layout will be page one in the first column and page 12 in the second.  Save each set as different spread or layout, so pages 1 and 12 would be layout 1, pages 2 and 11 would be layout 2, and so on.

Print another copy.  The eBook should now read like a regular book.

Sharing Your Booklet with Others

If you want to share your eBook with others, there are a few extra steps to take.  You will need to design covers the same way as you did the pages.  From there, you will need to print the book.  When printing, ask that the copies be double sided and then bound.  You will then have a professional looking book for sharing with friends, clients, and anyone else.

If you are using a professional printer to print up your eBook, you will want to contact the printer to see if there are any special layouts that you should create to make the printing process easier.  They may want you to separate the pages into separate documents like listed above, or they may have you send in just the original document.

Important Note

Newer versions of Word do offer “book fold” as one of the templates you can set for your pages.  If you are just printing one version for yourself, this can be an easy feature.  However, editing a specific page becomes difficult in this format, and reprinting a page is next to impossible.  Unless you want to run off an entire book every time you edit, it may be best to do your own manual method or entrust a professional printer.

How to Write a Proper Resume and Blow the Competition out of the Water

Learning how to write a proper resume will give you a well designed and effective marketing tool. Resumes written with the hiring manager in mind can greatly improve your chances of landing that that dream job. So how do you make sure your resume is top notch and bullet proof? This short article on how to write a proper resume details some of the most important areas you need to consider if you are going to leave the competition for dead!

Many people start writing a resume thinking the only purpose is to produce a document that will land them a job. This approach usually ends up in a long winded life history of the applicant and makes them look like they are desperate for any job on offer. What you need to remember here is that the main objective of your resume is to land an interview with the company. If the interview goes well, then hopefully you will land the job. Your resume is a doorway to the interview.

The key to a successful resume is making it interesting to the reader. Hiring managers like things they are familiar with, especially resume formats. The reader will be in a hurry and will only scan your resume, so it is important to get your strengths at or towards the top of the resume. Make sure your resume is focused and connected to the initial job application. Show the hiring manager you have ambition and ensure your resume gets this across when you write it. Having ambition will give the employer an idea of where you are planning to go with your career and what you aim to achieve when you arrive. Connect your skills and attributes to actual job experience, as this will support what you are writing in your resume and give the reader something tangible about you to further consider.

It is vital that your resume be tailored for each job you apply for. There is nothing worse that a generic resume and these types of resume are easily found by an experienced reader. Whilst it can take time and effort to keep rewriting your resume for each job you apply for, if you don’t you will be greatly reducing the chances of getting an interview. In the end the whole process will more than likely be a total waste of time. There are some very good products to help you write your resume and save you time when you need to rewrite it for different job applications.

Learning how to write a proper resume isn’t difficult, so long as you think and plan ahead and tailor it to the job you’re applying for.

Increase Your Online Income With Ease

A quick way to increase your websites income is to add Google’s AdSense ads to your pages. In this article, we will look at some different ways to generate income through AdSense.

If you don’t have an AdSense account just visit Google’s AdSense site and sign up. It’s an easy process.

Once you have applied for your Google AdSense membership Google will place ads on your website with keywords delineated by various advertisers and are then matched to the site based on your content. You will make money every time someone who visits your site clicks on one of those ads. (But don’t click the ads yourself; Google will suspend your membership) Google provides you with filters that allow you to decide whose ads you want on your website. You probably don’t want your competition advertising on your site!

Once you get the ads setup it will be good for you evaluate your results and make changes accordingly. If you are willing to invest some time in tweaking it will payoff.

When designing the ads make sure that they blend into the color of your content. This gives the illusion to those visiting your site that the ads support the information that they are reading about. This will lead to more clicks which equals more money.

You may want to consider changing the color of the background and links so that it matches the color on your website. Another advantage you have with color is that you can change it frequently so visitors think there is something new. This helps promote the overall stickiness of your site.  You will want those visitors to return again.

Consider using the AdSense ads as captions. When this is done, it draws the eye of the consumer through the text and increases the chances that the ad will be clicked on.

Borders will separate the ads from the content and if that is what you want then fine. Having the boarders will reduce your overall click rate though. Knowing this you should be careful not to use any of the preset borders that often come with AdSense. You will want to customize them.

Check Google’s AdSense Customization Tips for improving your AdSense performance.

Now that you have your website, running with AdSense you may also want to include link units or even image ads. You can see the different ad formats here. When visitors click on link units at your site the link will then take them to sites that have content that is related to your site and this of course will increase the amount of money that you will be bringing in.

You may also want to consider putting a web search box on your site. Google has a search box as part of their Adsense program. This will add greater functionality for your visitors and increase your revenue. The advantage to this is that visitors to your site will not need to leave to do a search for the information they are looking for. The longer your visitors are on your site the greater chance there is of them clicking on one of your ads.

Working online is about having fun as what we do while making money. So enjoy adding another stream of income to what you do.

How Does Your Direct Mail Pull?

Assuming you have a great graphic artist who designs your marketing materials, mailers and collateral (which is a big assumption, I know)…

Where do you go to get them printed and/or mailed? How do you know which messages will be better to use? How often should you send mail out to your list?

Many small business owners I know typically do mailings hap hazzardly, meaning they plan a promotion or sale quickly to get business in the door or plan a workshop to happen in 2 weeks and then they say «I have to get a mailer out to my list».

Does this sound familiar?

I’m suggesting you plan your mailings annually along with your sales, workshops and promotions (even holiday mailings or annual update letters). Then if you can plan the design, messages, who it’s going to, how you’ll get it printed and mailed it will not only go much smoother BUT I’ll bet you get a much higher response too!

You will give yourself time to come up with a strategy rather than throwing together quick mailings which might not:

— flow with your brand
— get a clear message across
— include all pertinent info
— make them take action

Many business owners will also go to Kinko’s or Office Depot (which are great resources for some things or really last minute jobs) for their printing and then fold, stuff, label and stamp their own mailers. NO, NO, NO, depending on the number of mailers you have it could be much less expensive and less time consuming to go through a professional printer, print broker or even online and then to go to a local or online mail house for mailing services.

You don’t have to do it all yourself.

Besides, what is your hourly rate? How much is your time worth? You would most likely be better off outsourcing these types of things rather than spending your valuable time when you could be working with a client or attaining a new client instead.

While I’m on the subject, how many people do you have on your mailing list or current database? Are you including EVERYONE YOU KNOW? If not, WHY THE HECK NOT? Everyone you know will either be a prospect for your business OR a referral source without question. They all need to know what you’ve been up to or what you’re doing now in case they need your services/products or know someone who does.

I could go on and on with suggestions on who to use for printing, mailing, and all the services that go along with doing this but we’d be here forever. So, here are —

5 tips on how to manage your direct mail efficiently:

1. Plan for large mailings.

Your lists must be large, since even good response rates may fall between 2 percent and 4 percent. If you don’t have a very large list — meet more people!

2. Choose the best format.

There are three basic types of direct mail: postcards, letters and packages. Successful direct-mail letters are complex packages and if you want to virtually guarantee your mail gets opened, you can put it in a box or some bulk mailing package.

3. Assemble your campaign.

Direct-mail marketing is rarely a do-it-yourself job. The steps include: designing and printing the creative pieces, choosing the lists, and delivering them both to a mailing house for labeling and distribution. Most mailing houses will be cost effective for a minimum of 500 or more pieces for your addressing and postage handling and some can even do printing as well.

4. Test and measure results.

Direct-mail success is measured one campaign at a time. It’s essential to test various components of the campaign- -the lists, your offers and creative approaches—in order to continually improve your response rates. The key is to test just one component at a time and make incremental adjustments until your campaign produces optimal results.

5. Contact a Marketing Expert.

They can help you put a PLAN together. You don’t need to research it all or figure it all out yourself, they love to do that part. A marketing expert can help you with the campaign itself, what the message or design will be, who to send it to, when and how. They can also find the best printing, mailing and delivering resources available based on your time frame, your budget and your quantity.

I hope for your sakes you’re doing direct mailings pretty regularly in your business for part of your follow up and ongoing marketing to your list. Email is great but it certainly doesn’t reach everyone all the time so it’s not that reliable for your ONLY source of follow up marketing.

How to Choose Time Tracking Software

Time billing software is a critical investment if you bill for your time or need to keep track of how time is spent, but you have to make sure that you get the right software. Several things are especially important when choosing a time and billing package:

• The time and billing software must be easy to use so that it doesn’t «get in the way.» If a time billing program is cumbersome, you’ll end up not bothering to track small periods of billable time. Those minutes add up, and make a big difference in your bottom line. Avoid a big, bloated software package which is slowed down by features that you’ll never use.
• If you’re like most people, you often bounce back and forth between different tasks. Time billing software must handle this well. Time Logger accommodates this «ping-ponging» with several elegant methods for tracking your back and forth workday.  To see how these work, download the Time Logger demo, and check out the F1 help topic «Ping-Ponging.»
• At some point, you’ll find that you want to share or analyze your time and billing data with other applications. Therefore the time and billing application should use a standard database format (such as Microsoft Access), and also make it easy to import and export the information, or copy it to a spreadsheet.  Responsive Time Logger has a flexible import and export feature, keeps all of its data in clearly documented Microsoft Access files, and lets you copy and paste time records to Microsoft Excel.
• The time and billing package should have a variety of those little features that make a big difference in your productivity. Time Logger has many user-requested enhancements that make it a pleasure to work with. For example, an optional scrunched up stopwatch that doesn’t use up much screen space, up to four simultaneous stopwatches, draggable clock hands and shortcuts for entering time, and fully customizable toolbars.
• Remote access via a Palm device or laptop lets you track your time when you are away from your desk.  With Responsive Time Logger’s free Palm interface, you can track your time wherever you are, and HotSync the data back to your main database for billing or analysis.  And Time Logger has multiple ways of sharing data between different machines.
• Finally, the application should have a functional demo that lets you make sure that it is compatible with the way you work. A 30-day money-back guarantee is also a nice feature to make sure that your purchase is 100% risk-free.  You can download the Time Logger demo quickly without filling out any forms.  If it doesn’t meet your needs, it can be simply and safely uninstalled.  Even if you purchase it, but wish to return it within 30 days for any reason, you’ll get a full refund.

At Responsive Software, we’re confident that after you give Responsive Time Logger a test drive, that you’ll choose it as your time and billing software.